2k12 series –Donnie and April – First date – cute
April stood in front of her mirror wearing nothing but her undergarments. Donnie had told her to dress formal. What was formal? What was he going to wear? Was he going to wear anything? Can he even wear anything? She asked herself all the questions as she stared at her mostly naked self. She sighed and walked over to closet. She didn't own anything formal. How formal should it be? Like dinner party formal? Or wedding formal? What did formal mean to a turtle? Did he mean just not her typical T-Shirt and shorts? Or was he expecting something spectacular?
This was her first time being with Donnie in a way that's more than friendly. More romantically. What does one wear on a first date? She had never been very involved with many boys at her school. She had never had the true first date experience. And now that it was happening, she was dumbfounded. She walked back to her bed and collapsed down on it, gripping her red hair in her hands. She had entirely forgotten about applying cosmetics and styling hair that went along with a date. She had done all she knew how to do. Everything else was so unfamiliar to her. She dared take a quick look at the clock on her bedside table. Donnie would be expecting her in less than 2 hours. On a typical day, she would say she had plenty of time. But on this day, it was nowhere near enough time. She still had so much to do.
She practically jumped off the bed and ran back over to her closet. She pulled out everything she had and laid everything out on her bed. She was not satisfied with anything she owned. Nothing seemed to fit the occasion. As she grabbed some of the outfits and went to put them back, a yellow shimmer caught her eye from the very back of her closet. She hung what she had in her hand and rush to the shimmer. She smiled pulling it out of the clear plastic wrap protecting it. It brought her back to a time when her family was whole. Back before she lost her mother. She slipped it over his slim figure and stood in front of the mirror again. The yellow sequin covered dress hugged her body perfect. Though it was not a dress she would ever buy for herself, it was one that she held dear to her heart. It was the last thing her mother bought her. The memory was fresh in her mind.
April walked down the street beside her mother. The sun was setting. Her mother knew what would happen in a short amount of time. She wanted to make sure that April had something to remember her by. As they passed every store, she asked April if there was anything that caught her eyes. April was a humble child. She never wanted anything; but when she passed the yellow sequin dress in the window, she knew she had to have it. Her mother didn't miss a beat when April's eyes darted to the mannequin. "You want that?" She asked, walking over to the window pulling April along with her. April simply nodded. "Then it's yours." Her mother smiled ear-to-ear pulling her through the open door.
Much to April's dismay, they did not have that particular dress in her size. But that would not stop Mrs. O'Neil from buying it for her. She knew that she would never have the opportunity to wear until she was much older anyway. The only size they had would not fit her until she was much older. And though she knew she wouldn't be around to see her wear it, Mrs. O'Neil knew that it would look beautiful on her. She quickly paid for the shiny and expensive dress without hesitation.
When they returned to their home, April's mother stored the dress in the very back of the closet. She sat young April down on her bed and smiled at her, "That is a very special dress, April. You can only wear it on very special occasions." She smiled, resting her hand on April's leg.
April couldn't think of an occasion more important than her first date. As she was brought back to reality, she let a few tears slip from the corners of her eyes remembering her mother. She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to look beautiful. The corners of her mouth shot up into a slight smile. Though she had outgrown her childish obsession with sequins, she had to admit that the dress still looked stunning.
She stumbled along to the bathroom, where she met a comb and blow drier. Hairstyling never was an interest of hers. There was a strict limitation on what she could do. She only knew what she was comfortable with – a headband and a ponytail. But she felt she had to do something that would complement the dress. Something different and amazing. Something Donnie would love. She started taking out the knots with the comb and dried it. Her hair was naturally straight. Leaning over the sink in frustration, she sighed. She had reached another standstill in her preparation for her date. Suddenly, she remembered that she had a round brush she stored away under the sink. She quickly pulled it out and started curling her hair up as she had seen done in thousands of television shows before. Natural was her goal. She wanted it to look as natural as possible. She wanted it to lie naturally on her shoulders. She wanted the curls to fall naturally from her roots. Until she received the results she wanted, she would not give up. After another half hour of fighting with her brush, her hair looked like she had wanted. It was not hair for a model, or anything photo shoot worthy, but she was proud of it.
Her next task was cosmetics. She had worn make-up occasionally. Usually, she never bothered with the fancy stuff. She knew lip gloss and blush. That was her comfort. But comfort was no longer perfection. She dug out the make-up she hardly knew how to use. Mascara, eye liner, eye shadow, foundation. So many new things to her. She had seen them applied hundreds of times, but she had never paid much attention to the proper application process. She tried her best, often rubbing it off and trying again. After a fair number of attempts, she got the hang of how to use all these fancy cosmetics. She looked at herself in the mirror after she had finished. She could hardly recognize herself. She would never say it out loud, but she thought she looked incredible. Looking at the clock realizing that she only had a half-hour left, she quickly found a decent pair of shoes and grabbed her clutch before running out of her house.
