Chapter 01: Punk Rock Kate

It all started with a letter that I got mere days after the Christmas break. Because my mother and her sister were just that old-fashioned that an email or phone call just wouldn't do. They were coming to Blackwell for a couple of days to visit me. To make sure I was still living a devout, Christian life while not under their hawk-like watch. It almost certainly was due to my newfound confidence to stand up and defend myself, my point of view, and my life choices.

Granted, my choices had not all been wonderful. I still thank the Lord every single day for giving Max the power and kindness to save me from myself that day on the dorm roof. But still, I was a wonderful, imperfect human and I should be allowed to make mistakes. Something neither my mother nor aunt seemed to understand.

That thought triggered an idea in my head. A little spark that ignited an inferno. I was not the woman they wanted me to be, and I never would be. I have experienced the depths of hell and bonafide miracles. I lived down the hall from a miracle! I was my own person, a full-grown woman, and it was not their place to judge how I lived.

Tossing the letter out with the rest of the rubbish, I headed for that miracle's room. My knuckles lightly rapped the cheap, thin door.

"J-just a sec!" A breathless reply came from the other side. Several long moments later, and Max stuck her head out into the hall, her hair messy and her face a little flushed. Though her expression exuded annoyance, it greatly softened as her blue eyes met mine. She smiled. "H-hey, Kate."

"Can I come in?" I asked, putting on my best smile.

Max disappeared into her room, only to reappear a moment later with a nod. The door opened and Max swung her arm in an inviting motion. "Of course, Kate."

I stepped inside to find Chloe sitting on Max's bed, looking just a bit miffed. At me. I gave her a sheepish smile as Max sat next to her on the bed. "You two are really getting better at… ah, subterfuge?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow as Max's head tilted just a bit. "What?" Max asked.

Chloe grinned, leaning over and throwing an arm around Max's shoulder. "She means she didn't realize I was here and that we were getting hot and heavy." I blushed as Chloe nuzzled Max's neck, her lips glued there.

"Yes… well," I said, trying to ignore Max's gasps and giggles. "I actually wanted to ask a favor. From both of you."

"Come on, Chloe," Max chided, prying Chloe away from herself.

Chloe gave a groan as she sat back up, though she kept Max tight in her arms. "What'dya need, Kate?"

"Well, I just got a letter from my mother and aunt. They're coming to visit for a couple of days this weekend," I said, my gaze falling to my lap.

"Oh, shit," Max said, her eyes growing wide. "You gonna be okay?"

I gave a firm, resolute nod. "Yes. I will be."

"That's… good?" Max replied.

"Right, well, I was thinking that it was time I stood up for myself. To show them that I'm my own person and that I can make my own decisions," I said, my false bravado melting into true confidence. "So… I was thinking of playing a little prank on them."

"Okay, now I'm on board," Chloe said, releasing Max and leaning toward me with a playful smirk. "What did you have in mind?"

I sat back just a bit. Chloe's manic stare was a little much. "I was thinking of something that might really set them off, and well, the first thing that came to mind was… you."

Chloe scratched at her blue locks, freshly dyed so that she didn't have any roots showing. Well, maybe just a bit at the tippy top. "I, uh, don't really follow."

Max rolled her eyes. "I think Kate wants a pretend girlfriend."

Chloe blinked a couple of times before she smiled. "Well, I gotta say, Kate's got great taste."

Max smirked, leaning back into Chloe. "I think Kate had you in mind for… uh, more superficial reasons."

Rising heat in my chest spread to my cheeks. "It's not that I don't think you're a wonderful person, you absolutely are. But… well, my mother and aunt are quite… let's say… old-fashioned."

Chloe frowned, withdrawing her arm from around Max to cross her arms over her chest. "So you just want someone you think your parents will flip out over?"

"My mother and her sister. And, well, yes," I said. Sensing that I may have accidentally offended Chloe, I gave her an apologetic smile. "Not to mention anyone would be lucky to date you. You're smart and funny and so protective."

Chloe kept glaring at me. Then, a small tug of a lip turned up a smirk. "I'm game, if Max is okay with it."

When Chloe looked over at her girlfriend, Max gave her a nod. "Everything stays above the waist, though," Max ordered.

