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Chapter Text

Annabelle 'Belle' Green was an A* top of the class student who still continued to gain neutral friends. No one could really understand how someone who typically would be at the bottom of the social food chain, was nearly at the top. There was nobody in her year that you could define as the popular kid, or kids or group. Everyone had their friends and every one stayed within their own group for everything. Annabelle was just too nice for people too bully.

She had dark brown hair with ridiculously blue eyes, and seemed to have the physique every girl wished for because of the amount of sport she did and yet she wore clothes that didn't even come close to showing off her figure. Her pleated tartan skirt was only about 3 inches above her knee, her black blazer was a little too big, she wore standard lace up shoes and black knee high socks with her hair permanently in French braids or a bun.

Belle was hardly the most attractive girl in her year. Many surpassed her on that mark, but she still got attention and jealousy from the other girls. But at the age of sixteen and a half she had never had a boyfriend and never been kissed, unless you count non alcoholic spin the bottle, but that doesn't really count considering they were twelve with no previous experience.

Her strict all girls school had set her up for a life at a top English university and a job generating money out of her ears. The only reason she tried at school was because everything was boring and she had nothing else to do. Between playing lacrosse and netball and revising every other minute, she had no time to do anything. Except reading, that was the one other pass time Belle was allowed, aside from the two hours of tv everyday that her parents graced her with. Plus the fact she was an only child it just added to the problem.

On Saturdays, Belle would go to her two hour county netball practice that was opposite the boys county rugby team. She would often stare out to the boys and critique them in her head, even if she was a kind hearted goody goody, she wanted to play a violent sport or do something rebelious. Her sheltered home life just restricted her. The netball courts went right down to the entrance of the changing rooms, so there was no way of actually getting to the rugby pitches without entering another way, so Belle had to settle with watching.

Until one day, a boy came up to the the side of the netball courts on his way back into the changing rooms with his luminous orange gumsheild hanging out of his mouth between his teeth and his whole face and body caked with mud. Belle was just putting away the last of the sports bibs when she noticed him staring at her with a smug look on his face.

Belle gave the bag of bibs to someone else and picked up a stray ball that was rolling across the concrete. Walking across the painter yellow and white lines she furrowed her brow at the boy.

"I see you looking at us all the time when your playing." He told her.

"Your point is?" She asked.

"I'm just saying, what's your name?" She didn't answer. "Well, I'm Stephen. Now it's only common courtesy that you tell me your name."

"Fine. I'm Annabelle." He stuck a hand out behind the fencing and she smiled and stuck out hers. They had a mock handshake without touching and he smiled at her.

"Do you want to play rugby? 'Cause we have a girls team and they are happy to take as many girls as they can find. It's on Tuesday from 6:30 to 7:30." She considered it in her head until she remembered that she always revised for science on Tuesday

"Perhaps." She muttered. "Well it was nice knowing you Stephen, I shall see you la-"

"ANNABELLE GREEN! GET IN THIS CHANGING ROOM, NOW!" Annabelle turned and it was her mum or her 'assistant coach' as she got Annabelle to call her.

"Your coach?" Stephen asked with a laugh.

"My mum actually, I'll see you outside the center?" He nodded and she ran into the changing room with a smile.

When she walked out the centre with the rest of her team she stayed back and waited, leaning against the wall. Stephen's teammates had alreadly got out and were on there way home when he came out the the doors and smiled at Annabelle.

"Hey." He said coming over.

"Hey." She replied and pulled down her skort discretely at the back.

"Are you free next Saturday?" Stephen said as he pushed a hand through his hair. It was light brown and was pushed back away from his face.

"In the afternoon, yeah." He grinned at her and seemed to blush a little. Belle smirked and looked at the floor.

"Well, do you want to go out? We could go and see a movie?" He seemed so eager that she didn't have the heart to say no.

"Alright."

"Could you do next Saturday at about 6p.m?" He asked her with a still mud caked face.

"Yeah, I think so." She said blushing. Then Belle's mother came storming out of the centre and yelled at her to get a move on with a glare sent Stephen's way. Stephen just smiled at her and wasn't intimidated at all.

Thinking about the Saturday to come, she smiled to herself and leant her head against the window.

By Monday morning she had been thinking Stephen constantly and couldn't wait till next Saturday. She met up with her best friend Ruby at the end of her road and they began walking toward their school. Her mother would always say that Ruby was a bad influence on her. But Annabelle would have always been the way she is. No matter of she had met Ruby, but her friend didn't improve things...

