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There were times in Emmett’s life where she got stuck in the same old boring routines. She woke up, got ready, and went to work with Callahan. There, she watched him make morally questionable judgments and scare the crap out of the newer students. If Emmett was lucky, he would give her the hope of becoming an associate, before she inevitably did something to screw it up and she had to double the work she did in order to get back in Callahan’s good graces. After this cycle repeated multiple times, Emmett was exhausted and angry constantly. She was stuck in the same place and felt like she couldn’t escape. There was no light at the end of the tunnel.
That is, until she met her. She was Emmett’s light, and it was a refreshing and energizing and bright pink light. So much of her life was changed the night that she ran into Elle after work. She would always be insanely grateful for whatever force of nature led her to take an alternate route and run into the incredibly charming woman in a bunny-costume.
Elle was the best thing to happen to Emmett in a long time.
All of this being said, when Elle accidentally ended up having to drive Emmett to the hospital, she couldn’t really blame her.
It all started with Emmett accidentally mentioning her birthday. She had never really liked celebrating her birthday, especially because her mother used to splurge on a party that no one would go to. That just made them poorer and Emmett always felt lonelier. So, when she accidentally let slip that she was driving home for her birthday on a Tuesday study night, Elle was confused.
“When?”
“What?”
“When is your birthday?”
“Uh, this weekend?”
“Emmett!” she said, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Emmett rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, “I don’t really like celebrating my birthday. It’s a waste of time.”
Elle stared in disbelief for a few seconds, before physically shaking herself out of her stupor and jumping to her feet. “That won’t do! I’m throwing you a birthday party!”
While Emmett was flattered that she would do something like that, she was very hesitant to agree to an Elle Plan. Last time she agreed to one of Elle’s master plans, she ended up covered in baby blue paint, trying to assemble a crib for the baby of a woman Emmett had never even met before. Needless to say, she was skeptical at best. But, Emmett was unfortunately no match for Elle’s puppy dog eyes, and so she reluctantly agreed to let Elle throw her a birthday party.
This threw Elle into an excited flurry. Emmett told her not to forget to study, but since they were on break, she was fine with skipping a study session if it made Elle happy. She did have one problem though.
“Wait,” Emmett brought up a couple hours into Elle’s plotting, at the point where she was making the shopping list, “how can I throw a party if I don’t have anyone to invite?”
Elle giggled without looking up from her list, “You don’t have to invite loads of people to have a party, silly. In fact, even if it was just you and me it would still be a party.”
“It would?”
“Of course!”
“Oh,” Emmett hadn’t ever thought of it that way before, “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
“But it’s not gonna be just us. I’m inviting your mother. And Paulette. And Serena, Margo and Pilar are flying down too. It’s not a ton of people, but I figured you wouldn’t like a huge party.”
“I-” Emmett was speechless. Not only was Elle planning a party for her, she invited her friends and they accepted. These were girls that Emmett had never even met before, and they were willing to go to something as trivial as a birthday party that was on the complete opposite side of the country. Emmett had never met anyone like Elle, and these other girls seemed kind too. As much as people Emmett had met made fun of the sorority girls, the Delta Nus seemed like they were a genuine group of people.
“No need to thank me,” Elle said slyly, “I know I’m amazing.”
Emmett rolled her eyes, “Sure,” she said with fake sarcasm. In reality, that’s exactly how Emmett saw her. Confident, cheerful, kind, generous, beautiful, but most of all amazing.
Elle made her drive to the mall.
Once Elle had gotten everything on her list, plus a few extra items for fun, she sent Emmett back to the car.
“Wait, why?”
“Well, I can’t exactly surprise you with the best birthday gift ever if you watch me buy it, can I?”
Emmett shouldn’t have been surprised at that information. “No, Elle, you don’t have to buy anything else. You’ve already done way more than I could ever repay you for.”
Elle shook her head, “No, you don’t have to repay me. I did this because it’s fun, and I like parties. Plus, there’s no way in hell I’m showing up without a gift for you. You refusing to leave just means I’ll have to make a separate trip which would go against your want of keeping me from spending money because it will not only inconvenience me, but it’ll cost me even more money.”
Emmett stood still for a second, considering. Then she said, “I worry for the poor souls who dare to take a case against you when you become a lawyer. That was irrefutable reasoning,” and turned around, to the mall exit. She would just have to wait and see.
And she didn’t have to wait very long. Before she knew it, it was her birthday. She hadn’t felt such a mix of excitement and anxiety about her birthday since she was a kid. Even as a kid, she had never had something so big to look forward to. Her mother drove in the night before and met Elle. Emmett had not foreseen the extreme force of nature that was a mixture of her mother and Elle Woods in the same room. Sure, she knew that they were both insanely strong and confident women, but she had never anticipated what great teammates they were. This meant, however, that their combined force was very good at kicking Emmett out of her own apartment to start decorating. Elle gave her permission to stay in her room while she waited, so that’s where Emmett went.
