Kisses and Snowflakes

Essa cleaned chip salt off her hands at the sink, and then turned to Yara, sprawled over the coach on her stomach, trying to reach the chips that Essa left on the other side of the coach.

Essa sighed and snatched the bag up. "We have to get ready." Essa folded up the bag and threw it back into the pantry.

Yara sat up. "I'm not going."

"What?" Essa whirled back to her. "But we got you a pretty dress!"

Yara licked her lips. "I can't dance."

"Yes. You. Can." Essa said through clenched teeeth, remembering Yara had just won a state competition in ballet.

Yara stayed still. Yara had seemed so excited for the Snow Ball tonight, she wouldn't shut up about it.

Essa groaned. "Come on Yaz!" Essa waited, and Yara still did nothing. It was strange. Essa'a constant nagging usually worked... "It's about Kiko, isn't it?"

Yara flinched at the name. "I..."

Essa picked up her phone and opened Instagram. The first story that came up was Agatha's. She scrolled along until she got to Kiko's. She only had a few up, but Essa had seen it before and new which one she would show Yara.

The first was a mirror selfie that Kiko clearly forced Agatha into taking with her, in their dresses for the dance tonight; the next was a photo of cupcakes with a cute captain reading, "going in alone, going to come out with someone on my arm."

It was cringy as fuck, but she knew that Yara would think it was the sweetest thing. She passed the phone to her friend, and a smile poked at Yara's face. Essa could tell she was starting to warm up to it now.

=====

"These things are impossible," Essa said, fiddling with the butterfly hair clips that Evelyn Sader had given her as a birthday/ Christmas present last year. Essa knew that Yara loved butterflies - her name did mean 'little butterfly', after all - and Essa thought they were the perfect accessory for tonight.

Yara's hair was in a low volume beehive, with curls pinned into it and the few butterflies that Essa could figure out how to use stuck onto it. Essa had used her last use of glitter spray on Yara's hair, but it was worth it.

Yara had her eyes closed tightly because Essa wanted the hair to be a surprise.

"Do you need help," Yara asked, starting to feel less confident in the faith that she had put in her friend.

"I'm fine- OUCH!"

"Essa?" Yara said.

"I'm fine still," Essa had bent her nail back trying to open the clip. There was no nail broken off, but it hurt like hell. She dared to look down at it. "Damn it," she muttered. It looked mangled. Essa, Sophie, Beatrix and Yara had gone to the nail salon earlier to get their nails done, and now one of Essa's royal blue with gold glitter on it nails looked like a Christmas bon bon that two toddlers had pulled at but it didn't break because neither of them had muscles.

Essa huffed and jabbed the butterflies into her hair without clipping them... hopefully they would stay.

"Okay," Essa breathed, stepping away. "Open 'em."

Yara slowly opened her eyes and gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "I..." she choked. She blinked back tears. She started at her high heel, and her eyes raised up her blue gossamer dress with butterflies on it, and stopped at the top of her head, not noticing the violent way that Essa had put the butterflies in.