Here is chapter three! PLEASE review telling me is anything sounds wrong or doesn't make sense!
ILoveGoodBooks777: I promise that all of your questions will eventually be answered :)
Gabriella sat in the tavern, stewing. She was furious at how Beau had completely rejected her and humiliated her in front of everyone. She had never been rejected before. She always got what she wanted!
Her father always warned her about going to the tavern. He said it wasn't a place for a girl like her. Actually it was. Being here helped her feel special and needed since every man in here was fawning over her.
Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, still damp from cleaning the mud off her.
"Um, want me to get you something?" Leah asked.
"Yeah. Get me Beau as my husband."
"Yeah, um, sorry about that."
"This is infuriating."
"Look, Gabriella, you've gotta pull yourself together. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a wife. Beau doesn't know what he's missing. There's not a girl like you anywhere! You're better than all of them!"
Gabriella rested her head on her hand, ignoring her friend's attempts to cheer her up.
"Look at all the guys here. Every one of them wants to be your husband. You know why? Because you're flawless!"
Gabriella's head turned. All the guys were staring at her, wishing she could be his. She could easily have a husband within the next few minutes if she chose. But she wanted Beau, not any of these suckers.
But Leah was right. Every girl in the village wanted to be her, and every guy wanted to marry her. She could at least have a little fun while she was here and boost her self-esteem in her efforts to think of how to win over Beau.
She bounced from table to table, her red dress swishing as she danced along. She played with the boys' hair and caressed their faces. She even gave a lucky two a small kiss on the cheek, which resulted in a fight between them about who she liked more.
After taking her ponytail out and letting her long wavy locks fall to her back, which resulted in the crowd going wild, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and her three loyal followers almost melted. She smiled at them. They could always be found wherever she was. She had heard them threatening to beat up Beau once because he had stolen her affections, but she quickly put a stop to that. They always wore the same colors. Laurence wore green, Paul wore orange, and Claude, her most faithful follower, wore red to match her dress.
One of the men in the tavern helped her onto a table and she began to do a sultry dance on it to win over her crowd of admirers. Then she fell back and one lucky man got to catch her.
She was put on two men's shoulders and lifted high above the crowd. They all began chanting her name and she felt much better.
Everyone started cheering for her as they set her back down next to Leah.
Suddenly, Marguerite burst through the door and ran into the tavern.
"Someone! Anyone! You have to help me! It's got him!"
"Marguerite?" the bartender cried. No one really knew her very well. They had all heard of her and her cooking, but no one really knew her. After all, what was a woman like her going to do in a bar?
"Please! It's got him locked in a dungeon!"
"What's got who?" someone asked.
"My son, Beau!"
Gabriella's head whipped around at the sound of her beloved's name. Now this woman had caught her interest.
"Someone has to go get him!"
"Hey, hold on, lady!" Gabriella called. "Now, tell me, what's got Beau locked up?"
"A beast! A horrible, awful, ugly beast!"
Everyone started laughing, obviously not believing her, and Gabriella joined in.
"I'm not lying! I was in the woods and went to the castle for shelter where I was taken in by a talking teapot, clock, and candlestick. But there was something else there! And now it's holding Beau captive!"
"Oh, really?" one man laughed. "Was it really ugly?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Was it big?" another asked.
"Bigger than anything I've ever seen!" She looked around. "Will you please help me get my son back?"
"Hey, lady, we'll help you," Gabriella smiled. She motioned for the men to take her away.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Marguerite cried.
The men threw her out onto the street into the cold winter weather where the snow was falling.
Gabriella looked after the woman. True, she should've been nicer to her future mother-in-law, but right now, she was trying to forget about Beau.
"Crazy Marguerite!" one man laughed.
"She's out of her mind!" another joined in.
That gave Gabriella an idea. "Hey, Leah," she called to her friend. "I think I've got an idea about how to get Beau as my husband."
Beau had long since finished his cry-fest. He forced himself to pull it together and act like the tough guy he was supposed to be. In reality, he just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. At the rate he was going, that's pretty much what happened.
At that moment, he was lying on the bed, reflecting about what had gone terribly wrong in the past 24 hours.
There was a soft knock at the door. He knew a knock like that wouldn't be from the Beast so he slowly went over to the door.
"Who is it?"
"Mr. Potts, my boy!" a voice on the other end said.
Beau took a deep breath, and hoped he didn't look like he had just jumped off a cliff.
"Thought you might like a little bit of tea!"
Beau's mouth dropped open. Mr. Potts was an actual teapot! A walking, talking teapot!
"You're a…you're a…a…"
Beau backed up in shock at the moving objects. He ended up bumping into a huge wardrobe he didn't realize was behind him.
"Whoa, there! Careful, son!"
"This is impossible," he muttered. "You're not supposed to move! Or talk! Or anything!"
"And yet here we are!" the wardrobe answered.
"This isn't happening."
Mr. Potts chuckled. "I'm afraid it is. Before you think you're going crazy, let me tell you that you're not the only one who's talked to us. Your mother conversed with us too when she was here."
"You talked to my mother?" Beau asked.
"Yes, son, we did. She was very kind to us. Our apologies about how she ended up being treated."
"No, no, it wasn't your fault."
"I told you he was handsome, didn't I, Papa?" a little girl's voice said. Beau noticed a little tea cup next to the teapot. Beau had to smile. She seemed really cute…for a tea cup anyway.
"That's enough, China," Mr. Potts said as he leaned over and poured some tea into the cup. "Now, go over to the nice young man. Careful! Don't spill anything."
"Thanks," Beau said quietly as he lifted up the little cup.
"Hey, wanna see me do a trick?" she asked happily.
This was the strangest thing that had ever happened to him. He was talking to a tea cup. He decided to humor himself and the little cup and nodded. She took a deep breath and puffed out making bubbles appear in the tea that spilled over the side.
