Lipstick
"You are so not funny," Daphne signed, one eyebrow raised.
Emmett grinned. "Well, then, you have a terrible sense of humor, because that was definitely a laugh."
Daphne and Emmett were both lying down on Emmett's bed, eating Oreos and listening to a deep bass song playing in the background, vibrating through Emmett's walls. They were facing one another, discussing the follies of the prom committee, a dance that their school was trying so hard to provide to the students, when Emmett suggested that the two of them show up to their school gymnasium in a classic Kiss getup. Daphne had grimaced at the thought of herself in white makeup and black clothing which Emmett mistook for a smile.
"Whatever," she signed, quickly. "You would look terrible in lipstick."
"How do you know? You've never seen me in it, have you? Maybe that is all it takes to have the ladies come after me."
Daphne bumped her shoulder into his after that. "Okay, but really, what are you wearing and who are you going with?"
Emmett's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I thought we would go together."
"I thought maybe you want to get an actual date," Daphne shrugged. "There is only one prom in our lives."
Emmett suddenly got up from the bed, his playful smile on his lips. "You'll be my date."
Daphne's face warmed in embarrassment. It was the first time the thoughts of Emmett and "date" came together and it felt a bit foreign to her. Sure, they did almost everything since childhood with one another, but it had always been with the pretense of being best friends. They had wrestled, played, and slept over at one another's houses since childhood but this felt like a whole new challenge. Prom had painted itself as Daphne's chance to dress up in the pretty pink gown her mom bought her last week and make the effort to look nice. The idea of that and Emmett mixing together discombobulated her. "You want me to be your date for prom?
Shrugging, Emmett laid back down beside her. "Why not?" He flipped over suddenly and was hovering right over her. Daphne stared at him, stricken. "Wait, you wanted me to ask you with a grand gesture, right? Very Buckner Hall of you, Daphne." Emmett reached behind him to grab an Oreo from its blue packet and snapped open the cookie and offered her the side with more cream on it. Daphne, puzzled, took the cookie as Emmett placed his between his teeth. "What Oreo doing this Saturday, my lovely Daphne? Would you like to accompany a man who is willing to dress like an Oreo for you to Prom?"
Daphne gave him a half-lidded look that said, "I can't believe what you just said, and I think you're very stupid." She grabbed the cookie from between his teeth and ate it and then used her thighs to push him over to his side and left her leg over him. "That was horrifying," she signed, laughing. "Okay, let's go."
Emmett, with the taste of the cookie still on his tongue, laughed with her, an odd feeling of relief washing through him.
Emmett entered the Vasquez house Saturday night wearing a tux he rented, feeling a bit nervous. It was unusual for him to feel so jittery since he usually did things with full confidence but for once he was nervous! He thought maybe Daphne would laugh at him for wearing a tux, for some reason thinking it would hurt a little. Maybe she would think it was a bad idea that she didn't go to a Buckner Hall prom with that hearing jock Liam Lupo instead, who could afford to rent, or maybe even buy, a limousine for the night. All Emmett had was his motorcycle and a two-dollar corsage.
Regina squealed and clapped her hands and immediately began taking pictures, asking him to pose by the front door, by the fake plant in the living room, one in the kitchen, and one with Daphne. When Regina noticed Daphne wasn't out and ready yet, she ran to the back of the house to get her daughter out for pictures. Emmett stood fidgeting in the living room when she came out.
Daphne wore a long pink gown, the top half woven with silky floral patterns that reached down her middle like white vines. The tulle of her dress flowed like water to her feet, which were strapped in silver heels. Her hair was pinned back and braided so that her neck and small, pale shoulders were visible. Emmett looked at her in amazement, shocked into silence.
She looked at him awkwardly and waved. "How do I look?"
"Beautiful," he signed, mouthing the word as well. Daphne had never looked so beautiful before -or had she? He had never taken the time to truly look at her no matter how many photographs he had taken of her. She was like a pure, pink gem that he had had for so long.
He slipped the white corsage over her wrist and Regina hovered and took more photos. Daphne's face was flushed pink when they stood next to each other, Emmett's hand on the small of her back as they posed in front of the house for more pictures.
Soon, they were both mounted on Emmett's bike, Emmett feeling a bit guilty having Daphne take the time to pin her hair like that which would obviously come undone under the helmet. When they reached the school, Emmett signed a quick apology to her but quickly wanted to take it back when Daphne's hair fell on her shoulders in soft curls that he suddenly wanted to put his hands through.
When the entered the dance floor, moving slowly with the rest of the students since they had no music to guide them, they felt awkward holding one another at first. But as soon as they began stepping on each other's feet and bumping into others around them, their stiff smiles melted into laughter and they danced in their own rhythm. When the students around them danced quickly, the would move at a snail's pace, each step taking a good ten seconds. When the students slowed down, they'd hop around the gymnasium hand in hand, Daphne twirling until she finally stopped at Emmett's chest, the two looking at the other's face, breathing heavily.
Emmett leaned down and kissed Daphne gently and gauged her reaction. When she looked at him, red with surprise, he tried again, his kiss a little harder and deeper. He pulled back, smiled worriedly and waited for her.
"You know what? I was wrong," Daphne said, bemused. Emmett looked crestfallen for a moment before Daphne continued. "You look way better in lipstick than I thought." She grinned and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.