Mathlete to Beauty Queen

BARBIE SCHOOL

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"Any particular reason for this sudden need for change?"Jamie asks me as she turns the corner.

With one hand on the wheel, and the other messing with the radio, Jamie briefly turns her head to look at me, expecting an answer.

"I just felt like I needed to start fresh, be someone new," I do my best not to lie to her. 

I have always hated lying, and so did Bryn. Although, here I am getting a hairstyle change in order to pretend to be someone I'm not. 

Last night, Camie was supposed to come over to 'study' movies with me, but her mom needed her to watch her brother, unfortunately. So, I suppose 'Barbie School,' will have to wait till later tonight.

"I get that. . . Any idea what you want to have done?" 

I think for a moment and then shake my head, "I don't know to be honest. I figure I'll just look through some magazines and find something there."

I completely forgot to pick something out, which is completely unlike me. Usually, I'm a huge planner.

"Alrighty then, here we are. Do you want me to wait for you?"Jamie parks the car.

"No, that's alright, I'd actually like to walk home if that's okay." 

  Part of Camie's plan, includes me joining the cheer squad this year. Having done gymnastics all through elementary and middle school, I'm hoping it won't be too difficult. Anyhow, I need to start getting myself back in shape if I'm going to pull this off.

Jamie raises her brow, "If that's what you want. . . Oh, and by the way, I forgot to tell you something," Jamie hands me a paper, "I found this ad listed at Starbucks. I figured it was something to think about."

I glance at the paper, immediately noticing that it is an ad for a car. Three days ago, Paprika finally quit on me, and I had to take my poor baby to the dump. The car in the ad looks well taken care of, and the owner is willing to do a rent to own. 

"Wow, Jamie, this sounds amazing. I'll definitely look into this!" I tell her.

She grins, "I'm glad. . . Just let me know if you decide you don't want to walk, alright?" 

I nod and she drives away. I'm so lucky to have Jamie.

I head towards the entrance of the saloon, quickly taking note of the prices they have listed on the windows. Not high, but certainly not low either. Not that I'm complaining, I would assume that this is a very stressful job to have.

"Welcome to Gina's, how can I help you?" The woman at the front desk speaks.

I put on my best, 'I'm happy,' smile, "Hello, I believe that I have an appointment. My name is Ashlyn Breyers." 

The woman looks down at her computer, and then back up at me, "If you'll just have a seat, we'll be with you shortly." 

Taking a seat in one of their chairs, I grab a magazine and am immediately overwhelmed by the number of choices. 

When the hairstylist calls my name, I'm so involved in picking a style that I don't register it. 

"Ashlyn Breyers," she calls again. This time, she catches my attention.

"Oh, I'm coming!"I stand from my seat.

 "Right this way please," she grins at me, "So, my name is Hanna, and I'll be your stylist today. . . Have you thought about what you want?"

Sitting down in the chair, I bring my mind back to all of the styles I looked at before, and I completely blank, "You know what? Just do whatever you think will suit me," I blurt out, feeling spontaneous. 

A wide smile overtakes her face, "I love that answer."

  Although her response slightly frightens me, I'm glad to make her happy. I'm sure everyday people come in requesting the same old crap, and she never gets to do her own thing. I feel like that must be quite boring at times.

While Hanna works on my hair, I am vaguely aware of the bell ringing behind me, signaling that someone new has entered the building. 

"Welcome to Gina's, how may I help you?"

The new voice speaks, "Hey, I don't have an appointment, but I was really hoping you could fit me in somewhere if it's possible." 

I feel like I've heard that voice before somewhere.

"And what is your name sweetheart?"

"Ren, Ren Garten."

I cringe, "Crap."

I can't let her recognize me, or this whole plan will be ruined.

"So, Ashlyn, how has your week been going?" Hanna asks me. 

"Eh, it's been alright. . . Kind of stressful," I answer honestly. 

"Hm," She pauses, "How so?"

"There's just been a lot going on I guess," I glance over my shoulder to see Ren being guided to a chair behind me. 

"Stay still, please," Hanna redirects my head.

A few moments pass and Hanna doesn't say anything else. I presume this is because she needs to concentrate. 

"Pretty terrible actually," I tune into Ren's voice.

"Care to elaborate?" A voice who I presume is her stylist speaks.

I hear a deep sigh, "I just-I've been feeling really down lately. . . Something happened, and I'm having a hard time moving on from it."

"Well, whatever it is that happened, you need to let yourself continue on with your life honey. You can't just beat yourself up about it."

I look down at my hands, fully aware that she is talking about Bryn. In some ways, I can't help but feel sorry for her. I know what it's like to not be able to move on.

"Yeah, I guess," Ren answers, "It's just that, there's this girl who was involved, and I want to talk to her about it, but. . . I'm scared of what she'll say."

Hearing this makes me take in a sharp breath of air. I wish I had the courage to go over and confront her, but I don't. 

Maybe Ren isn't as bad as I thought. . . I shake my head slightly. She took part in the bullying of Bryn, I know she did. Perhaps she does feel guilty, but that doesn't take away from what she did.

I force myself to stop listening to her conversation, as it is only making me feel stressed. 

"I'm just about done here, sweetheart. All I need to do is rinse out your hair, dry it, and you'll be good to go, alright?" Hanna looks over my shoulder.

"Sounds great."

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"Wow," is all I can say when I see my new hairstyle. 

  Hanna cut it to just above shoulder length and added a reddish ombre that blends in perfectly with my hair. 

"Well, what do you think?" 

I turn to face her, "I love it, thank you!"

  I'll be sure to leave her a decent tip for this. She seemed to notice that I wouldn't want anything too daring, but a significant change nonetheless. It will take some getting used to, but I think it suits the 'new me,' well.

After I pay and leave the store, I start on my four-mile walk home. 

I feel like I'm going to regret this.

AUTHORS NOTE:

I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I worked really hard on it, and I had lots of fun writing it. Originally, I wanted to make it a bit longer, but I'm going out of town tomorrow, and I'm not bringing my laptop. So, I decided that something was better than nothing. I do plan on editing this chapter a little bit when I get back, however. Anyway, have an awesome week!