Once Upon a You | A Beauty and the Beast Retelling ✔️

1 | The Stranger (Bea)

"O.M.G, I heard she flew to the beach in her private helicopter," a voice to my left whispers, but of course, loud enough for me to hear it. 

I scrunch up my face and exhale irritably through my nose —the same frustrated tic I've been doing since... my whole life. 

"I heard she has her own personal clothes designer," a voice to my right doesn't even bother to whisper.

I finally reach the assigned locker and harrumph. The bloody peasants in this backwater town can't seem to keep their mouths shut. I don't even know why I'm inviting everyone to my party tonight.

I heard she humiliated her friend in front of millions of Insta-viewers, they forgot to add. 

"Redial, dammit, Siri," I order my iPhone 13 Max. "Yuma, I can't believe you hung up on me. Come on. This will wear off. I swear I'm still the same girl who played with Bratz dolls with you." I take a deep breath.  " I wanted to say I didn't mean to..."

The phone lets out a sad squeal and the animated screen turns pitch black.

"Dammit, I wasn't done! This is why I hate leaving messages! Stupid, stupid, stupid battery life!" I fling the thing against the opposite wall. 

A bunch of students standing nearest to me gasp and cover their faces with their hands. 

Great. More gossip. With my luck, someone filmed me and I will be the next Instagram viral video. Or end up in the principal's office. Again.

I never seem to be able to make a true human connection, except with me, myself and I.

Sooner or later, everything just goes to utter shit.

Tears stinging my eyes, I make a sharp turn into the nearest bathroom and my super-hot Pacific foods vanilla soy-latte lands smack-dab on someone's bare chest.

"Aaaargh!" That someone yelps and I can only imagine that the coffee burns like a motherfucker. 

The guy in question is a scrawny tall thing, with twig arms that would be poking out of the boxy New Town High gym shirt. If he wore one. 

Turns out, he's only wearing a flimsy towel around his waist.

"Christ!" I snarl, almost slipping on the latte-stained tiles. 

"So... So sorry. I... I didn't mean to," he stammers and places his hands on my shoulders to steady me. 

His palms are warm and big. 

I blink. 

He's turned to face me, his eyebrows lifted, a teasing? half-smile prancing on his lips.

"What?" I growl at him.

"Nothing, just... You look all squinty," he says.

Mortification washes over me. I am not quite sure what he's insinuating but I sure as hell wasn't staring at him. He just... Happened to be in my line of vision, and... Happened to look differently from what I expected him to look like. It was only natural for my gaze to linger.

Standing up straighter and puffing my chest, I enunciate. "You scared me shitless. What're you doing in the girls' bathroom?" 

Flush and paleness fight for control on the guy's face. He clears his throat, and flush wins—his cheeks are now holding a vibrant red shade, as he shakes his head.

"I see you are into wearing casual clothes? As I live and breathe. Did the robot that controls your body get overheated in the school uniform?" I snicker.