The girl's (and Seb) were now at Ashlyn's house, the group gathered in the living room of the red-haired girl's house. The group took a trip to Target to get some supplies as well as snacks just in case. 

"One hundred percent real faux fur." Kourtney stated, laying down some fur on the coffee table in the living room.

Nini grins. "Ooh!"

"Thirty yards!" Kourtney continued.

"Must've been a truly enormous faux animal." Ashlyn chuckles. "So, what are we doing?"

"Okay, so, you know those sequined tops, where rubbed one way, they're purple, but if you rub them the other way they're red?" Kourtney inquired.

"Duh, love it." Gina smiled.

"So, we're going to do that with the Beast cape." Kourtney continues. "But instead of purple and red, it's going to be fur," She picks up a blue satin fabric nearby and smirks. "And satin. Y'all feel me?" Everyone nodded in agreement, voicing out their agreements.

"I love this idea." Maeve grinned and Tabitha nodded in agreement with a grin on her lips.

"Kourt, you are a visionary." Nini smiled at Kourtney with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, thank you. The boys can build something that spins the Beast around to disguise the transition." 

"Wow. Won't that take awhile?" Seb asked.

Kourtney shrugs. "I'm in if you're in."

"I guess I could sleepover tonight." Gina voiced earning laughter from the others because of the fact she lives at Ashlyn's.

"You guys, I'm all about costumes, but I don't know if my parents will be cool with me with a co-ed sleepover." Seb nervously smiled.

Kourtney looks at him with a stern expression. "Chip, this is your mother speaking. Go call your mother." Seb nodded and went to the kitchen to call his mom. Tabitha chuckled lightly at Kourtney's comment and started getting out the supplies from the nearby Target bag by her along with Maeve.

Ashlyn dramatically turns to them, holding a bucket of scissors. "Behold, my scissors bucket," She places it on the table with a proud smile. "Yeah, guys."

Seb joined the girls a few moments later and they all got to work. Supplies were set up all over the living room and there was a clothing rack full of fabrics as well. Tabitha wondered how the boys were doing with their part of this transformation project. Ashlyn had texted Big Red a few minutes ago about the plan they all came up with. They had decided that if the boys made something for Ricky to spin around on then that would be an easy way to get the fabric to change.

It has been at least an hour since they all managed to attach the faux fur to the blue satin. Kourtney and Seb were standing in front of a full length mirror since Kourtney had Seb model the creation they all made. "Ooh, this is going to be so good, Carlos would wear it." Kourtney grinned.

"Does he just walk around in Armani sweatpants?" Ashlyn inquired.

"I guess." Seb spoke in a sad tone. Tabitha and Maeve shared a look, both equally concerned for their friend upon hearing how sad he was.

"Uh, Sebbie?" Kourtney looked at him with confusion.

"Is something going on with you guys?" Nini asked him.

"Don't lie when you answer." Maeve chimed in.

Seb turns to face everyone with a frown. "I guess you could say, he met a group of extremely photogenetic guys when he was down in Mexico, and he seems pretty happy. So, now I'm pretty sad."

"Oh, Seb," Gina turns to face him, looking at him with concern along with everyone else. "Come on."

"You want to see him happy." Ashlyn smiles. "That's with you."

"Mmm," Seb nods, forcing a smile. "But I guess he has to be, out of default, right?"

"Okay, I'm confused." Maeve furrows her eyebrowed.

"Yeah," Tabitha nods in agreement. "Explain what that means, please."

"There's not a lot of other choices for a boy like Carlos here at East." Seb explained, taking a seat on the couch beside where Tabitha and Maeve sat.

Nini shakes her head. "No, Seb."

Tabitha frowns. "Seb, you should tell him how you feel. He deserves to know."

"Not so good at saying the feelings part out loud." Seb admitted.

"Never hurts to put yourself out there." Gina cut in. She shrugs.  "Or so I heard."

"Okay. I just have to ask, how are you and Mac?" Nini asks, turning to face Gina. Gina looks at her with surprise. Nini shrugs, gesturing at Tabitha with a nod of her head. "Tabi told me that you two were friends now and seemed pretty close. I just thought you guys hated each other."

"We did." Gina nods, a smile tugging on her lips. "But we both realized that we're not that bad after all."

