Prom was less than a week away. Six days to be exact- according to Aurora's countdown. She had been counting down to prom since the school year started. Belle was just planning on wearing one of the dresses she already had for prom, but Aurora had been downright horrified when Belle told her. Aurora immediately insisted on taking Belle shopping for a new dress.

So, here it was; Sunday afternoon and instead of going horseback riding like they usually do, they're at the mall. When they got there, they ran into Tiana and Jane at one of the dress stores and the four of them were now shopping together.

"I'm getting this and you can't talk me out of it," Jane announced from her fitting room stall.

Belle stuck her head out of her own stall to see Jane's dress. It wasn't a conventional prom dress, but not much about Jane was conventional. The dress was a classic blue and white Victorian style dress, with a high collar and slightly puffy sleeves. It looked super cute on her, but there was no way anyone else could pull it off.

"That's a good look for you," Tiana said, coming out of her stall. She was wearing a green flapper-style dress and was adjusting the ruffles on the skirt. "What do you think of this one?"

"Get it," Belle and Jane said in unison.

Tiana smiled and admired her reflection. "It does look good, doesn't it?"

"Let me see!" Aurora called out from her stall. A moment later she came out wearing a dark pink, off-the-shoulder dress. "Oh, yeah. Get it! It's so you."

"Are you getting that one?" Jane asked Aurora.

Aurora nodded. "It's perfect."

"Your turn, Belle," Tiana said. "Let's see your dress."

Belle disappeared back in her stall. "Um, give me a sec."

Belle still wasn't sure if she liked the dress Aurora picked out for her. The dress itself was beautiful; yellow with a flowing, full-length skirt. It had a corset top with red roses draping across the front like a gorgeous sash. But, Aurora insisted that Belle get a size smaller than what she usually wears, thus showing off her curves and making the corset give her a little bit of cleavage. Belle didn't think she could pull off the look.

"Come on, Belle!" Aurora called.

Belle slipped on the matching, full-length gloves and stepped out to show her friends the dress. They all stared at her for a moment, but then a huge grin spread across Aurora's face.

"I knew it would be perfect for you," she said.

"You look like a movie star," Jane agreed. "Just wait 'till Adam sees you."

XXX

Esmeralda had been practicing her speech on how to bring up New York to her parents. She was confident she had it down and there was no way they could refuse. Still, she paced nervously around her room until her mom called out that lunch was ready. Esmeralda took a deep breath and made her way to the kitchen. She joined her family at the table, taking her usual seat across from Clopin.

They all ate their Caesar salads and chicken sandwiches in silence. Esmeralda had quickly lost her nerve and every word of her rehearsed speech disappeared. Still, she knew she had to bring it up now since she was supposed to be leaving in a couple weeks.

Esmeralda cleared her throat. "Mom? Dad? There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" her dad asked.

"Well, um, at the competition yesterday, I was offered a summer job." Good start, Esmeralda told herself.

"What kind of job?" her mom asked.

Esmeralda looked down and poked her salad with her fork. "Dancing in music videos... in New York."

Esmeralda felt everyone staring at her and could hear them telling her no before they even said anything.

"Who offered you this job?" her mom finally asked.

"This really incredible choreographer, Tzipporah. She choreographs dance routines for concerts and music videos. And she really liked my routine."

"I've heard that name," her father said.

"Of course you have; she's worked with everybody," Esmeralda told him. "Please, let me do this. This could be a huge opportunity for me. And it would only be for the summer, so I won't be missing any school. Think of it like an internship."

"I don't know about this, Esmeralda..." her dad started. "This could be a scam. They could take advantage of you."

"Your dad's right," her mom stated. "So, I will go with you."

Esmeralda's grew wide with excitement. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. You're right; this could be really good for you and you've certainly showed a lot of hard work and dedication with Mulan. I think you deserve to go."

XXX

Dress shopping had been a pain in the ass. Meg couldn't believe she had let Thomas talk her into going to the mall with him, Rapunzel and Flynn. Meg ended up getting a simple black dress with dark purple accents at the first store they went to. But, Rapunzel had to go to every single store that sold dresses and finally decided on a full-skirted pink and purple dress that was the quintessential prom dress.

When they had gotten their dresses, Meg thought they could finally leave, but no. Rapunzel and Thomas insisted they eat dinner at one of the restaurants. Meg tried to come up with an excuse about needing to get home, but they didn't buy it.

So, now she was sitting in a dimly lit pizza restaurant tuning out Rapunzel and Flynn as they talked about their prom plans. The whole thing, in Meg's mind, was ridiculous. Was it really necessary to pay extra for a limo when Flynn has his own car? And what was she rambling about right now? A corsage? What a silly tradition. She didn't envy the money Flynn was going to have to shell out for all of this.

Meg leaned closer to Thomas. "You don't have to get a limo or corsage," she told him.

Thomas looked at her. "Are you sure? I'm pretty sure that's standard for prom."

Meg made a face. "Don't waste your money."

Thomas gave her an amused look. "And what if I want to spoil you?"

"Do you?"

Thomas leaned back and rested his arm on the back of their booth. "I might."

Meg shook her head. "Don't. If you really want to make Saturday night memorable..." she leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Make out with me in front of everyone."

Thomas quickly sat up and was instantly kissing her. He slid his arm off the back of the booth and wrapped it around her. Meg gripped the sleeve of his shirt and didn't let got, even when he broke the kiss.

"Like that?" he whispered.

Meg resisted the giddy giggle that was threatening to escape from her throat. "Yeah. Like that."

Note: Jane's, Tiana's, Aurora's, Belle's, Rapunzel's and Meg's dresses were designed by Hannah Hood. You can see her designs on my Facebook page (link on my profile).

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