Featured song:
Beauty & the Beast by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson
Vince looked at himself in the mirror as he was all decked out in a midnight blue tux he found at the mall. For once, he actually felt excited about going on a date. But, he was also apprehensive. Did Myra ask him because she liked him the same way he liked her? Or did she ask him out of pity? He couldn't be sure. He knew how to read when women were gold diggers or just looking to see if his dad would give them a record deal, but wasn't sure what to look for that signified a girl genuinely liked him. He was pretty sure a girl who "liked him" liked him was different from his mother's love.
"You look very handsome, son." Mr. Hall said. "She's a lucky lady."
"I honestly don't know if she feels like that. I mean, the way I acted before, she's hated my guts for a long time, not that I blame her."
"Vince, look at me."
Vince looked at his dad, and Mr. Hall told his son that it didn't matter who he was in the past; Vince was working to change for the better, and so was Mr. Hall. He felt so many regrets for all that happened since Lydia died. He could never undo all the things that'd been done, and his son was growing up and would be going to college in a couple years. By now, Vince finally gained the guts to make his own choices, and instead of being set up with a girl his father thought would be a good match, he found a girl he liked and she picked him, at least for tonight.
"For the longest time, I thought I could prevent a repeat of what happened to Derek by turning you into me, but I nearly ended up doing the opposite. You've become a better man than I could've imagined, Vince. I couldn't be prouder, and I know your mother would be so proud of you if she could see you now. Someday, I just know you'll find a woman you love as much as I love your mother."
It felt good to hear those things, Vince thought. So much had changed for him in the last couple weeks, and many of those changes were good. But it wasn't all smooth sailing, and some things hadn't quite changed yet. He was still afraid of water, but Boba told him he knew at least a few people who could teach him to swim so he wouldn't be as terrified. And unfortunately, Jacob wasn't changing as soon as Vince hoped his pep talk about how becoming a bully was wrong would. But, Mr. Hall was working to be a better father to both his sons (even if one of them was technically his grandson).
"You think you'll ever find love again, Dad? I mean like, for real." Vince said.
"That has yet to be determined, given what happened with my last 'marriage,'" said Mr. Hall. "But, in the event I do meet someone new, I'll be sure to be more careful before popping the question to her. If she treats you or Jacob even half as badly as Tatiana did, she can forget it. My boys come first. And tonight, one of them has an important date to get to."
Vince arrived at the entrance where Temple Guards awaited the arrival of dance attendees' dates from outside the Temple. Everyone who was coming from outside the Temple was sent a special ticket that would grant them clearance so they could be escorted into the dance.
The ballroom looked amazing! It looked even better than the school gym usually did for dances. Lots of beautiful ribbons, trees and flowers for an enchanted forest, little carriages on the tables as centerpieces, and some of the Jedi's horses stood all dressed up for pictures as people were dressed as fairy tale royals, and a lot of the younger kids were dressed like princesses, knights, or other fairy tale characters like Little Red Riding Hood.
"Wow. I know Omega said dances were unbelievably amazing, but this is beyond unbelievable."
"You made it," said Omega.
Benni froze, however, when he saw Omega in a green dress like Princess Anna (from Elsa's coronation). She even topped it off with an emerald tiara. He couldn't believe how gorgeous she was tonight. Learning she was a princess when he met her, he wouldn't have known it to look at her at first glance; most princesses didn't dress like soldiers. At least, not the ones he'd heard of. Now he definitely could believe she was a princess.
"Wow…" Benni gasped.
"You look great." Omega smiled, amid Benni blushing as he straightened his jacket.
"So do you." Benni cleared his throat.
Omega took Benni's arm then and brought him to the dance floor; she didn't ask him to the dance just so they could stare at each other all night.
Vince, on the other hand, looked around, but didn't see Myra among the crowd. He immediately feared the worst. Was Myra standing him up? Or had she asked him here as a prank? Vince started to think he should've known it was too good to be true, until another familiar voice spoke up.
"Sorry I'm late."
Vince looked behind him and was mesmerized by the beauty who stood before him.
Myra stood in a golden off-shoulder dress, her hair done in a lovely side ponytail held with a red rose. Vince had only ever seen Myra in a formal dress three other times: homecoming freshman year, one Life Day when he happened to walk by as Myra wore a beautiful green dress for a party she was attending, and in a video of Myra and her friends in a fashion show last summer just before the villain Drag Queen attacked. But tonight, she was definitely a dream come true.
"Whoa." Vince said.
Myra couldn't help finding it amusing because for once Vince was genuinely flustered by a girl, and she couldn't deny Vince looked dapper tonight. But, he also seemed to have forgotten how to talk and do everything else except stare and drool.
"So, are you gonna escort me to the dancefloor, or are you just gonna stand there drooling all night?"
