It was finally opening night, and everyone was freaking out. Last night, they had all watched North High's production of Beauty and the Beast. To say it was amazing would be an understatement. Howie was fantastic as the Beast and Lily — although Dylan would never admit it aloud — was incredible as Belle. It was also bad because both Ricky and Ashlyn had braces on their wrists after Ricky's fall the other night.

Currently, everyone was either running around on the stage or gathered in the bomb shelter to get ready for the show. Dylan was going over lines in her head, taking deep breaths when Nini approached her with a card.

"For you." Nini handed her the card. "Don't open it until later."

"I'm freaking out Nini."

"Why?" Nini furrowed her eyebrows. "You'll be great."

"Not about the show." Dylan stated.

"Okay, about what then?"

"Me and EJ went on our date the other day, and it was great. The only problem is... we haven't spoken about it since he dropped he home that night." Dylan explained.

"Dylan, seriously." Nini laughed, Dylan hitting her in response. "He likes a lot, okay? Just talk to him."

"Fine." Dylan turned around, coincidently bumping into EJ, who was smiling at her nervously. "Hey."

"Hi." The two just stared at each other for a few moments, before EJ broke the awkward silence. "So, I just bumped into your dad, and, he, uh, he invited me to dinner tomorrow."

"Oh my god." Dylan's eyes widened. "Do not feel pressured to come if you don't want to."

"No, I want to." EJ told her. Dylan smiled softly at the boy, who reciprocated the action.

"Your eyebrows and sideburns look stupid by the way." Dylan laughed slightly.

"There she is." EJ muttered, joining in the laughter.

"Okay, half hour call!" Natalie shouted, leaving Ashlyn's side after bedazzling her wrist and walking across the bomb shelter.

"Wildcats!" Miss Jenn called. "Villagers! My friends and allies." All of the moved to stand in a circle, Dylan standing in between EJ and Gina, "As you know, there is a judge out there in the audience tonight, who is very important to the future of this theatre program. He is going to score every performance, our music, our sets, Lord help us, even me. And in two weeks at the Menkies, we could win..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Fifty thousand dollars."

All of them let out exclaims of joy, "So, tonight we are going to put the U in Utah!"

Nobody laughed or reacted, except for Seb, who clapped once to give Miss Jenn a reaction. Dylan smiled softly at Seb.

Miss Jenn turned to Ricky and Ashlyn, "And to Ricky and Ashlyn, some words of inspiration. My deep and shameful disappointment in your recent accident has mellowed to a sort of, uh, numbness, so there's that."

Ashlyn blinked. "Were those supposed to be the words of inspiration?"

"Yes they were." The room was stuck in a tense silence as Ricky and Ashlyn shared a look. "Okay, where is LeFou?"

Big Red then ran into the room, clutching a bottle of stomach medicine. "Sorry I'm late. Just some dry heaving."

"Dude." Ricky protested.

He looked at Ricky incredulously, "Dry."

Ashlyn then reached down and picked up a big basket of flowers, just like the ones he had gotten her on the opening night of High School Musical. "Um... Biggie, I got you a little something for your big debut. There's a card and everything."

"Oh, wow."

However, Big Red then gagged and sprinted out of the room with his hand over his mouth. Dylan's face scrunched up in disgust.

Ashlyn turned to look at all of them. "He's ready."

All of them dispersed to do their own thing. Dylan sat on the floor, taking a deep breath. Gina sat down in front of the brunette. She didn't say anything as the made eye contact with each other, a simple smile saying everything they needed to say.

The first act was going pretty smooth. There had been no mishaps in the songs or acting (knock on wood), but now it was for the big Act One finale — Be Our Guest.

"Wildcats!" Miss Jenn exclaimed while they were all gathered in the bomb shelter before the perfomance. "This is going fine. I am mostly proud, and I heard Big Red has not thrown up in over twenty minutes."

Dylan shook her head and leaned closer to Gina, although it was a little hard because she was in her Cogsworth costume. "Oh, honey. That's so not true."

"Every great performance needs an X factor. Something special that puts it over the top. A little birdie has just told me where our Menkies judge is sitting, and I'm thinking that with just a few minor adjustments, we can make this gentlemen feel every bit as welcome as the intruder that my mother clubbed over the head when I was a girl."

