Tinsley Picture House. Wednesday at 3:30. Can you be there?
I take a deep breath. I can’t put this off forever.I’ll be there.
I hear footsteps approaching my room. When I open the bathroom door, Deanna’s standing by my desk.
She looks at me suspiciously. “No flushing?”
“I was just fixing my hair,” I say, running my hand over my half-up, half-down ponytail, hoping it looks neat.
She walks over and plants a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I like your hair like that, by the way.”
“So, we did a thing…” Kenny says, appearing in the doorway.
“Yeah, a thing tomyhair,” Alice yells, pushing her way past Kenny into the room. She drops to the floor and puts her scarf-covered head in her hands.
Kenny laughs and throws herself on the bed.
“I’m sure it’s notthatbad, Alice,” Deanna reassures her, joining Kenny.
Mel and Kayla arrive and spread snacks out on the floor next to Alice. I catch a Cheez-It Kayla throws my way and smile to myself watching everyone hang out comfortably in my room.
Alice groans. “I’m sure my chances at homecoming queen are nonexistent now,” she whines.
“Just show us,” Kayla says.
Alice sighs loudly before pulling off her scarf. I gasp when I see the thick streaks of bleached strands haphazardly scattered throughout her hair. The other girls are dead silent.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me, Jasmine!”
“I wasn’t going to, I promise. Who did that?” I ask, looking at the other girls’ faces.
Alice points to Mel and Kenny.
“You practically forced us to help you. It might have been worse if we didn’t,” Mel says.
Alice glares at her.
“You’re definitely going to be the center of attention now,” Kayla says, choking back a laugh.
Alice covers her face. “My mom is going to kill me,” she says. “Like dead.”
Kenny snickers. “Let’s make an appointment to get it fixed, it’ll be fine.”
“Where you go for that?” Alice snaps, pointing at Kenny’s hair. “No thanks.”
Deanna taps Kenny like she’s trying to stop her from engaging and Kenny just shrugs it off.
“You’re such an ass,” Mel says. “I doubt anyone wants that in a queen anyway.”
“Can we not?” Deanna asks plaintively.
Kayla slinks out of the room just as Deanna sits with Alice. “Sorry, guys, it’s just really freaking ugly,” Alice whines.
Kenny groans and joins them on the floor. They start coming up with a plan to get Alice’s hair back to normal when my phone lights up. I tense until I see it’s Deanna, sharing a menu for the place they’d been talking about.
“I’ll have what you’re having,” I say to avoid any chance of opening my messages and seeing something from Amari right now.
Deanna adds another BLT with fries to the order and turns to the other girls.