Oliver and Gina decided to go back to the costume shop, both surprised to see Lily, and two other North High drama club members, the boy playing Lumiere and the girl playing Babette.

"What are you all doing here?" Lily asks them. "Scoping out the competition?"

"We came here for our Beast mask." Carlos points at her. "We know you took it."

"Pardon me, but our costumes are most excellent." The French exchange student, Antoine, speaks. Oliver remembers seeing the boy's name on the North High drama club Instagram page. "Why would we steal your mask, when it is so, uh...I...We do not have a word for this in France, but in America, I believe you say 'fugly'?"

The East High drama club gasp at hearing him say that. "What did you call my work?" Kourtney demanded, looking at him with offense.

"Quoi?" Antoine shrugged.

"Look, I'm sure your mask is supes cute." Lily chimes in. "But we're just in different leagues." Oliver rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. The more Lily talked the more he wanted to punch her. But he couldn't because he was polite and he didn't hit girls no matter how mean they are. "I mean, we're literally a quasi-pre-professional theater company and you guys put on shows based on made-for-TV movies."

Lily chuckles. "Now maybe you should listen to your precious 'High School Musical' and stick to the stuff you know."

Seb scoffs and shakes his head. "Oh, yeah? What if we bop to the top?"

Carlos looks at him, shaking his head. "Honey, no."

"Let's just wait for the Menkies." Ricky speaks up. "We'll see who's in what league then."

"Or we could find out now." Oliver raised his eyebrows when Lily says that and he shares a confused look with Gina. 

"What does that mean?" Big Red inquired.

"We challenge you to a good old-fashioned dance-off." Lily smirked.

Oliver was not on board with this idea. And taking notice of his friend's reactions he guessed they weren't either. He thought it was stupid. Kourtney scoffs. "Really? A dance-off?"

Lily crosses her arms with a determined expression on her face. "A school-versus-school dance-off to a 'Beauty and the Beast' song chosen at random. You'll do your version, and we'll do ours. We'll see which school has what it takes. No costumes, no makeup, just talent."

Ricky shakes his head. "I'm sorry, no." He chuckles. "That's just weird."

"Super weird." Ashlyn agreed. The rest of the East High main cast said their words of agreement.

"Let's go, guys." Carlos suggested and they started to leave but stopped when Lily speaks up.

"Classic East High." She laughs. "Walking out of here with your tail between your legs. Just like your Miss Jenn did when she gave up on Broadway."

"Okay," Oliver scoffs, sending Lily a glare. "That was uncalled for."

Lily just rolls her eyes and shrugs. "And, you know, let's be honest, maybe your Belle just can't cut it."

If Oliver wasn't mad before he was now. That comment she just said made his blood boil. And after seeing the hurt look on Ashlyn's face made him even more mad that Lily hurt one of his best friends. "Ashlyn is not only more talented than you but is also more kind." 

EJ, who stood beside Oliver's right side since Gina stood beside his left side, looked at him with a bit of surprised. He never saw Oliver mad before, well, no one ever saw him mad before. Oliver knows he never wanted to hurt a girl but lily was the first girl he ever wanted to hut and if it wasn't for EJ who had grabbed his arm to pull him back when he took a step forward he most likely would've punched Lily. "You're just a rude and jealous brat."

"Yeah," Gina agrees, walking forward to stand in front of Lily as she looks at Lily with a glare. "And nobody out-Belles our Belle. We are doing this."

Lily smiles. "Good. Ten-minute warm-up, then we settle this street-style." She left with the other two North High drama club members and the East High drama club members followed them, heading to the auditorium.

EJ let go of Oliver's arm when he was sure that the boy was calm. Oliver takes a deep breath and glances at EJ with a thankful smile. "Thanks, EJ."

EJ sent him a smile as they started following the others. "No problem. I wasn't for sure what you were going to do if I didn't have stopped you." He shakes his head. "I never saw you that mad before."

"There aren't many things I get mad about." Oliver admits. "But when someone insults one of my best friends and one of my favorite teachers, I'll get mad."

EJ nods in understanding. "And thanks for standing up for my cousin. Trust me, I honestly wanted to hurt Lily too when she said that about Ash."

