the kingdom I guess the curse taught him nothing He still fell for someone based on her looks Maddie’s dad stepped in between them Guys that’s enough Please don’t argue about another fairy tale Maddie was furious He did this on purpose Dad He had no intention of making a costume He just wanted to make a point I don’t want to argue Holden said putting his mask back on I just want to go to the party Not like that Carol said grabbing him by the shoulder If Maddie’s not allowed to go outside wearing makeup then you’re not allowed to go out she took another disgusted look at his costume with half your skull exposed Maddie raised her hand to her face to cover up the fact that she was smiling She loved to see Holden get in trouble What am I supposed to wear then I don’t have another costume Wear the suit you wore to our wedding Dad said You looked very nice in that You can say you’re a lawyer Holden groaned Lame Don’t feel bad Holden Maddie said No matter what you wear you’ll still be a beast on the inside Maddie’s dad shot her an angry look If I hear one more comment like that neither of you is going to the party Maddie kept her mouth shut but she couldn’t help smirking at Holden as he went upstairs to get changed It served him right for trying to ruin her Halloween and one of her favorite fairy tales Stockholm Syndrome It made sense he would know so much about that because the only way he’d ever get anyone to marry him is to kidnap them Her rotten stepbrother didn’t have a single romantic bone in his body She didn’t care what he said She believed in true love that Belle and the Beast were made for each other and that they could look beyond their outward appearances and see that they were meant to be
together Just like she and Holden were meant to be as far apart as possible
Chapter 2 I’m not sure that’s how a necktie is supposed to look Maddie said when Holden came downstairs for the Halloween dance She was trying to be polite because in reality his tie was an absolute disaster The knot was the size of a fist and the tie itself was crooked and only came halfway down his chest Worst of all he hadn’t tucked it under his collar so it was visible all the way around his neck What Holden said defensively Looks okay to me Here let me help Maddie’s dad said While he retied it Holden reached down and grabbed his tablet tucking it inside his suit coat I doubt you’ll need a tablet at the dance Carol said It’s part of the costume Holden insisted Lawyers don’t go anywhere without their tablets these days Carol rolled her eyes Fine just promise you won’t spend the whole dance sitting in a corner playing video games Holden held his hand on his briefcase as if taking an oath in court You have my solemn vow he assured her What a ham As soon as Holden and Maddie got dropped off they walked in opposite directions Neither of them wanted to be seen arriving at the dance with the other It wasn’t long before a zombie and a ninja staggered up to Holden Nice costume the ninja sneered It was Holden’s buddy Jamal and even though nothing was showing through his face mask but his eyes Holden could sense the sarcasm in his expression I’ll show you a nice costume Holden replied pulling out the tablet He showed the photo of him in his Beast outfit Whoa Jamal said That’s sick
Why didn’t you wear that the zombie asked My annoying stepsister Holden jeered She had to go and make a big deal about it As Maddie scanned the dimly lit gym she quickly noticed she wasn’t the only Belle Lauren Singer was also dressed as the famous princess as was Abby Chou Two other people in the same costume Maddie was crestfallen She thought about bolting and hiding under the bleachers by the football field until her dad came to pick her up in three hours It was too late though She’d been spotted Maddie OMG The Cat in the Hat came running across the dance floor toward her It took Maddie a moment to realize it was her friend Tasha I can’t believe there are other Belles Maddie said So what Your costume blows theirs away Thanks My stepmom helped me make it So I don’t need to leave and go hide under the bleachers Tasha laughed If the real Belle were here and she saw you she’d go hide under the bleachers so she wouldn’t get compared to you Tasha was a great friend who always knew how to cheer Maddie up What really surprised Maddie is that everyone else gave her compliments too One kid said she was fierce Another told her she rocked the Belle look A chaperone told her how grown-up she looked It seemed like everyone wanted to tell Maddie how pretty she looked Girls teachers She even heard a few boys whisper about it when she walked by Check out Maddie McMatthews one guy said to his friend Whoa the friend replied In middle school that’s pretty much a rave review Holden had a great time too because he never stopped showing people the picture of himself in the Beast outfit His friends thought it was awesome but not everyone agreed Two girls found the costume so disgusting they ran away screaming Principal Montez agreed there was no way she would have let him into the party in such a