Dylan blinked.

"I thought she just hog-tied him," Seb voiced.

Miss Jenn nodded. "She just hog-tied him. When the next song begins, I have directed Benjamin Mazzara and his lighting-ists—"

"They're called grips," Natalie corrected.

"—to spotlight our judge. And then I need you all to make him feel especially and uniquely welcome." Dylan shared a very confused glance with Ashlyn. "Any questions?"

Gina raised her feather duster. "Many questions."

"Should we just do what we rehearsed?" Seb inquired, kind of speaking for all of them. "Doesn't that feel a little desperate?"

"It feels that way for a reason, Sebastian," Miss Jenn responded. "Besides, Carlos is a seasoned professional who can roll with anything, right?"

Carlos didn't say anything. He hadn't said anything all night besides his lines up on stage, due to the fact that he was freaked out after seeing Antoine was quite literally on fire as Lumière in North High's show. Carlos then sent a look to Seb.

"He says help," Seb translated.

It was finally time for Be our Guest and Dylan was stood in the wings, waiting for her cue as she watched the show. Ashlyn and Carlos approached the middle of the stage at the same time to stand in front of the golden door set. The spotlight then shone on them.

"Ma chère Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride—" Carlos began. He bowed to Ashlyn, and she grasped onto her skirt before curtseying. "—and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight."

Gina made a big show of pushing up a chair. She patted the seat with her feather duster, and Ashlyn sat down on it.

"And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents . . ." The golden doors moved away to reveal as all of the dancers, dressed up as different utensils. "Your dinner."

A spotlight shone directly on them, which also spotlighted a man in the audience. Gina then nudged Ashlyn so the chair scooted over into the spotlight, making her giggle slightly in surprise.

"Be our guest!" Carlos continued. "Be our guest!"

Ashlyn stared around in amazement as all of the utensils danced around her.

"Put our service to the test. Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie, and we'll provide the rest." Rico, a dancer that was dressed up as a napkin, then pretended to wrap himself around Ashlyn. Carlos then offered his arm to Ashlyn, and she took it, letting him lead her to the other side of the stage so she could see more of the dining room. Dylan subtly made her way on stage, sitting at the other end away from the dancers as she watched them with a faux-annoyed look on her face.

"Soup du jour, hot hors d'uvres, why, we only live to serve." Ashlyn ducked underneath the middle of two lines of dancers, staring at how incredible they were, just like Belle would, once they passed. "Try the gray stuff, it's delicious. Don't believe me? Ask the dishes."

Carlos and Ashlyn then began to dance the choreography they learned with each other as dancers dressed up as dishes came out onto the stage.

"They can sing, they can dance. After all, Miss, this is France. And a dinner here is never second best." Two dancers then appeared holding up their menu prop, and Ashlyn pretended to read it, looking very intrigued.

"Go on, unfold your menu, take a glance, and then you'll be our guest. Oui, our guest, be our guest." Gina then approached Ashlyn. Ashlyn smiled and linked their arms together, the two of them dancing across the stage.

"We tell jokes! I do tricks, with my fellow candlesticks."

Ashlyn allowed Gina to waltz her to the other side of the stage. The two of them giggled with each other at how well this song was going and how much fun they were having.

"And it's all in perfect taste that you can bet," the whole ensemble chorused. Carlos then joined in with them again. "Come on and lift your glass, you've won your own free pass to be our guest."

Ashlyn spun around, letting go of Gina to go back by the table, Carlos and Gina following to join her.

"If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest," Carlos voiced by himself.

"Be our guest!" everyone recited. "Be our guest! Be our guest!"

Ashlyn waved, as if she was seeing more dancing inanimate objects. Gina then spun around multiple times to go off stage. Meanwhile, Carlos began to walk down the stage towards Dylan. Ashlyn followed him, her face turning sad as Carlos told Lumière's story.

"Life is so unnerving, for a servant who's not serving," Carlos continued, Ashlyn kneeling down to place a hand on Dylan's shoulder. "He's not whole without a soul to wait upon. Most days we just lay around the castle. Flabby, fat and lazy, you walked in and oops-a-daisy."

