Some Kind Of Beauty And The Beast

Chapter 2: Belle

Cason's POV

Tina's flirting. Cassidy's flirting. And we're back to Tina's... I scroll down my Whatsapp messages. Their tones are basically hurting my eyes. I seriously need a break. It only been several months since I first set foot in this school. I can already imagine their squeaky voice, them standing beside my locker, twirling their hair, blinking their eyes with a thick coat of mascara and eyeliner. I must admit, I really do enjoy making out with them, I really do, but sometimes, they bore me out so badly.

"Um, yes, I would like a cup of mocha and latte." The voice is that of a girl with thick glasses, in a messy bun and skinny jeans. She is slim and pretty but she is just not my style. She looks far too much like a goody-two shoes, I smirked. She looks familiar though, I must have seen her somewhere...

You are overthinking, dude...maybe she just has one of those faces.

Gradually, a smile creeps up on my face. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I draw my attention back to my phone.

Ali's POV

Late. "Ali," Maria said in a warning tone. "You know if you're late again," as she places her hand sideways in front of her neck, doing a quick sliding motion and a death glare. Yeah, because I clumsily slipped when there was already a sign that clearly warned us to be careful and spilled coffee on a handsome guy and thus threatened to be kissed and therefore I ended up wiping the coffee off for him, so in conclusion, the reason for my lateness. I was just planning on explaining it to Maria but seeing her 'you are just trying to make excuses and I will not believe it' face, I swallow my explanation back. Instead, I chose to apologise.

Smart move, Ali.

Maria handed me the Belle costume and wig as I changed quickly. I know this sounds childish, but as weird as this sounds, my part-time job here is to entertain kids as a princess and make their birthday party the best memory that they ever had. Seeing their naïve faces and innocent smiles, my heart melts. As much as I enjoy my part-time job, it is pretty embarrassing so only one person knows about it: Kat, my best friend.

Kat likes to be called as Kat, somehow. Not Katy, not Katherine, just plain old Kat. We've known each other since elementary school. Our personalities are as different as day and night: she is the social one and I am the nerdy one. She goes out clubbing while I stay at my cozy bedroom studying. Not that I'm a mute but I just don't like wasting time socialising to people who you might not even meet again. Instead of spending time wearing tight clothes, touched by drunken people, why don't we study harder so that we could get into a better university and have a brighter future?

We are a contrary pair of friends but I still love her like a sister. We have similarities, um... like our obsession towards food. Who would eat donuts at 7 in the morning? It would be us. Eating ramen or Chinese noodles at midnight? It would also be us. Kat is always groaning about how she should go on a diet. But let's be honest, she's got a killer body that anyone would die for. I don't think she needs to. On the other side, the only good thing about me except for my studiousness, is that I never get fat from eating... she envies about that.

By the way, tolerating my clumsiness is not a thing that any human being can handle so Kat definitely deserves a prize for doing that for seventeen years. (Sorry to Uncle Jack whose vase I had broken when I was cleaning the house, sorry to Mrs. Calendar, my neighbour, whose hamster nearly died because I gave it cheese that was far too big and it choked, almost leading to its early death...)

Anyway, today, we organised a surprise party for the 5-year-old orphan Christina. She simply adores Belle. So therefore, today's theme would be my favourite: Beauty and The Beast.

"Belle!" The kids screamed. They were obviously overwhelmed by the fact that somebody finally visited them in the all girls orphanage, let alone had a birthday party with a 'princess' that they all love. I stepped forward to embrace them. They are literally the cutest creatures in the world (maybe second, I like dogs more... but kids are also cute... argh...I don't know) why would any parents abandon them? They should definitely think twice before giving birth to them.

"So, who's the birthday girl?"

Everyone stepped back and separated, making a clear corridor in the middle of the crowd. There, at the very back, stood a girl, hiding her arms behind her back and swinging her body from side to side. A shy smile was formed on her rosy cheeks. I ran towards her (in a fake princess way that I was used to when I was at work) and scooped her up.

"Come here, princess Christina. Are you ready for your first birthday party? It is going to be the best one you've ever had!"

"Yes! But Belle... how do you know my name?"

"Oh," I smiled and touched the tip of her nose. "It is because you are a good girl and my princess power told me so."

Sweet little girl.

"Will I have it when I grow up? Will I see the prince too?" She tilted her head in confusion, her eyes looking into mine.

"Of course, as long as you treat others well and you will meet your prince charming one day, somewhere in this world." Putting her down, I bent down so that I was now same height with her and patted her head gently. "So, shall we start?"

For the rest of the party, we played with tea sets and had a tea party with the dolls. I also did some magic (this is my favourite part) which wowed the kids, making them stunned. The last activity planned would be making the flower crowns.

"First, take the color of the flower that you prefer," the kids almost rushed to the same spot all at once, snatching the flower. " Don't rush! " I laughed.

"Tie all these together... then add some glitter...after that ta-da, we are done with that." Finishing the craftwork, I put it on one of the kids' head. At this moment, we were all sitting on mats which were now filled with colorful glitters and petals that had fallen off from the paper flowers. It was a mess.

" Kids, it's time for Belle to go. Say goodbye." One of the staff came in and all of the kids groaned, some of them even cried. " Awww... don't be sad. I will come next time, yeah?" Wiping tears off from Christina, I hug each of them and blew them kisses.

"Thank you so much for coming, Ali. Christina hasn't been so happy since her parents' death." "It's no big deal, Ms. Daniels. I had a wonderful time here."

"Belle, please wait." A small voice whispered. I looked around to see little Christina standing at the doorstep. " Yes, sweetie?" My voice softened. She was clearly nervous about something. She handed me her flower crown and said, "This is my present to you, please come here more. Pinky promise?" I stuck out my pinky and intertwined mine to hers. I didn't realise the tears rolling down my face. "Promise." The crown was messy with glitter, but it was definitely one of the best gifts I had ever received. Smiling through my tears, I clutched her crown tightly and watched her go before I went to change.

"Boo!" I jumped at the voice just as I stepped out of the orphanage. I screamed.

"Hey beautiful, remember me?"

I looked up and immediately, I recognised him.