"Want one?" Ruby asked, offering her a fag. Belle took one and they stopped behind a tree to light them. 

"Where did you get these ones?" She asked in a muffled voice as the covered the cigarette and Ruby lit it. 

"From my brothers girlfriends house, she'll think it was my brother." Annabelle smiled and they began walking, fag in hand, taking a drag every few minutes. 

"My parents would murder you on the spot if they knew about this. Just so you know." Ruby didn't seem to intimidated.

"Oh yeah, your middle aged parents trying to chase a national sprinter." Inhaling the smoke, Ruby looked up at the sky and sighed as she breathed out. 

"I suppose it's a little far fetched. But we couldn't run forever."

"I could." Ruby said defensively. "Oh look, there's Mary Margaret with her Prince Charming, ugh they make me sick." The two approached David and Mary-Margaret who were eating each other's faces off and touching each other up just on the pavement. They stood a few meters from them and Ruby coughed loudly. 

"Uh hmm hello, we need to go, and gross." She took Mary-Margaret's hand and dragged her away from David. Annabelle stayed back and smiled at him. 

"Sorry about her. She's protective." 

"You don't say, anyway, I should probably run to school now. Bye Annabelle." Then he ran the other way to where they were going. 

"Oh he's so dreamy isn't he." Mary-Margaret said in a daze as she flicked her long black hair out of her face. 

"Yeah, the dreamiest." Ruby said sarcastically while raising her eyebrows and holding her fag between her two fingers and looking like she had always been holding one. 

"I don't even care that your being like this because you both love me and I love you." She said putting her arms around her two friends. 

One of her many loves was English and after school she had her book club, this week they were reviewing Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. It's the whole story about a group of English school- boys getting stuck on a desert island and how some of them go a bit wacko and start to have an urge to kill, then it all get's a bit dark and stabby... Her favourite quote was His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink. It's about when Jack has killed his first pig and is contemplating. He shows that not only felt exhilarated, but also that he gets the excitement from the fact that he has 'outwitted' a creature. It's here that Jack's real obsession begins. 

Walking to the bus stop that day it was pouring with rain and the pavements and roads seemed barren, no one was around and it just happened to be when her bag broke. The straps had been getting a little worn lately but her satchel just fell to the floor and sent papers flying everywhere and her books in the water and mud. The wind was making the edges of the paper try and fly away as they stuck to the cold ground. Annabelle groaned and began to pick up the papers when she noticed other rustling behind her, looking around a man was picking up the books and papers.

She just turned back around and picked the rest of what she could see up, and shoved it into her bag. The man walked up to her and she noticed his black cane, twinned with his black coat, umbrella and suit. He handed her the papers and books with a smile and Annabelle shoved them into her bag also.

"Thank you." She said with her hair sticking to her head.

"Please, I can't let you freeze in the cold, walk under my umbrella." Without any thought she smiled and walked over to him, he must have been in his late thirties and stood about two heads taller than her and she detected the eminent Scottish accent.

"What's your name?" Annabelle asked him.

"Mr Gold." She smirked slightly.

"Well Mr Gold, I am Miss Annabelle Green." She stuck out a hand and he shook it.

"Such a lot of books for someone who doesn't seem much older than fifteen." Rolling her eyes she clutched the satchel to her stomach.

"I'm sixteen and a three quarters actually, and I do more extra work than anyone at my school, thank you." His eyebrows rose.

"I didn't realise I was in the presence of Miss Green the almighty." He joked and she laughed.

"No you did not. How dare you not realise." She said sarcastically.

"Are you near here?" He asked looking ahead.

"Just around the corner I'm afraid. But I think we should stop at this tree, I don't want my father seeing me walking home with a man he doesn't know everything about. He would flip out." Mr Gold stopped.

"It just so happens I finish here too." He was standing next to a car, and old fashioned one that looked kind of vintage. But not so old that it was about to fall apart.

"I love these new cars! But I suppose this must only be a couple of months old." She exclaimed.

"I'm just glad you appreciate modern things like I do. If your also interested in vintage and older things, I own the antiques shop in town, and it's full of things like first edition books, and you seem to have a mild obsession with books." Annabelle smiled then walked out into the rain again and faced Mr. Gold.

"Thank you Mr. Gold. I look forward to seeing you again, and I'll take you up on that offer of the shop." She smiled, turned and ran home before he had a chance to say anything in reply.