The girls all said 'ooh', looking at her with smirks. Gina smiled shyly and glanced away. "Speaking of people being pretty close," Ashlyn looks at Tabitha with a smile. "How are things with you and EJ? I have some general questions in that area."

Tabitha bit her lower lip, looking at her nervously. "They aren't disapproving questions, are they?"

Ashlyn shakes her head, sending her a reassuring smile. "No, they aren't. Tabitha, you're basically like a sister to me. He's my cousin." 

A weird look forms on her face and Tabitha looks at her weirdly as well. Laughter fills the air at that comment and Ashlyn chuckles. "And if that didn't sound so weird, you would know what I'm trying to say. Tabi, if I had any disapproving questions or thoughts of you two together I would've said them at the beginning of your relationship."

She smiles at Tabitha. "I'm more than happy for you two. And I have to admit you two are very cute."

Tabitha blushes, glancing down at her lap to hide her blush as a smile tugs on her lips. "Thank you, Ash."

"Have you guys said, you know, the 'l' word to each other yet?" Kourtney asked Tabitha, looking at her with a smirk.

"No, not yet." Tabitha shook her head.

Seb and the girls look at her with shock. "Are you kidding me?" Maeve asks. "Tabi, you two have been together for basically half a year now. I thought you two would say 'i love you' to each other by now."

"I've almost said it a few times," Tabitha confesses. "And I've been wanting to say it a lot, but I just haven't got the courage to say it and I don't know if feels the same way yet."

Ashlyn laughs. "Tabitha, that boy is head over heels for you. Trust me, he feels the same way." Tabitha glances at her with a smile as the red-haired girl continues. "But I understand it's hard, say it when you're ready."

A few seconds of silence went by while they continued working until Ashlyn suddenly looks at Gina and says, "Oh my gosh, the chocolates."

Tabitha remembers what happened. Gina had texted her about what she did since she didn't really know what to do or who to talk to about what she did. Gina had sent a thank you text to Ricky since she thought Ricky sent her a box of chocolates which she later found out were from her mom.

Nini didn't know about the chocolate thing because she was at the hospital with her moms. "What are the chocolates?"

"Oh, um, I," Gina chuckles. "I thought Ricky sent me some chocolates on Valentine's Day, and I kind of melted a little, as a friend." 

By the expression Tabitha saw on Nini's face she assumed that Nini was shocked about this. Gina quickly adds, "But he didn't sent me chocolates. It was my mom." She chuckled along with Ashlyn, but Tabitha could tell Nini didn't seem amused by this.

"Uh," Nini forces a smile. "Why'd I never hear about this?"

"It wasn't a big deal." Gina assured her.

"It was funny." Ashlyn chuckles. "We laughed and laughed." Nini joined them on chuckling, but it was obvious it was fake.

"Okay, let's continue with making the costume." Tabitha suggested, deciding on changing the subject when she noticed the change of demeanor in the room. She didn't want a fight to happen.

"You know, I'm going to go get a root beer." Nini spoke, setting the supply she held on the table. Tabitha watched her go to the kitchen with a concerned look on her face.

****

A few hours have passed and the girls and Seb finished the cape they had decided on making. Howie had sent Kourtney the original Broadway plans from the Beast's transformation that North High was using after some begging from her. The girls and Seb had informed the other boys to meet them at the school so they can get to work on the transformation plan.

Tabitha was a bit confused when they met Big Red and EJ in the hallway instead of the stage door. They had made some sort of spinning contraption for Ricky. It was made out of a table and some skateboards that belonged to Big Red. She was even more confused upon not seeing Carlos or Ricky with the two boys.

They all moved over to the stage door as Big Red got out his keys, listing off what they all were for. That included the pizza shop, his house, and his bike lock. Tabitha wondered why he even had so many keys to different places. If she had that many keys she would forget what they went to. 

"Oh! I haven't seen this one in awhile." Big Red voiced, smiling at the key he was looking at.

"You do have the right key, right, babe?" Ashlyn questioned.

Big Red nods, showing them all the half of the key chain he narrowed kit down to. "Yeah narrowed it down to this half of the chain."

Tabitha sighs quietly as they all continued to wait for Big Red to find the right key. At some point she even laid her head on EJ's shoulder and he had looked at her with a smile when she did that. Just as Big Red went to try a different key the door opened. They all jumped, startled when the door had suddenly opened.

