XXXII.   when good isn't good enough

After her conversion with Gina, Marlowe was starting to feel better. Her mood had uplifted and she focused on what was important, and that was being the best Belle anyone's ever seen since Paige O'Hara. Nini's Rose Song had blown up overnight, courtesy of Carlos, and it was a social media sensation. Marlowe thought it was one of the most beautiful songs she'd heard.

The twins stood in the hallway watching the first ever East High Morning News episode with EJ and Knox as the hosts. "Welcome to the East High morning show. I'm Knox Fletcher." Knox introduced himself while pointing his thumbs in his direction.

"And I'm EJ Caswell, and we're co hosting the first ever East High Morning Show cause I'm the president of the AV club." EJ said with a bright attitude.

"And I'm his only friend that agreed to do it, and I love being in front of the camera." Knox added and winked at the camera.

"He's so cute." Luca said with a giddy smile.

"Yes, thank you, Knox. Back to you."

"Thanks, bro. Now, for our first ever guest, you know her from the Rose Song that's been blowing up the East High Instagram—"

"Oh, quick reminder. Tickets for Beauty and the Beast go on sale next week." EJ mentioned.

"That's right, EJ. Alright now, She's 5'5, sings like an angel, and was once the best Gabriella we've seen since Vanessa Hudgens. Please welcome our first ever guest, Nini Salazar-Robert's!" Knox introduced loudly.

The boys clapped and went stood from their stools. The camera panned over to Nini.

"They would definitely have a great podcast." Marlowe said out loud as she watched.

Luca gasped. "Oh my god, we need to tell me that. That's a good idea."

Ricky came up behind them. "Hey guys, what's up?" He greeted.

"We're watching the first ever episode of the East High News, co hosted by our boyfriends." Marlowe stated with a proud smile.

He looked at the tv and saw EJ and Knox talking to Nini. "Oh, wow." He said with raised eyebrows.

"This just in. Nini's song has over 2500 views, making it the most viewed post in drama club Instagram history, right next to the post of Marlowe Aguilar singing Skinny Love." EJ broadcasted and winked at the camera.

Marlowe went red at the recognition. Ricky hummed. "I do really love that cover."

"Yeah, it was great." Luca agreed.

She smiled. "Thanks guys."

"Nini, how does it feel to be one of the most talented people in the world right now?" Knox asked her with a goofy smile.

Nini looked speechless. "Uh. . .feels good." She downplayed.

"Hey, is that Nini on the tv?" Big Red asked when he came and stood with them.

"Yeah, and she's killing it." Ricky answered as he continued to watch his girlfriend.

"She'd be a great actress." Marlowe hummed.

"Wait, are you actually fine with the song not being a duet?" Red asked him.

The twins simultaneously looked at him.

"What else would I be? Hurt? Offended?" Ricky asked, making the twins look at each other. "It's a show tune, Big Red. It doesn't actually mean anything."

Marlowe furrowed her brows. "Well, how do you know?" She asked him.

He looked at her. "What?"

"All songs have a meaning to them. And this song probably means a lot to Nini. Don't downplay it."

"Well, there you have it. I'm EJ."

"And I'm Knox."

"Good morning East High!" The seniors said in unison and the episode ended.

Big Red dragged Ricky away as his eyes were still on the tv. Luca stood in front of his sister. "So, are you feeling okay after. . . y'know?"

Marlowe smiled and nodded. "I am. Gina really helped me. I'm sorry that I got angry with you."

"No need for apologies. I'm just glad you're okay. You really scared me." Luca told her.

The sister frowned slightly. "Yeah, I know. I just really want this play to be great."

"Well, it's gonna be. Know why? Cause we have you." He stated, making her smile. "And me, of course. Even if I don't have a French accent."

Marlowe giggled and grabbed his arm. "We can learn before the show. Don't worry." She dragged him away.

Walking into the bomb shelter, Marlowe spotted EJ and she smiled. "Good morning, news host." She greeted him.

