in shades of yellow

chapter 7

Before I knew it, it was Friday morning, the day of the homecoming masquerade ball.

Last night, I slept for almost 9 hours, using a sleeping spell to do so; beauty sleep was necessary. I managed to get all of my work out of the way ahead of time, leaving me the entire afternoon to prepare for tonight's dance.

First step: the dress.

I'd been so focussed on mentally designing the perfect dress for Penelope that I hadn't even gotten started on my own. I pulled some ideas together from a Vogue issue I'd seen last spring and started to sketch some ideas on a pad of paper. I decided on a corset fit top with a tool gown and went with a lilac-grey kind of color to contrast my hair and bring out my green eyes. When it all came together, the idea was the perfect transition from summer to fall fashion and I loved it.

Next, I had to settle on the perfect mask to wear to match the dress and shoes I'd picked out. I watched as the whole outfit came together with the hair style I decided on as well; Cedric was going to love it.

For Cedric, I'd promised him I'd pick him a specialized tux from my wardrobe to match my dress. I got carried away in the process and designed him an entire outfit including a mask and shoes to wear, hoping he'd actually like it and appreciate the gesture.

After her only class of the day, Penelope met me at my dorm to get ready. We tried on our outfits and did each other's hair and makeup to match. On Pen, I did a rusty-orange/nude eyeshadow that brought out the blue in her eyes and a light pink matte lipgloss that looked beautiful with her tan complexion. For me, she chose a champagne eyeshadow and a nudish-organeish shiny lip gloss that contrasted perfectly with the color of my dress.

"We look hot," Penelope said, helping to braid part of my hair. We both laughed and continued doing the final touches of our outfits before putting on our masks and getting ready to go. It was 7:30 now, and we were planning on meeting Cedric, Ollie, and Pierson along with his date to take photos around 8:15. Penelope and I snapped a few selfies of our own before heading to meet everyone else.

Cedric came to meet us at my dorm beforehand so I could give him his outfit. I heard a knock on my door and had Penelope run and open it while I finished my final layer of mascara.

"You look great, Penelope," I heard his kind voice compliment her through the door.

"Thank you," she replied, flattered. "Lilah's in the bathroom, she'll be out in just a second."

At that I took a final spin in the mirror, making sure nothing was out of place, and opened the bathroom door. My eyes met Cedric's gaze as his mouth nearly fell to the floor, speechless. He looked me up and down and I did a little spin out of spite.

"How do I look?" I asked, doing a little curtsy and giggling along with Penelope.

Cedric quickly woke himself from his exaggerated trans. "Wow, I mean uh..." he struggled to make out the words, "you look absolutely stunning."

A warm blush flourished across my cheeks and I walked towards him to sit on my bed. Cedric took my wrist and pinned on a beautiful corsage, his hands slightly shaking. It was sweet that he seemed almost nervous.

"Oh! I almost forgot," I said, standing up and making my way back to the wardrobe. I took out Cedric's folded suit and outfit and handed it to him. "Um, I may have went a little overboard with all the accessories," I added, "but here."

He kissed my forehead and took the pile with him along with his bag into my bathroom. Penelope and I continued to do some final touch ups while Cedric got dressed and fixed his hair.

"Now, how do I look?" He said, entering the room just a few minutes later. My mouth hung open for a second as I took in how perfectly the green matched with Cedric's complexion and my eye color, as well as contrasted perfectly with my dress. The tux fit him like a glove. I'd never seen someone look more attractive in my life.