Playing Dress-Up
"Ok! Here's the deal, you four are going to help me decide on my prom dress. We've got six hours till' I have to pay rent for all five of them." April shouts, walking into the lair with five white bags trailing behind her in her small hands.
The four turtles look at her for a moment of shock. A dress? On April? They'd only ever seen her in the classic t-shirt and jean shorts. Leo had never even seen Karai in a dress, but he had imagined that. April…no, she was not someone he could ever see in a dress. Donnie, on the other hand, had always imagined he'd be there to see her in a prom dress. Of course he pictured himself as her date, but this was still an honor to him nonetheless. He'd finally see his princess in the dress she deserves to wear every single day. He'd been waiting for the moment.
Raph huffs, looking at his brother's gaping mouths. Leo and Donnie were much too romantic for his taste. Seeing April in a dress wouldn't be such a stretch. She is a girl. He already saw this day coming, even if she was more of a tomboy.
"Cool! What's prom?" Mikey asks gleefully. April walks further in, sitting on the couch next to Mikey before answering.
"It's this really important dance that all the graduates go to before leaving high-school." She explains to him, straightening out the bags on her lap. Mikey has always wanted to go to school, he has ever since he and his brothers had gone there to stop that old lady from killing April.
It wasn't the killing part that made him want to go. That was the water fountains.
April stood up again, glancing at each one of them before landing her eyes on Leo. Noticeably, his eyes widened at the stare, the only other girl who stared at him that way was Karai. It made him nervous inside.
"Leo, when I call you, come to the spare room you have, next to the dojo." April says quickly, walking away with the bags in hand.
"Ok?" He mumbles, well after she's left.
"What was that about?" Donnie asks his brother accusingly. Leo shakes his head. He honestly has no idea. Raph laughs, his brothers are way too flustered over this. Mikey's still smiling, thinking about what it would be like for him to go to school.
After about five minutes April finally calls, and Leo gets up to go to the spare room. When he steps in, he sees a whole new person. It isn't April in front of him. She would never wear such a big and puffy dress.
It's a sunny yellow, which makes the most sense out of everything else. Other than that, it's glittery, strapless, and has a large white bow at her waist. It's not her personality at all. And Leo can tell she's uncomfortable in it.
"Um, so what do you think?" April asks him, turning slowly full circle to show him the entirety. He stutters for a moment, unsure of whether he should be completely honest or not.
"I called you because I trust you to be completely truthful with me, before I decide to show the others the dress. Donnie and Mikey would say I look good no matter what, and Raph would hate everything I put on. So please, don't make me regret choosing you Leo." April explains, glancing down at the fluff covering her top to bottom.
"I think it looks alright. But I can tell you don't like it. It's not you." Leo says slowly. She nods, an agreement.
"Yeah, my dad chose this one. Now that it's settled, I can put on one of my picks," She replies, giving him a small smile.
For a moment, Leo just stands there awkwardly not knowing whether to leave or not. But then she turns away, letting him know he can go. And he leaves, allowing her to change into another dress.
When he arrives back at the couch, he realizes Donnie isn't where he sat before. In fact, he's not even in the room.
"Where's Donnie?" Leo asks Raph.
"He needed to cool off. He was kind of mad April asked you to do, whatever it is she wanted you to do, instead of him." Raph replies, leaning back against the couch, arms behind his head, feet up.
"What did April ask you to do?" Mikey asks his older brother, playing up a mock accusatory face.
"She just wanted my opinion on the dress her dad picked out. That's all," Leo nearly shouts, suddenly defensive. It just happened that Donnie hopped the turnstiles as he said the words. But he didn't have a chance to say anything, because April also chose that moment to reenter the room.
She wears a long, flowing mermaid gown, in a very bright pink. It's got a sweetheart neckline, and a thin black sash at her waist.
Surprisingly enough, she's smiling.
Leo watches for a moment as Donnie's jaw drops, before turning back to face April.
