Page 81 of Pride High 2: Orange

“It’s hard to miss,” Belle replied. That’s how he was starting to think of her again as the story continued. “What I totally don’t get is why you choose to be like this.”

“How is being cursed a choice?” he demanded.

“You’ve got options,” Belle said flirtatiously. “Maybeyou’rethe one who needs glasses.”

Diego glowered at the audience, as if seeking their support, and saw smiling faces. People were eating this shit up! He ignored the broken table and pretended the chaos had never happened. Although as the scene ended, Whitney looked around and said, “I don’t suppose any of your servants were turned into a vacuum cleaner?”

This got more laughs. The scene ended and the mess was cleared away. Best of all, Cameron had to bust his ass to clean it up. That must have brought back a few memories, judging from the look on his face.

“Come here,” Mindy said, dragging him toward her station. “We don’t have much time!”

She began cleaning the makeup off his face. Thank god. Then she brushed out his hair, which was just long enough to get into his eyes when he didn’t have it slicked back. She taped a cardboard nose to his face, along with a few other pieces to replace the makeup. Then she put a fright wig over his hair. He was supposed to cover his face and pull all the wanna-be prosthetics off when the enchantment was broken, revealing a prince underneath. What a joke.

“You’re ready to go,” she said, clutching her hands together in front of her chest. “You’re doing so great!”

“You really think so?” he asked.

Mindy nodded happily. Her petite nose was covered in freckles, her blue eyes shining in excitement.

“It should have been you out there,” Diego said.

“Not this again,” Mindy said, already shaking her head.

“You’re arealprincess. You wouldn’t even need a costume.”

She blushed and swatted his arm. “Break a leg. Not for real! But you know. Now get going!”

Mindy walked around the chair and pushed on his back, which he resisted just to show her he could before he finally stood. Then he walked to the edge of the stage, where Ricky was waiting for him.

“Ready for the big kiss?” he asked.

“Why?” Diego responded. “You wanna practice?”

Ricky pushed his glasses farther up his nose. “What if I did?”

Diego didn’t get a chance to respond. The theater director was pointing at him with one hand and, with the other, at Whitney on the far side of the stage. Then she brought her fingers together. That was the signal. He approached a stone bench surrounded by artificial rose bushes and wooden trees, where he met Whitney. They sat together, side by side.

“I love being here,” she said.

“Ha!” he replied with a snort.

“For real.” Belle turned to him. “But it’s more than that. I think I could love you like this, even if we don’t break the curse.”

“Yeah right,” he retorted. “If you love me then why do I still look like a mangy dog?”

He heard laughter, which was satisfying, since he’d written that line. Ricky had come up with the next.

“I don’t care if you believe me,” Whitney said. “Pucker up!’”

Diego was still thinking of Ricky when they kissed. He enjoyed it more than he should, a need rising up in him that he always tried to ignore. He hated how vulnerable it made him feel. And yet, he couldn’t help giving in to it as he placed a hand on Whitney’s cheek.

She pulled away, her eyes darting all over his face. Oh right! The curse was broken. Diego bent over and, while writhing, rubbed the cardboard prosthetics off his face. Once he turned into a prince, he was supposed to say something poetic. But he couldn’t remember what. The wig hit the ground next. He was going to look like an idiot if he stood there saying nothing after his magical transformation. This was the big scene! And he was about to blow it! He shrugged off the robe he wore, revealing one that was bright red with shimmering gold trim, which made him look majestic, according to Ricky. Like a freaking bald eagle or whatever. He wished they were hanging out in his bedroom now, because when Diego was there, everything felt…

Safe. Like the only calm place in a never-ending hurricane. Diego swallowed and dropped the hands from his face. “You’ve tamed the beast inside of me and awoken something much more powerful.” He reached for Ricky. Or for Belle actually. She took his hand. But he wouldn’t ask if she wanted to be his queen. Whitney hadn’t liked that line as much as Ricky had seemed to.

“And you’ve made my boring life feel like a dream,” Belle responded. “How would you like to be my king?”

“That sounds royal to me.”