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
repulsive outfit Then you’re no better than the Beast himself Holden told her You judged my costume based on how it looked rather than who was underneath it Principal Montez was not amused Well anyone who came to this party wearing that costume would’ve been asked to take it off and I would’ve given the person underneath it a week of detention That’s when Holden remembered an important rule of middle school never argue with the principal At the end of the night the president of the student body got up to hand out awards for the best costumes When they got to the prize for Prettiest Costume she said it was no contest Maddie McMatthews she announced Maddie felt bad for the other two girls who dressed as Belle but they were both gracious in defeat Holden got an award too for Lamest Costume He even beat out three people who weren’t wearing costumes at all I’ll show you what should’ve won best costume he said as he accepted his booby prize He pulled out his tablet and he was about to show everyone the picture of his Beast costume when he saw Principal Montez shaking her head at the back of the gym Um check my Instagram he said quickly hiding the tablet from sight Maddie felt a little bad for her stepbrother but only until he started gloating on the car ride home Did you hear those two girls screaming when I showed them the picture he asked I bet if I’d worn the costume I could’ve gotten them to puke all over the dance floor When they got home Maddie’s dad went immediately up to bed He was exhausted from handing out candy to all the trick-or-treaters and constantly having to explain to them who the Eurythmics were I knew there was a reason I didn’t like Halloween he griped Holden couldn’t wait to get out of his suit When I grow up he said I’m getting a job where I don’t have to wear one of these three-piece straightjackets every day As Holden took off his suit jacket he placed his tablet down on the staircase and the
brightly lit screen illuminated the dark hallway That’s weird he said picking it back up It should’ve done an auto shutdown by now As Holden checked out the screen he got a grave look on his face Um Maddie you should probably see this Maddie took a look at the screen I’m not looking at your Beast costume again Let it go Holden That’s not it I think I broke it You broke your tablet No The story Look He pointed to an illustration on the screen of Belle and Beast at their wedding Maddie shrugged They’re getting married Looks like a happily ever after to me But isn’t the Beast supposed to change back into a human at the end Why is he still beastly You’re right That’s weird Maddie swiped through the pages on the tablet and saw new pictures she hadn’t seen before In one Belle was crying In another she was dating a different man Holden What have you done she said Let me see Holden took the tablet from her and flipped back to the first page of the story Well at least it still starts off the same Once upon a Holden no Maddie said trying to stop him before he finished the phrase time Holden said Then he looked at Maddie confused What A huge flash of light surged from the tablet and Maddie and Holden each began to feel an odd tingling sensation Oh no Holden shouted realizing what was going on The two stepsiblings bodies began to shrink and float across the room Soon they disappeared into the glowing screen On the tablet the cover illustration changed Instead of Belle and the Beast dancing it was a picture of Maddie and Holden amid a white background both of them suddenly anticipating an adventure