Chapter Text

On Wednesday, Annabelle walked into town after school with Ruby and Mary-Margaret. Her excuse was so she could just be out from her house, but really, she wanted to see Mr. Gold.

"You two can meander for a bit, In going to check out this antiques shop." She said, and her friends looked utterly confused.

"Your going into an antiques shop?" Ruby asked as she rolled up her school skirt and looked around for the boys walking home from chool.

"I am." Belle said, staying strong

"Okay then... we'll wait here for the boys." Mary-Margaret said as her and Ruby walked to the other side of the high street.

Walking toward the shop, Annabelle suddenly got nervous even though she didn't know why. Straightening her skirt and hair in the glass of the window she heard a cough behind her. As she turned red faced, she saw Mr. Gold standing there in the same clothes he had been in when she had met him on Saturday, just with a red tie rather than grey.

"Hello." She said hurriedly and he smiled slightly.

"Straightening up for some special boy?" Well, a special man. Her brain said, and she hit her leg discretely because of it.

"No, no, no I was just... you know making sure I didn't look like a wreck." She said with a anxious voice.

"I see your bag is fixed." He nodded to the satchel that's strap was being held together by various amounts of string and ribbon.

"Hardly, it only just functions as a bag. I'm getting a new one soon. Probably for my birthday." He nodded.

"Do you like music, concertos I mean, and dinners and things like that?" Annabelle held her breathe, was he going to ask her on a date?

"I've never really been to either of them." She admitted.

"I propose to take you to a concerto and a dinner with my two friends Regina and Robin. What do you say?" Her face lit up and she crossed one of her legs over the other.

"Okay." She squeaked then turned red and shut her eyes. "I meant yes." She said normally.

"Yes, well. I can pick you up on Saturday at about 8 pm." Without thinking she agreed.

"I just have to convince my parents." Mr. Gold took a step toward her.

"Leave some of that too me." He smiled and walked past her into his shop. Annabelle looked ahead and saw her two friends staring at her with their gobs wide open in shock. But she didn't care, she followed Mr. Gold into his shop and left them standing there.

"I love all this stuff." She said as she ran her hands over the various cabinets, glass, wood and fabric that held precious things in them. She walked over to the counter and picked up a gold frame, there was a man in it. He looked young, younger than Mr. Gold by a fair way, he was wearing a shirt, tie and a blue sweater with brown trousers. He stood with a blonde woman and a brunette boy. They were all smiling and looked very happy.

"Who's this?" Annabelle asked as he walked over. She felt his breath on her neck and closed her yes momentarily.

"Well Belle, you don't mind if I call you Belle?" She shook her head. "He's my brother. His names Neal, that's his wife Emma and their son Henry." She nodded.

"You can only call me Belle if I know your first name and why I've never heard of you, I mean I've been here before but never seen you." His breath stayed at her neck and she felt a heat in her underwear.

"Well, my name is William Gold, and I've only just moved here a few months ago really, and owned the shop a few weeks. Does that satisfy?" Annabelle felt his hand on her hip and his breath closer to her neck and his chest against her back and she breathed in and out a little louder, just managing to nod. "Good." He muttered. Then his body was apart from hers and he walked around to behind the counter so there was a space between them. Belle blushed and couldn't reach his eye.

"So I'll see you on Saturday?" She nodded and was too embarrassed to look at him, he gently brought her face up with a finger. "There's nothing to be ashamed of." Mr. Gold told her.

"Can I call you Will?" She teased.

"Only if I can call you Belle." He said and Belle laughed.

"I can come here on Thursday after school, if you'll be here." Will nodded and touched her hand over the counter.

"I will understand if you don't want to know me, I won't be offended but you might as well just-"

"No I promise I do. Sorry for interrupting you but, I do. I promise." He smiled and Annabelle squeezed his hand. "I've got to go, my friends will think you've kidnapped me." Then she ran out the shop and up to her friend that still looked surprised.

"Who the hell was that!" Ruby yelled as Belle ran over to them.

"No one." She said as people from the boys school began coming down the lane. Mary-Margaret looked out for David and Ruby looked for whoever was interested in her. Belle wasn't really paying attention when she saw Stephen. He was in his cricket whites with a blazer over the top and a sports bag slung over his shoulder. It was then that she remembered Saturday and she had to tell him. Then Stephen saw her and came over. Ruby gave her a sideways glance as her and Mary-Margaret walked to go meet David.