Chloe laughed, full and unrestrained. "This is Kate, pretty sure she won't even be able to go through with a kiss."

"Well, I think we might need to do at least that much to sell the story," I said, squirming a bit in my seat as my vision locked onto Chloe's lips. "I… I don't think I can do like… tongue… stuff, though."

"I kinda dig confident Kate," Chloe remarked. "So what else have you got planned?"

I stared back at Chloe, mind blank. "What else?"

Chloe chuckled. "You're just gonna flaunt me. That's it?"

"Do you think I should do something different? I mean… I'm not just trying to antagonize them. I just… I need them to understand that I'm free to make my own decisions, even if they're terrible mistakes." I sighed, though a small smile formed on my lips. "Although, I do admit… Maybe I do want to antagonize them. Just a little."

Leaning forward, Chloe got up to her feet, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Come on, Kate. I've got some ideas."

The trip back to my room was short. Both Max and Chloe came with me. Max took a seat on my couch while Chloe raided my closet. "Come on, Kate. This is your entire wardrobe?" If I didn't know better, I'd have said she was angry at my clothes as she snapped through them. Okay, there was no knowing better. Chloe was a little angry at my clothes.

"All right, we'll need to raid my closet to find some shit that'll fit you," Chloe said as she whirled around to face me. "Unless you wanna treat Max and me to a trip to the strip mall."

It started to click. "S-so you want me to dress up, too? I mean, that sounds like a great idea, but…" I shrugged before glancing over at Max. My silent pleas for help went unnoticed. As best I could tell, that silly smile on her face meant that she was completely on board with Chloe. "This might be a little out of my comfort zone?"

Max raised an eyebrow. "The possibility of you kissing my girlfriend is inside your comfort zone, but dressing up in some punk clothing is a step too far?"

The heat returned to my face and I knew I had to be blushing like crazy. "I-I-I… that's—!"

I felt Chloe throw her arm over my shoulder as she leaned against me. Her words came with a predatory purr, right in my ear, "Hmmm… sounds to me like our little church mouse has some gay fantasies she'd like to indulge."

Pushing Chloe away, I had to try to fan my face with my hands to quell the burning sensation bursting across my cheeks and ears. "That-that-that's not—!"

Chloe just laughed, and Max did, too. "I'm just teasing ya, Kate," Chloe said through her laughter. "But seriously, if you're going far enough to have a girlfriend, a costume is nothing."

"Oh!" Max stood up with a clap of her hands. "We should do Kate's hair, too!"

My hands went up to my messy bun. "M-my hair?" I asked, unable to hide the panic in my voice.

"Fuck, yes!" Chloe agreed. "Come on, let your hair down!"

I guess that, in and of itself, wasn't too much of a bother. But with the way these two were going, it was going to lead places. Uncomfortable, embarrassing, exciting places. My fingers pressed into my hair, fumbling around for the clip. Just as my hair slipped free, the door to my room burst open.

"The fuck is all the commotion?" Victoria asked as she sauntered into my room like it was her own. The annoyance on her face morphed into disgust as she took sight of Chloe. Shutting the door behind her, Victoria turned her gaze back to me and put on a fake sympathetic look. "Aww, Katie, I know you like taking in strays, but I'm afraid there's no saving this one. It has so many nasty things wrong with it. It's terminal."

"Fuck you, bitch," Chloe ineloquently bit back, flipping her the bird.

"Uh, come in. Have a seat," Max snarked at Victoria.

Fearing that things might get nasty, I tried my best to diffuse the situation. "H-hi, Victoria. I'm sorry if we were being loud. Max and Chloe were just helping me with… um, well, it's a sort of makeover."

Victoria's eyes seemed to pierce right through me as she looked me over from head to toe. "A makeover?" Her voice sounded genuinely interested, but her gaze felt like that of a predator sizing up its next meal.

"Kate's mother and aunt are coming for a visit in a few days," Max explained. "So Kate wanted to try a… bold, new look to show her independence."