"April?" Raph mumbles, eyes wide. She stops walking a little before the couch.
"So, what do you guys think?" She asks them. Silence overtakes the room, Donnie speaks first.
"You're beautiful…A goddess, you're-" He pauses, his cheeks turning red.
"Oh, thanks Donnie." April says, blushing a bit herself. Leo smiles.
"It looks great April." He says decidedly, if this is the one she wants to wear, Leo completely agrees. Raphael cannot seem to get his mouth closed again. Mikey is almost unable to stay still in his seat.
"Ok, so that's a 9.5 out of 10 for dress number one then?" April asks casually, smirking. The four turtles nod in unison.
In another hour they see the next two dresses. Dress three gets an 8.5 out a 10, the green color throwing the turtles off too much. Dress four gets a seven, with much distaste for the long train that made it hard for April to walk in a straight line. But before dress five comes, the fatal question is asked.
"So who are you going with, April?" Raph asks her, completely unaware that the question would pause their dress-up time.
"No one's asked me." She says simply, hoping that maybe that'll be the end of the conversation. But Mikey cannot seem to hold his tongue.
"What about Casey?" It's an honest question, really, but April doesn't want to answer, nor does Donnie want to hear it. She does anyway, shifting uncomfortably in the long gown.
"Casey's going with someone else. It's really sweet actually, he asked me…to help him ask her." April admits, sounding like it wasn't all that sweet in reality. Leo interjects.
"You know what? I'm starting to think this dress is an 8." He says, smiling. April smiles back, happy for the change of subject. Leo always knew how to fix things up. As a brother, and a friend.
"Thanks…I'm going to put on dress 5. And I've got to say, I've saved the best for last!" She says happily, turning away and walking back towards her make shift changing room. Donnie sighs.
"Why you Leo?" Donnie mutters ruefully. He knows his brother meant no wrongs by him, but he still feels the pang of jealousy. Why couldn't he be as smooth when it came to April?
The comment only grants the four an uncomfortable silence, the tension growing between Leo and Donnie. Raph is the first to make a move at further conversation, clearly aggravated at the both of them.
"Oh come on! You two are being ridiculous. Donnie, she only asked for Leo's opinion because she knew you'd love it even if it were a trash bag. And Leo, you're just plainly taking this whole dress thing too seriously," He grunts, glaring at the both of them. Donnie sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. Raph presents a valid reason for April not asking Donnie…
"I guess you could be right," Donnie decides, turning to face his older brother with a look of truce. Leo only smiles awkwardly, the heat rising in his cheeks as he realizes just how riled up he got for April's sake. Raph was right about that, at the very least.
Their conversation trails off into more silence, until finally April comes out, in the final dress.
It's the only one of knee-length that's also fitted to her shape, with an illusion neck line. The entirety of it is an ombre, fuchsia to violet color, with a black sash at her waist. She walks further into the room, bringing attention to the crème colored Mary-Janes she wears to finish the outfit.
"So?" She asks, turning around to reveal the keyhole back.
"There are no words to describe the radiance in front of me," Donnie stutters, unable to take his eyes off of her. April smiles, nodding at the gawking faces of the rest of her friends.
"A ten, then?" She decides, stepping forward.
"An eleven!" Mikey shouts, giving her two thumbs up.
"This one's my favorite too, I was just hoping you all would like it." April confesses to them, sitting on the couch between Raph and Mikey.
Collectively the turtles just know, this is her dress. And despite the way this all began, they know they can never see April the same way again.
She is more than just a friend. She is their sister. The turtles each count themselves lucky to be given one, where Miwa was lost, to Shredder's mind control worm, that is.
After a few minutes of chatting with the boys about having found 'the dress', April retreats to the back room, to change back into her normal clothes and gather the other dresses.
There is a moment of joyous silence between the four, until Donnie finds the nerve to speak.