Oliver shrugs and smiles a bit. "You don't have to thank me for that, but you're welcome. So, this whole dance-off thing. Do you think it's a good idea dancing with the enemy?" He scoffs, shaking his head. "I mean, that's exactly what Miss Jenn told us not to do."

"Nope." EJ shakes his head. "Probably not the best idea." He sighs. "But we're doing this anyway and it's for a good reason. And I'm sure Miss Jenn is better than us and is not dancing with the enemy."

Little do they know that Miss Jenn was currently in the music room dancing and singing with Zach Roy.

****

The East High main cast were now gathered in front of the stage in the North High auditorium. Well, besides Ricky, he was standing in the aisle near the entrance. "Hey, Ollie." Oliver turns around to see it was Ashlyn who called out to him. She was standing in the third row, so he walks over to her, sending her a small smile. 

"I appreciate what you said to Lily earlier." Ashlyn admits, looking at the brunette-haired boy with a smile. "That's really sweet of you."

"It's not a problem, Ash, trust me." Oliver assures her, shaking his head. "I just can't believe Lily actually said that."

Ashlyn nods in agreement and chuckles. "And I 100% agree with everything you said about her."

Oliver chuckles. "Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way about her."

"Uh, forgive me for saying," They both look over to see Antoine walking over to them, looking at Ashlyn. "But it is such a pity to be dancing against such a beautiful mademoiselle."

Ashlyn furrows her eyebrows at him, shaking her head. "I don't know what your game is, but I'm loyal to East High forever. Though, objectively, your accent is amazing."

Oliver nods in agreement. "Yeah, it really is."

"Merci." Antoine smiles at Ashlyn and Oliver. "I'm glad you guys appreciate it, I have had a hard time connecting with people since my English, is, you know, not so good."

"It sounds pretty good to me." Oliver mumbles. He sent a small smile to Antoine. "I'm Oliver." Oliver introduces himself. He points at Ashlyn. "And she's Ashlyn. It's nice to meet you, Antoine, right?"

Antoine smiles at the two. "Oui, that's right. It's nice to meet you both as well."

"Okay, and yeah, I didn't think about that." Ashlyn shakes her head, sending an apologetic smile to Antoine. "Living in a new country must be very challenging. I'm sorry."

"Well, perhaps we could, uh, go for a...How do you say...Uh, date?" 

Oliver looks at Antoine with surprise along with Ashlyn. He wasn't expecting Antoine to say that. Did Antoine not know Ashlyn is taken?

"Oh! Wow," Ashlyn smiles, her face tinted a light shade of pink since she wasn't used to getting ask this happening. "Um, that is very sweet, um, but I have a boyfriend."

"Of course." Antoine nods, a smile tugging on his lips. "I should have known." He looks at Oliver with an apologetic smile. "My apologies."

Oliver's eyes widen and he shakes his head along with Ashlyn, both of them looking at Antoine with surprise. They didn't think they looked like a couple but apparently they did to Antoine. They don't like each other that way, Ashlyn is with Big Red and Oliver has feelings for Gina.

"Oliver and I are not together." Ashlyn spoke as they look back at Antoine with surprise.

"Oh," Antoine looks a bit confused but nods. He glances over to where the rest of the main cast of East High were at and his gaze lands on Ricky. He points at him. "Then I assume it is that dashing young man who looks like Tom Holland on stilts." Oliver covered his mouth to stifle a laugh when Antoine described Ricky.

"Ricky." Ashlyn tells Antoine Ricky's name. She chuckles and shakes her head. "Oh, no."

"Oh, I see." Antoine points at EJ next. "It must be him then."

A disgusted expression forms on Ashlyn's face which made Oliver chuckle. "That is a hundred percent my cousin." She smiles over at Big Red. "Um, my guy's over there." She pointed at Big Red, who was trying to zip up his jacket, but accidentally hit himself in the process. Oliver cringed, thinking that probably hurt.

By the look on Antoine's face Oliver could tell he was surprise that Big Red is who Ashlyn is dating. "I see. I see." Antoine nods, looking back at Ashlyn. "Uh, now remember, my English is not so good, so if I say something rude, it is by accident. Um..." He glances at Big Red before looking at Ashlyn again. "That man looks ridiculous, and you should dump him and date me."

