Moonlight Kisses

a power struggle

The room was thick with hairspray and excess powder floated everywhere. Before we came in, the surface was clean, untouched. Now it just looked like a whole tornado whisked its way into every crevice and cranny of the open space. The vanity mirrors had speckles of powder on them. The counters were a mess of palettes, bobby pins, brushes, even a lone slipper, god knows how that got there.

Tonight is the winter formal. Everyone is buzzing.

Two women are bustling around me, one itching to make sure every fine detail on my face is flawless and the other spraying enough hairspray to last months, possibly years. They work their magic and all I have to do is sit still. This is a first time experience for me, this is Sophie's whole life.

Kat sits beside me facetiming Grant even though he's just a few rooms away with Beau, Blaine, and Sean, who will also be in the limo with us, as unfortunate as that sounds. I could see her makeup artist's annoyance plastered on her face as clear as day. It's extremely difficult to gloss someone's lips when they're talking incessantly.

Sophie and Adelaide are on the opposite side of the room talking about the inconvenience of dresses not having pockets. Their conversation is getting pretty passionate, I wouldn't be surprised if either one of them decides to cut pockets of their own. I mean I could see why, lugging a clutch around gets pretty intolerable.

We were nearing the hour at which we're supposed to be dressed and ready to leave. I'm nearly finished with my hair and makeup, but that's because I was the first one to get in the chair and get started. The girls on the other hand wanted some time with their dates beforehand and now they're running behind schedule.

Sucks for their horny asses.

"I think this is my best work yet," Gwen says in awe as she's stepping back to admire her handiwork on my face. "It helps a lot that you have great bone structure, like geez were you like sculpted in a lab or something?" she gushes jokingly.

I laugh nervously, finding it difficult to take the sweet compliment. Instead I study my face in the small handheld mirror. I look different. A good different. Shit, I look great. My lashes fan out in delicate wisps. The brown tint of eyeliner sharpens to a pinpoint halfway between the corner of my eyes and my carefully sculpted brow. That pair accentuated the sea swimming in my eyes, making the colors pop like never before.

Gwen begins to clear up her station as Elyse completes some finishing touches on my hair before spinning me around in my chair to give me a clear view of the blonde shiny curls hanging down my back. "It looks beautiful," I gasp, "thank you."

"My pleasure, Jo," she beams in gratitude.

I continue to admire my getup for the next 10 minutes. Everything will feel different the moment I put the dress on, this euphoric feeling is only a fraction of what I'll feel the moment I step into that heavenly champagne dress. My nerves tingle at the thought of it.

Heidi steps into the room and beckons me over with a welcoming smile. I instantly shoot up and run over to her.

"Damn, you're done already!" Sophie gasps in surprise. She's not too far from being one herself, she just needs a few touch ups on her hair that's in a simple yet elegant low bun.

"You could've been done too if it weren't for the quick blow session," I wink and hurry off with Heidi to the dressing room.

"For the love of god, I didn't suck his dick!" I hear Sophie scream just before the door closes behind us. I turn to Heidi and burst into pent up laughter. She shakes her head, but a smile is still clear on her lips. We all know better than to think Sean and Sophie were having a heart-to-heart behind her bedroom door. Even Will, the head chef for the Clemontes, isn't oblivious to their antics, and his job solely remains in the kitchen.