EJ laughed. "Hey."

"You did really good. You're a natural in front of the camera."

"Why, thank you." He bowed. "You should've seen the process. I think Knox fixed his hair, like, six times before we started."

Marlowe laughed. "Yeah, he really loves being in the spot light." She stated. "I appreciate the little shout out."

EJ smiled again. "Well, I just had to let the world know that you hold the record. It was one of my favorite covers next to the one you did of I See The Light."

She giggled. "Thanks, I worked hard on that one."

Miss Jenn and Carlos entered the room. "Everyone, attention please." She clapped and the chatter died down. "I'm sure you're wondering why I called this special mid day drama club meeting."

"Oh, are you announcing the fall musical? I vote Dear Evan Hanson." Seb asked with a cute smile.

Luca's hand shot up. "I vote Grease!"

"No, boys, it's March. And the rights won't be available for five years. I tried." Seb's smile fell. "I am announcing that we are in such a good place after our improve workshop. We're getting one step further to Menkie's gold. And today, our wonderful actress/designer, Kourtney Greene, is going to show you your complete costumes!"

Everyone clapped. "Yes, Kourtney!" Marlowe cheered.

Nini grabbed the sheet and tore it off, revealing all of the costumes. The praise got louder. "Speech! Speech!"

"Okay, um. . .I guess I'm making a speech." Kourtney said with a shy smile. "I'm super excited for you all to see your costumes because. . ." Her phone made an elephant sound. "Oh, sorry, that's Howie." She giggled.

"You have an elephant named Howie?" Knox questioned.

They all looked at him. "No, babe. Howie's a person." Luca slowly said.

"Ohhh."

Kourtney giggled at her phone again until they realized they were still waiting for her speech. She quickly turned her phone off. "Oh, okay. With your costumes this semester, I really tried to—" her phone went off again.

"Can you not keep your phone on silent in rehearsal like everyone else?" Carlos asked passive aggressively.

"Oh, snap." Marlowe muttered.

"Sorry, everyone, Carlos would say if he were more like me." Said Seb.

Luca pointed at him and smiled. "Love ya, Seb."

"Okay, Kourtney, I am sorry. But, listen to this caption from North High," Carlos spoke and looked at his phone. "It took twenty people over fifty hours to create our Belle dress. Beast costumes ever." He read.

"That's a terrible pun." Said Ricky.

"That's not even clever." Knox added.

"On the day we're unveiling our costumes, how did they know that?"

Kourtney's phone went off again.

"They've been trolling us like this for weeks, guys. And I'm trying to not let it get to me, but—" another elephant noise. "Oh, my god! Is your phone hungry? I don't understand what I'm hearing."

EJ laughed and was quickly whacked on the chest by his girlfriend.

"Okay, okay!" Miss Jenn stepped in. "Let's get back to our costumes. Go ahead, Kourt."

Kourtney cleared her throat and walked over to the costume rack. "Anyway. But," she took the blue Belle dress off the rack and held it up. "Every princess needs her gown." She said to Marlowe and smiled.

She gasped. "Oh, Kourtney, it's beautiful." She said and felt the fabric.

"I thought you might like it." She giggled and gave it to her.

"I love it."

She took the Gaston costume off the rack and gave it to EJ. "I built you some abs that would make Captain America proud."

"But, I have abs." He slightly pouted.

Marlowe rubbed his back. "We know, honey."

"EJ, everyone has abs. These are Kourtney originals." She sassed. "I also padded the toosh for you."

Knox and Luca both snorted.

"Oh, thanks, I actually need that."

"Well—" said Marlowe and he quickly looked at her with wide eyes.

Ricky pulled a disgusted face. "I'm going over there." He said and walked away to the other side of the room.

"Next, and every Gaston needs a Beast." Kourtney passed Ricky his costume. She looked for his mask. "Oh, your mask is missing." She said when she realized it wasn't there. "Has anyone seen a Beast mask?"

