Beauty and the Beast (Jonnyboy au)

Little town

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away, but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.  And when he dismissed her again, the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late, for she had seen that there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast, and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there.

  Ashamed of his monstrous form, the beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.  As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

It was like any other day, in the small town of Tulsa, it being a quiet morning as a boy with redish-brown hair and the most beautiful gray eyes. Ponyboy walked down the streets of Tulsa to the library, a finished book in hands. He sighed to himself as he took in the silence of the town, before.. "good morning!" "Greetings!" "Bonjour!" (I had too) Everything was being opened, stores, windows, and of course the library Ponyboy was heading to. "Good morning Pony!" He heard as he passed by the bakery. "Oh, good morning Mr. Richardson." Ponyboy had replied back to the baker, stepping closer to the store. "Where you headed to kid?" Mr. Richardson had asked, curious as to why Ponyboy was out so early in the morning "Just to the library.", he answered. "I have to return this book I finished, it's about-", he had gotten interrupted mid sentence. "yea that's nice kid. GARY, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" Mr. Richardson had yelled as he walked away back into his bakery. Ponyboy stared at the doorway for a bit before continuing his way towards the library, hearing the bickering of the town as he walked.
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Ponyboy slowly opened the door to the library, it making a small creak as it was opened. "Oh, well good morning Ponyboy. I didn't expect to see you here so early.", he heard from above him, looking up to see his friend Cherry Valance on a ladder, her red falling over her eyes as she looked down at Ponyboy. Cherry sometimes worked at the library if she had free time. "Hey Cherry, just here to return a book." He greeted her, putting the finished book in a box that said 'returns'. "Do you have anything new in stock?" He asked the red head who was now beside him, staring up at him slightly. "Not since last week. Sorry Ponyboy.", she said softly to the boy next to her. "Oh it fine, i'll just take....this one." He said, pulling out a book with a blue cover. "But..you've already read that like three times Pone, why that one?" Cherry questioned, looking at Ponyboy with a small smile.

Ponyboy chuckled at Cherry's questioning smile before answering her question "this is my favorite book, why wouldn't I want to read it again?". Cherry shrugged a bit before going into thought, then she smiled brightly. "hey Pony," She called to him. "I'll let you have that book permanently since you like it so much, just- don't tell anyone, especially my boss." She said as she rubbed the back of her neck nervously at the thought of her boss finding out. Ponyboy felt his eyes winden a bit, a wide smile spreading on his face. "Really? Gee, thanks Cherry!", He said happily, giving Cherry a small hug before leaving the library.
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Ponyboy was sitting on the edge of the fountain, reading his book, when a kid walked up to him and asked him what he was reading. "Well it's a bit hard to explain. Do you wanna read with me?" he asked, holding the book a bit farther from him. The kid nods his head yes as he climbs on the the fountain and sits next to Ponyboy. Ponyboy continues to read out loud this time for the child next to him, when he stops and smiles widely. "Here's my favorite part where she meets 'prince charming', though she doesn't know it's him until chapter three", He explained excitedly, showing the child the page, making the little one smile. As they continued to read together, the child's mother soon came over and took her child away from Ponyboy, giving him a scowl before leaving with her son.
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"Isn't he beautiful?" Dallas Winston said looking at Ponyboy from afar, his friend Steve Randle right beside him.(WORK WITH ME HERE IT TOOK FOREVER TO DECIDE WHO WOULD BE GASTON 😭😭) "I mean, sure I guess.." Steve responded, uninterested in Dally's words, mostly thinking about someone else. Dally was in too much of a trance to understand what Steve said. Dallas gathered up the courage, walking up to the  beautiful brunette. "Good morning Ponyboy, lovely book you have there." Dallas said as he walked along with Ponyboy who looked up when be heard Dally. "Oh, have you heard of it?" He asked the tall dirty blonde. Dally stared blankly at Ponyboy with a grin before saying, "well, not that one, but you know...books." moving in front of Ponyboy to stop him from walking.