Ashlyn and Oliver look at him with surprise and offense since he basically insulted Big Red.  Oliver glares at Antoine and he speaks in a harsh tone, using air quotations around 'not being good'. "'Not being good' at English doesn't mean you should insult," He points at Ashlyn. "Her boyfriend," He then points at himself. "And one of my best friends." He stares intimidatingly at Antoine, crossing his arms. "So just don't insult Big Red again and leave Ashlyn alone because she's obviously taken." Ashlyn looked at him with a surprised expression and then a smile tugged on her lips. Oliver didn't usually act this way, but it warmed her heart to know that he would stand up for her.

Antoine looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of being shocked and offended. Oliver smiled proudly, proud of himself for making Antoine feel that way because that's what he was going for. No one gets to insult one of his best friends and try to hit on his best friend's girlfriend. Antoine didn't get to say anything back to Oliver because Lily then called for everyone to gather around, saying it was time to pick the song they would be dancing and singing to. Ashlyn and Oliver went over to stand beside the East High main cast members. 

"I will now press shuffle to choose the song." Lily announced.

Antoine moves to stand beside her on the stage by the steps. "After which, I will prepare a dance remix of the song since I, on occasion, DJ."

Big Red rolls his eyes. "Ah, of course he's a DJ."

"Non, monsieur, I DJ, but I would not say I am a DJ." Antoine chuckled.

"Thanks for the clarity." Big Red sarcastically commented.

"Everyone ready?" Lily questions. When she knew everyone was she got ready to press shuffle. "And it's..." The smile on her lips fell upon seeing the song that showed up. "'The Mob Song'."

"Yes!" EJ and Oliver cheers while everyone else groans. EJ looks at Oliver with surprise, not expecting him to like 'The Mob Song'. "Wait, you seriously like 'The Mob Song'?"

"Of course!" Oliver nods, an excited smile on his lips. Gina couldn't help the smile that tugs on her lips upon seeing how excited Oliver was for this, he was so cute. "I think it's one of the most important scenes of the movie and it's honestly such a good song."

EJ grins and the two boys high five each other. "So glad I'm not the only one who likes this song." He looks at the rest of his friends with a frown. "And I knew you all didn't like 'The Mob Song'."

Big Red turns to face him, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not really a dancing song."

"It's boring!" Ashlyn added.

"It's fine, guys." Gina cut in before a fight starts. She looks at her friends with a reassuring smile. "We're East High. We can make anything work."

EJ smiles and nods in agreement. "Yeah, we can."

"Open the curtain!" Lily called out to someone backstage.

The big red curtain on the stage was pulled back to show the set design of the staircase and platform that were supposed to be apart of the Beast's castle. Oliver hated to admit it looked amazing. North High's drama club for sure had a bigger budget cut than East High's drama club did which made him upset. What really caught Oliver's eye was someone in a Beast costume standing at the top of the stairs. He scoffed, crossing his arms. He thought no costumes were allowed.

"Is it just me or is all of this, like, off-the-rails insane?" Nini asked.

"Not just you." Oliver replied.

"Uh, honestly, if you don't wanna do it with us, you could always take off." Ricky tells Nini. "Don't want you to feel confined." 

After seeing the hurt look on Nini's face, Oliver looks at Ricky with wide eyes and scolds him. "Dude, seriously?" If he was standing closer to Ricky he would've slapped his arm. 

Ricky looks at him with furrowed eyebrows, clearly not getting the fact that he just hurt Nini's feelings. "Wait, what?" Nini questioned, looking at Ricky with a frown. 

Oliver rolls his eyes at Ricky and Ricky looks away, completely ignoring Nini's question. Nini scoffs, shaking her head. "This is a bad idea."

Oliver watched Nini walk to the entrance with concern. The two have become closer as friends lately and he hoped that she was okay. Even if they weren't close friends he would've hoped that she was okay.

Lily smiles at everyone. "May the best school win. Places, please!" 

As Antoine got the remix of the song ready Ricky found an acoustic guitar that was set off to the side in backstage. He played the acoustic guitar and so did North High's Beast which confused Oliver. How could their Beast even play guitar let alone sing with that costume on?

