Beauty and the Beast

Isabelle's POV (And a bit of Garreth)

It was torture. There was no other way to describe the extreme embarrassment that was afflicting me at this time. No other word in the English dictionary fully aggregates the extent of my embarrassment. I couldn’t move. My body seemed permanently locked in a stiff position. My mouth wasn’t working right, every time I opened my mouth, to try to imitate some form of normal conversation, all that came out was a squeak.
And then there were my blushes. The incessant pooling of burning blood plagued me, simmering on my face every time our gazes met. Small talk was out of the picture. And since all Tier and I were able to do fully was argue, which we, on some unspoken agreement, had ceased, we were pretty much screwed.
Its not that I didn’t have anything to say, it’s that I had almost too much to say. Things I want to ask him. Like why he saved me, why he even bothered. I wanted to ask him why he hid behind his attitude.
I wanted to talk to him about his paintings.
Our eyes met again, and mirror blushes spread across our faces. We looked away at the same time, pathetic in our attempt to ignore each other.
How could I? How could anyone ignore this guy? His presence took up the whole cab and then some, consuming me, confusing me.
Why? Why did he save me? Not that I’m ungrateful. Jesus, I’m practically dripping with gratefulness. It’s that he contradicts himself. One minute, he is raging at me, blood in his eyes, screaming. And the next, he’s saving me…
God, I’m almost pathetically grateful we decided to skip studying for today. I had too many thoughts swirling through my mind to be a decent tutor. I’m having trouble being a decent person at the moment; I shudder to think at the abject failure that would ensue if we had tried to study.
To have some semblance of calm, I tried blocking out all Tier-related thoughts. It didn’t help. It was inevitable. Unstoppable. Unwanted. My brain felt like it was going to explode from the combining force of me trying to stop thoughts from entering my scrambling brain, and me concentrating on trying to stop thinking about him, which just made me think about him more…. And I don’t even know if I’m making sense anymore.
A song, a silly, silly song popped in my head. Hairspray’s “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”
“You can’t stop an avalanche as a races down the hill. You can try to stop the seasons girl, but you know you never will.”
It's exactly how I was feeling. Helpless to stop the inevitable, and not too sure I wanted too. Nevertheless, the song stuck. And I blissfully sang the song in my head. Grateful for some distraction from the turbulent thoughts, I happily mouthed the words, and tapped a beat out on my legs.
I looked up, and met Tier’s hooded gaze. Blazing blue eyes looked back at me, we both blushed, again. And looked away.
The small bubble of content my short-lived blissful non-thinking moments had built up crashed down as Ryan-thoughts pushed their way through my brain. And acute apprehension assaulted me, and I felt my annoying need to babble when nervous bubble to the surface. I tried to hold it in, but the tension between us was almost unbearable.
The stillness inside the limo didn’t help things one bit, so I tried to talk to Tier, saying anything and everything, just to get rid of this freaking quiet.
I asked stupid questions, he grunted in reply. It was a pathetic sort of small-talk, but I was grateful for it nonetheless.
We had finally reached my house, and I clambered out. I didn’t say goodbye to Tier, I didn’t think I could talk now without squeaking. So, to save face, I waited till I was to my door, before I turned around and smiled. It was safer that way.
Tier stuck his hand out, and waved. I waited till they had turned the corner before I walked inside.
I tried to tell myself the feeling in my stomach wasn’t happiness. But I had a smile on my face when I walked up to my bedroom. I opened my door to my room, and was knocked to the ground.
“Damn it, Dis! Get off me!” My Saint Bernard, Disney, had jumped on me, licking my face.
“Dis!” I laughed. “Disney Paige, sit!” He sat, grinning up at me, it seemed. Wagging his huge tail back and forth. I scratched behind his ears for a few seconds, and then gave him explicit orders to “stay”, which of course, he didn’t listen to. I had to push him down off of me again, as I heard my dad yell at me. I couldn’t hear what he had said, so I dodged Disney, and opened my door a crack.
“Isabelle?”
“Father?” I turned a bit, and gagged as Disney jumped up and licked my face. “Damn dog.” I grumbled. Disney was trying to nose his way out of my room, so I had to shove him back into my room. Slamming the door, I laughed, and walked to my dad’s bedroom.
“Is that you?”
“No, it’s your other daughter, your “oops child” from your wild hippie times.”
"Smart ass." He called out, his voice muffled.
"Never." I said, peeking through his opened door. "What's up?"
My dad was scurrying around his room, tossing various items over his shoulder as he picked them up.
"Where is my folder?" He asked me as he picked up his alarm clock.
I watched him throw it over his shoulder, and rolled my eyes when its flight was cut short because of the cord. "Dad, you have to unplug things before you throw them. And I don't know what folder you're talking about."
"You know, the blue one. Its about this big," He put his hands apart, depicting the size of his folder. LIke I wasn't smart enough to realize how big a folder was supposed to be.
Sometimes I swear....
"I don't--" His phone rang, and he ushered me out before he ran over to his buzzing phone, tripping over his alarm clock chord.
I chuckled to myself, unable to help myself. I walked into my room, almost as if I were in a trance. I had wanted to talk to my dad about Tier, to get his opinion. I really, really didn't know what to do. I mean, seriously, what could I do? He was abrasive, rude, a brute even, when I had first met him.
But now. He was shy, strangely sweet.
And he saved my life.
I shuddered, remembering the hot breath of the wolves, and the paralyzing fear that gripped me as the headlights of the semi had grown closer. The equally terrifying fear in those few seconds when I had thought he was dead.
And his paintings.
God, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do. What I'm supposed to think.
There were two things I was starting to really freak out about, though.
One was that Tier wasn't as bad as I thought he was.
And the second is that I like that more than I should.

Garreth sat at his window, glaring out his window. His grip on the edge of the window was brutal, punishing. He could feel the corner cut into his skin, but he didn’t care. The image of Isabelle getting out of that freak’s car was playing over and over in his head, torturing him. It actually hurt to see her with that beast, instead of him. He didn’t know what was going on between her and Tier. Why they were suddenly driving together. Why they were together period. She was his, and his alone. She was the only girl pretty enough to date him.
She was beautiful, and she was perfect for him.
But what is she doing with that Beast?
He didn’t know, but he was sure of one thing, he will get Isabelle Paige.
And if he couldn’t have her, then no one will.