Marlowe frowned. "Do you know where you last had it?"

"It was right on the rack."

"Sorry, I'm too busy looking dazzling in my costume." Luca announced while wearing his Lumiere costume.

"And I'm a clock." Knox said with a child like smile, wearing his Cogsworth costume.

They all laughed. "Guys, I know where I heard mask is." Said Carlos while looking at his phone again. He showed them the post.

Everybody leaned in with their eyes squinted. All Marlowe saw was the North High kids with their costumes, and the beautiful yellow Belle dress. "Wow, that is a beautiful dress." She said with a frown.

"Uhhh."

"What are we looking at?" EJ asked.

Carlos zoomed in on the picture. "Look at the trunk." Still, nobody knew what they were looking at. "Hello? That is obviously beast fur. Look, it all makes sense. Our mask just happens to go missing on the same day they post this? They snuck in here and took it." He claimed.

"I hate to say it, but, that did kind of look like a beast mask to me." Ashlyn stated.

"Really? All I saw was how good that Lumiere costume looked." Said Luca. He looked at Kourtney with wide. "Not that I don't love mine!"

She hummed sarcastically.

"Do you really think they'd still from us?" Asked Seb.

"Yes, absolutely." Marlowe answered immediately. They looked at her. "What? They stole our play idea, what else do you think they're capable of?"

EJ hummed and nodded her way. "I agree with Marley."

"I would." Gina blurted. Nini quickly nudged her. "No, no, I mean I used to be that kind of person before the present day." She laughed off.

"We have to get even, right?" Big Red asked, uncertain of himself.

They collectively nodded. "Miss Jenn, you have to at least say something." Carlos said to her.

"You guys, guys, guys." Miss Jenn spoke up. "Enough. Do you really think North High would stoop so low as to sneak in here, break into the costume room, and steal Kourtney's work?"

"Yes." Answered the Aguilar twins.

Carlos' phone buzzed. "Uh."

"And they just posted something new captioned North High's gonna steal your heat this Spring." Seb read.

"Are they a witch?"

"I know one of them is." Marlowe muttered and leaned on her hip.

"How do you explain these coincidences?"

"It's just that. A coincidence." Miss Jenn told him. "Now, I want you guys to keep looking for that mask and let the rest go. As I learned when I appeared in a a regional production of Anything Goes opposite a woman who once sued me for liable, you should never dance with the enemy. Understood?"

They all muttered a quiet 'Yes, Miss Jenn'.

"Thank you." She waved them off.

EJ looked down at Marlowe. "What do you think?"

She held her dress close to her. "Something's off." She stated and looked up at him. "But I can't put my finger on it yet."

He cracked a smile. "Okay, Nancy Drew."

"Hey, Nancy Drew got shit done. Now I intend to."

Miss Jenn should've known better that they wouldn't listen to her. Carlos came to her first, explaining that he had a plan to break into North High to get back the beast mask. Usually, Marlowe was one to keep away from trouble. But this one really affected her. She didn't want to be pushed around by North High, especially Lily. So she helped him.

She held EJ's hand and they stood in the corridor of North High School, which was huge. "The plan is simple. Based on that Instagram post, the mask had to be in their costume shop. We know from their Instagram overshare that North High has dance rehearsal today. So, they'll be in their dance studio." Carlos started.

"They have their own dance studio?" Gina asked in disbelief.

"They have their own chef." Marlowe mentioned.

"We're raiding their costumes and not leaving until we have our mask."

"Isn't this kind of trespassing?" Seb asked with caution.

"Absolutely, but, you only live once." Luca stated.

"Yeah, YOLO." Knox added and they smiled at each other.

"It'll be fine. There'll be plenty of people here after school for clubs. We'll blend right in." Carlos assured them. He looked at Ashlyn, who was sporting a yellow North High sweatshirt. "Though, Ashlyn, you might have taken the camouflage thing too far."

Ashlyn looked at her sweatshirt. "Oh. No, today, I am Diane. I play volleyball and I love North High!" She said loudly.

