Just One More Minute

Chapter Five: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

I awoke to the roar of thunder outside of my window. Wait. When had I fallen asleep? I looked around my room, and realized the room was pitch black, along with the outside. I glanced at my clock. It read 3:30 am.

I laid back in bed, and tried to think back to last night. The last thing I remembered was coming inside the house, sniffing back the loose tears from when Mom yelled at me for missing curfew, and putting away my new things. I remembered thinking about Dad. The thought of him made my throat close up.

I tried to calm my thoughts and fall back asleep, but it was no use. My mind was too busy, and was overflowing with thoughts of last night and the past. I tried to at least think of something else other than Dad, but everything just went back to him. This left me with one conclusion: His smile and memory would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I shot up in bed before a voice could speak. “Hayley?” Mom started. I mentally groaned. She wasn’t exactly who I wanted to see right now.

“Yeah?” I asked. I was curious to know what she could have possibly wanted.

“Can I come in?” she asked. I thought for a moment, before nodding my head. Only then did I realize she couldn’t see me.

“Yes,” I replied. And with that, she opened the cherrywood door and flicked on the light. My eyes burned from the sudden brightness in the room, but got used to it in seconds. Mom then came over and sat on the edge of my bed. I hugged my legs closer to my body.

“Hayley,” Mom started again. I looked down at my colorful socks. I didn’t feel like making eye contact just yet. “Why are you awake?”

I had to think of a lie. Fast. I couldn’t tell Mom I was thinking about Dad again. The thought of him made her sick. It wasn’t that hard to think of something.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I replied. Silence fell over us. I hugged my legs closer to my chest. The wind whistled outside. A cold chill fell over us that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Only then, did I realize that there was a crack in the window, letting the cold air inside.

“What do you want Mom?” I asked her. She took a deep breath.

“I wanted to talk you you,” she explained. She exhaled the breath she’d held. “About Frankie.”

“What about him?” I asked. I knew along the lines of what would come out of her thin mouth. She would say he was a ‘bad apple’, and if I didn’t head to her advice, she’d disown me and ship me back to Seattle, or wherever Dad was now. Maybe she wouldn’t send me there. Maybe she’d send me off to live with her sister in Iowa.

“I think that maybe,” she took another breath and thought for a second of what she’d say. She decided fast. “I was wrong about him. He seems like a very nice boy.”

“You’re not just saying that, are you?” I questioned. Her shoulders relaxed.

“No, I’m not.” she replied. “I honestly believe I might have been wrong. But please, Hayley, listen to me when I say this: Be careful. I’m not gonna judge Frankie like I did before, but some feelings you just have to go with. I don’t want you to get pushed onto the wrong path.”

“Mom, please,” I explained, “If anything, Frankie’s gonna keep me on the right path. I’m not dumb Mom. I know what’s good and what’s bad for me.”

“I know,” she said, “Just do what’s right, okay?”

“Okay Mom,” I told her, slightly annoyed. Was she thinking that I would end up a drug addict or something after this? Because if she’s implying that about me, I want a one way ticket back to Seattle now!

“Goodnight Hayley,” she said. I smiled and nodded.

“Goodnight.” And with that, she got up, and walked out, turning the light off and closing the door behind her. The second the door was closed, a gritted my teeth, and tried not to yell out my personal thoughts. What came out of that was a somewhat frustrated growl, and me throwing a few plushies and a pillow at the door, along with burying my head in a few as well.

For the next hour or so, I lay in bed, bored out of my mind. I knew school was in a few hours, and I needed to get ready, but at that moment, I just wanted to die. There was too much pain and too many thoughts rushing through my small head, and for a while I just hid in my hair. I wanted to stay home that Friday, but I knew Mom wouldn’t let me, sick physically, mentally or not.

