FicWad

The next few days were lazy, hot, and summery.

We went swimming every day at the Reefs (Meg made us, because she said that swimming was excellent exercise and that she was one pound away from her ideal weight before the Ball), ate ice cream every day after swimming (except Meg, who was still eating not much more than celery), then went to my house (because of my mom never being there) and hung out ‘til all hours of the night. Then Gerard and Frankie would go home and Meg and I would go to sleep, and then not wake up ‘til two in the afternoon.

The days after school let out went by quickly and pretty soon it was the day of the Summer Kick-Off Ball. Meg was at my house with her tiny dress and a duffle bag of make up, bobby pins, hair products, undergarments, and curling and straightening irons.

“Oh. My. God.” I stared at the bag as she started pulling out several different strapless bras. “Do I have to wear all of these at the same time?”

“No, stupid. Try these one and see which one looks the best. The more cleavage, the better!” she cried, pushing me into the bathroom and shutting the door. The bathroom floor was still wet from the shower I’d just taken. I tried on the bras, then emerged with the one that Meg said caused ‘maximum cleavage.’

“Is this one good?” I asked as I puffed my chest out. I shimmied.

“Perfect! And…stop that,” she laughed. “It’s weird. Now sit down while I make you into a rock star!”

After Meg had asked me how I was going to fix my hair and I’d replied with a simple, “However I normally do,” she’d forced herself into my house with the intention of “prettying me up.” All direct quotes.

She blow-dried my hair while she brushed it with one of those airy brushes. I just sat there and stared at my reflection in the mirror as she yelled over the roar of the blow drier how long my stupid hair was.

After a while she unplugged the blow drier to make room for the straightening iron and the curling iron.

“Oh my God! You’re gonna blow a fuse!”

“It’s fine. It’s all in the name of beauty,” she said, turning up the heat to the maximum volume. “Besides, I’m going to make sure Gerard can’t take his eyes off of you tonight,” she added with a smile.

“Well that’s tempting!” I said sarcastically. She put half of my hair in a pony tail on top of my head. “We’re just friends,” I added.

She curled a strand of my hair then let it fall on my bare shoulder. The heat from it made me cringe. “You’re lucky your hair is already pretty straight when we blow dried. That means no straightening yet,” she said. “And do you two really think me and Frankie are stupid?”

I looked up at her and blinked. “No?” I offered.

“I’ve got the hot curling iron in my hand, Lily,” she said. “But you and Gerard are always together lately.”

“Well, we’re friends. And he’s with me all the time so Jacob leaves me alone,” I added. I scrunched my nose up in the mirror.

Meg finished curling the bottom layer of my hair and took down another layer to curl. “That’s true. What’s his deal? Is he, like, crazy?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. I buried my face in my hands and groaned.

Meg slapped the back of my head. “Don’t touch your face! You’ll get it greasy and then the makeup won’t stay!”

“Jesus!” I said, rubbing the back of my head. “Fine, I won’t touch my face!”

“Good,” she said, smiling as she curled another piece of hair. “Did you ever notice if Jacob took meds?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I only dated him for the better part of two weeks because I thought him following me around was sweet. I’ve never even been to his house.”

“I was just wondering. Because he seems a little, uh, unstable.”

“Ya think?” I glared up at her through my bangs. “Can we talk about something else? Jacob’s not exactly a trending topic lately.”

“Sure. Gerard’s a nice little topic. So, has he kissed you?”

“No!” I cried. Meg could be very persistent. “We’re friends.”

“Then why’d you let me do your hair and makeup for tonight? You didn’t even let me do this for prom.”

“I was throwing you a bone, Megan. You practically begged.” I laughed.

“Lily and Gerard, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g—”

“Shut up!”

“Your face is beet red, I hope you know.”

“I’m aware of that, thank you,” I said solemnly.

That went on for two more hours, but by the time Meg was finished with me and I was in my dress, I took a look in the mirror and decided that all the teasing and iron burns had been totally worth it.

Everything about me was intense, defined. My eyes were outlined in smoky black eye shadow, my lashes were long and dramatic, my lips were in a crimson pout, and my skin was porcelain and flawless and smooth. My hair, usually straight, was curly and shiny, cascading down my shoulders past the top of my dress.

My dress was red with black lace over it, giving it a scarlet look, and strapless. There were black, glittery beads woven into the lace in swirly patterns, and the hem rested about three inches above my knees. It was slightly poofy at the bottom, yet my torso and bust was defined. There was a wide, black, satiny ribbon below my bust, which tied off into a giant (yet tasteful) black bow on my back.

“I am amazing,” Meg said, smiling triumphantly.

“You are amazing,” I concurred, spinning around in front of the mirror.

“I just wish you would take off those damn shoes and put on the heels I picked out for you!” she whined, holding up a pair of scarlet stilettos.

I looked down my worn out low-top Converse All-Stars. “I think I’m good. These are more comfortable. By the way, you look amazing, too,” I added.

Meg’s dress was tiny, yellow, and short. It had thin spaghetti straps and was skin tight, and came up to her mid-thigh with little ruffles. It was like a modern, hip version of the dress Belle wore in Beauty and the Beast. She had on black heels with strappy yellow ribbons. Her hair was short, so it didn’t take long for her to fix. Her makeup, however, took five times longer than mine did. I guess she’s her greatest critic, but she looked amazing.

“Now, I’m going to drive to my house so that Chad can pick me up there. I’ll see you at the Ball, Lily. You’re so pretty! Gerard will die once he sees how hot you look.”

Meg left and I sat around the house for about fifteen minutes, flipping through the channels and being bored, waiting for Gerard. My mom was out of town, but she’d made me promise to take lots of pictures so she could see them.

When the doorbell finally rang, I jumped off the couch so fast I tripped and landed on the coffee table with a thump. Still on the table, I looked at the window beside the door, where Gerard was staring at me, laughing harder than I’d ever seen him laugh before. I stood up and smoothed down my dress and opened the door for him.

“I really wish you hadn’t seen that,” I said, biting my lip.

Gerard, in his all black tux and blood red tie, didn’t say anything, and he stopped laughing. He only stared at me.

I looked around. “Are you…okay? Do you need something?”

He shook his head quickly and blinked. “What? No. It’s just, uh, you’re really, wow, Lily.”

“I’m really wow? Why, thank you, Gerard. You’re oh-so eloquent.”

“If you were in my position right now, you wouldn’t be able to speak either,” he replied.

“What position is that?” I asked.

He smiled and put his arm over my shoulder, ignoring my question. “Let’s go eat,” he said and we walked to his truck. “This is going to be the best night ever,” he said as I locked the door to my house and shoved the key in my purse. “I promise.”


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eek. lack of updates, sorry.
erm, maybe one tomorrow, but after that, i do not know.

so, rate and review, and i'll update more quickly.

and that's a promise. :]