"Hey, we set for Saturday?" He asked and Belle shook her head.

"My parents won't let me go out with boys, and my mother thinks your troublesome. She's made plans for me every Saturday now, I have tutoring for most of Saturday now." Stephens face seemed to fall a little.

"Well... it was good meeting you, I suppose it was good to be short lived." She nodded and stood around awkwardly.

"I'll see you soon I suppose." Belle said. He nodded and blushed before turning around and walking away a little quicker. That white lie wouldn't hurt right? She wasn't sure.

"Who was that? Who are all these males you are not telling me about." Ruby said running over. She raised her left eyebrow and smirked a little.

"You have plenty of male friends you don't tell me or your parents about." Belle put her arm around her friend and they walked toward Mary-Margaret and David who were slogging, again.

"There is a lot my parents don't know about me." She said taking a compact mirror out of her blazer pocket. She looked at herself and messed about with her hair before pouting and putting the mirror away.

"Your man friend wouldn't happen to have a bathroom would he?" Belle blushed at her question.

"You are using the park toilets if you want a big mirror, and I'm not asking him." Was what she said before Ruby propelled her toward the shop and she almost fell into the door that she forgot was a push and as she leant on the door she quickly fell into the shop with bang and a yelp.

She soon heard a shout from the back and then a humongous amount of laughing from outside from Ruby who sounded like she was dying of laughter. A few seconds went by and she got up as quickly as she could with zero dignity. Brushing herself down she found that Mr. Gold had been standing in front of her the whole time and had a smile on his face.

"I'm glad I gave you something to smile about." She said with a giggle. "You wouldn't have a bathroom my friend could use would you?" He nodded and Annabelle yelled at Ruby who came running over stifling a laugh as she stood up straight and got serious, pulling down her skirt and looking more professional than usual.

"And who might you be?" She said in a very fatherly protective voice.

"Mr. William. Gold." As he said it he stuck out his hand and shook Ruby's, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"A firm handshake. My father said that that was always a good thing in a man." Ruby said back. "You'll do." Was all she said. "Where's the bathroom?" Gold directed her into the back of the shop. While he was gone, Belle looked around.

She found all different sorts of precious looking ornaments, jewelry and especially old books. There were shelf apon shelf of vintage and first edition books. Taking a green book from the lowest shelf, it said Lolita on it. She had never heard of the book, but looking inside, she saw it was only eleven years old.

The blurb read. "She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita." Lolita is the fictional memoir of Humbert Humbert, and it is named after the character who becomes the object of Humbert's twisted love and fascination. The story traces the growing obsession of an older man with an adolescent girl.

Running her hand over the cover she heard a noise behind her and turned around, book still in hand. It was Will. He stood on the other side of a table.

"What's that one?" He asked slowly walking over.

"Lolita, never heard of it." She told him.

"A wee bit disturbing is that one. He's basically a paedophile, she's twelve he's about forty. It's all a bit strange." Raising her eyebrows she put the book back.

"Won't be reading that one." Annabelle muttered.

"Belle, if you want to borrow something, you can, this place never gets used enough so you might as well." She smiled at him and walked around the table to stand in front of him.

"I will be back, don't worry." At that moment Ruby came loudly out of the bathroom and took Annabelle by the arm. "Bye Will!" She called as she was dragged out of the shop and down the lane.

"Your looking fancy." Belle told Ruby as she saw her red lip and slightly lined eyes.

"Well, me you and Mary-Margaret are going somewhere today. Oh and David, he can come I guess... We have a party to go to. Tell your parents your going to mine and I'll tell my mum to cover for us." She told all three of them, Belle, Mary-Margaret and David nodded as they walked home.

Chapter Text

Surprisingly enough, Belle's super over protective parents actually bought the whole I'm going to Ruby's house story. In fairness, she was going to Ruby's, but not for the same reason her parents thought.. She had told her parents it was a sleepover but they would be revising for her exams, that were in a few months, as if she would. They would just be happy if she died an old spinster with a degree.

As she walked down to Ruby's with a sports bag full of everything she would need, Ruby had most of the stuff she would actually need to be honest. Annabelle always borrowed her clothes because her parents would rather find her dead than in a mini skirt. She was aloud to wear skirts and dresses that were either below her knee or just above, but no shorter.

