Andrew's birthday celebration had went by pretty great for all of them last night, with Ashton's family hoping that Delancey would come by and visit them again and Piper calling in that night to tease her about how it seemed that his whole family had approved, especially Vicky Sawyer, who seemed to really like her. One of the reasons why Ashton had invited Delancey for Andrew's birthday party, she later on found out, was because he had wanted her to bond with his mother since his mother has always wanted another female around the house while Delancey didn't have a mother figure in her life growing up after her late Aunt Julia. His intention indirectly touched her that he would think of them both and again, she found herself falling deeper for him.
Still, to Piper's dismay, she was still denying that they would be a perfect match and chose to stay friends, forgetting that they had once confessed to each other.
"Del, you wouldn't believe what I just did!" Ashton exclaimed quietly that Monday morning as he found her in front of the school's notice board and approached her, since the hallway was yet to be crowded with students. He noticed her frown and nudged her. "What's with that upside down smile?"
She blew a breath and tried not to groan as she turned to him. "My dear father decided it would be nice to bring back our school's yearly dance." she told him, her voice laced with sarcasm.
Ashton looked up at the notice board and he read the announcement of the dance before looking back down at her. "What's the big deal? It's just a school dance and dances can be fun. Besides, maybe I could even ask your permission to be my date." he said playfully.
"Unfortunately for you, mister, you can't," she paused when he looked at her with a confused expression. "During school dances, prefects are tasked to survey the school in case any students thought it would be a good idea to sneak in alcohol or do some suspicious activity in hidden corners and as the head prefect, guess which place am I usually assigned to keep an eye on?"
"Washrooms?" he joked and she glared.
"Very funny," she deadpanned. "Wherever the dance takes place, of course. Which is usually our school hall. The worst thing is because I can't even enjoy the dance because I am not allowed to wear dresses other than my uniform and I'm most certainly not allowed to participate. And usually, there is always something that I will find like that one time where I found two students making out and, um… touching each other, under a table." she made a face and he flinched, imagining what it was like to be in her shoes and witnessed such a thing.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that."
She sighed. "I'll just have to live with that. But please, do have fun… I'm really looking forward to seeing Piper and Julian attending the dance together."
They shared a knowing smile.
"So your dad stopped these dances before?" he asked her as they started walking away from the notice board.
"Only for last year, because of how undisciplined the students were a year before that. But it's back now so there you have it," she paused. "Let's stop talking about the dance. It's next Friday anyway… you were about to tell me something before?"
"Oh, yeah." he grinned at her. "I finally decided to join the photography club."
She widened her eyes in surprise and placed a hand on his arm. "Photography! Who knew you'd be into that?"
He laughed and she followed before he gave a simple shrug. "I found it really interesting. And my family were happy when they found out I finally had something I'm interested in."
"I'm happy and proud of you too, Ashton," she assured genuinely and he smiled at her.
"That means so much to me… like, that just made my day," he stated. "And as much as I want to talk with you, I think it's best I head to class now since students are piling in. See you later in the library?"
She nodded. "Of course, I'll see you, Ashton. Study well!"
With a wave, they departed from each other, both feeling as if they wanted to stay by the other's side and not leave.
"Okay, I need your help!" Piper barged into Delancey's room on Thursday evening, her arms carrying two dresses.
Of all the female students in the whole academy, only Piper Lawrence dared to barge into Delancey's room unannounced. Delancey was on her bed, trying to take a nap, when Piper had come into her room and she sat up from her lying position and yawned.
"I know you wanna take a nap but my issue is currently more important than your sleep so will you please help?" she paused. "I sound selfish but whatever because you need to help me, Dee. It's urgent!"
Delancey laughed and she nodded, gesturing with her hands for Piper to come inside and lay the dresses down on the bed. Piper did as she was told and they both stared down at the two fabrics for a moment. The two dresses were both about knee-length, one was a peach-coloured dress with a layer of tulle to the skirt part and off-shoulders sleeves while the other was a chiffon blush pink with elbow-length sleeves and a flowy skirt.
"Where do you even find these dresses?" Delancey asked, both of the dresses seemed so finely made that she thought they must have been pricely.
"I borrowed them from Hailey," Piper replied simply. Hailey is her brother's girlfriend, who had been with her brother for almost three years and who also happened to come from a rich family. "I didn't have time to find a new dress unless if I decided to wear my old dress which would be two times too small for me."
Delancey nodded in understanding, no wonder the dresses looked expensive. She picked up the blush-coloured dress and observed it for a while then presented it to Piper. "This one will look so beautiful on you. The peach one will make you look pretty pale so I'd say you go for this one… plus, it would match your blushing face when you see Julian later on," she teased.
