White is for Virgins

by Necks, S. Eva

  Chapter 35

  I looked like a bug… an ugly, creepy looking bug – makeup-less; pale; with my big eyes sticking out of my face in wonder at the mass atop my head. I shook my (extremely heavy) head as Lily clipped the last hot curl into my hair.

  “Stop moving!” she laughed. “Alrighty, you’re good to go, Curly Sue. In forty minutes we’ll take these babies out.”

  T minus four hours until prom. I got up off the toilet I had been straddling for the past thirty minutes and stretched my sore legs.

  This hotel’s known for its gorgeous ballroom and complimentary breakfast, but it is definitely lacking in a comfortable place to sit while preparing for prom.

  “What’s with the subliminal soundtrack?” I muttered, proceeding to join her in front of the long countertop of our suite’s bathroom. The mirror that accompanied it was equally long, and I marveled at my pale body and (now) big head once more. Lily and I were shirtless – we had our bras on, for sure, but we didn’t want to risk ruining our hair with the hassle of taking a t-shirt off before slipping into our dresses. We were wearing all other relevant articles of clothing (i.e. pants).

  “There’s nothing subliminal about it,” she defended, “I just love these songs.”

  “M-hm,” I smirked, “Enrique Iglesias’s ‘On Top of You’ was a classic, as was Mohombi’s ‘Do Me Right’. Your taste definitely does not coincide with your dirty mind, my bad.”

  She chuckled, applying various shimmery body lotions to her arms, legs, and back as she continued to try and lie to me. “They’re nice, relaxing songs, Em – nobody said you had to listen to the lyrics.”

  “Lily, it’s a song… Obviously I’m going to listen to the lyrics.” I followed her example and asked her wordlessly if I could use her lotion. She nodded.

  “You’re gonna hear the song and hear the words, but you don’t necessarily have to listen to them,” she said suggestively.

  “Whatever,” I huffed, giving up. I washed my hands of the excess lotion and we began applying foundation to our faces. Lily had brought all this fancy brand name makeup her aunt Raine also conveniently had stashed in her basement. “All I’m saying is there’s not a single song on your playlist that isn’t about sex.”

  She marched over to her iHome and skipped Matt Nathanson’s ‘Come on Get Higher’ in search of a better song. To further prove my point, Trey Songz’s ‘Neighbors Know My Name’ ended up playing. She skipped that one, too, and Drake’s ‘Best I Ever Had’ followed. It was the dirty version. She groaned, pressing the arrow one more time before returning to the mirror and picking up her eye shadow pallet.

  The song that was playing sounded almost dream-like and playful. I found myself nodding my head as I searched for the perfect combination of colors for my own eyes.

  “Who sings this song?” I asked as I settled for a shimmery white, a very light pearl pink, and a silvery shade for accents.

  “Alex Guadino.”

  “Hmm...” I mused, applying the white on my eyelids generously.

  “I’m in love, I’m in love,” Lily sang softly, lining her eyes with black kohl. “I wanna do it. I’m in love, I’m in love, I wanna do it.”

  “Lily!” I scolded.

  We both burst out in laughter and she shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t intentionally pick all the ones about sex, Em, swear on all things chocolate.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I smirked, “Ooookay.” I dusted my eyelids with the pink, swiping lightly under my brows as well with it.

  “Speaking of sex…” she started mysteriously.

  I turned to her a curious gaze before returning to my eyes. While waiting for her to finish her sentence, I gently coated the area beneath my lower lashes with a thin line of silver before moving to my eye creases.

  “Do you think the boys are in their room yet?” she asked, subconsciously forming an ‘o’ with her mouth as she applied mascara to her lashes.

  “I doubt it,” I smirked. “They love waiting until last minute.”

  I pumped the wand of mascara in its tube a couple of times before coating my lashes with the thick, lengthening substance.

  “We’re gonna look so hot!” Lily grinned excitedly.

  “You look hot, already,” a third-party voice commented from the doorway.

  Lily and I screamed, just barely smudging our whole faces with mascara as we turned to find Nick and Fox grinning like Cheshire cats. They gave us multiple head-to-toe glances while we stood with our arms crossed.

  It took me a moment to register that Lily and I were under-clothed, and crossing our arms was not the best idea. We’d been giving them an even better view.

  “Get out!” she scolded, ushering them away.

  “But babe,” Nick whined.

  “Not ‘but babe’s,” I smirked, moving to close the bathroom door.

