[COLOR=gray][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B R Y N N  R E Y E S[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][sup]Two Days before the Dance | Local Crafts Store[/sup][/INDENT]



The peach idea didn’t float with Adrielle. Instead, Brynn found herself shopping around for more miscellaneous materials than she could count on both hands over the weekend since Adrielle—despite her work ethic when it came to homework—had been decided procrastinate on her costume. [color=gray]“Did you get everything yet?”[/color] Brynn asked, checking her phone impatiently as Adrielle rifled over the shelves.


“Give me one more minute,” Adrielle said, rummaging through the items on the shelf. Brynn sighed, preparing another lecture about how Adrielle should have just gone along with the fruit idea and spared herself so much trouble, but her friend straightened up with a crazy grin before she could start. “Found it! I knew I saw it around here sometime. This is going to be a-[i]maz[/i]-ing!”


[color=gray]“I’ll bet,”[/color] Brynn said, shaking her head with an amused smile. As annoyed as she was at her friend sometimes, she couldn’t help but find the quirky girl hopelessly endearing at times. [color=gray]“Okay now. Let’s head back—I plan on finishing a little homework before I start pouring my life into decorating the gymnasium, thank you.”[/color]


“Alright alright, Executive Reyes,” Adrielle teased, picking up a neon green feather boa from a nearby stand and wrapping it around her friend’s neck. “There you go: everything you need to become the perfect crazy aunt.”


[color=gray]“Adrielle!”[/color] Brynn shrieked, giggling as she shrugged the terribly ticklish scarf of bird molt off. Looking back at her friend, Brynn groaned. [color=gray]“Please no.”[/color]


“Oh yes,” Adrielle said, crazy grin back again. “Prepare to be… Feather-fied.”




[COLOR=gray][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B R Y N N  R E Y E S[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][sup]4:30 PM, Day of the Dance | Mather Memorial High School[/sup][/INDENT]



[color=gray]“I hate to admit it but,”[/color] Brynn said, staring at her reflection in the mirror with wide eyes, [color=gray]“I think you’ve really outdone yourself.”[/color]


“No, really?” Adrielle asked, rolling her eyes at her friend before bringing the metallic gold powder-coated brush back towards her face to finish applying her eyeshadow. The mirror revealed the Adrielle Maynard design of the day: [url=https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmGKfdSBoQl-9AEXEhHLYeyTFi7XbxnzC3cAJMjjgbw20yFpAAGQ]a sleeveless bodysuit[/url] that had been coated with holographic sheets that were layered in long strips to look like metal armor. A few larger pieces flared down from below her waist to make the bodysuit a minidress, wrapping from left to right diagonally to make the hem. Adrielle had insisted that Brynn put the dress on first—years of friendship guaranteed that Adrielle’s designs would fit, nevermind how she got the measurements—so that she could finalize the finished product in her head. “What do you think?” the dressmaker asked, walking over and nodding at her own creation approvingly. “Good fit.”


[color=gray]“If that’s the only compliment you can give yourself, we have bigger problems,”[/color] Brynn said, spinning around yet again in the mirror. [color=gray]“Seriously Adri, how long did you spend on this?”[/color]


Adrielle laughed, wrapping an arm around her friend. “Too long, Brynn, but it was worth it. Besides, how else am I going to get a break from the hardest year in high school?” Adrielle took another look in the mirror before patting her friend’s shoulder and guiding her towards the seat in front of her armoire. “Now, make-up and hair.”


[color=gray]“Oh my,”[/color] Brynn groaned, eyes flicking to the clock hanging to the side of the mirror, [color=gray]“how long is this going to take?”[/color]


“Perfection isn’t magic, alright?” Adrielle said, comb and gel out. “Take a deep breath!”




[COLOR=gray][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B R Y N N  R E Y E S[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][sup]7:30 PM, Day of the Dance | Mather Memorial High School[/sup][/INDENT]


[color=gray]“You’re so lucky the council decided to set up in the morning rather than the afternoon,”[/color] Brynn said, slamming the door to her car and walking briskly towards the gymnasium. Adrielle exited the car with a laugh, jogging a little to catch up with her irritated friend.


“Calm down, Brynn. You’re allowed to be late—ever heard of the phrase ‘fashionably late?’ You should try it sometime,” Adrielle said, keeping up a surprisingly fast pace for someone in four-inch heels. While she rolled her eyes, Brynn wasn’t mad at her friend at all. The costume aside, Brynn’s makeup—a deep forest green accentuated with silvery-white whenever possible—and hair—a physics-defying updo that weaved her natural blonde hair with strips of temporary viridian-stained locks—were on point. 


[color=gray]“The costume really is amazing, Adri,”[/color] Brynn said as the pair entered the gym. Multicolored lights flashed through the darkness, illuminating the dancing bodies. “As you are” by The Weeknd was playing, and the figures on the dance floor had mostly separated into pairs.


“Of course it is,” Adrielle said confidently. Laughing, Brynn waved to their circle of friends and walked over.