"I love the commitment, Ash." Marlowe smiled. "I mean—Diane."

"Diane, is it? How would you feel about dating a guy from East High?" Big Ref flirted with her.

Diane (Ashlyn) gasped. "Ohhh, a forbidden romance."

"Focus! Who's gonna be the look out?" Carlos got back to the point.

"I'll do it." Gina offered. They looked surprised. "If you leave me unsupervised with their costumes, I cannot promise I won't go all Gina 1.0 in there."

"I think we might need Gina 1.0 at some point." Knox stated.

"Just stay calm and act natural, okay? You got this. Everyone ready?"

Ricky stuck out his hand. "What team?" He asked with a smile.

Just as they were about to go in, Carlos stopped them. "Wait, maybe we shouldn't yell—"

"WILDCATS!"

Marlowe latched onto EJ's hand again. "Ooh, should we have fake names just in case?" She asked him.

He thought to himself. "Hmmm, how about I'm Peter and you're. . .Gretchen?" He came up with.

She pulled a face. "Peter and Gretchen?"

EJ shrugged. "What? If we get caught, nobody's gonna remember names.

Though it was weird, Marlowe shrugged. "I guess. Good thinking, Peter."

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her. "Thanks, Gretchen."

Luca went to go check on Gina. When he walked around the corner of the hallway, he saw one of the North High guys trying to chat her up. "Oh god." He said to himself. He pulled up the collar on his jacket and walked towards them. "Hey, babe." He said to Gina with a flirtatious smile. His arm went around her shoulder. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

Trying to conceal her shock, Gina smiled and leaned into him, her arms going around his waist. "Hey, baby."

Luca looked at the guy. "Is everything good here?" He asked them. "Y'know we haven't discussed our anniversary date yet."

She gasped. "Of course." She looked at the North High guy again. "What was it you've been asking for? Tortellini?"

"And that's my cue." The guy said and walked away from them.

When he was far enough way, Luca and Gina immediately detached. "Uh, I hated that so much." He cringed.

She laughed quietly. "Oh, my god. That was amazing, Luke."

"Well, it was either that or punch him, and we can't blow our cover yet." He told her and shrugged.

Gina smiled. "Thanks for that. That was sweet."

Luca titled his head and smiled. "I'd only act straight for you, G."

She awed.

The rest of the theater kids were in the costume room. Marlowe had looked through three of the racks of ridiculous expensive costumes and shoes and there was still no sign of the mask. "Ugh, okay, I gotta sit down. These expensive costumes are bumming me out." Kourtney said and sat down on one of the chests.

"You're telling me. I think this dress is made with real horse hair." Marlowe spoke when she examined one of the dresses with the flashlight.

"That can't be comfortable." Said EJ while looking through one of the racks.

"You guys, my song has been viewed, like, 35,000 times now." Nini said while looking at her phone.

"No way."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I keep getting all these DMs that I should start a separate account for my music.

"Do it, girl. I made one and it was the best decision ever." Marlowe told her.

"Is that something you want to do?" Ricky asked her.

"I don't know. It seems scary, right?"

Kourtney's phone went off with the elephant noise again. "I'm a little scared right now. Does that count?" He asked and laughed.

"Howie." Kourtney giggled. She looked up at them. "I'm sorry, but, is this normal? To not know someone very long but already feel like you know them so well?" She asked with a giddy smile.

"It's even better when you do know them so well." EJ replied and smiled at his girlfriend.

Marlowe giggled.

Nini suddenly kicked the chest she was sitting on.

"Ooh, sorry. Bad timing?"

"Kourt, the box you're setting on has fur stuck to the lid."

Her words made Marlowe's ears perk. She quickly moved away from the costumes racks.

Kourtney stood up and Ricky shined his light on the box. "Open it." Nini told her.

"You open it!" She said with a high voice.

Sighing, Nini reached down. "Why am I scared?" She asked rhetorically and opened the lid.

