"That yellow is excellent on you."

"Um," she started, smacking her lips and mocking the sales associate's rude tone, "it's custard, not yellow." She scrunched her nose up and her voice returned to normal. "It's short, though. I was really going for a long dress."

"Really, you look great. None of the other dresses looked nearly as good on you. Plus, this one has the jeweled bust that you wanted."

Iko twirled in front of the mirror, trying to decide if it was good enough for dancing. "It doesn't twirl all that well," she complained. "But it's not like anyone will be asking me to dance."

Émilie pursed her lips. "I'm sure that's not true. There's definitely a boy somewhere in school that will look at you and think, 'damn, I should dance with her.'"

It wasn't a boy she wanted to ask her. At least, she didn't think so. She didn't really know much about herself these days.

"I bet Liam will ask you to dance," Émilie cooed, referencing the only single straight guy in their theater class.

She laughed loudly. "He doesn't like hairy legs, Ém. Remember?"

He'd made a huge fuss about it the first time Iko ever wore shorts to school. She could've punched him if she hadn't fooled herself into thinking she had a crush on him beforehand. He had always been mean to her, and she'd been blind. She hated her step-parents for having taught her that when a boy is mean to you, it means he likes you.

She'd only just worked through that myth a couple of months ago.

"I guess you'll have to get this one, since it means he won't ask you to dance."

Iko twisted to look at how her butt looked in the dress. She smirked. "You're right. This is it." She turned back to Émilie. "I'm going to get dressed, and you're going to start trying yours on."

Ém's tight blonde curls bounced as she hopped up from the chair. "Fine. If you're wearing yellow, I'm going for either a bright blue or a royal purple. If we're going as friends, we're going to look fierce."

Iko laughed again. "We could wear trash bags and still look better than everyone there."

They high fived as they both went into their own dressing rooms.

"I am so glad Scarlet finally asked Winter to prom," Iko told her, talking through the walls.

"Yeah," she replied. "I was worried she would never get up the courage."

"They've only been in love since junior high."

Émilie snorted. "I've been trying to tell Scarling since then that her feelings were mutual!"

Iko left the dressing room as soon as Émilie pulled back the curtain and walked in front of the mirror. The dress she was wearing was sleeveless, and it brushed the floor. With heels, it would just barely reach it.

Inexplicably, Iko's mouth went dry as Émilie examined herself in the mirror.

"What do you think?" she asked. "It is the purple I wanted. It's very simple, though. No jewels like yours, but I love how it makes my chest look."

Iko giggled. "It looks great on you. And it would look great next to my dress! You should still try on the rest, but that's definitely the dress."

She turned back toward the mirror. "Remind me next year that it actually isn't a big deal to go prom dress shopping the day of."

"Noted," Iko replied. "But imagine all the choices!"

Ém rolled her eyes as she walked back into the dressing room. "Imagine the headache. Except we would've saved so much money."

It wasn't an exaggeration. They weren't exactly at Sacks Fifth Avenue, but they were at a pretty high end clothing store. There wasn't a gaggle of teenage girls trying on dresses because the busier stores were the ones with the affordable dresses. Iko and Émilie were stupid for going to that store, but they both had jobs, so they could afford to splurge on this one occasion (and they both could continue to ignore the fact that they had a shopping addiction).

After four more dresses, they both left the store with the ones they'd chosen: Iko's "custard" yellow and Émilie's royal purple.

Back at Iko's house, Émilie reapplied her makeup and pulled back half of her hair and pinned it in the back, while Iko fixed her box braids and added a touch of lipstick and mascara.

"We're going to be the hottest couple at prom," said Émilie.

Iko's face grew hot at the word 'couple.'

But they were just friends. Ém meant it in a platonic way. Just because she was a lesbian didn't mean that she had a crush on her best friend.

Iko pushed the thought to the back of her mind and finished getting ready. "What time did Cinder say the limo was getting here?" she asked.

"We have twenty minutes. The boys are getting picked up first, and then us. Dinner is at six. Prom starts at 7. Party starts when we walk in!" Émilie giggled. "It's going to be so much fun."

Scarlet poked her head in Iko's bedroom. "Hey, we're about to start pictures. Cinder and Cress will be doing another round once Kai and Thorne get here, but we're hoping to do the bulk of them before then."

"We're almost ready!" Iko replied.

"You two look amazing. Those dresses are gorgeous," said Scarlet. "I'll see you outside in five."


Prom was underway as soon as their entourage walked in. Iko could feel the excitement and energy running through her veins already. She was ready to get on the dance floor and really get the party started. They all danced together, though each of the couples definitely favored their other half. Iko and Émilie had no problem doing the same; singing the lyrics to one another as they danced together.

The bass beat around them, lights flashed and the energy was high. Iko was on top of the world, and she didn't think she could go any higher.

When the upbeat pop music faded into a soft love song, she rolled her eyes and started to walk away.

Someone grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

"Dance with me," Émilie shouted over the music.

Iko raised an eyebrow while her stomach churned with butterflies. "Really?"

"You deserve a slow dance," she told her, smiling.

She giggled, suddenly nervous. It was then, the moment that she realized it: she had a huge crush on Émilie. She felt nauseous, but she wouldn't say no.

As the music swelled and the vocalist waxed poetic about love and futures and romance.

This was the first time in a long time that Iko felt moved by such a sappy song.

She swayed back and forth, hyper aware of Émilie's hands on her waist.

"This… this is unexpected," she said, trying to keep up her suave demeanor. And failing miserably.

"Don't think I haven't noticed your," she drawled out her voice, "lingering gazes." Émilie blushed. "I might be reading into things too much, but I've wanted to scream my feelings for you from the rooftops for months. I planned to tell you tonight, and I honestly thought I would explode before we ever made it out of the mall."

Iko gave a very loud, though very reserved, screech.

Without another word, and as the song came to an end, Émilie leaned in and kissed Iko. Her lips were soft and tasted like lip gloss, and she didn't realize how much she'd been wanting her to kiss her until now.

If she'd been on top of the world before, she was on the moon now.

Ignoring the surprised smiles of all of their friends, and just general surprise from those in their immediate vicinity, Émilie let Iko go and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the hotel's ballroom and into the hallway, where it was a lot quieter.

They were both still laughing from the elation.

This time, Iko kissed her, and she realized that that was all she'd ever wanted.

Émilie pulled away and held Iko's face in her hands. "Will you be my girlfriend?" she asked.

"Yes! Are you really asking me that? Yes!" Iko screeched again, this time louder, and with less reservation. She kissed Émilie again. Once. Twice.

She knew it would be a while before any feeling topped the one she had then, standing outside of prom and kissing her best friend and believing that all was finally right in her world.


Author's Note: Emiko: The ship this fandom needs, the ship this fandom doesn't deserve.