Eleven O'Clock Number

MUSICAL #2: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

02: YOU STILL HAVEN'T ACCEPTED MY THREE YEAR-OLD FRIEND REQUEST

« ...but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within. »

Sun 15.23, Toby Martin: heeeeey allison!! ive got the musical we should watch next! evr seen beauty and the beast??

IT IS THIS text that has been the bane of Allison's existence for the past two days.

The truth is, yes, Allison has seen Beauty and the Beast, but the last time she did so, she was six. As in, less than half the age she is now.

"This is not okay," she groans to herself. "This is so far from being okay that I don't even know what it is."

"Torture? Terror? Indescribable pain?" Lydia offers, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"Something like that," Allison sighs. "I think the word I'm looking for is Disney, actually."

"Disney," Lydia repeats slowly.

"Yep."

"Well, I am completely and utterly lost, but, luckily for you, I'm not going to let that stop me from giving you the actually half decent manicure that you are so desperately in need of," she announces, extracting her nail polish collection from the drawer in her bedside table. "What colour?"

"Whenever I pick a colour, you still end up painting my nails with the one you chose instead," Allison points out, raising a brow.

"True," Lydia hums in agreement. "But I like to make you feel like you have a choice."

"Even when I don't?"

"Especially when you don't."

"Okay...that reddy-orange one."

"Great choice!" Lydia beams, plucking the pale pink bottle from the box. Allison fights back a smile, rolling her eyes instead.

Fifteen minutes later, and Allison is in full-on rant mode, with Lydia painting her nails and silent but for the sympathetic noises she emits every now and again. It's a role reversal that occurs probably with the same frequency of a lunar eclipse.

(The last time this happened was, predictably, after her and Daniel broke up. Lydia listened to her talk for two hours straight without saying a word. Allison can only imagine how much self-restrain that must've taken.)

"...like, musicals is one thing, but Beauty and the Beast? Really?"

"It's probably not going to be as bad as you think," Lydia says, examining her work on the nail of Allison's index finger closely.

Allison splutters in incredulity, looking utterly betrayed. "Seriously, Lydia? You're siding with him?"

"I'm not siding with anyone. I'm just saying. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture in ninety-one," her best friend informs her, once again displaying her superior knowledge on everything ever. "It can't be all bad."

"Lydia," Allison groans, dragging out the vowel sounds. "It's Disney! It's always bad!"

"Bullshit," Lydia pauses her work to point the nailbrush in Allison's direction accusingly. "You just don't believe."

"Since when have you ever liked Disney?"

"I don't. It's pathetic. But not as pathetic as your whining."