Lionblaze Stole the Stars
Chapter 7: Scissors
"What's with all the cheese?" Jayfeather asked disgustedly. Hollyleaf slopped more cheese onto the broccoli. "I'm trying to make broccoli more fun," Hollyleaf explained.
"More like your trying to make us all fat," Jayfeather snatched the cheese from Hollyleaf, who whined in protest.
"That's enough," Jayfeather said as he put the cheese back in the fridge. Hollyleaf grumbled something inaudible as she stirred the broccoli mixture.
"Something smells good!" Lionblaze cried, bursting into the kitchen. Hollyleaf beamed. "This is the first time I've cooked something good!" she said happily. Jayfeather snorted. "Yeah right. All you did was melt some cheese on some broccoli."
"Well at least I didn't burn it," Hollyleaf hissed. Jayfeather was about to shoot back a stinging retort when he stopped. Lionblaze had taken the cheese back out of the fridge and had dumped the entire thing into the broccoli.
"For gods sake," Jayfeather snapped. "That, is gross. I refuse to eat it."
"Fine," Hollyleaf said defensively. "Me and Lionblaze will enjoy it ourselves."
Lionblaze slopped a pile of cheese/broccoli onto his plate and sat down on the table. "Jayfeather, get me a glass of milk," he demanded.
"Get your own freaking milk," Jayfeather snapped.
"You're grumpy today," Hollyleaf pointed out. Jayfeather sighed and stormed out of the room.
"It's probably his time of the month," Lionblaze said, chewing loudly as he spoke. Hollyleaf giggled.
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"Why do you look so annoyed?" Cloudtail asked. Jayfeather slumped angrily onto the couch and crossed his arms. "Hollyleaf and Lionblaze are sitting in the kitchen eating this gross cheese thing and making fun of me."
"Did you provoke them?" Cloudtail asked warily. Jayfeather shrugged. "Maybe."
"Then just ignore them," Cloudtail smiled.
"I don't want to eat the cheese thing," Jayfeather said crossly.
"No ones forcing you to eat it," Cloudtail pointed out. Jayfeather rolled his eyes.
"I have an idea. Let's just order a pizza," Cloudtail suggested.
"That sounds nice," Jayfeather forgot his annoyance at once.
Later
"I feel sick!" Lionblaze howled, flopping down onto the couch. Jayfeather smiled. "Maybe you ate too much cheese."
"Shut up," Lionblaze grumbled. "I couldn't help myself."
"Obviously not."
Lionblaze just groaned. Then Hollyleaf stumbled into the room, clutching her stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick," she said.
"And who's fault is that?" Jayfeather snapped.
"The cheese's."
"It's your fault!" Jayfeather cried. "The cheese was just a contributing factor."
Hollyleaf sat down on the couch next to Lionblaze. "I'm never making that again."
"I'll bet. Now where the hell is our pizza?" It had been nearly an hour since Cloudtail had ordered it.
"I want pizza," Lionblaze grumbled. Jayfeather glared at him. "No more food for you!" he snapped.
"If I ate pizza I'd probably throw up all over the floor," Hollyleaf said.
"Classy," Cloudtail giggled.
Hollyleaf undid the button on her pants, her usually flat stomach stuck out. "That feels so much better," she said.
"You're weird," Jayfeather sighed, noticing Hollyleaf had a piece of cheese stuck to her face. Then the doorbell rang.
"Pizza!" Lionblaze bellowed, then charged over to the door. He ripped the door open like a maniac . The pizza delivery guy stood there, looking at Lionblaze like he was a lunatic.
"Um, here's your pizza," he said, handing over the pizza box. The Hollyleaf let out a cry of surprise from the other room. "Tigerheart!" she said, then ran over. Tigerheart giggled, and pointed to the cheese stuck on her face. Hollyleaf embarrassedly wiped it off.
"You might want to do your pants up too," Lionblaze pointed out loudly.
"HA!" Jayfeather cackled from the other room.
"I hate you!" Hollyleaf yelled back as she buttoned her pants back up. Then she turned to Tigerheart, feeling awkward. What do I say? She thought, desperate for something to say to Tigerheart. He probably thinks I'm a freak!"
"I don't usually look this fat," she blurted out. "I just look this way cause I ate a lot of cheese."
Tigerheart stared at her for a heartbeat. "I have to go," he said abruptly, then turned and walked away. Hollyleaf shut the door, then turned and glared at Lionblaze. "What the hell Lionblaze! You totally embarrassed me!"
"I was just warning you you're pants were unbuttoned," Lionblaze said.
"You didn't have to scream it across the effing room!" Hollyleaf cried. She could still hear Jayfeather laughing about it from the other room. "Shut up!" Hollyleaf shrieked.
Lionblaze carried his pizza to the living room. "Why do you care what Tigerheart thinks anyway?" he called. Hollyleaf stopped to think about that for a minute. "I don't know," she said truthfully. "I really don't."
"Isn't he the guy you hung out with on my birthday?" Lionblaze suddenly asked.
"Yeah..." Hollyleaf said, not sure why Lionblaze was starting to get defensive.
"He was the one you spent the night at his house?" Lionblaze growled.