  Fox stuck his foot in front of it, stopping my attempt to seal our ‘beauty room’ from their curious eyes.

  “Ladies,” he proposed. “Why don’t we just skip prom, and head right for the after party, huh? You’re already dressed for the occasion.” His grin was tempting me, but I stayed strong.

  “Why don’t you guys go shower and shave,” I suggested, “and put on your tuxes while we finish up in here. Or there won’t be an after-party,” I concluded evilly.

  The look on their faces was priceless.

  “See you in an hour!” Lily called as they left the room and headed down the hall to their own suite.

  Lily applied my eyeliner expertly before getting to work on her hair. She straightened the ends, giving them a razor-sharp effect before applying hairspray to preserve her volume. Then we got to work on my mane, unraveling it lock by lock and spraying each one before it got the chance to fall flat against the weight of all the others around it. We took five small silvery spider-clips and placed them on top of my head in line to keep my hair from falling messily into my face.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Yeah,” Lily nodded with amazement mirroring mine. “That’s a mighty fine weave you got there, lil’ mama.”

  I smacked her and we guffawed on our way to the closet to retrieve our dresses. Making sure our hotel room was locked first, we proceeded to perfect our looks. Lily took the bathroom and I changed by the bed.

  “Your dress is beyond gorgeous,” Lily said in awe, seeing me for the first time in it. “Way better than the black one, Em, for sure.”

  We got our heels on and went back to the bathroom to collect some makeup for touch-ups before applying necessary hygienic products. All perfumed up, we put on a few simply pieces of jewelry. It wasn’t until after we remembered we’d forgotten lip-gloss and then applied said gloss that we decided we were ready to go. We snapped a few pictures with Lily’s camera.

  “Wanna go surprise the boys?” I asked, giddy at the thought of having Fox see me in my dress.

  “Let’s do it!”

  We opened the door of our room and I peeked left and right down the hall to make sure the coast was clear. It was a covert mission.

  “Alright, we’re clear,” I whispered collecting my dress and running as safely as I possibly could in heels down the hall. Lily followed suit after locking the door and slipping our room key into her clutch.

  “Should we knock?” she asked.

  I tapped three evenly-timed knocks on the cherry oak door before covering the peep-hole with my finger.

  “Who is it?” Fox called, sounding preoccupied.

  “Room service,” Lily chimed. We had to hold back our giggles as we heard fumbling with the locks on the door and stepped back a bit.

  Nick opened the door lazily with a toothbrush in his mouth. His hair was gelled back to perfection, and his tux was somewhat in place. His champagne-colored tie was wrapped around his neck, unsurprisingly untied. The second his eyes landed on us, or Lily, really, he snatched the toothbrush out of his gaping mouth.

  “Holy… If I had a ring, I’d be down on one knee right now, babe,” he told Lily, taking her in again
. “You look gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning. Ravishing. Amazing. Striking. Sexy… etcetera.” The twinkle in his eye as he listed adjectives melted my heart.

  Lily blushed, pressing a lingering kiss to his cheek before pushing herself in.

  “You look amazing, too, Emery,” Nick said once out of his trance and able to recognize I was present as well. I grinned, thanking him on my way in.

  Nick went to the bathroom to rinse his mouth and tie his tie.

  Lily and I peeked in; I found Fox all the way at the other end of the counter. Their bathroom was even bigger than ours – probably because they had two beds in their room while Lily and I had one. I watched wordlessly as he finished styling his hair, letting a few wisps fall in his face before washing his hands and applying cologne. He was looking at his reflection in the mirror once more and fastening his white and silver tie and buttoning his grey vest. The thoughts running through my head at the sight of him in black dress pants, a dress shirt, a vest and tie… freshly showered… smelling like… something unbelievably sexy… they were pretty PG-13.

  I honestly considered the ‘after party’ suggestion he’d made before.

  “Who was at the door?” he asked Nick as he clipped on his Rolex.

  Nick smirked. “Some fine room service.”

  As Fox moved to fold the sleeves of his dress shirt, he turned to the doorway and froze. I couldn’t help but smile at the complete look of awe and the extent of the paralysis that took over his body when he looked at me. Lily had already stepped over to Nick to fix up his collar, so I knew I had Fox’s attention. I watched as his emerald green eyes trailed from my face down the length of my body and back up at a snail’s pace.

  A corner of his mouth turned upward the slightest bit and a sly look overcame his eyes as he took leisurely steps toward me.

  “You are so…” he started gruffly, pausing to find the words. I arched an eyebrow in curiosity, blushing at the very thought of what he was thinking about.