Margot, Serena, and Pilar arrived the morning before her birthday, and they were just as kind yet loud as Elle had described them, which was a nice outcome. They weren’t exactly compatible with Emmett’s personality, but they were nice and called Emmett handsome, so they were pretty great in Emmett’s book. They went out to the mall to buy brand new outfits for them, Elle, Emmett, and her mother. Before meeting the Delta Nu trio, Emmett had been very hesitant to let three girls with completely different styles than her, but they seemed trustworthy enough once she met them. Plus, if she didn’t like what they bought, she could just let Elle raid Emmett’s sad looking closet for acceptable clothes.
The Delta Nu Trio showed up at the door about half an hour after she did. Elle had been right to entrust her friends with shopping for Emmett. As she walked out, the girls squealed excitedly and all started talking at once, until Serena stopped them.
“ Girls !” Serena yelled, “We’re scaring her!”
All three of them turned toward a very awkward feeling Emmett. “Uh,” Emmett said, “I like this. It’s nice…”
Pilar nodded and stepped forward, directing Emmett into a slow spin, “Yes it is. It’s a tasteful yet simple and sleek button up with slacks. Understated and masc. That’s how Elle described your style.”
“Well, thank you guys.”
Emmett was secretly giddy that Elle knew her well enough to apparently perfectly describe her sense of style. She pushed the confusing feeling of warmth and butterflies and smoothed out the wrinkles on her slacks.
“So,” she said, gesturing vaguely toward the door, “Are we good to go?”
Serena nodded and pulled her out the door. “You drive,” she said.
Emmett got in and watched in mild fascination as Margot, Serena, and Pilar all piled in the back of her cheap, pile of junk car.
The Delta Nus had complete control over the radio, a decision that Emmett started regretting the second their CD was put in. The trip was strange, but it was short so Emmett didn’t mind too much.
As she walked inside, Paulette turned on the lights and Emmett’s mother and Elle jumped out and yelled “Surprise!”
The decorations were predominantly pink. She wasn’t surprised. However, there was a chocolate cake, which was a pleasant addition. Elle rushed up and pulled Emmett into a big hug. Emmett couldn’t tell if she was having trouble breathing due to proximity or Elle’s deceiving strength. It was likely both.
After the cake, which was good but slightly worsened by the embarrassment of being sung to, Elle announced it was time for presents. The Delta Nu girls all banded together and got Emmett a new book series that she had been gushing about to Elle for a month. Emmett’s mother got her two new notebooks. Paulette bought her separate shampoo and conditioner.
“Emmett, that 2 in 1 crap is a hoax. Treat your hair kindly.”
Then was Elle. She opened the box from her and it was a beautiful brown leather messenger bag. “I saw that your old one was starting to break, and figured you might want a new one. It’s not real leather, because I don’t support using animals to make accessories. What do you think?”
“I- I love it,” Emmett said, awestruck.
“Turn it over,” Elle said softly.
Emmett did. Her name was engraved on the back in block letters. There was a heart at the end, which was Elle’s personal touch to it. She almost cried.
As Margot, Serena, Pilar, and Emmett’s mother were oohing and aahing, Paulette handed an envelope to her. “It’s from Elle,”
Emmett opened the envelope and it was a birthday card. She smiled and started to open it. Elle turned around and looked panicked as Emmett did. “No, no, no!” Elle yelled, reaching out, but it was too late.
Emmett opened up the card and a cloud of pink glitter burst violently from inside, right into Emmett’s face. If her reflexes had been faster, it wouldn’t have done any harm, but she didn’t close her eyes in time and that cloud of glitter hit square on. She screamed and threw the card away from her. Her eyes were suddenly full of glitter and burning. Everyone else in the room started panicking too. Emmett faintly heard Elle yell to calm down and then felt Elle’s hands on her shoulders. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Emmett nodded and let herself be led to the hospital. The car ride was fuzzy,especially since she couldn’t see anything and was starting to go into shock. The next thing she knew, she’s in a hospital bed with Elle next to her. She looked more worried than Emmett had ever seen her.
“What happened?”
Elle stood up and grabbed Emmett’s hand. “I bought a card from a small shop and thought it would be fine, but I heard a story about how the cards were glitter bombs so I left it on the counter last minute. I guess Paulette thought that I had just forgotten it. The doctors had to flush out your eyes for half an hour and afterwards you passed out. They said you should be fine and that we’re lucky it didn’t scratch your eye at all.”
“Oh, that’s good. Why am I in a hospital bed?”
Elle still looks too serious for Emmett’s liking. “They have to do an eye exam and then you’re fine to go.”
“Ok,” Emmett said.
“I am so sorry Emmett.”
Emmett stood up, “Don’t be. That was the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
Emmett pulled Elle into another hug. Elle giggled into her neck. “Even if you ended up in the hospital?”
“Even if I ended up in the hospital.”