Beauty and the Beast

The letter was shoved under his door. A white envelope with just his name scrawled on the front, and picking it up, he realized there was no return address, no clue as to who left it. Curious now, he grabbed his letter opener from his desk and carefully opened the envelope. Sliding out a single piece of paper, he set the letter opener and envelope back on his desk and settled down
in his chair. The letter was typed and it was short, a mere paragraph. From a student, perhaps, he thought to himself as he began to read.

'Dear Whoever it may concern,

In light of the recent attack on the freshman Alan Kennedy, I have some information that might prove pertinent to helping you find the attacker...'

The more he read the more his hand shook. "Damn." He whispered as he finished the letter. With a sick feeling in his gut, he set the letter down and pushed the button to reach his secretary. Thoughts, regrets, a million things swirled through his mind as he waited. What should he do? This person had given him a name, a name of the attacker but wouldn't give him their name. It was questionable if this person was telling the truth or just trying to start trouble. But, he had
to act on this. He had to do something.
"Damn." He said again, louder this time.
"You need something, Dr. Wise?" Marion popped her head in, her smile falling off her face as she saw his deep frown. "What's wrong, Walt?"
Sighing, he picked up the letter and looked at the name again. "Tomorrow, when the students come back, I need to speak to Ryan Tier. Get a couple of staff
to wait at the front entrance for him." He paused, hating the decision he has to make. "I'll need to see Isabelle Paige as well."
"I'll get right on that. What did the boy do this time?"
Dr. Wise stared blindly out the window."Some one identified him as Alan Kennedy's attacker."

Isabelle's POV

I felt my eyes widen as we stopped in front of two giant white doors. Gold vines crept up the things, and I turned to Ryan. "They're beautiful. Ryan?" He was twisting his hands, nervously as he met my eyes. I didn't know what the heck was going on, but it was starting to worry me. He had been acting nervous, stuttering and stuff ever since he
had dragged me inside earlier. At first I was irritated, but the more agitated he got, the more concerned I became.
"Belle, I need to cover your eyes."
My jaw dropped. "Say what?" This had gone from mildly peculiar to a whole lot of bizarre. He wanted to cover my eyes?
"Just, trust me, Belle." His voice had a touch of hysteria to it. I didn't want to think about the fact that I did trust him. Completely and utterly. In a few short weeks Ryan had morphed from a sullen, snarling jerk to a normal, nice guy. He had become my friend. Despite his current behavior of course. I studied his face, trying to gauge his motives.
I wanted to laugh, I realized, when his eyes met mine, when his eyes were wide, pleading.
"Belle." He did the twisting things with his hands again. "Please?"
"Ryan, you're acting really weird." But I nodded, and couldn't help but smile when his hands shook a bit as they covered my eyes.
I heard the doors open, and tried to quell the need to peek.
"Why are you covering my eyes?" I asked, my voice a bit muffled, since his hands were so big, the covered my entire face.
"You'll see." With his arms around me, and his hands over my face, he walked me into the room. We had gone about 60 feet when he stopped suddenly. Still wrapped in his arms, he bent his head to whisper in my ear.
"Can I trust you not to peek?"
I tried to glare at him, but as my face was completely hidden, it proved to be moot. I settled for shaking my head yes. And sticking my tongue out when he removed
his hands.
"Cute." He said dryly. "Real cute, Belle." I could hear him moving around, and had to slap my hands over my eyes when a bright light hit my closed lids.
"Jesus, Ryan." I huffed out. "Warn me, next time.
He ignored me. Typical, I thought to myself. He kept me there for a couple of minutes, and then just as I was about to die from curiousity, I felt his hands on my shoulders.
"OK, Belle. Open your eyes."
I did. And stopped breathing.
All I could see were the books. My mouth fell open as I drank in the sight of the most beautiful library I had ever seen in my life. Time was elastic, stretching beyond rrecognition as I walked slowly around in circles. The walls were exactly like the huge doors, white with gold vines over them. There were murals on the ceiling, and with a closer inspection I realized they were of fairytales. I wanted to weep, I wanted to pass out.
I turned to Ryan. "What... What is this? Did I die? Am I in heaven?"
He laughed, delight lighting up his eyes. "You like it?"
I sat down, hard. There had to be thousands of books in here. There were two levels, and gold ladders everywhere. A huge fireplace cut into the right wall, and there were huge window seats,
with comfy looking pillows on them. "Like it? Like it? I love it. Its....God." I was embarrassed as I felt my eyes tearing up. "It's amazing, Ryan."
"Its yours." He said, quietly.
My head shot up, and I met his gaze. Was he serious? He smiled at me. I must have looked dumbfounded. I did feel like someone had hit me with a two-by-four. I tried to say something, tried to say anything, but I couldn't get anything past the lump of tears lodged in my throat.
"Really?" I finally managed to get out as I stood up slowly. I couldn't move to fast, for fear that I might pass out from happiness. Now, that would be mortifying.
"Really, really."
I launched myself at him. His surprised yelp was cut off as I slammed into him. He managed to wrap his arms around me as we fell. We landed in an unceremonious heap on the ground.
He was wheezing, but I ignored his frantic squirming and snaked my arms around his neck.
"Thank you. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou." I squeezed him. "No one... no one has ever done anything like this for me."
And the brevity of that statement slowly hit me as he patted my back awkwardly. "I just figured... you know. Since you're stuck here with me, that you should be happy. And stuff."
I gave him one last squeeze and then scrambled up. "You rock."
He laughed, and got up too. "Thanks. Well, let's grab a book."
"I know the perfect one."
A bit later, we were laying on one of the window seats, reading Poe and watching the snow fall. I couldn't explain it, couldn't put to words how happy I was. How
content I was just laying there, reading, laughing with Ryan. His voice was smooth, deep as he read The Raven. Listening, letting the words flow over me, I grew tired, and as I put my head on his shoulder, I felt a little thrill when his arm automatically went around to pull me closer.
"Back to school tomorrow." Ryan said randomly. He sounded as disapointed as I felt. These few weeks of solitude with Ryan had been refreshing. Have been perfect.
No whispering behind my back. No Garreth.
I did miss Maurice and my dad. Even though I talked to them every day it was a constant ache. Only five more months though, and then they'll be back. And I'll be
graduated. I'll be done with High School. And the thought of graduation made me think of something. Drowsy with sleep, I tapped Ryan's chest.
"Hey, Ryan?" My voice was thick, low as I felt myself falling into sleep.
"Yeah?" His voice rumbled in his chest, and vibrated my ear. I snuggled closer.
"We should go to prom together."
He jerked. "Wha-what?"
"Prom." I murmered. "Together."
He was silent for a few seconds and then he laid his head on top of mine. "I'd love to, Belle."