Victoria smiled. It sent a chill through to my heart. "I like the hair out of the bun, but just what was the plan?" She walked up, running her fingers through my tangled locks. "It's long enough that we have a lot of options. You know, Courtney actually does a fantastic job with hair—not that she's qualified to touch mine."

"Uh-umm, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with actually cutting it," I stammered out. Even Max joined in, in her own way. The sound of her camera's shutter caught me off-guard. She just stole a picture of me with Chloe and Victoria manhandling my hair.

"How about dyeing it?" Chloe asked. "I think you'd look good in blue."

"Tch," Victoria retorted, tugging a little too hard on my hair. "It wouldn't do for her eyes." For a short moment, I actually felt relieved. Victoria was all about high-fashion, so of course, she'd be more reasonable. "Now, pink on the other hand…"

A little "Eep!" escaped my lips as those hopes were dashed.

I heard Max chuckle. "You could just compromise and do purple."

Both Chloe and Victoria voiced their protest in unison.

"That'd look fucking awful!"

"That's worse than blue!"

Victoria and Chloe shared a glance and nodded in what I hoped was some sort of truce. "Okay. We need to work on the style, then we can worry about the color," Victoria said, continuing to primp my hair.

"You got something in mind?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"N-no cutting!" I reminded them.

Finally releasing my hair, Victoria took a step back and considered me for a long moment. "I think we may need a bit of assistance on this one." She whipped out her phone and started texting.

I was so distracted by her, I didn't notice that Chloe had also left my side until I fell back into my desk chair. Chloe must've dragged it over to the middle of the room for me to sit. "This angle is hella better," Chloe said as I felt a brush running through my hair.

"Oh! What about her nails?" Max asked, leaning in toward me.

My heart sped up again as Chloe took my hand in hers to examine my nails. From her position behind me, Chloe's chest pressed into my back and shoulder as she leaned over me. Then, I felt a warmth in my other hand as Victoria knelt in front of me and held my other hand. "These are immaculate," Victoria said as her fingertips brushed over my nails.

Another click, and again I heard the rollers of Max's Polaroid camera.

"I-I was never allowed to paint them," I dumbly said, trying my very hardest to calm my heart and not spontaneously burst into flames. "Mother always said it was something that… um, wh-whor—ladies of night did."

"I do not think three days is gonna be enough to fix your shitty vocabulary," Chloe remarked as she finally let my hand go. "I bet a nice, bright red would drive your mom nuts."

A little "hmmm," left Victoria's lips, its very tone refuting Chloe's idea. "We should settle on her hair color, first."

"I… I know I could always just dye my hair back, but… I mean, do we have to dye it?" I asked.

"You know, they make temporary dye you can just wash out," Max piped up again. "So if you don't like it, you can just wash your hair."

"And when you fucking love it, because it's gonna look hella awesome, we can dye it for real," Chloe added.

I calmed down, just a little bit at that. Something far less permanent certainly made me feel more at ease. "O-okay. We can do something with a temporary color."

Once again, my door burst open as Taylor and Courtney came in. Taylor had a big case she carried, and Courtney had an even bigger one. The duo looked a little surprised at Max and Chloe being here, but otherwise, they were looking really happy. The cat that got the canary happy. I kind of got the impression that I was the canary in that metaphor…

"Tori said you wanted a big makeover?" Taylor asked as she set her case down in front of me, looking me over, not unlike how Victoria did earlier.

"You know, Kate's got a great complexion, and her natural hair gives us a lot to work with," Courtney added. She circled around, setting up behind me and pushing Chloe off to my side. The brushing didn't stop, but it was suddenly much less rough. "What kind of look were you thinking of? I mean, anything's better than Bible Study Betty."

"The idea's to piss off her mom and aunt," Chloe said. "I'm gonna be her pretend girlfriend, so I was thinking total punk."

"The idea is to drive home the point that I am free and capable of making my own decisions and those decisions don't make me a sinner," I said.

Victoria took a couple of steps back, standing over Taylor as she stared at me. "Punk could work." In a million years, I thought those words would never leave Victoria's mouth. "If she's gonna play gay for the visit, maybe we should do rainbow nails?"

"I like it!" Taylor said as she fished around in her kit. "A rainbow on each nail, or each nail a different color?"

