Peace in a Storm

15 - Audrey

"Stay still," Cat commanded. "This is the last section."

I clenched my jaw as the heat from the hair straightener came close to my scalp again.

Cautiously, Cat captured a small chunk of my curls between the straightener and ran it down the length of my strands.

From the corner of my eye, I watched my now-straight locks fall over my shoulder.

This morning, Cat caught me in Max's room. We'd stayed out late last night, and I really didn't want to sleep alone. He agreed to let me stay over, but he didn't wake me up when he'd left to go to the doctor. While I was happy he held up on his promise to get his ribs checked out, I didn't appreciate waking up to an empty bed - or my best friend's suspicious brow. But, I guess it worked out. Cat and I needed to spend some time together, anyway.

Somehow, she coerced me into letting her experiment hairstyles for junior prom. I allowed her to wash and blow dry my hair. Now, I sat between her legs on the floor while she straightened my hair. Reruns of Grey's Anatomy played on the television, filling Cat's sporadic bouts of quiet concentration.

"Your hair is so long," Cat commented as she ran a comb through my bone-straight locks. My brown-blonde hair fell down below my shoulders and over the small of my back. "Would you want to wear it up or down for prom?"

"I don't even know if I'm going to prom," I admitted.

"Why not? Just because Carter is an asshole doesn't mean someone else won't ask you."

"None of the other boys seem interested in me."

"Max seems interested," she said coyly.

I rolled my eyes. "We're just friends."

"Friends who sleep in the same bed."

"You and I sleep in the same bed!"

"Okay, but you and I haven't kissed. You and Max on the other hand..."

"That was one time during a game of truth or dare. It didn't mean anything!"

"Yeah, yeah; I hear you."

As if on cue, Max's voice echoed through the house. He and Jordan were downstairs playing video games on the big screen in the living room. Every so often, we'd hear them yelling profanities at each other or exploding in laughter. I don't know what game they were playing, but it must've been entertaining.

Huffing, Cat got up from her seat on her bed and opened her room door. "Hey dumb and dumber, shut the fuck up!" She yelled down the hallway.

"Make us!" Max yelled back.

"Don't make me come down there and wax your eyebrows off!"

"You aren't gonna do shit!"

Cat growled. "Wait until I'm done with Audrey's hair! We're gonna fuck both of you up!"

"I didn't even do anything!" Jordan exclaimed. "Y'all better jump his ass and leave me out of it!" A loud thump followed his comment.

Cat shook her head as the thuds of the boys wrestling on the floor rumbled through the house. "Your boyfriend better stop testing me before I break his other rib."

"He's not my boyfriend," I reminded her.

"Right, sorry. I meant your sneaky link." She grabbed her curling wand from off of the dresser. Gently, she wrapped one of my locs around the hot wand.

"Whatever. Have you and Tommy decided on the colors you're going to wear?"

Her hand slowed as she pulled the wand out of my lock, leaving behind a spiral curl. "Oh, Tommy and I broke up."