Eventually, I did get to sleep. What woke me up later was the light coming through the window pane. I pulled the pillows and little animals off of me, and looked through the glass. It was still drizzling outside, but now, the sun was starting to fight back, and peek through the gray clouds onto the world below. I yawned, and looked over at my clock again. This time, it read 6:34 am. I sighed, and got up off of the bed.

I walked over to my wardrobe, and after several minutes of contemplation, I picked out my orange and white striped t-shirt, and my knee-length gray skirt. After folding those up in my arms and grabbing underwear and socks, I walked over to the bathroom and started the shower.

I did get to school on time, and I didn’t have to run to my first period class that morning. Today, Mister Drago was especially interesting, and sending comments left and right, even as I progressed over to my French teacher. The day began to breeze by with ease.

Except for fourth period. Being that I was anxious to see Frankie and everyone at lunch next period, each minute felt like an hour to me. For the entire class, all I did was look at the clock as I jotted down the notes. The last five lasted the longest. It felt like an eternity before I would ever see anyone again. Without even realizing, I was tapping my pen on the desk, which get progressively louder at the seconds wore one.

“Hayley? Hayley?”

I snapped out of the daze and turned around, only to realize that Mr Kack and the rest of the class were staring right at me. “Yes?” I asked.

“Are you all right?” Mr Kack asked. I nodded.

“Yes.”

And with that, he nodded and went back to writing something about World War One. I continued to copy the notes, so I would be at peace for the rest of the day, and not get into any trouble. Before I knew it, the bell rang and I ran right out of the classroom, through the hallways, and into the cafeteria. I was the first one there, and completely out of breath. I leaned on my knees for support while my lungs caught up.

“Hayley,” a voice started. I could tell it was Frankie. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” I replied. I chuckled. “Just in a rush, that’s all.”

“What’s the rush?” Frankie asked. I laughed at that, and once he got the whole shenanigan too, he joined in as well.

Lunch went by too fast, and surprisingly, Chorus did too, even when Mr Cook handed out sheet music, and said that everyone in the class would have a chance at the solo. Everyone had to audition, and it would be in front of the entire class.

At the end of the day, I didn’t want to go home. The thought surprised me at first, but I had wanted to stay at school. I wanted to stay with Frankie, because with him, I felt safe, and loved.

“Come over to my house,” he suggested, “Jakob and I would love to have you.”

I gladly accepted his invitation, and called Mom right before I got on his bus. I got the answering machine, and as soon as I heard the tone, I told Mom that I would be at Frankie’s house, and call her as soon as I got the chance. When I was done, I hung up, and turned to Frankie. He lead me down the concrete walkway to the big yellow vehicle that took him home the majority of the time.

Jakob had been working that afternoon, which left Frankie and I on his noisy bus. My bus might have been noisy too, but since I was always immersed in my music, I didn’t know.

The bus ride passed with silence between us. The only noise there seemed to be were the obnoxious sixth graders yelling at each other, and a group of idiotic pranksters planning something involving the Vice Principal and silly string.

When we reached our stop, Frankie and I got out, and walked about a block down the road. Mom had been right. Frankie did live by the train tracks. But I didn’t mind. I’d always loved the train, even when I was little, and Dad would take me to work with him on the train. Now, being older, I still loved that whole other world in subways and train cars. Maybe it was the vibrations that I liked. After all, music vibrated just as much through my speakers.

We reached the house in no time, and walked up the stone walkway. We stepped up the small, concrete stairs, and Frankie pulled out his house key, inserting it into the old fashioned doorknob. He pushed the door open with ease, and beckoned me into the small house.

It had a homey feel to it. There was striped wallpaper in the living room, and the rest of the walls were white. The furniture looked older, but comfortable. The kitchen, which was visible from from a window-ish cut in the living room wall, had yellow walls and oak cabinets.

Frankie squeezed my hand. I looked at him, only to see his smile. He lead me away from the foyer, and upstairs to his and Jakob’s rooms. As he lead me down the hallway, he told me which rooms were which. I peeked into Jakob’s room, which had the door wide open. It had stacks of books and pictures. There was an old CD player in the corner with headphones plugged into it. A book was open on a desk.