  I am so…? He never finished that thought. Overpowered by a force greater than the need to finish his sentence and compliment me, he dipped his head and captured my bottom lip with his minty ones. My hands rested on his wrists as his hands cupped my cheeks and his lips moved to caress my top lip. I saw a flash, realizing Lily must’ve snapped a picture.

  He pulled away and rested his forehead on mine. “You too,” I chuckled, returning his attempt at a compliment and reaching up to kiss him back.

  “You’re just… incandescently beautiful,” he stated, stepping back to admire me once more.

  “Oooh, incandescently, huh?” I smirked.

  He nodded with a satisfactory grin. “It was a vocabulary word.”

  “Was it?” I teased back.

  “Alright! We going to take some pictures now, or what?” Lily asked, clapping her hands excitedly.

  The guys groaned.

  “Actually,” I said, remembering something, “Nina wanted Fox and I to stop by the center for a couple of pictures… can we just meet you guys back here and we’ll snag a few couples to take group pictures outside by the fountain and the pool later?”

  “Sure,” Lily nodded. “Do what you gotta do.” I couldn’t help but detect a suggestive tone in her statement.

  Fox finished rolling his sleeves and put on his jacket before taking my hand and leading us to the elevators.

  The evening had barely begun, and I already knew I never wanted it to end.

  ***

  “Nina,” I sang, relishing the sound of my heels against the hardwood floor of the lobby. The center had been locked up in the front, strangely. We were able to enter from the back.

  “Check me out,” Fox sang following my greeting.

  “Check me out,” I laughed, peering into her office.

  Empty.

  “Hm.”

  “What is it?” Fox asked, coming up behind me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

  “She’s not here.”

  “Bathroom?” he suggested.

  “Probably,” I smirked. Fox pressed a warm kiss to my bare shoulder and continued his trail up to my ear. I shivered.

  “Let me go check,” I sighed, collecting the material of my dress and walking to the restroom. After calling her name a few times and checking the stalls I found it empty.

  “Anything?” Fox asked hopefully.

  I shook my head. He quickly ran into the men’s room (just in case) while I checked the other rooms.

  “Where the hell’d she go?” I wondered, watching Fox run up to me.

  “Her car’s not even in the lot,” he told me.

  “Then why the hell did she…” I pondered, completely confused.

  “Maybe she forgot?” Fox offered lamely. “…You did tell her it was this Saturday, right? May 2nd?”

  “Yeah I told her,” I nodded. “I don’t understa– OH MY GOD.”

  “What?”

  I booked it, running like a track star to Fox’s car. He followed close by, repeating the question I was too stunned to answer.

  I settled for an indirect answer as he started his car. “The hospital. Go.”

  I didn’t have to tell him twice.

  While he drove I quickly texted Lily to let her know we had encountered a slight change of plans.

  “Do you think she’s okay?” I asked, biting my lip and drumming my fingertips against the armrest as Fox effortlessly managed to break every law I could think of in his attempt to get to the hospital.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” he insisted, sounding a bit nervous himself, “I mean, if she locked the front doors and got into her car she was pretty pulled together. You know Nina.”

  “That’s why I’m scared. She’s just a little too independent. She probably refused a wheelchair from the nurse and marched herself up the stairs to the maternity ward – she’s such a stubbornass! She didn’t even call me!” I exclaimed, sighing at how ridiculous my friend was being.

  “Emery,” Fox stated calmly. “Relax, alright? Maybe she just didn’t want to ruin her friend’s prom night, because she knew you’d rush right over and screw a dance to be with her.”

  I had to agree with him on that one.

  We arrived at the hospital and took the first parking space available. In the lobby, I asked if Nina had been admitted.

  Imagine my relief when the secretary nodded and gave me the room number. It was the same secretary as before, during Nina’s fainting incident; she still assumed Fox and I were Nina’s siblings. That was probably why she gave us a weird look when we held hands and raced for the elevators.

  “Nina Santiago!” I scolded at the sight of her in a hospital gown, writhing in pain and clutching her bulbous belly.

  “Emery Price,” she growled in return, shaking her head at the sight of Fox and me. “You look absolutely gorgeous; like an angel. And Fox, handsome as ever. Ai dios mio.”

  He nodded and excused himself. I saw his hand reach for his phone but I looked over at Nina again, ignoring it.

  “You look like you’re about to have a baby,” I returned, pulling up a chair next to her. “Way to not tell me where you went.”