Kourtney then scurried onto the stage, looking utterly fantastic in her Mrs. Potts costume. Ashlyn grabbed her arm, and the two of them began to skip to the other side of the stage happily, while Dylan and Carlos danced together.

"It's a guest!" Kourtney exclaimed, more utensils and Gina coming back onto the stage. "It's a guest! Sakes alive, oh, I'll be blessed. Wine's been poured, and thank the Lord, I've had the napkins freshly pressed."

More napkins came out onto the stage, along with Seb in his Chip costume. Kourtney continued to hop around the stage, and Ashlyn joined her at the back, still looking around in amazement. Dylan ran off the stage, smiling as she watched from the wings.

"With dessert, she'll want tea, and my dear that's fine with me. While the cups do their soft-shoein', I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing. I'll get warm, piping hot." Ashlyn, Kourtney, and some of the napkins went skipping up the center of the stage.

Kourtney looked at the back of her skirt. "Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot? Clean it up! We want the company impressed."

The napkins shimmied to pretend to clean off the spot Mrs. Potts was talking about. Meanwhile, some of the utensils took out white foam cubes that they were pretending were sugar cubes and threw them in the audience, one even landing on the Menkies judge.

"We've got a lot to do! Is it one lump or two?" Kourtney playfully bumped her hip with Ashlyn, making her laugh as she was moved to the side. "For you, our guest! She's our guest!"

Kourtney offered her arm to Ashlyn, and she took it. The two of them went up the stage back to the table. Ashlyn turned around with her arms extended outwards, looking around with an amazed look and a bright grin on her face.

All of the dancers, including Dylan, then came up on either side of her as Kourtney ran to the end of the line, and together, all of them began to perform their kick line choreography. 

"Course by course, one by one," the ensemble harmonized. "'Til you shout, Enough! I'm done! Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest."

Carlos, Kourtney, Seb, Nini, Gina, and Dylan all left the kickline, only leaving Ashlyn with some of the utensils. They went to go stand behind the table as Ashlyn continued to dance.

"Tonight you'll prop your feet up, but for now, let's eat up. Be our guest!"

Ashlyn stepped forwards, her hands placed on her chest as she looked around at her friends. Dylan's smile grew as she watched Ashlyn seem completely in her element.

"Be our guest! Be our guest! Please, be our guest!"

Ashlyn then spun around, her arms extended to her sides. She gradually got faster and faster until almost the end of the song when she stopped. Ashlyn turned back to the group behind the table and waved to them before turning back to the audience.

And finally, once the last note hit, she laced her fingers together and raised her clasped hands to her chest as her foot was crossed behind the other. Golden streamers erupted from behind her, but she paid no attention to that as she continued to give the audience the brightest smile she had ever placed on her lips. The auditorium erupted in applause.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a fifteen minute intermission," Natalie announced into the microphone. "If you don't buy at least twenty dollars worth of concessions, you do not support art. Thank you."

When the curtain closed, the group all ran off the stage. Knowing she wasn't needing it, Dylan immediately went to the dressing room to remove her costume knowing it would get in the way. Once she was finished, she walked into the hallway, bumping into EJ as she did.

"You were amazing!" EJ quickly hugged her, spinning her around as she laughed.

"Thank you." Dylan smiled. "I didn't exactly do much, just sat there and looked annoyed."

"Best annoyed face I've ever seen." Dylan laughed, catching sight of Gina leaving the toilets.

"G! You were incredible!" Dylan quickly hugs Gina, catching her by surprise.

"Thank you." Gina laughed, hugging the girl back, her smile faltering as her phone.

"What's wrong?" Dylan asked.

When she didn't answer, EJ questioned. "G?"

"It's official my mum isn't coming." Gina spoke sadly. "But she said she sent me a surprise."

"More chocolates?"

"I think she meant me." The three all turned around to see a boy, who looked similar to Gina stood at the top of the stairs. Gina gasped as a smile overtook her features.

"Jamie."

"Dylan." A voice called from behind them. EJ and Dylan both turning once more.

When Dylan did, she froze, her eye's widening and her mouth falling open. She instinctively grabbed EJ's wrist to hold her steady, the boy looking at her in concern.

"Mum?"

𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗟 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦
dun dun dun!!!
anyway! this was a pretty boring chapter
the next chapter is okay but i'm sorry about chapter twenty four :)