"China!" Mr. Potts said admonishingly.
She giggled. "Sorry, Papa!"
"My boy, that was certainly a brave thing you did for your mother."
"We all think so," the wardrobe added.
"Maybe so, but now I've lost everything. My mother, all my hopes and wishes, my future…"
"Son," Mr. Potts said. "I know things seem bad now, but everything will work out if you let it. Well, I'd love to stay and chat more, but I've got to get dinner on the table for you and the mistress. I'll see you in a few minutes!"
The dishes clinked out the door, leaving Beau to wonder if that really just happened. This had been a really long day.
"Well," the wardrobe said, "we should get you dressed up. You can't eat with the mistress wearing ordinary clothes. Let's see what we've got in here." The wardrobe's drawers opened up, revealing many different suits of all different colors. "Um, what about this one? It seems like it would work alright." He used one of the doors as a hand and pulled out a really nice suit. Nicer than anything Beau had ever owned anyway.
"Well, that's nice of you, but I don't think I'm going to dinner," Beau told him.
"Oh, no, you have to. The mistress has ordered it!"
They were interrupted by a small little clock running in and announcing that dinner was served. But Beau didn't move.
The girl paced downstairs at a full table, waiting for that boy.
"Where is he?" she growled. "I told him to come down ages ago! Why isn't he here yet?"
"My dear," Mr. Potts said. "Please try to understand his position. He's lost his mother and his freedom in a matter of minutes. It's a lot for him to take in."
"Madame, have you thought that maybe he'll break the spell?" the candlestick, Chandelle, asked her.
"Of course I have!" the girl growled back. "I'm not stupid!"
"Well, then perfect!" Chandelle giggled. "You fall in love with him and then he falls in love with you and then the spell is broken and we'll be back to our old selves by midnight!"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Chandelle," Mr. Potts said. "These kinds of things take time."
"But the rose has already begun to wilt! We don't have time!"
"Who am I fooling?" the girl said. "He's unlike anyone I've ever seen. He's so handsome, and I'm…I mean, LOOK AT ME! I'm hideous!"
"Sweetheart, you must help him see past what's on the outside," Mr. Potts said gently.
"I don't think I can."
Mr. Potts and Chandelle hopped down from the mantle. "Well, here's a start. Act more lady-like! First, straighten up!" The girl did so.
"And when he comes in, give him a nice smile!" Chandelle added. "Come on, mistress. Smile."
The girl smiled, but it looked pretty scary. "On second thought, don't smile."
"Don't scare him off. He's shaken up enough as it is," Mr. Potts said.
"Impress him with your knowledge."
"Please be gentle."
"Present him with compliments."
"And be sincere when doing so."
Then they both said together, "And you must control your temper!"
The doorknob began to turn, and the girl straightened up and tried to look as lady-like as she could for being a, well…
"Here he comes," Chandelle said. "Remember be kind!"
The little clock, Cora, entered in instead.
The girl groaned. "Where is the boy?"
Cora started fidgeting. "Um, well, he's…just…um, he is actually doing…well, he refuses to come."
Anger rose up inside her like it never had before. "WHAT?!" She ran up to the boy's room, not listening to what her friends were saying behind her. When she made it to his room, she banged on the door with all her might. "I told you to come down to dinner with me!"
"I'm not hungry!" Beau called back.
"You come out of there now, before I…I…!"
"Do what?" Beau countered.
"I'll break the door and force you to come down!"
"Your Grace," Chandelle said, "I don't believe that's the best way to earn his affections."
"Please," Cora said. "Just at least attempt to be lady-like."
"But he's driving me up the wall!"
"Gently, gently," Mr. Potts soothed. "Now ask the boy nicely."
The girl took a deep breath and tried to push down the anger inside her. "Will you come to dinner with me?"
"No!" Beau shouted.
The girl pointed at the door angrily, and looked ready about to kick it down.
"Madame, he's just angry at his whole situation. Please try to see things from his point of view," Mr. Potts said.
She took another deep breath and tried again. "It would make me quite happy if you would join me for dinner tonight." When she saw the expectant look on her companions' faces, she added, "Please."
"No!" Beau shouted again.
"You can't stay in that room forever!" she screamed.
"Yes I can, and I will!"
"Fine! Then do that for all I care! But you will not get anything to eat until you eat with me!"
Beau thought he heard the sound of soft sobbing on the other side of the door, but he wasn't exactly sure.
"Well, that didn't go the way it should've," Mr. Potts said.
The girl ran to the West Wing as fast as she could. Tears soaked her fur, like the millions that had flowed down her cheeks before, especially after the transformation took place.
"I just can't do this anymore," she said quietly to herself. "I tried to be nice and he rejects me, after I've let him stay in the best room in the castle and not in a cell. What more does he want me to do?" She picked up her mirror. "Show me the boy."
With a flash, the mirror revealed the boy sitting on the bed talking with the wardrobe in the room.
"The mistress really isn't as bad as you think she is, son!" the wardrobe said. "Why don't you at least give her a chance? Get to know her better?"
"I don't want to get to know her! She's keeping me prisoner and took my mother away from me! I don't ever want to see her!"
She put down the mirror having seen all she could take. "Who am I kidding? He'll never see me as anything but the monster I am. It's hopeless for all of us."
Aw, poor thing! As far as genderbent names go, Mr. Potts was pretty easy as was China. Chandelle means candle in French (like how Lumiere means light). As for Cogsworth, I tried for a really long time to come up with a clever name, but then just settled on Cora :)
If you couldn't tell, her three loyal followers are my version of The Bimbettes. The three Bimbettes names are Paula, Claudia, and Laura. So the genderbend names for those three were pretty simple.