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When Mal broke up with Ben after the coronation she thought she would be sad. She does like Ben, but doesn't like-like him. Her best friend Evie was by her side telling her everything would work out in the end. Mal knew that with Evie's reassurances she would be fine.
After a few weeks Mal noticed that whenever Evie laughed, she couldn't help but smile. Every time Evie touched her, Mal would get butterflies in her stomach. Evie's smile lit up any room she walked into. After working up the courage, Mal asked Evie out on a date. Evie was so happy. She gave Mal a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
That next Saturday Mal is planning a picnic at the Enchanted Lake. It is super cliche but she had a good time there with Ben. She wants to make more magical memories there with Evie.
After getting the picnic all set up she makes Evie wait in the boys room so she can get ready.
"Why do I have to go to the boys room?" Evie laments.
"Because I want to look good for you but I want it to be a surprise." Mal says quietly. Her cheeks turning red as she looks down at her feet. Truthfully she wanted to put on make-up all by herself and show Evie that she can be girly too. "Don't worry everything is going to be super magical." She says as she ushers Evie out the door.
Once she is gone Mal sits down at Evie's vanity and opens her make-up case. Her eyes go big at all the different colors and products. This is going to be a lot harder than she thought. She grabs a tube of tan cream and looks at the label.
"What the hell is foundation?" Mal exclaims out loud. She digs around some more and finds something that looks like a pencil. Okay, she can work with pencils. She starts drawing a line around her eyes. She ends up pressing too hard and the tip smashes and leaves a giant black smudge.
"Oh crap!" She grabs a rag and tries cleaning up the smudge. She ends up just smearing black all over her eye. She looks in the mirror and she can't help comparing herself to a raccoon. She runs to the bathroom and finds the wipes she has seen Evie use to wipe off her make-up.
Okay, time to start over. She puts the broken pencil back in the case. She finds a palette of eye shadows. She has watched Evie apply this stuff before so it shouldn't be that hard. She chooses a nice dark purple because that is her favorite color. She uses her finger because there are way too many brushes and she isn't sure which one to use. The purple ends up looking more black than purple. She decides to just lighten it with a lighter color.
After putting some white over the purple, she looks in the mirror and decides that its not horrible. She grabs the mascara and attempts to apply it. First she pokes herself in the eye, then she hits her nose and leaves a black streak. After rubbing it off her nose she finally gets some on her lashes. It is clumpy and doesn't cover all the lashes but Mal is getting frustrated.
She looks at the clock and she has been sitting here for thirty minutes already. She needs to hurry before Evie thinks she is chickening out of their date. She grabs one of the containers of what she thinks is blush and opens the lid. She unfortunately opens it too fast and blush powder goes everywhere. It gets in her nose and makes her sneeze.
She starts scrubbing the powder off her face. careful to not rub her eyes. Even though they are not as pretty as when Evie does her make-up, she spent a lot of time on them. There is still spots of blush in her eye shadow and on the tips of her lashes but at this point she just needs to go get Evie.
She doesn't bother with lipstick. She just puts on some gloss to make them shiny and runs out the door. After getting several funny looks in the halls, Mal can't stand the thought of Evie seeing her like this. She should have just washed it all off and not bothered. Evie is the pretty one and Mal is the stubborn one.
She knocks on the boys dorm room door. Carlos is the one to answer the door. Once he gets a glimpse at Mal's face he starts laughing. He steps aside so she can walk into the room. Mal hangs her head and won't look at Evie.
"Evie, can we reschedule?" Mal doesn't want Evie to see her.
"Mal, what's wrong? Are you sick?" Evie says with concern. She starts walking toward Mal.
Mal throws her hands over her face. "I don't want you to see me like this. I tried to make myself look pretty without your help and it is just a disaster." Mal states from behind her hands.
Evie walks in front of Mal and gently grabs her hands and lowers them. Mal's eyes are starting to water. Partly from the make-up and partly from the thought of Evie making fun of her. Evie looks over Mal's face, noticing the make-up disaster.
"Mal, you could show up dressed in a giraffe onsie with clown make-up on and I would still think you are the most gorgeous person on the planet." Evie says as she cradles Mal's cheek in her hand.
Mal looks into Evie's eyes and knows she is telling the truth. A single tear escapes Mal's eye and Evie brushes it away with her thumb.
"How about we head back to our room and I help you get cleaned up, and then we go have a romantic picnic by the lake." Evie interlocks her fingers with Mal's as she starts walking out into the hall.
"I like the sound of that." Mal smiles at Evie as her heart beats erratically. She knows only Evie could get her to try so hard. "Don't be mad at the mess please. I was in a hurry."
"It's okay. Messes can be cleaned. The only thing that matters is us being together." Evie looks at Mal with all the love in the world.
After they get Mal cleaned up and get to the lake, they sit down on the blanket to enjoy a romantic meal of strawberries and turkey sandwiches. (It was all Mal knew how to make) Evie didn't care what they were eating. All she cares about is she is finally on a date with the love of her life.
"I'm sorry it's not better. Next time will be super grand." Mal is still very nervous and not sure why. She has been around Evie alone before. Now there is unexplained feeling in her stomach that is telling her to lean forward and kiss the girl.
"Mal, everything is already perfect." Evie takes a bite of a strawberry and some of the juices stays on her lip. Mal leans forward and brushes her thumb over Evie's lip cleaning up the strawberry. Evie leans forward as well and Mal's hand moves from her face to the back of her neck as their lips meet. The taste of strawberries on both of their mouths.
It doesn't last very long and as they pull back they gaze into each others eyes. Both of them realizing that that kiss was only the first of many more to come.