"I want to ask April to prom. Even if I can't go, I think she deserves to be asked…" He trails off, waiting for his brothers to talk him out of it. But no one does.
"You should do it," Leo says slowly, thinking back to the look she gave them when Casey was brought up. He could tell she was hurt, and he understood how important prom seemed to April.
"Yeah D, who knows? She might say yes!" Mikey exclaims, excited at the thought of going to prom. If Donnie didn't ask, maybe he would.
Raph stayed quiet, though he hoped Donnie would change his mind. While the others were thinking of how happy he'd be if April said yes, he only imagined the depression that would take on his little brother if April said no, which really was the more likely response to come from their friend.
He doesn't want to hurt his brother, and he knows Leo and Mikey don't either, but they've all realized long ago that it's unlikely April returns Donnie's feelings. Especially after Casey came along.
Come to think of it, it was probably Raph's warning to Casey that made him ask someone other than April to prom. Making this entire situation his fault, and he never wanted that.
Still, he says nothing as his brothers discuss how Donnie will ask April to prom.
"Alright so we'll ask her to prom together as soon as she-" Leo abruptly stops speaking, as April reenters, the white bags trailing behind her.
"Good news! We only spent an hour and a half finding the dress, which means as soon as I get the other four back to the store, I can get your opinions on hair and makeup. I don't have the cash to go to a salon, so I'll just do it myself." She explains, stopping halfway to the couch.
"You really trust us to help you make those kinds of decisions?" Leo asks her, shifting in his seat.
"Of course I do, you guys are my best friends. I'd trust you with everything from choosing the toppings on our pizza, to my life." She replies, glancing around at the four of them. Mikey smiles at this, elbowing Donnie suggestively. This seems like the perfect moment for Donnie to ask April to the prom.
"…Uh, April…?" Donnie begins, coughing uncomfortably as he stands. He most definitely gains her attention, but the second she looks his way he can't speak. He opens his mouth, but no words come. Almost instantly, April's bright eyes cloud over with worry.
"Donnie?" She asks, letting the bags drop to the ground as she walks forward, her hand already reaching for his shaking one. The rest of the brothers stand, prepared to help Donnie out if needed.
"I'm ok," Donnie tries to assure her, even though his voice has heightened an entire octave.
"Donnie, breathe." Leo reminds him, placing a soothing hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Right, breathe." Donnie recites to himself, shutting his eyes momentarily to regain his composure. He hears April sigh, and feels her take his hand.
"Alright, what's going on? You obviously know what Donnie wants to tell me," April pleads, looking Leo straight in the eyes. He knows now that she looks to him for the truth, and so he tells her.
"We wanted to ask you to prom…It was Donnie's idea." He confesses, watching April's face for a reaction, hoping that he didn't crush his brother's dream.
It takes everything in Raph not to walk away from the conversation. This is the moment he has dreaded since the second Donnie decided he would ask April. He has to admit it catches him off guard when April pulls Donnie into a hug. He and his brothers can barely make out what she whispers to him.
"That's so incredibly sweet Donnie," She pauses, pulling away from him only slightly to address the rest of the turtles, "I would love to go to prom with all of you…" She finishes, letting go of Donnie at last.
"...You said yes…She said yes!" Donnie concludes, backing away from her in sheer surprise. But April wasn't done, she formulated the details in her mind as she said the words.
"We'll have our own prom, it'll have everything. The food, the music, the lights and the decorations…" She trails off, smiling to herself as she thinks of how the lair will be transformed.
"But what about your prom, at school?" Donnie asks, afraid she'll realize she can't have prom with them for real, that his gesture was only to help her get over Casey, and the moment of happiness will burst.
"I'll come back here after the school prom ends. And we'll have our own party. An After-Prom Prom!" She exclaims, turning away from the turtles, the dress bags dragging along with her.
"When I get back, this is happening…" She decides, already walking away from the gaping boys behind her, thoughts swirling in her mind…