Oliver elbows EJ gently, gesturing for him to start the song since he's East High Gaston and he wasn't for sure who North High's Gaston was. Oliver sent him an encouraging smile when EJ looks at him with a nervous expression. EJ nods, taking a deep breath before he steps in front of his friends. He stands in front of North High's Beast, staring at him with an intimidating stare. "Through the mist, through the woods. Through the darkness and the shadows." The main cast members of East High cheers for him which made him smile a bit. "It's a nightmare, but it's one exciting ride."

North High cheers for their Beast who takes a step toward EJ, singing and playing the acoustic guitar he has. "Say a prayer. Then we're there at the drawbridge of a castle. And there's something truly terrible inside."

Oliver moves to stand beside EJ, pointing at North High's Beast. "It's a Beast!"

North High's Beast moves closer to the two boys so close that he was now inches away from them which caused them to take a step back. "He's got fangs." 

"Razor sharp ones." Oliver sang, patting EJ's shoulder to let him know he was fine on his own as he sent the boy a smile. EJ returned the smile and even gave him a thumbs up before going to quickly move to stand beside their friends again so he was out of the way.

Oliver and North High's Beast begin to circle each other. "Massive paws, killer claws for the feast." North High's Beast sang.

Oliver moves closer to North High's Beast with each sentence he sings causing North High's Beast to move backward, staring intimidatingly at the Beast the whole time. "Hear him roar. See him foam."

North High's Beast walks toward Oliver so he was close enough to push him back by using his guitar causing Oliver to glare at him. "'Cause we're not going home 'till he's dead. Good and dead."

"Kill the beast!" Everyone chorused.

Kourtney was the first one to start dancing at both school's backed away on both sides of the stage and Ricky and the Beast put away their guitars they had as the others danced. Oliver cheered with his friends, watching Kourtney dance with a grin. He had no idea Kourtney could dance this well. Kourtney stepped backwards when one of the North High's students moved forward to dance next.

Everyone went around in a circle and East High main cast members went to stand on the lower part of the staircase, doing the same choreography they made up. Oliver stood in the middle row with Ashlyn, harmonizing his voice with his friend's. "Light your torch, mount your horse. Screw your courage to the sticking place. We're counting on Gaston to lead the way."

They made their way onto the stage, moving closer to North High which caused them to back up. "Through a mist, through a wood. We're within a haunted castle." They go to follow North High, who went over to stand on the staircase. "Something's lurking in the castle that you don't see everyday."

North High does their own choreography too while singing. "It's a Beast. One as tall as a mountain. We won't rest 'till he's good and deceased." they went up to the top platform. "Sally forth, tally-ho. Raise your swords, grab your bow. Praise the Lord and here we go."

Antoine walks down the stairs. "No one's safe until he's dead. He'll come stalking us at night."

Carlos met him at the bottom of the staircase. "Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite."

Antoine circles around Carlos. "He'll wreck havoc on our village if we let him wander free."

Carlos backs up towards East High, still facing Antoine with a determined expression. "So it's time to take some action, boys." He's lifted up into the air with the help of EJ and Ricky. Oliver and Seb made sure to keep Carlos steady so he wouldn't fall while EJ and Ricky spins Carlos around. Carlos outstretches his arms as he belts out the word 'me'. "It's time to follow me." 

After setting Carlos on the ground carefully the two schools walk to the middle of the stage, singing as they form two lines. Each main cast member stood in front of the student from the other school who is playing that same role in the play. "We don't like what we don't understand. In fact, it scares us. And this monster is mysterious at least."

North High gets into a circle as East High circle around them. "Bring your guns, bring your knives. Save your children and save your wives." The two schools switched places which meant East High was now the circle and North High circled around them. "We'll save our village and our lives."

"We'll kill the beast!"

East High backed up to stand on the right side of the stage with North High on the left. Gina moved forward to dance and she killed it. Oliver cheered for her along with his friends. He does know she would've been able to do a lot more cooler moves if she wasn't wearing a dress, but in his opinion she still did a fantastic job. 

The girl who was playing Babette for North High stepped forward and one-upped Gina only because she wasn't wearing a dress. And then another North High main cast member joined in and danced with the girl. Oliver thought their dance was a bit over the top.