Frankie pulled me a little ways down the hall. We stopped in front of a door. “This is my room,” he told me. And with that, he pushed open the dark colored door and lead me inside. I stopped in the doorway and took it all in.

The room was like mine, in the same layout. The desk was pushed into one corner, the bed on the opposite wall. The nightstand was in between the two. There was a couch and two or three fold up chairs along the wall. Another old CD player was on the nightstand, with an elderly alarm clock squeezed onto the edge. The walls were covered in old movie posters, along with several bands, both known and unknown. One caught my eye though: A red and black poster with a picture of a boy pulling his shirt off.

“What’s that?” I asked, walking up to the poster. Frankie turned away from a stack of CD’s he was filing through. He chuckled and put the CD’s back in the open drawer.

“Just a German band I listen to,” he told, “Why?”

“The people who used to live in my house left the same poster on my wall,” I explained. I looked at the poster again, and then back to him. “I was just curious about it, that’s all.”

“I have their CD is you want to have a listen,” he suggested. I smiled and nodded. “Great!” He walked over to the CD stack again and searched quickly for the CD. He talked as he searched. “It’s good thing too. I was sick of being the only one other than Kelly to listen to them... Here it is!” he pulled out the disk and placed it into the player. He hit a button or two and then a siren erupted from the speakers.

“Wow,” I started. I listened to a little bit of it. “That’s intense.” We both laughed and sat down in the chairs. We talked for what seemed like hours, about what seemed like nothing. At some points, during uneasy breaks in the conversation, Frankie would start singing some of the lyrics. He had an awesome voice.

Eventually, the room started to darken, and Frankie pulled me out of the room. The CD had ended long before, and Frankie had put in their latest one, which was still playing. The last thing that was in earshot was them yelling something about a “mini bar.”

He pulled me up onto the roof, where we watched the sun set. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. Being that it always rained in Seattle, I never saw the sun set, and in any other city we lived in, Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me go outside at night on my own. They said it would be too dangerous.

“Wow,” I said, as the sun sank fully into the earth. I was speechless. “That was just- Wow.”

“I know,” Frankie agreed, “I was the same way when I first saw it too.”

We went back downstairs after that, and I finally called Mom. She picked up the phone calmly, and not in a panic. I took that as a sign that she got my message from before. She asked if I was having fun, and I told her yes. We talked for a little bit before I asked, “What time do you want me home?” It was the first time I’d used the term “home” since we’d moved.

“What time do you think you should be home?” Mom asked. I thought for a moment. I knew I should say I’d be home by curfew, but I didn’t want to be. I wanted to stay here forever.

“Can I stay the night Mom?” I asked. She grumbled. I guess she was just biting her tongue about the idea of me with Frankie. I knew she wouldn’t be okay with us just yet. “Please? I’ll stay in the guest room, and I really just want to stay. Please?”

“All right. Fine,” she mumbled. I cheered. “Just don’t be home too late tomorrow.”

“Okay Mom,” I promised, “Bye.” And with that, Mom hung up. I held the phone for a moment and clicked the Off button as well.

“What’s going on?” Frankie asked when he came back. I smiled at him. He’d suggested the whole idea right before I called, but then I was still unsure. I looked him right in the eyes and cheered. “Mom agreed.”

He cheered as well and pulled me into a tight hug. At the moment, the doorbell rang, saying that Jakob was home and going to be for the rest of the night. Frankie went to open the door for him, for his arms were full with grocery bags. Once we told him, he cheered too.

I spent the rest of the night at Frankie’s, and not even in the guest room like a promised Mom. I knew Frankie well enough where I could trust he wouldn’t kill me in my sleep. If i though he was going too, I wouldn’t have slept over.