Donnie stood in his lab, tying his necktie for the thirtieth time over. He wanted it to look perfect. He couldn't get a suit for the occasion, so a tie and a small corsage on his wrist should cut it. He had been looking forward to that night since he had met the girl. And now that it was finally happening, he couldn't wish more that time would stand still. He felt that he had so much to do before she arrived, even though he had double and triple checked everything over. According to his checklist, the night should run perfectly. But Donnie's checklists never guarantee perfection.
"Hello?" A feminine voice came from the entrance of the lair.
Donnie knew he was the only one in the lair as he had practically kicked out his brothers. He ran out of his lab to meet April by the entrance. When he saw her, his heart skipped a beat. He had never seen such a beautiful girl. He stopped in his tracks, suddenly feeling very underdressed. He pulled on his tie trying to find the right words to say.
April blushed deeply. Had she overdressed? She looked down at herself and then at Donnie, whose only difference was a tie and corsage. Rubbing her knees together in embarrassment, she spoke quietly, "Is this too much?" she asked pressing her arms together.
Donnie shook his head, "No. You look beautiful." He said, regaining his motor functions. He walked over to her slowly, grabbing her hand with one of his and placing the other carefully over her eyes. He led her down to his lab and took his hand off of her eyes gently, as to not ruin her make-up.
She opened her eyes expecting to see something wonderful. She looked a little disappointed when it was just the same old Donnie's lab. "Donnie. This is your lab. I thought we could do something a little more special than just analyzing Kraang tech." She looked at him.
Donnie laughed a little. "It looks like my lab. But not tonight." He scurried over to his laptop and typed in a few sequences. When he hit enter, the lights dimmed to a low level that flickered like a candle. All the science-y equipment was hidden by the darkness, revealing a round table set for two. Soft violin music started to play in the background as Donnie grabbed April's hand and escorted her to the table. He pulled her chair out and motioned her to sit down. A deep blush in her cheeks, she elegantly took a seat. Donnie pushed her in before running around the table to take his own seat.
"Donnie, this is fantastic. How did you do all of this?" April asked, astonished at the setting.
"I manipulated the lighting with a few lines of electrical encoding and some hardwired statements. I programmed it to control the elements of the lair. It's pretty cool actually. I can change anything in the lair with just a click of a button." Donnie was proud of himself for having been able to put that together.
April smiled, not fully understanding what he meant. "I see." She smiled at him.
"Are you hungry?" Donnie asked her, seeing she was not as excited about his accomplishment as he was. "I have a nice meal planned for us."
A small smile crossed Aprils face. One thought ran through her mind: What kind of pizza was it? She laughed to herself. "Sounds good. What is it?"
Donnie stood up from the table and brought back two trays from the kitchen. He set one down in front of April and the other in front of himself. April looked down at the tray. There was a dish of Pizza Gyoza from Muricami's shop arranged to spell out her name. She smiled, followed by a light laugh. She knew I would be pizza related.
"Do you not like it?" Donnie asked solemnly, picking up his chopsticks.
April was quick to respond. "No, no. I love it. It's very sweet of you." She picked up her chopsticks as well and broke them apart.
The two ate in a soft silence letting the low level of violin music move their dinner along at a steady pace. Occasionally they would ask the other a question, the other would respond, and it would be silence again. When the meal had ended, Donnie cleared the dining apparatus entirely. April sat patiently on the step into his work area awaiting the second "phase" of their date, as Donnie referred to it.
When the dinner had been fully removed, Donnie walked back over to his laptop and typed in a few more sequences of lair-controlling code. The lights were no longer dim like a five-star restaurant, but slow moving beams of colored light reflected from a small disco ball now lowing itself from the ceiling.
The colors reflected off the sequins on April's dress. She smiled as a different style of music started to play in the background. Slow songs. Love songs. She swayed her body gently to the beat when Donnie extended his hand in front of her, "May I have this dance?" He asked, his famous gap-toothed grin winning over April's affections. April placed her hand daintily in his and he guided her into a standing position. She placed her hands on his shoulders and his on her waist. They rocked in synchronization to the beat of the music behind them. It started out awkward, as neither of them had ever been a very good dancer, but with time it became more comfortable for both of them. As the songs changed one after the other with no gap in between, the two slowly moved closer to one another until April was pressed against Donnie's plastron, resting her head in the crook of his neck, her hands playing with the knot in his mask. He rested his head on hers and clasped his own hands around her small waist, resting on the curve of her rear.
Countless songs later, Donnie's romantic playlist ended and the lights restored themselves to the lights of Donnie's lab. However, the change in atmosphere and sound went unnoticed to the two teenagers still swaying along carelessly in each other's arms.
