Boys, boys, boys

College - Day 2

Hungover, with a forgotten first kiss, wasn't the way I wanted to start my college days. When Theen and I woke again we were a lot more alive than when we first woke. I had a sketchy kind of idea for my rebellion but I didn't want to over-involve Theen. My parents could be scary, and I didn't want Theen to have to deal with them. So when she went back to her room I went on with my plan.

I lopped my hair into a bob. Yep, me. My parents would scream all kinds of things but they wouldn't see me for months. It wasn't real straight but Theen might fix it later. I wasn't real worried, more focussed on the plan. Then I got the pink hair dye and worked out what I needed to do.

I'm sure I followed the instructions exactly but at the end, I was screaming all kinds of things and none of them were good. Swearing got a good work out too. I'm pretty confident of using all words now. Just not confident about showing my head.

When Theen answered my plea and turned up at the door, her face did a whole lot of talking while her voice did nothing. It was like she was sucking air, gasping maybe.

"Pais, is that really you?" The mirror told me I looked like a dead person, but for my best friend to not know it was me, had me biting back tears.

"It's not pink." At least I managed some words. Maybe Theen even understood them.

"That's meant to be pink?" She waved her hand at the colour, or the lack of colour. "It's not enough to be orange, or pink, or anything with a name, really."

"What did I do wrong?"

Theen bit her lips, but her cheeks kept puffing in and out. She couldn't hold it in any longer. "Everything," she said with a snort, then the laughter burbled out. Once she started laughing, I had to join in. I might look like...nothing on earth...but I still had a sense of humour.

When the laughing stopped I wiped my eyes. "I guess a hangover and forgetting my first kiss weren't the worst things to happen today." I gave Theen a look which must have worried her because she grabbed my shoulders and held tight as I said, "What am I going to do?"

Theen pursed her lips and gave me a stare. "You are definitely not ringing your Mum."

A snort burst out, then a honk, and a splutter. I was laughing again. I'm such an idiot. I'd been sure I was ready for my rebellion, I hadn't even thought of failure. This was kind of beyond my thinking. I was a wonky, washed out woman.

"How about a cap?" Theen's suggestion was serious. She grabbed one from my cupboard and my heart fell as she plonked the stupid cap on my head.

"There'll be no boys tonight, then." I was shattered.

***

After an early night, Monday looked better, brighter, but my hair didn't. It was still washed out nothing. Even the bob was dumb. It just hung lank around my face making me more dead-looking. But it was Orientation week, so I stuck on the cap, tucked up most of the ghostly tresses and hit the events with Theen. We wanted to join clubs and do things we'd never had the chance to do at home.

It was exhausting talking to all these people, finding out what college had to offer, deciding what we most wanted to do. For me, it was working out which activities would mean meeting the most boys, without looking like a try-hard. By early afternoon we were ready to call it a day but the Theen let out a shriek.

"This is what you need, Pais."

Student hairdressers had set up an on campus salon. It was cheap because they needed the practice. I looked at Theen. "They've got to be better than me."

"You can be sure of that." Theen was trying to smother her giggles but it wasn't working. I hit her arm, it made her laugh more.

"I'm going now." I strode off hoping I could locate it from the directions I'd read. I didn't need Theen's laughter, smart remarks, or the knowing glances I'm sure she'll exchange with the hairdresser. I love her but sometimes she makes me feel like a totally sheltered nerd...and even though that's what I am I hate being reminded of that.

I opened the door to the room and the smell of hair products told me I was in exactly the right place. Then a girl with the most unreal spiky multi-coloured hair greeted me. I smiled and said, "Help," then lifted the cap off.

To her credit she didn't laugh. She looked at me kind of sweetly and said, "First time out of home?"

"It shows, huh?"

She grabbed my arm and gave me a hug. "Lots of us do it. I did. I can fix it up. What were you wanting?"

I grinned, immediately feeling better. "Pink. That's what I was thinking."

Her eyebrows lifted and she tipped her head. "Bright pink? That would really suit you. Not many people have the perfect skin tone for it, but you do. And style?"

I shrugged. "I don't want to look like I just moved out of home." I gave her a grin.

We flicked through a pile of magazines and I pointed out some of the styles I liked. Then she started pointing out styles that would suit me. We kept narrowing it down, talking all the time. Her name was Jazz and she was in her last year of her apprenticeship. She loved it and loved trying new things and seeing if they'd work. I think her enthusiasm for her job, my face, my hair and the fluoro colour let her talk me into a style I would never have tried before. She needed clippers, and I'd need gel every day, but it looked awesome and pink. So after some discussion, lots of deep breathing, and a big dash of rebellion, I decided to let her go for it.

A few hours later, my stomach was growling but my hair was light...in weight...and bright in colour. Or so Jazz told me because she wouldn't let me look until she'd finished. I wanted to ring Theen and see if she'd look with me. But this was for me. This was my change, my life. I had to do this myself.

"Okay, I'm ready to look."

Jazz grinned. She was standing in front of me, her fingers doing a last swizzle through my hair just to get it perfect. "You're going to love this."

I sucked in air. I sure hoped I did because it wasn't going to grow out anytime soon, so I'd have to face my parents with hacked hair at some stage and they weren't going to be happy about it. My life. My hair. My decision.

Just as I steeled myself, Jazz whipped the covers away and the mirror reflected this image.

Holy crap.

The girl was so bloody hot.

Her face was elfin, angular in good ways, with huge eyes. The tousled pink hair sat across the top of her head, hanging down across her forehead which just emphasised those big blue eyes, the milky white skin and the pink cheeks.

I moved my head and the girl's head moved too.

"Argh! That's me?" I looked more closely. "Jazz, what did you do? I never looked like that." I couldn't believe the difference pulling all the hair away from my face made. I guess the really short pink sides made most of the difference. But man. No way could I believe this. I'm hot. I'm gonna get boys.

I threw my arms around Jazz. She worked a miracle.