We spent all night talking and playing games like “Kill, Marry, Fuck” (which I’d played with Kia last time I slept over her house in Seattle) and “If I went to New York City...” (which was a hard memory game Frankie taught me how to play). When morning came, we finally fell asleep, and slept for a good three hours.

After that night, I spent most of my time with Frankie and everyone. Being that we had the next Monday off for some teacher thing, we all went over to Kelly’s house and hung out with her. Her family was definitely nice enough. Even her cousins and little sister were nice, even though she said my bows made me look like a slut.

For the whole week, all we did was go to each other’s houses and spend as much time as we could with each other. This went on for two weeks before Mom started to get mad. She started suspecting me of doing drugs, even when I told her it wasn’t just with Frankie or just with one person. She never grounded me, but told me that I would be if my schoolwork dropped. It never did, and she never had a good reason.

During the last Thursday night before mid-winter break, Mom and I got into a huge fight. She’d accused me of drinking when I got home a couple of minutes later than usual. I told her she was an idiot for thinking her daughter would ever do such a thing, even after she promised she wouldn’t. Before she sent me off to my room, she told me, “If you keep this up, you’ll end up just like your father: miserable and stupid.” And with that, pointed me to the stairs.

The next day, I was still pissed at her, and went straight to Frankie at lunch. He was the only on there at first, because Kelly had a guitar lesson that period, and Jimi, Jen and Jay were at the library doing research for the project they’d been talking about since the first day of school. Linda had left on vacation.

“What’s wrong?” Frankie asked when he heard me coming. He got up and took a step forward as I walked over to him. As soon as I reached him, I collapsed into his arms and broke. He pulled me closer to him with each sob, and stroked me head, telling me that no matter what, I had people around me who cared.

As soon as a finished crying, he looked right at me and asked if I could tell him what happened. I explained the whole thing, and when I was done, he just shook his head.

“It’s obvious your mother is upset right now,” he explained, “She has a lot on her mind, and it's understandable being that she’s just divorced a man she’d thought she’d loved for so many years. She’s in pain right now. Let it pass. She’ll be okay soon.”

“But still,” I sighed, wiping my eyes with a handkerchief Frankie had given me, “The comment about Dad hurt a lot. I felt like I was slapped in the face.”

“Do people say you’re like your dad a lot?” he asked. I nodded. “Well, than maybe you should talk to your mother about this. Tell her you’re hurt from her comment. I’m sure she won’t make anymore comments like that once she’s aware.”

“But she won’t listen to me,” I told him, “And I know she’s not going to consider listening to me as long as I-” I fell off the sentence, not wanting to hurt his feelings. He nodded.

“I get it,” he said. I cringed, bracing myself for what came next. “I thought your mother was beginning to like me.”

“I thought she was too,” I replied, “I guess she was just biting her tongue.”

“What did she say that night exactly?” he asked. I told him what she had said to me about him two weeks before.

“Maybe she’s just worried about you,” he explained, “After all, she did say that she worried about you getting involved with the wrong crowd. It’s not you she doesn’t trust Hayley. It’s the rest of the world. She doesn’t want to see you hurt.”

“I guess you’re right,” I agreed, “But I’m not going to forgive her easily for her comment on Dad. I won’t let her treat my father like such shit, just because she’s angry at the rest of the world.”

“I’m not saying you should forgive her,” he said, “Just take it easier on her. That’s all.”

We talked to each other until Mary came from taking the rest of our Science test. We explained to her what happened, and she gave me a hug. Mary was beginning to grow on me. She was always there when I needed her, just like Frankie was.

At the end of the day, after Miss Dullsmith gave us each something to do in our workbooks for homework, I turned to Frankie, who was closing his text book, and started our usual conversation.

“You’re English is getting better,” I told him.

“Thanks,” he replied, “Yours too.” At that, we both laughed.

“Listen, do you want to hang out today?” I asked. He sighed heavily and stuffed his books into his bag.