Vince turned red and shook himself back to reality. This was the first time he was on a real date; he wasn't sure what to do next. Quickly, he thought. What did guys in romantic movies do at a time like this? And then he remembered one thing. He took Myra's hand and kissed it, and then he walked her over to the dance floor where everyone was getting down, having a great time!
Everything was amazing at the dance. Even the treats were beautifully crafted to match the fairy tale theme. The forest critter cookies were so adorable, especially the deer. People almost didn't eat them because of how adorable they were.
Believe it or not, this was the first time Vince had actually been to a dance since freshman year. He just always felt embarrassed never having a date, and he didn't want to go as a group with the football players either. So, he usually just made up an excuse. Usually, he'd say he was sick, grounded, or he was stuck babysitting Jacob, and then he would go to the animal shelter to play with the puppies. Lots of teenage boys look forward to getting kissed on the night of a dance, and Vince definitely got lots of slobbery kisses… and a job he loved that also proved very therapeutic for him. But this was one dance he was glad he didn't make any excuses for. Especially when the lights changed, and a slow song began to play.
Vince immediately recognized the melody. Sometimes, when he was alone, he looked at old home movies that featured his mom. Many of them were of her playing with him and taking care of him as a baby, but he'd also found an older one that was filmed on his parents' wedding day. Vince's mom and dad danced their first dance to this very song, and now it was his turn to dance to it with the girl of his dreams.
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Vince positioned himself the way he'd seen his father do with his mom in their wedding dance video, and held one hand around Myra's waist, but was very careful, not wanting to provoke her. The other hand, he kept on her shoulder.
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Vince felt nervous dancing, but was surprised to see he was actually dancing very well alongside Myra. And Myra, she was surprised to find how light Vince was on his feet for someone so big and strong. Her ex-boyfriend never danced with her like this.
Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the beast
Myra looked so beautiful as Vince twirled her. It was definitely looking like a fairy tale now.
Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
And ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Oh
Oh
Myra and Vince weren't the only ones having fun, however. Remix and Comedia looked pretty happy, nuzzling with each other as they swayed together to the music. And Omega and Benni were both happily surprised when the latter turned out to be a better dancer than he thought.
Mmm, oh-oh-oh
Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Oh, oh, oh
Tale as old as time (ooh-ooh)
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong
When Vince really thought about it, this felt very fitting. He was trapped as a beast for a long time, but this beautiful girl here, she was a big part of what helped break the spell and free the prince charming inside him who'd been asleep for a long time.
Certain as the sun
Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast
Vince couldn't help looking into Myra's eyes. Myra, on the other hand, now that she was looking at Vince's, for once without him looking at her fearfully, she had to admit he had beautiful eyes. But as the song came to an end, Vince became tempted to do something he'd wanted to do with Myra for a long time. Except, he was also scared.
Oh, oh, oh
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Beauty and the beast
Vince closed his eyes and decided he was going to try and go for it, but when Myra said, "What are you doing?" He backed off quickly.
"Nothing!" Vince said, his face turning red.
Vince scolded himself in his head. Stupid! That's way too like the old you. You're not ready for this kind of thing. He started to think he'd definitely done something wrong. Maybe it was that he forgot to get her flowers? Maybe his breath smelled. Vince exhaled into his hand to check. Maybe he should've put some lip balm on? He didn't know anything about this kind of thing.
Since some were taking a rest from dancing, Vince decided he would grab some punch for himself and Myra. Hunter checked the punch every few minutes and guarded it. No way were the Jedi letting any of their dances end in disaster by someone spiking the punch. That was also why everyone who entered, whether they lived in the Temple or not, was swept for anything forbidden.
Boba was also getting some punch for himself and Roya, when he noticed Vince seemed frustrated about something.
"What's wrong with you?" Boba asked. "Date not going well?"
"It's going fine. Except, I had to stop myself from possibly getting pummeled." Vince said. "Can I tell you something?"
Boba was listening.
"I've never actually kissed a girl."
"You haven't?" Boba was surprised; Vince was older than him, and never once kissed a girl?
"Nope. Any date my dad set me up, they were only looking for fame and fortune, not kisses. Never really liked them enough for it anyway. The rare time one did try to kiss me, I usually scared them out of it… or I ended up sneezing before they could."
"Best you could come up with at the last second?"
"No. They just wore too much perfume."
That, Boba definitely understood. His maternal grandmother's perfume made him sneeze sometimes too. But he always got extra sneezy whenever he had to accompany any of the women in his family to the beauty shop, and the scented lotions, perfumes, and candles were fuming everywhere.
"Myra… she's the girl I've definitely dreamed of having my first with." Vince said. "But I don't wanna mess it up. I don't even know how to go about it. Do I kiss her? Or should I just let her kiss me? You've kissed your girlfriend before. Right?"
