GAAAAAAAH! It's been so long! I'm soooorrrryyyy! But here we go. I'm writing, I'm writing. I was honestly a little worried about writing in Stina's POV, but it was actually pretty interesting. She's a little mean, but endearing.

P.S. I almost called the gnomes "house elves." Ugh.

Meeting Sophie: Stina

I think one of the worst things to wake up to is the sound of glass shattering. Mornings are already a sore spot for me. I don't appreciate being waken up in general, especially not to the sound of CRASH! Trinkle, trinkle, trinkle.

But that's exactly what happened this Monday morning. The only good thing about it was that we were still on break from Foxfire. Other than that, things just already weren't going my way.

I heard the crash all the way from my dream state and sat straight up in bed. I looked around my room with groggy eyes, Mr. Waffles (my stuffed panda) still snugly wrapped up in my arms. Glass shattering…glass shattering…

I finally spotted my mother through the gap in the curtain of my large poster bed. Even though my gaze was still hazy, I could make out her figure standing with one arm out and one hand tangled in the pink curtain.

I frowned when I realized her outdrawn hand was empty. She always brings me cantelberry tea every morning. She says it helps keep my complexion smooth, and it tastes good, so I don't complain. But she brings the tea without fail (unless she's busy, but then she gets one of the gnomes to do it). What could she possibly be doing?

"Mom?" I asked, my voice sounding like I'd gurgled muck (my breath probably smelled like it too). "What are you doing?"

I was starting to gain more of my bearings as I woke up, the colors around me getting clearer. My mother just stood there, staring at me, her mouth agape like some kind of sea creature.

"Y-your…" She couldn't seem to find her words.

I was getting irritated now. "My what?"

"Your hair!"

I scrunched up my eyebrows. "My hair? What's wrong with my-" I put my hand up to inspect but felt nothing.

Like, nothing, nothing.

I slowly twisted my torso around to look behind me.

There, on my pillow, were lumps of my curly brown hair.

Slowly, the seconds stretching out, I reached up to touch my head. Finding it, once again, completely smooth, I realized in that instant that this wasn't some kind of overly realistic dream.

I was completely and utterly bald.

I screamed.

It wasn't long until my mother joined me.

"You!" I trailed behind my mother as we entered Slurps and Burps, the burping of the door altering the owner to our presence. I hated this place with a burning passion, but I'll be damned if I show up to school bald.

That little nerd was going to pay.

"What's wrong now, Vika?" The owner asked, exasperated. Oh, he was annoyed? Then he should try waking up to being completely bald! I mean, if anyone could make it work, it'd be me. But still.

"Ask your son," my mother cried. Her voice rising. "This has his handiwork written all over it!"

I tried clutching my pink cloak closer to my head, but my mother whipped it off.

I willed myself not to blush from embarrassment as everyone gasped. Well, except one.

"Hey, Stina. Did you change something? 'Cause you look different today. Wait, don't tell me…"

I jerked my head up to glare at stupid Dex Diznee. What the hell is wrong with him? Why is he doing this to me? "Mom!" I whined, hoping she'd take over. I just wanted to get the proper serum and start plotting that nerd's murder.

I saw the owner's lips twitch, and I just wanted to die. "We don't sell any balding solutions here, Vika."

"Just because you don't sell them doesn't mean you don't make them," my mom growled in response.

The owner glanced knowingly at Diznee, who shrugged. "You know how to make them too."

UGH! "I knew it was you, you stupid sasquatch!" This was just going too far! How dare he get rid of all my hair! This was abuse! This was unacceptable!

He had the nerve to roll his eyes. "Did you know you have a dent in your skull right there?" He pointed to the side of my head. I finally lost it when I heard the girl next to him snicker. I hadn't even noticed her before, but of course she would listen to whatever Diznee said and make me the villain.

I lunged for the stupid nerd, ready to finally beat him to a pulp.

I felt a hand on my shoulder pull me from off him. "That's enough!" the owner shouted. "Control your daughter, Vika?" What? How was I the one who needed controlling? He was the one who's letting his son put serums into other peoples' food!

"Why should I? It's not like you control your children." You tell him, mom!

"We have Hairoids in stock," the nerd's dad answered begrudgingly. "Take some on the house, and she'll have her hair back in a week."

No. No. No. "A week?" I rightfully wailed. "I can't go to school looking like…like…"

"An ogre?"

UGH! HE WAS GOING TO DIE!

"If my daughter misses any days of school because of your son, I will make sure he is held responsible."

"You can't prove anything," Diznee mumbled. Ha! Please! You've basically admitted to it already.

"I won't need to. They'd expect nothing less from a bad match!" I shrunk a little. That was…I guess maybe that was a little…uncalled for. But no. Diznee…he slipped balding serum into my food. He deserved this! Right!

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," the owner spat, and I stepped a bit closer to my mother. "You two are going to get out of my sight, and when I finish helping these customers," he gestured to that girl and who I assume is her mother, "I'll see if I can make the Hairoids more potent. If I can't, wear a hat."

They stared at each other for a bit, but my mother finally related. "I guess we have no choice. It's not like anyone else would waste their lives making ridiculous medicines in a useless shop."

"If it's so useless, why does everyone buy for me?" Stupid sasquatch.

My mother just humphed and threw my hood back over my head. She started pulling me to the door, and a threw a glare at Diznee. "I'll get you for this."

He rolled his hands and waved his hands in the air sarcastically. "Oooh, I'm really scared." The girl next to him was trying to hide a smile behind her hands. "What are you looking at?" I snapped.

Her eyes flitted away. "Nothing."

I blinked, thinking I saw something, but I was out the door before I could get a better look.

"That's the result of a bad match, Stina," my mother grumbled, stomping through the streets.

"Yeah," I answered absentmindly. I must be wrong, I must be, but I could swear that girl had brown eyes.

Oh well. Even if that were true, they were probably just contacts.

In any case, I was going to make Diznee pay. Him and that stupid brown-eyed girl who'd dared laugh at me.