When she got to Ruby's, Mary-Margaret and Tink were alreadly there. You might wonder why she is named Tink, well her name is actually Violet Bell, and when the Peter Pan movie came out a few years ago, Annabelle and her friends decided that Violet held such a close resemblance to Tinker Bell, and of course her second name, that they would nickname her after the fairy. Violet didn't really mind because the other girls had fairytale nicknames too. Annabelle was called Belle (from the book La Belle et la Bête) because of her name and because she studied a lot, Ruby was often called Red after red riding hood, because of her quick to act nature plus she loved wolves but they could hardly call her the big bad wolf, and Mary-Margaret was called Snow because she had the purest and kindest soul anyone had ever known with the darkest hair and lightest skin they had ever seen.

"What did you guys bring?" Annabelle asked, considering she was the only one borrowing.

"Well I'm wearing red cocktail dress with my hair down and those nice red heels that are kinda my mum's but she wont mind. Hopefully anyway." Tink grinned.

"Wait so, if your going in red. I'm going in green and Mary-Margaret is going in white what colour is Belle going as? We all have our name sakes I suppose, what colour did Beauty wear in La Belle et la Bête?" The girls looked at the wardrobe then back to Belle and began giggling and smiling.

After maybe two hours of trying to pick out outfits for everyone, the four girls met up with David and he drove them all to the house in his dad car. It wad the party house that Annabelle knew nothing about, she had just accepted the offer of something other than revision. As they pulled into Yew Tree Close the houses suddenly tripled in size. They had about four floors and were the width of three normal sized detached houses. But they parked near the biggest house, it was lit up from inside and out and seemed to glow. There was music blaring and yells and about s from all around inside.

"Woah." Belle said pressing her face against the window and staring open eyed at the spectacular thing she was seeing. She had never seen houses so big before.

"Come on then. The guys name is Harry Peterson and he's goes to my all boys school. His parents are so loaded, something about his dad creating a cleaner or something. He alreadly knows me and Mary-Margaret, and Ruby but not you two." He looked at Tink and Belle.

"Do we need to know him?" Tink asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Obviously you dont have too. But if you want to you know, increase you circles. I'd stick together and meet as many new people as possible." The five got out of the car and Belle stood in the middle of Tink and Ruby.

"Ready to fuck up our alreadly small social life?" Tink asked them.

"As ready as I always am to make a fool out of myself. Shall we just add this to the times I fall over in public? Let's be honest, it's probably going to happen." Ruby smiled and pulled down the top of her dress just a little. Belle rolled her eyes as they walked in.

After about two hours, Belle was dancing around completely intoxicated, she didn't know how much or what she had drunk. All she knew was that she felt great, running outside into the big garden with Tink with no shoes on, they just starting laughing for no reason and spinning around until they fell onto the grass giggling and staring up at the sky.

"Belle. Can you keep a secret?" Tink said to loudly next to her ear with a slurred laugh.

"Of course a bloody well can!" Belle yelled. The two girls clutched each other and laughed.

"Well. The host doesn't actually own the house. He just needed a big house to throw a party in. This is someone elses house, I have no idea who though." The blonde haired girl stared up at the dark abyss above her and sighed.

"Your being serious?" Belle asked, a little less slurry than before. ..

"Why would I lie?" She could think of numerous times that tink had lied. But the alcohol clouded her head and she hummed something to herself.

"We should go I think. I mean, we don't want to get caught her by the owner." That was what she had said.

But the next morning she was asleep on the sofa of the house the teens had trespassed in. Belle opened her eyes and her head thumped like the music the night before. All she could remember was balloons, something by Pink Floyd, strange tie dye curtains wait no that was just drink that was thrown on curtains, oh god and the pill. Whatever she had taken had sent her into a world of bright colours and distortion that made her want to jump up and down and shout. Then she thought back to hitting a pinanta and looking around she saw the sad looking beaten remnants of a pinanta horse and a load of sherbet from broken dip daps on the floor. Thinking of hitting the horse made her head pound even more.

Sitting up she looked down at herself and noticed she just had tights on and no shoes. She stood up and went looking for the yellow high heels. Passing a mirror she gazed at the pretty yellow dress she had on the had netting underneath it that made it puff out from her waist when she twirled. Pushing her hair behind her ears and padded silently around the house and passed teenagers that were just strewn over the floor; completely wasted.

