Friday after school, Violet and Matthew decide to spend their evening in Emily's closet.
Matthew is still wanting to try out drag, and Violet is pretty much up for anything.
"When will she be home?" Matthew asks, as they stand before Emily's large walk-in closet.
"I dunno," Violet shrugs. "She actually got to stay in the state today, so probably around 5:00 or 6:00."
"So she like, flies all over the country? Like all the time?" Matthew says.
"Yeah," Violet replies, turning on the light in the closet. "Ignore this side of the closet. It's all work stuff. Button-up shirts and 'slacks'."
She uses her fingers to mock the word, and faces the opposite side of the closet.
"This is where you wanna be. She's got some Chanel in here, a bunch of fancy French designers. Diane von Furstenburg. Some other European stuff."
"Well I wish I could wear that black dress of yours," Matthew says, flipping through hangers.
"Yeah, well, your dude chest doesn't fit into a dress tailored to my wiry bod. Boo hoo," Violet replies, pulling out a black dress of Emily's.
"That is hot," Matthew nods. "Will it fit me?"
"Let's see," Violet shrugs.
A few moments later, Violet is zipping up the back of the dress, which is cut with a V-neck and meant to show off cleavage. In Matthew's case, he's obviously lacking.
"Well this looks stupid," Matthew says, poking the empty boustier.
"Welcome to my world," Violet replies dryly, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "Stuff some socks in there or something. Hold on."
Matthew considers it and then takes the socks that Violet returns with.
"Also, say you do decide to show up in drag somewhere, or go to an event or whatever…what do you plan on doing with your junk?" Violet asks matter-of-factly.
"Apparently there's an art to it," Matthew replies, turning to see his reflection in the mirror. "I watched a YouTube video about it."
"I know the basics of it," Violet makes a face. "It doesn't sound very enjoyable."
"C'est la vie," Matthew replies.
"La vie," Violet answers.
"Ha. Nice," Matthew grins.
He looks back in the mirror, and Violet stands beside him, appraising him.
"You actually look awesome," Violet nods. "Your legs are all long and lean, and your shoulders look really good. Not muscly and gross."
"The benefits of being the skinny kid," Matthew replies dryly.
"You said it, sister," Violet agrees, walking away from the mirror. "It's a curse."
They go into Violet's room and sit on the floor in front of the mirror, where Violet always sits to do her makeup.
"So I'm thinking a smokey eye, candy-apple lips, and huge lashes," Matthew says. "And contouring, obviously."
"I can do all of that, but I'm new to contouring," Violet replies, sitting in front of him, so he can't see himself, and plucking things from her makeup container.
"Between the two of us, we've got this," Matthew shrugs.
An hour later, Violet puts the finishing touches on Matthew's face. She's never worn as much makeup as she's put on Matthew's face, but she has to admit, he looks awesome.
His blue eyes are large and his lashes were easy to enhance; his nose is long and straight; his cheekbones are perfect, and his lips are full and look great with a deep red lipstick.
Violet brushes a layer of powder over top of his face, to set the foundation, and then gets out her blush and applies it liberally.
A moment later, she clips the blush shut and smiles happily at Matthew.
"I can't decide if it's more than I'm really good at makeup, or you just made it easy with your perfect face," she shakes her head.
His back to the mirror, Matthew stands up, eager to see the finished product.
"Ho. Ly. Fuck," he says, staring.
The two of them don't even hear Emily arrive home and come upstairs.
"Uh," she stares, only seeing a part of Matthew's reflection but enough to let her know that there's a guy in her dress. "What's goin' on?"
Violet and Matthew turn to face her.
"I should probably forget Ivy League and just become a makeup artist," Violet replies, raising her hands and then crossing her arms.
"Absolutely not," Emily replies before focusing on Matthew. "Is that my dress?"
"Yes," Matthew replies. "I hope it's okay. I couldn't get into anything of Violet's. The bodices were all too tiny."
"Still waiting on the rest of my boobs to come in," Violet adds with a shrug. "Really fill them out so I can get outta the B-cup club."
Emily closes her eyes, giving her head a shake. "Okay."
"Do you think I can pull it off?" Matthew asks, hands on his hips as he strikes a girlish pose.
Emily considers this and has to give a slow nod. "Yeah," she replies.
Matthew smiles excitedly, clapping his hands and then hugging Violet.
"So, Emily, what's your shoe size?" he asks, hinting obviously.
Emily chortles, shaking her head. "I don't think you'll fit my shoes, honey," she replies, watching Matthew's shoulders drop slightly. "But we can try."
They head into Emily's room, where Violet hops onto the bed and lies on her stomach, facing them.
"These are are a 9," Emily says, digging a pair of strapped sandals out of her closet. "The biggest I have."
Matthew sits on the bed and struggles, but his feet obviously don't fit. He squishes his toes in and lets his heels hang off the back.
"We can at least get the effect," he says, standing in front of the full-length mirror.
Emily stands beside him, examining his reflection, as Violet looks from the bed.
"Well, I gotta say, Matthew," Emily says, hands on her hips as she looks at him. "You make a beautiful woman."
Matthew changes out of the dress but keeps the makeup on. The three of them go downstairs to watch TV while Emily orders dinner.
"Hey, what about a drag name?" Violet asks, passing Matthew a can of coke and jumping onto the couch beside him.
"I've thought about it," Matthew replies, wrinkling his lip. "But nothing sounds perfect."
"What's the…criteria for a drag name?" Emily asks, sitting across from them in an armchair.
"It's usually a play on words, or something dirty or funny. Like Peaches Christ or Mimi Imfurst."
Emily almost chokes on her wine.
"There's a really hilarious and amazing one on that RuPaul show, named Alaska Thunderfuck," Violet adds.
"Violet!" Emily looks at her with wide Mom eyes.
"It's her name!" Violet replies, raising her palms innocently.
"Alaska Thun-" Emily starts to repeat, but then closes her eyes and gives her head a shake. She takes a drink of wine. "That's…something else."
"Also, there's one named Detox, but I can't say her last name without giving you an aneurysm," Violet says.
"When have you watched a show about drag queens?" Emily asks, frowning with curiosity.
"I PVR it, so it's just there when I have time to watch it. You'd actually love it, Mom. It's hilarious."
"True story," Matthew replies, his legs crossed and his face still perfectly done up.
"I have to say, Matthew," Emily replies, looking at him. "I've never sat and had a conversation with a guy wearing flawless makeup."
"Happy to oblige your bucket list," Matthew replies, turning his head towards her and lifting one shoulder in a pose.
Emily chuckles, getting up and going to sit beside Violet.
"Alright, put on this show. Now I'm curious," she tells her.
Violet grins and picks up the remote control.