Gina rolls her eyes at the two North High students and waves a dismissive hand, walking back over to her friends. Oliver glances at Lily when she sings, seeing she was walking to the top platform as he moves over to the left side of the stage with his friends. He hated to admit that she actually does have a good singing voice.

"Hearts ablaze. Banners high." North High cheers for Lily as she sings. "We go marching into battle. Unafraid, although the danger's just increased."

Oliver cheers along with his friends when he notices Ashlyn was on the top platform, walking over to Lily with a challenging expression on her face. "Raise the flag. Sing the song." Lily turns around and walks to the lower platform with Ashlyn following her. Yeah, you better be scared, Oliver thought with a smirk on his lips. Ashlyn seriously had some killer talent and he could tell Lily didn't like that. "Here we come with 50 strong. And 50 Frenchmen can't be wrong."

North High and East High now stood on the stairs, facing the two girls. "We'll kill the beast!"

Oliver gasped along with the others, his eyes wide when Lily pushed Ashlyn off the top step. He was relieved and glad that Antoine reached out to grab her, pulling her back onto the platform before she fell down the stairs. He would've tried to catch her except he wasn't close to her. As Oliver looked over at Big Red he noticed that Big Red looked almost annoyed that Antoine caught Ashlyn instead of himself.

They all gathered in backstage and after making sure Ashlyn was alright they all went to leave. But, of course, Lily had to stop them again. "Uh, for the record," She chuckles. "We won."

Gina looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Just because someone almost fell?"

"Yeah." Oliver scoffs, turning to face her with crossed arms and an annoyed expression on his face. "How did you win? You said no costumes, no makeup, just talent." He glares at the blonde-haired girl. "Blondie, you literally went against your own words."

Lily glares at him and crosses her arms. "He was late." She said, referring to North High's Beast.

"Sure," Oliver chuckles and mocks her voice, rolling his eyes. "He was late." Lily continued to glare at him.

"Okay, but did you see Gina's moves?" Kourtney chimes in. "No way you beat that."

"Maybe we should have figured out some sort of points system?" Seb said but it sounded more like a question.

"You know what? It's fine." Carlos assures his friends. "Let her say they won. This dance-off doesn't matter." He looks away from his friends, looking at Lily. "The Menkies matter, and we're gonna win that because we've got one thing you don't have."

Lily tilts her head to the side, raising her eyebrows. "The sympathy vote?"

Seb chuckles. "No. Nini's 'Rose Song'." Oliver glanced over to his right when he heard footsteps, smiling a bit to see Nini was back.

Nini smiled at what Seb said and words of agreement were heard from the others which made her smile widen. "Um..." Lily chuckles. "Sorry, not sorry, Wildcats, but if you preform her song in your show, you will be disqualified from the Menkies. You can't alter the original Menken test."

"Well," Nini speaks up. "Let's just do it anyway. Stick to the plan and take the risk."

Carlos turns to face her with worry. "And risk letting them win? Isn't there a sports metaphor for this?" Everyone turned to EJ when he asked that. EJ had his hands on his hips, staring at the floor with a panicked expression.

"EJ, you had one job!" Carlos exclaimed to him.

With an amused expression on his face, Oliver pats EJ's shoulder. "Good job, buddy."

"I mean, what if the song didn't really fit in the show anyway, you know?" Ricky speaks, glancing at Nini. Now Oliver felt like he wanted to punch Ricky, maybe that will knock some sense into him. Was is up with Ricky today? He never acted rude, espeically to Nini. "Seems a little heavy."

Nini looked at him with disbelief, shaking her head before she walked away. Everyone followed her, deciding it was time to leave.

A/N oliver was just a protective boi in this chapter & i love him so much ! tbh i'm starting to really like ej's & oliver's friendship, they're for sure gonna be like best bros. also love ashlyn's & oliver's friendship so much. yes, i changed up the mob song for this fic to give ej more of a solo & im aware that north high didnt show who was their gaston & the dance off was kind of a battle against each school's roles but ej deserved a solo in that song 'cause he's literally gaston. they did ej dirty with not giving him a solo in that song.