beauty and the beast ⋮ percabeth au

18.

"And that wraps up our final rehearsal!" Apollo cheered. "Make sure to be here by 5pm tomorrow for warm-ups and hair and makeup. Remember, we're performing at the school's pep assembly tomorrow to promote the show, so be sure to be here by the beginning of first lunch in order to get ready. Have a great evening everyone!"

The entire cast and crew whooped in delight. The auditorium seemed to be filled with with excited tension at the prospect of performing in front of an audience in less than 24 hours.

Oh God. I'll be kissing Percy in less than 24 hours.

"I'm so excited!" Hazel clapped while turning towards our group. "I can't believe opening night is tomorrow."

"I can't believe we have to perform in front of the school," I grumbled.

"Hey, it'll be alright," Percy grinned and wrapped an arm around me. "We're only performing 'Belle.'"

"You're only saying that because you don't have to perform in the number," I replied.

"Well, we do have to do the 'Beauty and the Beast' waltz," Percy noted. Up ahead I noticed Hazel and Frank joking about something. Frank said something to Hazel and I saw her freeze, her face slowly heating up.

"What did he just say to her?" Percy asked me.

"No clue." A grin grew across my face. "But hopefully they'll be finally getting together sooner than we all thought."

"Agreed." Percy high-fived me. "Want me to walk you home?"

"Absolutely." I pulled my backpack into my shoulders. Percy grabbed my hand (eep) and led me down the sidewalk. We began to talk about casual topics, like Percy's demonic pre-calculus teacher and my infinite hatred of my Physics partner.

At the same time, however, I couldn't help but take in all my surroundings. This included the cherry blossom trees blowing their petals everywhere and the sunshine beating down on my exposed legs. A few of the cherry blossom petals blew into Percy's hair and I almost giggled, pulling the stray petals out of his hair.

"You alright there?" Percy asked me after a while when I stayed silent. "You seem a little lost in thought."

"Yeah..." I began. "I'm just terrified for tomorrow night."

"Hey," Percy moved himself in front of me and grabbed my other hand. "You've been absolutely killing it at the rehearsals. You're going to blow everyone away." He paused, obviously thinking of something new. "Have Drew, Tammi, and Kelli been saying anything to you?"

"No," I lied. Drew, Kelli, and Tammi were still tormenting me on a frequent basis. But Percy didn't need to know that.

"You're lying," Percy said simply.

I sighed. He knew me way too well. "It's nothing, Percy. I'm fine."

"You sure?" He asked me.

I nodded and Percy pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his torso and sighed quietly in content. He was warm and comforting, which was something I didn't feel often.

Jesus, this guy is making me into a mess.

"I have to go Percy. I'll see you at school tomorrow," I told him while I unfortunately let him go.