“I can’t,” he told. Well, that hadn’t been the answer I’d been expecting. He continued to pack his things while I sat there, still a little stunned by his answer. Oh no, had he thought he was the reason Mom was picking fights?

“Any reason why?” I asked. He stopped. His shoulders slumped. I braced myself for an answer for the second time today,

“I know you’ll laugh at this, but,” he took a deep breath, “I’m getting my hair done.”

I smiled. “You thought I’d laugh at that?”

“Well, everyone else jokes about it,” he explained.

“But those are just jokes.”

“I know,” he told, “But since I haven’t known as long as the others.”

“So what?” I asked, “Are you suggesting I’d make fun of you, Frankie Parker?”

“No!” he defended, “Of course not! It’s just-”

“Relax,” I said, holding my hand up to make him stop, “I was kidding.”

We both laughed, and at that moment, the bell rang. We both got up and walked into the crowded and rowdy hallways. I didn’t mind though. I was used to Bayport Middle by now. It was just like any other district I’d been in. There were the assholes, and then there were people like Mary, Kelly, and Frankie.

We walked outside when the conversation began again. “So,” Frankie started. I turned to him. “Being that you didn’t poke fun at my getting my hair done, do you want to come?” I thought about it for a moment. “Jakob’s been wondering how you’re doing.”

“What?” I joked, “Does he have a thing for me or something?”

“What?” he asked, “No. He has a girlfriend.”

“That’s cool,” I replied.

“Do you like him?” he asked. I shook my head.

“No,” I told. I searched for a good reason why. Not because I liked him, but because I didn’t want to freak out Frankie. “Jakob’s not my type.”

“What is your type then?” he asked. I laughed at the answer that would soon come out of my mouth.

“You,” I answered. His eyes widened. “But you don’t like me back like that.”

He laughed. “I’m sorry Hayley. Maybe Damien would like you.”

“Damien?” I didn’t know who that was.

“My other brother,” he explained. I thought for a minute, until I remembered that Frankie was a triplet, meaning he had two brothers, not one.

“Is Damien like you?” I asked. He nodded.

“A little,” he answered.

“I’ve never seen him,” I answered, “Does he work too?”

“A little bit,” he replied.

“A little?” I questioned. Why is it that I haven’t seen him yet? “Then why-”

“He lives in Vancouver,” he explained. Okay, now I was confused! Frankie saw that and continued.

“Damien, Jakob and I are triplets, but we only lived together for a short time,” he paused, “Since Damien was the oldest, he continued to live with our mother. Jakob was sent to our Aunt, and I was put into foster care.” At that moment, I wanted to give him a hug. He stopped me, and tried to finish the story.

“We all knew about each other, and as we grew, we wondered more and more. We’d never met in all of our lives, and always thought about what the other one looked like, what they were into, and where they were. Damien never really thought about it as much as Jakob and I did though.

“Then, after a while, I had to leave my old foster home, and was sent to Vancouver,” he told, “I hadn’t really thought about Damien or Jakob in a while, and didn’t really think about them until I went to get a job.

“They wouldn’t give me one at first,” he explained, “Because I was too young. But after a while of coming back to them, they gave me a job cleaning. I was sweeping floors one day, alone with the clerk in the shop, when the door opened. A man came inside, with a boy about my age at his side.”

“Damien?” I asked. He nodded.

“He looked just like me, which let me know it was him. He had my natural hair color,” he toyed with his hair, “And had a similar face. Being that the man, whom I later found out was his stepfather, was going to be there a while, he wandered off. He walked around the store a bit, and then ventured outside. Luckily, the clerk said I was done for the day, and could leave.

“So I went outside, and followed him. He didn’t notice me until I actually went up to him. I introduced myself, and he introduced himself as well, which confirmed who he was.

“We spent a lot of time together as friends, and found we had a lot in common. I never told him I was his brother though. I didn’t want to freak him out. But one day, we were sitting in my foster father’s living room, and he noticed something.