"Dee!" The blonde girl groaned. "But I'll admit, I think I like the pink one more too so yeah, I'll go with that. Thank you, bestie, you know just what is perfect for me. Pity that you couldn't wear dresses for the dance though, or I would have told you to wear the peach one. It'll look gorgeous on you and you'll look like a princess and I'm pretty sure Ash—"
"Alright there, darling. I think that's enough, you can be on your way now because I need my nap." Delancey interrupted, picking the peach dress and handing both dresses to Piper before pushing her out of the room, bidding a brief goodbye and blowing a kiss before closing the door to which Piper laughed.
The next day, half of the classes were cancelled so they could make the preparation for the dance. While the rest of the students were busy dressing up, Delancey was busy in the school hall, helping the other prefects and school staffs to arrange and organize for the dance. Just as she was about to push a table together so they could later on put the drinks and food on top, one of the prefects called out to her.
"The principal wishes to speak to you, Miss Delancey," he informed.
She nodded and walked away as the prefect took over her work to push the table. She found the principal by the doors and she gave her father a smile.
"Yes, father?" she asked and he smiled in return.
"Are you doing well?" he asked back and she nodded. He nodded in relief. Right after the incident with Roxy Zachary, Principal Hardy had looked out for her more and even when she walked around the hallways, she could sometimes feel the prefects watching her to make sure she was fine, probably due to Principal Hardy's orders.
"I just wanted to check on you and see how everything is prepared," he paused. "Will you be alright being on duty tonight? I know that it's your responsibility as a head prefect to make sure everything is under control but then again, it's your last school year… so maybe you should have a little fun? I could allow that if that's what you want."
Delancey was, of course, surprised to hear this. Her father was allowing her to be off duty for her first ever school dance! She was silent as she thought about it. She would love to have some fun but at the same time, the thought that if she didn't do her job right and let students sneak around doing horrible things will then just ruin the night and haunt her for the rest of her life.
She looked up to her father and shook her head. "I'll be on duty. I don't think I mind."
He frowned. "Are you sure? This might be your only chance."
"I'm really sure." she nodded but then raised up a finger. "But maybe you could let me wear a dress tonight? I need to wash my uniforms anyway."
He smiled and nodded at this. "If that's what you want then of course."
She thanked the principal and with a side hug, he left to head back to his office.
By the time the place for the dance was ready, Delancey had about half an hour to change since it was only an hour before the students would be allowed to attend the dance and she needed to be at her assigned spot half an hour earlier. She rushed into her room, knowing Piper would be there since she usually got ready for any occasions in Delancey's room, just because she felt changing in front of her best friend was more comfortable than in front of her roommate.
"Oh, look who's here! I thought you'd be staying in the hall?" Piper asked as she tugged on the blush-pink dress.
"Yeah, well, my father allowed me to at least wear a dress tonight so I only have half an hour to find a dress that I could find from my wardrobe and put it on before I have to rush back to my spot."
Her best friend suddenly squealed and she told Delancey to wait a moment before running out of the room with the back of her dress still unzipped. She came back in, this time holding the peach-coloured dress she had borrowed from Hailey.
"It seems that this dress is made for you tonight! I swear, you'll look amazing. Now put it on!" she handed the dress to Delancey, who took it hesitantly, before urging her to wear it.
Delancey stepped out of her uniforms, throwing them all in the laundry basket before she pulled on the dress. It came snugly down on her, reaching just below her knees. She looked up from the dress to Piper who was grinning.
"Told you that you'll look gorgeous," the blonde girl complimented.
"Don't you think it shows too much skin?" she asked, rubbing her bare shoulders and then tugging at the sleeves of the dress, as if doing so could cover her skin.
"Not at all! You only feel that because you barely show any skin, that's why. Now help me zip up my dress and then I'll do a bit of makeover for you." Piper turned around and Delancey helped her with the zip on the back.
"I would be late if you do that, is my ponytail not okay? And I don't think I need any makeup."
Once the dress was fully zipped up, Piper went and grabbed her makeup bag and Delancey's comb.
"Of course you don't need any makeup and all that but this won't take longer than ten minutes, I promise."
And true to her words, Piper was done giving Delancey a makeover in exactly ten minutes. Delancey looked at herself in the mirror and shrugged, mouthing a "not bad" to her best friend. Piper had tied her black locks into a half-up-half-down hairdo and had only dabbed on a light foundation and light blush across her cheeks, some mascara and a clear lip gloss for her lips. Then she looked at the clock and realized she only had a few more minutes to rush back to the school building.
"Alright, I'm late, I'll see you in a bit!" she tugged on her prefect shoes, which somehow fitted perfectly with the dress and rushed out of the door.