"Yes," Hollyleaf huffed. "We were friends before that. Now he probably just thinks I'm an idiot."
"I know how to fix this," Jayfeather broke into the conversation. "Order another pizza."
"He'll think I'm a freak!" Hollyleaf cried.
"You could just make an excuse why you're acting weird. Say you're drunk or something," Lionblaze suggested. Hollyleaf groaned. "He'll think that's even weirder! Seriously, Lionblaze. Who gets drunk at six in the afternoon?"
"I do, quite frequently," Lionblaze said. He picked up the phone. "Go fix your hair or whatever," he said as he dialed the number. "I'll get Tigerheart back over here so you can set things straight. Hollyleaf sighed and charged up to her room. As she waited for her hair straightener to turn on, she put another layer of makeup on her face.
"You have ten minutes before he's here!" Lionblaze called from downstairs. Hollyleaf grabbed her straightening iron and started on her hair. Then something distracted her. Where is my mascara? It was always sitting right next to her mirror, but it was gone. Frikin Cloudtail or Jayfeather must have stole it, Hollyleaf thought angrily. Then she realized with a jolt of alarm that she had the scalding hot straightening iron clamped on her hair while she was thinking. Smoke was clouding above her.
"OH MY GOD," Hollyleaf shrieked, yanking the iron off.
Half her hair came with it.
"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" Hollyleaf screamed. She threw the iron across the room, and with trembling hands she touched the short fried hair on the side of her head. She looked in the mirror. One side of her head had long black hair down to her chest. The other side barely reached her chin, and the bottoms were so fried they had turned gray.
"Hollyleaf! He's here!" Lionblaze called.
Hollyleaf burst into tears.
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"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Cloudtail said sympathetically. Jayfeather looked at his crying sister, and felt very sad for her. He knew how much she loved her long hair, it had taken so long for her to grow.
"I'm sure you'll look nice with short hair," Lionblaze said. Hollyleaf cried even harder.
"Why don't you let me cut it for you?" Cloudtail offered. "I cut my own hair all the time."
"You might as well," Hollyleaf said miserably. Cloudtail got up to get the scissors from the kitchen.
"Tigerheart must think I'm a loser now," Hollyleaf sniffed. "You should have seen the look on his face when he saw me."
"I did see," Jayfeather said sympathetically. "I think he overreacted a bit. Just wait till Cloudtail fixes your hair," he smiled. "He'll see how beautiful you are without that fried lump of hair sticking to the side of your head."
Hollyleaf smiled. "Thanks," she said. Cloudtail then entered the room with a huge pair of scissors.
"Where did those come from?" Hollyleaf asked. Cloudtail stared at the scissors. "I don't really know," he admitted. Then he shrugged. "Who cares. Ready for a haircut?"
Hollyleaf gulped. "I guess," she said quietly.
Twenty minutes later
"You can open your eyes now," Cloudtail said. Hollyleaf had her eyes shut the entire time he was cutting her hair. She peeked one eye open, then squeezed it back shut again.
"It's so short," she whispered.
"It looks cute!" Lionblaze encouraged. "Come on, Hollyleaf, open your eyes!"
Hollyleaf took a deep breath and then opened her eyes. Cloudtail had nearly chopped every strand of hair off her head. Her long bangs were gone, replaced with short ones that barely reached her eyebrows. Her hair nearly reached her chin, and it was nicely layered. Cloudtail had actually done a nice job.
It made Hollyleaf want to cry.
"Thank you," Hollyleaf choked, still upset her long hair was gone. "It looks great."
Cloudtail beamed. "I knew you'd like it," he smiled. "And just for the record, you look so much cuter with short hair."
"Yeah! If you weren't my sister I'd date you!" Lionblaze put in, trying to be helpful. Everyone looked at him strangely. Lionblaze happy expression turned to one of awkwardness. "I realize now that was a very weird thing to say," he mumbled. "I didn't mean it how it sounded."
"Whatever, Lionblaze." Jayfeather sighed. "Hollyleaf, you look great. Stop looking so sad."
Hollyleaf forced herself to stop frowning. "Yeah. It looks nice," she said, her voice hollow. Then a thought occurred to her. "Did one of you steal my mascara?" Hollyleaf asked, looking back and forth between Jayfeather and Cloudtail.
"No," Jayfeather snapped.
"I have my own," Cloudtail said.
Lionblaze shifted his feet uncomfortably. Hollyleaf glared at him. "You stole my mascara?" she demanded.
"I just wanted to see what it looked like," Lionblaze mumbled. Jayfeather and Cloudtail both burst into laughter.
"Oh be quiet," Lionblaze growled. "I nearly poked my eye out with the damn stuff!"
"If you want, I can show you how to apply lipstick later," Hollyleaf said jokingly. Lionblaze glared at her, face turning red. "Don't be silly," he said.
"You're the silly one, Lionblaze!" Hollyleaf giggled. "Stealing my mascara... isn't that Jayfeathers job?"
"Hey!" Jayfeather snapped. "I only did that once."
"I'm so done with this conversation," Lionblaze snapped. Then he picked up his pizza and stomped out of the room.