“You see, my hair was dyed black at the time, but I hadn’t dyed it in a while,” he took a breath, “Damien had noticed my blonde roots coming in, and pointed them out. He said ‘What’s you natural hair color Frank?’ and I told him it was blonde. He then took a good look at me and noticed we had the same eyes, hair, and everything. He asked me, ‘Frank, is there something you want to tell me?’

“So I told him,” he finished, “And he was okay with that. He promised not to tell anyone about it, and left the house. A few days later, I had to leave for Pennsylvania, where I met Jakob. He promised not to leave me there, so he took me out, and we left Pennsylvania and came here.”

“Does Jakob know about Damien?” I asked. Frankie thought for a moment.

“He knows who he is,” he answered, “But he’s never met him. He wants to though. He thinks it’d be nice to have both of his brother’s at his side.”

“The three musketeers,” I joked. He laughed.

“Sort of,” he sighed. The bus horned honked, and then left the parking lot. Silence fell over us. Frankie then turned to me and asked, “So are you coming? You know, with me to the hair salon.”

“Sure,” I said. We both smiled.

Jakob’s car horned honked then. We both turned to the Volkswagen and saw Jakob waving from the window. We both looked at each other and ran across the parking lot to where Jakob was. We got in the car quickly, and then drove off.

Once we reached Fanny’s in the next town, Frankie and I were the only ones to get out. “Jakob,” I started. He rolled down the window.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Why aren’t you coming in with us?”

“I’m not into that kind of thing,” he explained smiling.

“No,” Frankie argued, “You’re just avoiding her!”

“Who?” I asked. Jakob looked away really quickly.

“Nicolette,” he responded. I gave him a curious look. “Oh, I’m sorry. I failed to mention that not only does Jakob have a girlfriend, he has a stalker as well.” He smiled. “Actually, Nicolette’s not the only one who daydreams about him.”

I turned to Jakob, who was blushing like crazy in the driver’s seat. “Well, aren’t you the ladies man.” His blush got redder, and Frankie and I chuckled.

“You can go if you want Jake,” Frankie told him. He nodded, and handed Frankie the money he would need to pay, like it was just something that happened regularly. After that, he rolled up the window and pulled quickly out of the parking lot, leaving Frankie and I alone once again.

We walked inside, and immediately we were greeted by a woman in a blue Hairdresser’s uniform with Fanny’s written in white letters on the breast on the breast.

“Well, isn’t it good to see you Frankie,” the woman said, “My. You’ve gotten so big.”

“I’ve only grown a couple of centimeters,” he replied. He blushed a little at the fact that someone mentioned his height. Frankie wasn’t exactly the tallest person to begin with. “It’s nice to see you too Kara.”

“Where’s your brother?” Kara asked. She looked around, sending her blonde hair flying a little off of her shoulders. “He has someone looking for him.”

“I guessed, and so did he,” he told her. She chuckled to herself and smiled, showing off her small dimples. “Do you happen to know where Ilse is?”

“Oh, she’s in the back,” Kara replied. “I’ll go get her.”

“Thank you,” Frankie told her. She walked away, and disappeared behind a door in the back.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“That’s Kara,” Frankie replied, “She went to Jakob’s school. She was a senior when Jakob entered.”

“Is Jakob’s school mixed?” I asked. Frankie nodded.

“Yes,” he told, “But he’s also ahead of himself. He takes all freshman courses.” I nodded. I thought Jakob was smart.

Before we knew it, Kara came back. She told Frankie that Ilse was ready for him, and that he could go back now. As she lead us there, she noticed me. “Hello,” she said, “May I ask you name?”

“Hayley,” I told her. She smiled again. I guessed that she smiled a lot.

“That’s a pretty name.”

“Um,” I paused. I didn’t know what to say. No one had ever told me that before. “Thank you?”

She chuckled and lead us into the back area of the salon, where there were several tables spread out, with two spinning chairs on each side. A young girl with dark curls was standing at the end of one, mixing some hair dye in a small blue cup. She looked up and smiled.

