Pearl watched from the kitchen as her pupil Connie paced back and forth in the living room. Her blue dress had an aquatic wave themed stitching along the frills. This caught Amethyst attention as the way the dress moved along with her steps gave the waves a satisfying to watch flowing looking. Despite this, Connie was anything but calm.

“Connie,” Pearl called. “I think you should relax. Steven will be out in just a minute.”

“I’m not worried about Steven.” She replied. “The dance was short by one chaperone so my mom decided to volunteer.”

“That was really nice of her,” Pearl said sincerely. Connie then realized that her dilemma needed more of an direct explanation.

“I don’t really want her there. I’m grateful because she means well. But I was kind of hoping to dance with Steven without my mom watching. Does that make sense?”

“I suppose. It can be awkward if you’re on a date and someone you happen to know comes along.” Pearl gave a glance to an unaware Amethyst.

“Not just ‘awkward’. I wanted to…uhm,” Connie rubbed her arm walking toward Pearl. The gem leaned against the kitchen counter and listened to her confession. Connie spoke softly. It was still a little hard to admit out loud. “I wanted to try and kiss Steven tonight at the dance.”

“Wha!?” Pearl shouted.

“Shh!” Connie looked back at the bathroom door hoping Steven didn’t hear that. “It’s gonna be a surprise.”

Pearl put her hands on her cheeks. There were stars in her eyes as she couldn’t help but praise, in her mind, her future in-law.

“Oh! How romantic. I always knew this day would come. Naturally, I figured Steven would be the one making the first move. But I suppose you are a go-getter in your own right.”

“Uh, Pearl?” Connie tried.

“I can see it now.” Ironically, her gem projected the very scenario. “The lights will go dim. The music will play something soft and sophisticated. Probably with violins. The two of you dancing, unable to look away from one another’s gaze.”

“Pearl!” Amethyst crudely spoke up.

“Ugh.” The vision vanished. Pearl’s attention was now on her friend who never seemed to understand that sofas aren’t supposed to have feet on them. “What is it Amethyst?”

“Let them have their little moment. You like what you like. Greg likes what he likes. I like what I like. Let Connie like what Connie likes.” Amethyst spoke to Connie. “You’re overthinking it. Steven’s your boyfriend. Don’t let your mom change any plan you had. You have a plan tonight with how you wanted your first kiss to go right?” Connie nodded. “Then just stick to it.”

“That’s the problem.” Connie pouted. “I can’t just ‘stick to it’.”

Amethyst, as dense as ever, “Why not?”

“Amethyst.” Garnet came into the room from upstairs. “Obviously, there’s a new factor Connie wasn’t anticipating and she’s wondering how to accommodate for it. Pearl,” There was a pause before she finished with, “what Amethyst said.”

Garnet took a knee meeting Connie face to face.

“Do you want to kiss Steven?”

“Of course I do!” Connie explained, “We’ve been a couple for a while now and I think I’m ready now.” Garnet smiled hearing this.

“That’s good. Now, why is the dance so special?” she asked. “Why not just kiss him when he comes out of the bathroom?”

Connie didn’t answer her right away.

She pondered for a bit holding her chin letting out a “Well,” before giving a reason. “It’s a school dance and I wanted it to be something we’d never forget.”

“The kiss will make the dance something you’d never forget? Or will the dance make the kiss something you’d never forget?”

Connie chuckled sheepishly, “Well, I just want to give him my first kiss. The dance just seemed like a great backdrop for it.”

“So it’s not that the dance is a special thing. It’s just a nice aesthetic for something you can do at any time.”

The teenager’s eyes widened at Garnet’s spot on deduction. Pearl & Amethyst exchanged looks and went back to listening.

“I…guess so.” Embarrassed, “I didn’t think about that until now.” Garnet then gave her friend something to think about.

“Aesthetics come and go. Gestures are eternal. It’s like a whip cream on a pie. It helps, but what matters more?”

Connie nodded smiling. She had a new plan seeing Steven enter the room.

“Okay, Connie. I’m ready.” Well, she did. But all the gel Steven had in his hair was blinding.

“My eyes!” Amethyst screeched.

“Steven, what’d you do to your hair?” Pearl asked.

Completely sincere, “This is how Ronaldo said I should dress for a school dance.” There was no response from anyone. Just blank stares from Connie & Garnet and a disappointed facepalm from Pearl. “Was he messing with me?”

Not even thinking twice, Connie ruffled her boyfriend’s hair setting it back to its natural fluffy state.

“Hay!” Steven protested with a slight giggle. Before he could say anything else, Connie cuffed his blazer and gave him a big kiss on the lips. The gems all had different reactions. Garnet smiled gleefully with her hands clasped. Pearl let out an ‘oh’ seeing Steven kiss her back. Amethyst pumped her fist in the air cheering them on.

It wasn’t long before Connie soon broke off the kiss to let Steven know her opinion on his appearance.

“The suit is enough. Okay, Steven?”

He spoke with hearts in his eyes, “Okay.”

“Let’s go dance.” Connie grabbed Steven’s arm taking him to the door, “Bye everyone!”

Everyone waved them off but as soon as the door shut, Pearl spoke her mind.

“Garnet! Why’d you tell her that?”

“Were you not paying attention P?” Amethyst at this point was in the kitchen looking for something to eat. “It’s just a school dance. Like, who cares?”

Garnet confessed, “Every scenario I foresaw involved Connie’s mom interfering if they tried to kiss at the dance. I was making sure she didn’t mess with our boy’s funky flow.”

END