Everyone collectively gasped. Marlowe looked inside the chest and her face fell when she saw that it was just a bunch of wigs. "Seriously?"

"It's just a bunch of very expensive looking wigs."

"I want one." Carlos pouted.

"Well, that's a let down." EJ grumbled and turned his flashlight off.

"I can't with this school's costume budget." Kourtney said irritably.

"So, where's the beast mask?" Ricky questioned.

The door opened and Lily came walking in with with the rest of the North High cast. Everyone held their breath. "Hello, Wildcats." She said with a smirk.

Marlowe wanted to punch it off. At that time, Luca, Gina, and Knox walked into the room.

"What are you doing here?"

"We're looking for our beast mask." Carlos answered. "We know you took it."

"Pardon me, but, our costumes are most excellent. Why would we steal your mask when it is so, uh—" the French boy started to say and then paused. He looked at Lily. "—We do not have a word for this in France. But in America, I believe you say fugly."

They all gasped. "What did you call my work?" Kourtney exclaimed.

"And I believe we'd like to tell you Que te jodan." Luca said with an angry look on his face. Fuck you

"Oof, and you really don't wanna know what that means." Marlowe added while glaring.

"Look, I'm sure your mask is supes cute," Lily said with a fake smile. "But we're just in different leagues. I mean, we're literally a pre professional theater company. And you guys, put on shows based on made for tv movies."

Marlowe's glare deepened.

"I mean, maybe you should listen to your precious high school musical and stick to the stuff you know."

"Oh yeah? What if we bop to the top?" Seb spoke.

EJ closed his eyes and patted his shoulder.

"Honey, no." Carlos muttered.

"Let's just wait for the Menkies. Okay, we'll see who's in what league then." Ricky stated.

"Or we could find out now." Lily suggested.

They all looked confused. "What does that mean?" Asked Big Red.

"We challenge you to a good old fashioned dance off."

Instantly, Marlowe looked at Gina, who got giddy.

"A what?"

"A school vs school dance off to a Beauty and the Beast song chosen at random. You'll do your version and we'll do ours." Lily explained. "We'll see which school has what it takes. No costumes, no makeup, just talent."

"I'm sorry, no. That's weird." Said Ricky.

"Super weird." Ashlyn agreed with him.

"Even for me. Let's go guys." Said Carlos.

"We don't have to prove anything to you." Marlowe said with another glare and they all started to leave.

"Classic East High," Lily started again. "Walking out of here with your tail between your legs. Just like your Miss Jenn did when she gave up on Broadway."

They gasped again. Luca immediately glared at her. "Hey, don't talk about Miss Jenn."

"And let's be honest, maybe your Belle just isn't good enough." Lily directed to Marlowe.

Instantly, everyone got angry. "I'm sorry, but no." Gina said and walked up to her with quick strides. "Nobody out Belles our Belle."

"Yeah, and nobody talks to my sister like that." Luca said and casted the blonde a nasty glare.

"It's okay guys." Marlowe spoke. Everyone in the room turned and looked at her. She glanced at them and walked forward, gently walking through Gina and Luca. She glared at Lily even though she was taller than her. When she got mad, she got mad. "Maybe I can try to tell myself I'm not good enough, but I'm damn sure not gonna let anyone else tell me that." She looked her up and down. "So if you wanna go, let's go."

Lily smiled again, an it infuriated her even more. "Good. Ten minute warm up, then we settle this street style." She told them all. She looked at Marlowe again. "May the best Belle win."

The North High students exited the room. Everyone stood around an angry Marlowe. "Don't listen to her, Marley." Said Carlos.

"You're a better Belle than she'll ever be." EJ told her and put his hand on her back.

"Oh, I know." She nodded and looked up at him. "I'm just ready to prove it to her."

Gina smirked. "Hell yeah." She took her hand and they led the group out of the room.

"Ooh, angry Marlowe. I can't wait to watch this." Knox beamed with an excited smile.