why they were sitting here in my bathroom.
“I know, so weird,” Genevieve said with a little frown. “We were talking about that on the way over. We always thought you seemed cool, but, I don’t know. We’ve been friends with Sophie for so long…”
I forced a nonchalant smile as I handed them my old t-shirts.
“Yeah, she and I aren’t exactly BFFs,” I said, and they both giggled.
“How come you hate each other so much?” Hannah asked.
“Oh, we used to be friends, but you know … sometimes, stuff just happens.”
The truth was, Sophie and I had been pretty good friends in grade school. Our moms carpooled us to gymnastics and ballet, and we went to each other’s birthday parties and sleepovers.
Things started to change in fifth grade, the year Ang moved to Tapestry. I started spending more time with her and less with Sophie. That was about the time Sophie got really interested in boys, and all she wanted to do was talk about who was the cutest and which of them liked her. She started getting much more competitive in gymnastics and ballet, always trying to show me up. It drove her nuts that I was better than her at both.
But it wasn’t until a fifth grade slumber party at Sophie’s house that things changed for good. There wasn’t any big fight or anything, but a couple of days later, Sophie moved in with her aunt, and she had been horrible to me ever since. Not just regular Sophie-mean, but targeting me, humiliating me, and generally looking for ways to make me miserable.
“Okay, are you ready?” I turned to the girls. “Pull out a chunk of hair that you want dyed, and pin the rest back.” I handed them each a hair clip, those ones that look like jaws of pointy teeth mashing together.
I folded each of their dye-saturated strands in foil and set the timer on my phone. We had fifteen minutes before I could wash out the dye. It felt like an eternity.
“Um … so why did you decide to talk to me after all this time?” I said, hoping I sounded less awkward than I felt.
Hannah pulled her mouth to one side. “I guess it was after the bake sale. We were both just like, yeah, why shouldn’t we be friends with Corinne?”
“But the other day at the coffee shop you didn’t seem too excited when I offered you the cookies.”
Genevieve scratched at the back of one hand and stared at the floor. “Yeah, that was weird. We were all into it last week, but by yesterday … I don’t know, not as into it. But then after we saw you, we remembered that we really, really wanted you to dye our hair.”
She smiled at me in a hopeful way that appealed for my approval, and I felt a little bit sorry for her. I knew she wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack, but she seemed a little confused, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the yellow bottle from the pyxis was responsible.
I asked them what kind of music they liked, and they both relaxed a little. Before I knew it, the timer went off. I had each of them bend over the sink so I could shampoo the dye out of their strands.
“So this is permanent?” Hannah asked.
“Semi-permanent,” I said. “It’ll wash out in a few weeks.”
“Oh, cool. Then maybe we could try a different color.”
I wanted to laugh. I still couldn’t believe they’d let me do it. I had them pose together and I snapped a picture with my phone.
After the girls left, I texted Ang the pic and told her to call me as soon as she could. My phone rang a few minutes later, and I gave her the report.
“Oh my God, Corinne.” Her voice squeaked with glee. “Wow. I don’t think they’re faking. I mean you dyed their hair .”
I grinned. “Yeah, I don’t think so either.” My grin faded. “But what do you think it means about the pyxis ?”
We both fell silent, reluctant to try to put the answer into words.
|| 12 ||
THE NEXT DAY IN the coffee shop, the bell on the door announced the arrival of almost the exact same horde of dance team girls who had been there the
“I know, so weird,” Genevieve said with a little frown. “We were talking about that on the way over. We always thought you seemed cool, but, I don’t know. We’ve been friends with Sophie for so long…”
I forced a nonchalant smile as I handed them my old t-shirts.
“Yeah, she and I aren’t exactly BFFs,” I said, and they both giggled.
“How come you hate each other so much?” Hannah asked.
“Oh, we used to be friends, but you know … sometimes, stuff just happens.”
The truth was, Sophie and I had been pretty good friends in grade school. Our moms carpooled us to gymnastics and ballet, and we went to each other’s birthday parties and sleepovers.
Things started to change in fifth grade, the year Ang moved to Tapestry. I started spending more time with her and less with Sophie. That was about the time Sophie got really interested in boys, and all she wanted to do was talk about who was the cutest and which of them liked her. She started getting much more competitive in gymnastics and ballet, always trying to show me up. It drove her nuts that I was better than her at both.
But it wasn’t until a fifth grade slumber party at Sophie’s house that things changed for good. There wasn’t any big fight or anything, but a couple of days later, Sophie moved in with her aunt, and she had been horrible to me ever since. Not just regular Sophie-mean, but targeting me, humiliating me, and generally looking for ways to make me miserable.
“Okay, are you ready?” I turned to the girls. “Pull out a chunk of hair that you want dyed, and pin the rest back.” I handed them each a hair clip, those ones that look like jaws of pointy teeth mashing together.
I folded each of their dye-saturated strands in foil and set the timer on my phone. We had fifteen minutes before I could wash out the dye. It felt like an eternity.
“Um … so why did you decide to talk to me after all this time?” I said, hoping I sounded less awkward than I felt.
Hannah pulled her mouth to one side. “I guess it was after the bake sale. We were both just like, yeah, why shouldn’t we be friends with Corinne?”
“But the other day at the coffee shop you didn’t seem too excited when I offered you the cookies.”
Genevieve scratched at the back of one hand and stared at the floor. “Yeah, that was weird. We were all into it last week, but by yesterday … I don’t know, not as into it. But then after we saw you, we remembered that we really, really wanted you to dye our hair.”
She smiled at me in a hopeful way that appealed for my approval, and I felt a little bit sorry for her. I knew she wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack, but she seemed a little confused, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the yellow bottle from the pyxis was responsible.
I asked them what kind of music they liked, and they both relaxed a little. Before I knew it, the timer went off. I had each of them bend over the sink so I could shampoo the dye out of their strands.
“So this is permanent?” Hannah asked.
“Semi-permanent,” I said. “It’ll wash out in a few weeks.”
“Oh, cool. Then maybe we could try a different color.”
I wanted to laugh. I still couldn’t believe they’d let me do it. I had them pose together and I snapped a picture with my phone.
After the girls left, I texted Ang the pic and told her to call me as soon as she could. My phone rang a few minutes later, and I gave her the report.
“Oh my God, Corinne.” Her voice squeaked with glee. “Wow. I don’t think they’re faking. I mean you dyed their hair .”
I grinned. “Yeah, I don’t think so either.” My grin faded. “But what do you think it means about the pyxis ?”
We both fell silent, reluctant to try to put the answer into words.
|| 12 ||
THE NEXT DAY IN the coffee shop, the bell on the door announced the arrival of almost the exact same horde of dance team girls who had been there the
Similar Books
