Tonight's the night.
*Are you sure this is right?*
It's the only way. You know that.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel looked at the silvery-blue roses in the fridge. For the hundredth time today she considered what to do with them. She had ordered a rose for her boutonni�re, and somehow the flower shop had interpreted it as an order for a dozen roses. She smiled at the memory of Puroko coming over to tell her that maybe she should give one to Kat. Puroko's new favorite thing to do was to give things she had extra of away. Although she most likely did it to make her friends happy with her, she always pointed out that it was good to share. Well, at least she had learned that lesson in manners from their mama and papa. "Mom and Dad," Angel reminded herself. She wasn't going to be teased like that again.
"Really, are we as formal as all that, now?" Michelle asked as she came from around the corner. Angel rolled her eyes. Somehow she had managed to get teased about it anyway.
Michelle started to adjust her bow tie. "You know, neither of your parents could ever figure these out either," she confided in her godchild.
"Hey!" Amara joined them in the kitchen. "I did fine."
"Sure, cos. They were always crooked. I had to straighten them almost every time you went out in a tux, remember?"
"Yeah, well the plan was to get some guy to come help me straighten it. You just kept ruining it."
"Amara!" Michelle laughed.
Angel cleared her throat to get their attention back on her. "Yo, what should I do with the flowers?"
"Use them." "Nothing." They looked at each other.
"They're perfectly good flowers. They shouldn't go to waste," Michelle protested.
"Yeah, but what's she going to do with them? It'll look silly to have a whole bouquet herself and she doesn't have anyone to give them too. Guess she'll just have to find a guy right now." They both smiled.
"Here," Michelle picked up one of the roses and broke off most of the stem. "Use this one as a boutonni�re. And you know, it might sound crazy but I think Puroko's got a point. Maybe Kat needs a corsage." She took a few more of the smaller ones and did the same. "Amara, would you get a pin and some string from the drawer in my desk?"
"Hey, good idea!" Amara went off to find them.
"Now you can give her them as a corsage. She probably won't have gotten one herself. If she doesn't go to lots of dances, it probably won't occur to her. The blue looks nice on you, by the way."
"Are you giving Kat a flower? 'Cuz it's good to share," inquired Puroko from the other room.
"Kiddo, I don't think that's any of your business!"
"Yes it is, 'cuz Kat's my new best friend. So I think I should know things like that."
"Why?"
"'Cuz!"
"But why?"
"'Cuz!"
Angel sighed. She knew this wasn't going to go anywhere. She'd been in "Why? 'Cuz!" discussions with her sister before.
"Don't worry, Puroko," Amara informed her as she came back with the items. Then she looked at Michelle. "Are these good?"
"Perfect."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kat and Mitch had spent all evening getting ready for the dance, but they were done now and with time to spare. Kim and Gaby (who were going too) were still getting ready, but they were going to be dropped off by Amy later. Amy and Greg were helping them get ready, since it was Gaby's first dance (how cute!) and the girls always needed help (but Kat and Mitch helped each other).
"So when's Jian picking you up?"
"A quarter after 6. And he's not driving, silly. He's not old enough, not that that ever stopped us�. Anyway we're taking a limo. What about your mystery date?" Mitch wouldn't stop teasing her about her unwillingness to talk about her new friend.
"Wait a sec?! You're leaving that late?!" Kat suddenly realized that Angel was going to come before Mitch left.
"Relax, you're allowed to come late to the dance. And it's quarter 'til now. Your date can't be too much before him." She paused, probably trying to sense Kat's emotions and then said (in a moment of temporary insight), "I'm going to meet him. What does it matter if it's before or during the dance?"
Kat had to give her that. In the long run it didn't matter. She had been having so much fun letting Mitch believe that she was going with a secret boyfriend, that she hadn't really thought about what she was going to do when she had to break the news to Mitch that Angel really was just her new friend from pole vault. Of course, Angel was so cool that Mitch would probably want to hang out with her too. Almost any friend of either of the girls eventually became friends with both of them. Only, Kat wasn't quite ready to share yet.
"I'm being picked up at 6." Which was quickly approaching.
"Girls, could you come up and help a second?" Amy called from upstairs. They ran up to help.
Amy had 5 bobby pins in her mouth and said through clenched teeth, "I don't have quite enough hands for this hair style. Could one of you hold this bunch of hair?" Kat took it, and Mitch ran over to hold the bobby pins. "Thanks, girls," Amy said, as she started to twist around another lock of Kim's hair.
"Now, Mom. You're not going to come out and embarrass us when our dates get here."
"Actually, I've already taken pictures of you in your beautiful dresses, and I've met who you're leaving with, so I could potentially just stay up here helping Kim get ready. That is unless you want me to come down and embarrass you," she said with a gleam in her eye.
Kat realized that her dad must have told her mom that she had become friends with Angel. Naturally, the old Sailor Scouts would have met the Amara's children before, just as they had met them on occasion.
"Um, no Mom. That's ok, but thanks for asking."
"Well, we all know Jian's safe, but when did you meet her date?" Mitch complained. Kat giggled.
Luckily for her, before Amy could answer, the doorbell rang. Before Mitch could protest, Kat had thrown the lock of hair into her hands, exclaiming, "That's my ride! I'll see you there!" She blew a kiss to them as she ran out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kat opened the front door. She was ready for anything.
Except for the fact that Angel looked almost exactly like a cute guy.
"Ang- Angel?!"
Angel was staring at her. "Wow, great dress," she said in awe.
Angel also looked great in the black tuxedo she had borrowed from Amara. In Kat's opinion, she would probably have looked great if she was wearing rags, but the tux looked especially fine. Kat's eyes fell on the boutonni�re. *Ohmigod. I totally forgot. I probably should have gotten a corsage!* She hadn't thought of that. *Dude, I need to get out more!*