Natalie looks at them with furrowed eyebrows. She glances at Big Red. "You could've just knocked."

"Okay." Ashlyn chuckled and they all went inside the auditorium.

They all set the blueprint on the middle of the stage after setting everything up. They all gathered around the blueprint which seemed to be more simple and less complicated than they all thought it would be.

"Wait." Gina furrows her eyebrows. "So, in the Broadway show, all they did was suspend the Beast in the air and then takes the mask off."

Nini puts her hands on her hips and chuckles. "Looks like today's theme is secrets."

"I thought this thing would be much more complicated." Maeve speaks up to break the awkward tension in the air that appeared after Nini spoke. "But they made this so simple."

Ashlyn nods and stands up. "But combine this with the wire from 'Get'cha Head in the Game', we're golden. Do we still have Ricky's harness?"

"Ooh," Kourtney smiles. "It's in the costume shop, somewhere."

Natalie nods. "Everyone, let's meet back in 15."

The ones who were sitting got up and then they all went their separate ways. "Hey." Tabitha and Maeve stopped their conversation and looked over at EJ when he walked over to them. He glances at Tabitha. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Yeah, of course." Tabitha nods and glanced at Maeve with a small smile. Maeve got the hint and smiled back at her, excusing herself before going over to where the rest of the group was at. She turns to face her boyfriend with a smile. "What's up?"

"So, uh, how did the time at Ashlyn's go?" EJ asked her, rubbing the back of his neck. He doesn't know why he was so nervous. He was just planning on asking her out on a date that could be on opening night for like a celebration thing. Maybe he's nervous because he's planning to tell her 'i love you' on that date and he just wants that whole night to be perfect.

"Good." Tabitha smiled and tilted her head to the side, confused at why he seemed to be so nervous. He usually never acted nervous around her.

"Do you want to go on a date? Like, maybe on opening night?" EJ questioned, looking at her with a hopeful glint in his eyes. He had a feeling she would say yes, but he still wasn't for sure and hoped that she would agree.

"Yeah, of course." Tabitha's smile widens. "Just so I know what to wear to look perfect for this date, is this gonna be a date at Slicers or a more fancy date?"

"I am planning to taking you some place a lot nicer than Slicers." EJ informed her.

"Okay." Tabitha nodded, a few outfits she could wear already coming to mind.

EJ smiles at her and went to walk back over to the others, but stopped and stood beside her. "And just letting you know, you always look perfect to me no matter what you wear or look like."

Tabitha feels her face heat up, but she looks at him with a bright smile. "Right back at you, EJ." Now it was time for EJ to blush. He glanced down shyly, his face tinted pink and a wide smile was on his lips. He looked back at Tabitha when she reached her hand out to him . Getting the hint that she wants to hold hands, EJ intertwines his hand with her, walking back over to the others with her.

Once everyone was back they got ready to do the transformation. Ricky got strapped into the harness and put on his Beast mask while Ashlyn put on the blue cloak. Ashlyn kneeled beside Ricky who laid on the floor.

"I, I, I..." Ricky pretended to be in pain, acting as if he was having trouble saying the words.

"Please," Ashlyn pleads. "I love you." 

Ricky pretended to choke and then flipped onto his stomach. Ashlyn glances at Big Red and nods at him. "Now."

Big Red nods, spinning the wheel that brings Ricky up with the ropes that's attached to the harness. Ashlyn stood up and everyone watched with excitement, happy that this was actually working.

"Y'all, this is some Broadway stuff." Kourtney squealed.

Natalie grins. "We're gonna win." She looks at each of them with a grin. "You guys, we're actually gonna win."

Carlos nods in agreement with a grin on his lips as well. "We're gonna make Miss Jenn so proud."

Tabitha grins as she watched Ricky being pulled up above them and she glanced at her boyfriend, sharing an excited look with him. She couldn't believe that this was actually going to work. She heard something snap and she looked at the rope that's holding Ricky up to see it was unraveling. She looked back at Ricky with worried eyes when he screamed and a shocked expression formed on her face as he fell. Yeah, maybe this wasn't going to work.

A/N when i first watched the ending of this episode you guys i was so shocked ! & something that doesn't make sense to me is the fact that no one ran forward to try & catch ricky or smth like that. anyway, i can't beleve i only have a few more chapters left :( i'm gonna miss writing tabitha & her story so much !