Boba did confess, he and Roya kissed many times, but the first time they had, she kissed him first. There were many times Boba had wanted to kiss her since they had their first date, but he always chickened out for pretty much the same reason Vince did moments ago. He really didn't know much about the right way to do a first kiss.
"I don't really know much about first kisses, except that they are special. Maybe you should wait a couple dates, though. You know, take more time to really know Myra and let her know you? She did only just start warming up to you."
Vince thought about it and realized it made sense. Relationships didn't happen overnight. It looked as though he would just have to be patient with Myra.
Myra, on the other hand, knew Vince had tried to kiss her, but she stopped him because she wasn't ready for that just yet. At least Vince stopped himself and respectfully decided to give her some space by getting some punch for her. Vince seemed like he was turning a new leaf okay, but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea. Given his past "dating life," he definitely needed a taste of what a girl who was genuine was like, and a few hands-on lessons on how to win over a girl who couldn't be won by family fortune and/or status alone. She hadn't really thought about dating since she dumped her ex-boyfriend for cheating on her, but she knew if she did get a new boyfriend, she wouldn't settle for just anyone. Sure, Vince was handsome, he was rich, he was good with animals, and he was even working to overturn the bad rap he made himself in school. Still, it was gonna take more than one date for him to win her heart, and even more effort to keep her.
"What do you think?" Comedia asked Myra. "Think he has a chance of winning you over?"
"Hmm… I don't know. I never thought of myself as shallow or a gold-digger." Myra said. She pretended to think. "I'm pretty sure I'm neither of those things. He can buy me all the bling he wants, but if he turned out to be anything like that cheater Devon, I wouldn't even let him buy me a pack of gum."
"You definitely got spirit that can only match that of an equine, Myra. I always liked that about you."
"And I like that you've always had the guts to go for your dreams. Who'da guessed you'd go for a deejay of all stallions? I woulda guessed you'd date someone in comedy."
"I did once. Didn't last long, thanks to my parents. But, I guess it was just as well. Dating Remix has made me realize… sometimes the someone you're with isn't a great match because you have everything in common or you finish each other's sentences, but because their differences to you balance you out and get you outside of your comfort zone."
"Since when did you become an expert on love?"
"Since I learned to always make sure I'm giving my dad and his date a real drink and not a love poison." Comedia remembered all too well that incident with trying to help Master Mundi with his love life by setting him up on a simple date with Carmine's adoptive mother Ms. Susy.
Myra couldn't help chuckling. That was a pretty crazy adventure, but by the time Ki-Adi and Ms. Susy were broken out of the spell, at least they weren't too mad at Comedia, especially given that it was an accident. Ki-Adi had to confess he appreciated that Comedia wanted to help him find a good woman, and Susy thought it was admirable that Comedia actually wanted her father to find true love. Most teenagers she knew gagged at the thought of their parents' love lives, calling them outdated and such, even if they were romantic and movie-worthy.
"Yeah, how could we forget that incident?"
"It's not funny, Myra. That was the one time I wasn't trying to prank anyone's tea. I would never use love poison or any dangerous potion for a prank for that matter. I don't mess with true love, that I take seriously. And if Vince wants to kiss you, he's gotta show you he's serious about you."
"That, I concur."
The rest of the dance turned out pretty well. Not surprisingly, the younger dancers didn't stay too late, seeing as they got sleepy and were carried to bed by their parents or masters. All night though, Vince did his best to be a gentleman to Myra. He poured her some punch, pulled out her chair, even put his jacket on her when she got cold (though, that was merely because she'd been sitting close to an air vent). Vince never did get a kiss that night, but he still had a good time with Myra just dancing, conversing, and just trying to show her a good time.
When Vince got home that night, he felt a mixture of emotions. The date seemed to go well, but it was abundantly clear Myra was going to be more challenging to win over. But, he was determined to win her heart, and he was going to do it the right way.
Two days later, as Myra and her family were having breakfast, a droid came to the apartment with a delivery for Myra. A bouquet of red roses, with a little card that said, "Roses are red, with thorns that are sharp. They remind me of you, who brings beats to my heart. Signed, your secret admirer."
"Isn't that sweet?" Brenda said. Then she looked at her husband. "You haven't gotten me flowers in a while."
Mace sighed. No one ever said marriage would be easy all the time, if ever.
Myra had to admit, the roses were nice, and the poem written on the card wasn't too bad either. She had a pretty good feeling who her secret admirer was. If her hunch was correct, maybe, just maybe, she would be looking at the start of a new chapter in her love life.
I just never get tired of Beauty & the Beast. I hope you've enjoyed this piece of my Enchanted Jedi Adventures Series. As of now, I will be making all EJA stories separately. It'll make writing them a lot easier to me, plus I can design fun covers for a few of them.
Please continue to review and I'll see you in the next story! :)