Walking into the hall there were tall windows either side of the front door and she walked up to one of them, looking outisde she she onlookers gazing curiously at the mess before them. Then she saw someone heading for the door, running into the dining room she fell over someone and hid under the table. Looking at who she tripped over, it was Stephen. The boy who she had met at netball, he was groaning on the floor and Belle heard voices outside the door. She kicked the boy in the side to wake him but when he didnt wake up she grabbed him under the arms and pulled him under the table.

"Wake up." She hissed next to his ear, that's when the key turned in the lock. Stephen was starting to stir and Belle shuffled backwards whilst pulling him with her until they were behind the sofa. Peering over the back of the once white now splattered orange and green and blue sofa, Belle was watching the door open and was increasingly nervous for the other people that hadn't woken up.

An older woman- perhaps middle aged- was the first to come into the house and look around in horror. Belle had never seen her before but guessed she owned the house. The woman ran up the stairs and then there was a shriek and two people ran down the stairs and out the door. You only have to guess what they were doing. Leaning against the sofa she prayed that the woman wouldn't come into the room she was in and find her fully aware of the situation. If her parents knew she had been to a party, let alone got drunk and taken something that even she didn't understand fully, she would be locked away forever.

Belle needed to find Ruby, Tink, David and Snow before this situation went very wrong. She wasnt sure why she had pulled the boy she had met twice to safety. She guessed she felt sorry for his sleeping soul. Crawling behind the two sofa's that almost led to another door way, Belle looked through to another room and crawled along the floor to see her friends all in it. They were awake. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, at first she wanted to scream but she just turned and saw Stephen behind her. He smiled and she turned her head back around before crawling into the living room. Her friends looked open eyed at her and the boy and hurried her safely into the room.

"The owner. She's here!" Tink hissed.

"How the hell are we supposed to get to the car?" Ruby asked quietly. They all huddled in a corner of the room sheltered by a curtain.

"Where's the nearest window?" Stephen remarked and everyone but Belle looked at him with a glare.

"Good idea. But who are you?" David asked.

"The guy whoa asked out Annabelle but was turned down a few days after." Ruby and Tink sniggered and Belle elbowed them, hard.

"Let's go into the next room. I think it might lead to the kitchen that leads to the back doors." Snow said leading the group silently down the wall to the next doorway. In the next room there were more teens than before, all sleeping with beer bottles in hand and drinks spilled on them.

"Oh my god. Look, our escape." Snow said with a smile as she turned around. They all sprinted toward the doors that led out to a back way out of the house. Turning the door handle they ran down the lane next to the house with a yell behind them.

"You get back here! How dare you ruin my home!" The woman was chasing them at a slower pace and the teens sprinted toward the car with their shoes in hand. David unlicked the far and jumped into the drivers seat. Snow jumped onto David, Stephen in the passenger seat and Tink, Ruby and Belle in the back. The girls screamed at David to go and he raced off down the road. They were all laughing and screaming in joy at their escape.

A few minutes later they were at Ruby's house, Tink, Ruby, Belle and Stephen got out and waved goodbye to Snow and David.

"Sorry about barging in on you like that." Stephen said to the girls. He had his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his lips.

"Its alright. You weren't completely boring I suppose." Tink said with a snigger.

"Pay no attention to her. I'll see you soon anyway Stephen?" Belle asked and he nodded before turning and walking down the pavement to the bus stop.

On Saturday, Annabelle walked into town and to the antiques shop. As she walked in, no one was at the desk and she walked over to it. There was a blue book on the table and she picked it up. It read, La Belle etc la Bête only her namesake. It was her favorite tale of seeing past the features and loving someone for who they are, because that's all that really matters in the real world if you truly love someone it will be because of their personality, not how they've chosen ro look.

"Belle." She looked up and saw a smiling Mr Gold.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Very good actually. Did you hear about the house that got trashed by a party of teenagers? I knew the woman that owned the house. Had it coming to her if you ask me, but, there were maybe 60 or so girls and boys drunk and hungover in her house. Know anything about that?" Trying not to brush she shook her head slowly.

"No idea." Not looking at him she lay the book down.

"You not reconsidering tonight are you?" His voice was a little less confident than usual.

"No, no. Of course not. I just wanted to you know. Come down here." Belle blushed and couldn't meet his eye.

"Good. I'm sure you'll love it. Did I say 8.pm?" Belle smiled and nodded.

"Well. I should head off home. My mother will think I have died." He laughed and straightened his purple tie.

"Goodbye Belle." He said as she headed out of the door.

8.pm tonight would change her life.