thought no. 22

So, right now, Beauty and the Beast is on in the living room, and it occurs to me that if Belle had simply pretended to fawn over Gaston a bit, he would have completely ignored her, because she is, after all, a nerd girl. Look at her, and look at Gaston, who's a classic jock. Does anyone really think that a muscle-head like him would be choosing bookish Belle over the various push-ups who were in the tavern unless it was because she was the one girl who wouldn't have him?
No, the only reason Gaston wanted Belle was because she rejected him. If she had acted, even a little, like she was interested, Gaston would have blown her off for someone sporting more unbound hair and cleavage.
Hell, throw in a little shyness and she wouldn't even have to pay much attention. Yes, you could say that it's "compromising her integrity", but no one's asking her to sleep with him, now are they? A little false flattery seems a small price to pay for keeping an idiot away.