“Hi Frankie,” she greeted.

“Hi Ilse,” he greeted back. He then walked over and sat down. Ilse put a towel around his shoulders and took him to a sink down the hallway we were just in. Frankie stopped before she took him to the sink though. He turned to me.

“Hayley, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” he said, “I don’t want to bore you.”

“It’s okay,” I replied, “I’ll wait here.”

He nodded, and let Ilse take him to the black sink. Kara went back to the reception table, waiting for phone calls and arriving customers. I sat down in one of the spin chairs, and spun back and forth for a while.

As I spun around, I kept looking at all of the pictures around me. There were pictures of hair models on the wall, mounted in black and cherry wood frames. All I saw as I spun were the models, all looking down at me. I stopped. They were still there.

I sat back in the chair and toyed with my dark brown hair. I looked down at it. It was getting pretty long now, being that I only went for trims once in a while and let it grow out after we moved from Texas to California. My hair hadn’t really grown until we moved to Seattle. By then, it was shoulder length. All people would say to me was, “I love your hair.”

I didn’t see what was so special about it. It was dark brown, pin straight, and a pain in the ass. I would have cut it back then, but Mom always said, “Your hair’s so gorgeous. I don’t see why you would cut it.” Now, the only reason I kept it was because Dad liked it. But he said he never cared if it was long or short, just as long as I liked it. Mom was the one that made me keep it long all of these years. The last nice thing she even said to me was a couple of days before the divorce was fully filed, when I’d worn it with an old headband I had. She’s said, “I don’t see why people say you look like your father.” She’d spat out father like it had a taste. “With that beautiful hair and fine face, you look just like me.”

The comment made me pissed off then, but even more mad now. I hated the fact that because of Mom, I couldn’t do anything with my life. And she lied. She knew I looked nothing like her. She just won’t accept it.

I looked down at my hair again, and kept hearing Mom’s comment from last night and almost a full month ago. Eventually, I gave up, and walked out to the reception desk. I passed Frankie on the way there. He sat up from the sink. “What are you doing?” he asked. I didn’t answer him, but stomped off instead.

I walked up to the desk. Kara had been drawing doodles on a scrap piece of paper. She looked up from her drawing. “What is it Hayley?” she asked. She sounded a little worried, and like she cared.

“I’d like to make an appointment,” I told her. She nodded and went onto the computer. She clicked a few times before she looked at me again.

“When do you want the appointment?” she asked.

“Today,” I told her. She gave a weird look, like she though I was crazy, but then shrugged and clicked once more on the computer. She drummed her fingers, waiting for it to load. She then gave up, stood, and looked around the store, leaning over the counter to see in the back.

“I think Ilse and Fanny are the only busy ones,” she told me, “Anyone specific?”

“Anyone who can do good hair,” I answered. She laughed.

“How about Kimya?” she asked. “She’ll do magic with you hair.”

“Like pulling a rabbit out of my split ends?” I asked. She laughed.

“That’d be a little scary,” she replied. She looked into the computer again. “What time?”

“Now’s good,” I told her. She nodded, and went to go get Kimya. After a minute or two, she came back, a young girl with choppy black and pink hair at her heels. She smiled at me, and then let Kimya take me to the hallway Frankie had been in. He wasn’t there anymore, but was in the back getting the dye put in.

After washing my hair, she took me over to her station. On the mirror, there were several pictures of past clients taped there. The one that caught my eye was a polaroid in the corner of a girl with lighter hair than mine with it all chopped up at the tope, and long and straight on the bottom. I knew that wasn’t what I wanted though.

“Hayley?” she mumbled. I looked at her. “I wanted to know, what do you want done exactly?”

I looked at the mirror, and remembered what Mom had said to me. My shoulders relaxed. I wanted her to work her magic. That’s what I truly wanted.

“Cut it,” I told her, “All of it.”