Victoria stood there analyzing me, holding her elbow with one hand, her other hand held her chin. "The presentation is to grab attention immediately," she said. "At a distance, a rainbow on each nail wouldn't be noticed as much."

"I can dig it," Taylor said. "So what five colors? Red, green, and blue are a must, but the in-between gives us several options and we only have five fingers."

"Options?" Victoria asked.

"Yellow, orange, purple, pink…" Taylor rattled off as she sorted through all kinds of different bottles.

A small smile tugged at Victoria's lips as a glint appeared in her eye. That glint kind of scared me. "How about we use red, yellow, green, and blue for the fingers, then have pink on the thumbnail with two interlocking female symbols in white? She is going to be playing the role of a punk lesbian."

Taylor shrank there in front of me, giving her head a meek, little shake. "It's a great idea, but that's a little out of my level of expertise. We'd have to go to a salon for that."

Victoria's smile slipped, but only for a second. Then, it actually grew as her eyes rose to meet mine. "Fancy a trip to the salon? My treat."

I squirmed there in my chair, earning myself a grumble from Courtney behind me, still playing with my hair. "I um… Thank you for the offer, but this is only going to be for the weekend. I'm going to be getting rid of all of this after Mother and Auntie leave. I'd hate to have you go through the trouble and expense just for that much…"

Victoria gave a scoff, but that smile didn't leave. She stepped by Taylor to put a hand on my shoulder. "A girl who's never even painted her nails? Come on, Katie. You're gonna love this, and when you decide you want to go to the salon and cut your hair and get it done properly, my offer stands." She stepped back, her smile morphing into an arrogant smirk. "You're gonna find out that taking charge of your look is more than just an appearance. You get to define who you are and how you want to be. Makeup and clothes don't make the woman, but damned if they don't give you power and confidence."

"You should be true to yourself, Kate," Max added. "Don't dress how your parents want to dress, or even how we want you to dress. You should try everything out and find a style that is uniquely you. If nothing else, it will help give you some sort of sense of control of your life."

"Well put, Hipster Dork," Victoria both complemented and insulted Max.

I gave a nod. Their words lifted my heart. I'd always been afraid to do anything like that to express myself. Shame and the threat of disappointment tethered me in the same clothes and hair I'd worn my whole life. This whole makeover thing might've been embarrassing and uncomfortable, but, it was fun, too. It really made me excited for the future in a way I hadn't been in a long time. "I… I think we should try it. Maybe next weekend?"

"It's a date, Kate," Victoria said with a wink.

"So… the nails?" Taylor asked.

"Why don't you do purple instead of pink on the thumbs?" I asked. Victoria looked a little surprised that I'd taken charge, but she gave me a little nod of approval.

Taylor took me by the wrist as she started to prepare my nails for their first paint. As she went to work, Chloe and Victoria circled around me to focus on what Courtney was doing behind me. The brushing had stopped some time ago, but I kept feeling tugs and pulls from my hair as she diligently worked.

"God, wouldn't you kill to have natural hair like this?" Courtney said from behind me.

"Pff, if you say so," Chloe remarked. "Bitchin' style though. Max, come check it out!"

"Do you even care what your hair looks like?" Victoria bit back. "Damn, it's really not fair. I can't grow my hair six inches without it splitting and looking like complete shit."

Max disappeared behind me, but I heard her camera going off again.

"Well, a bun is sort of her trademark, I just… decided to kick it up a notch," Courtney said.

"Or ten. We should totally dye that bun red," Chloe replied.

"And a nice, deep green for the rest," Victoria said. I might've wondered what force this side of heaven could possibly make those two agree, but that thought was drowned out by—

"G-green! You want to dye my hair green?"

"Look, Kate." Max leaned over me, careful not to jar me or the chair while Taylor worked. In her hand was a Polaroid of the back of my head. Instead of my normal, messy bun, Courtney made the hair flare out in layered spirals that looked like flower petals, making my bun look almost like a flower. She also left a lot of my hair free, so that, although kind of thin, I still had my hair spilling around my shoulders. If they did the bun in red and the rest of it green, my hair would look like a rose blooming in a verdant garden.

"My goodness! I-I think that would be a wonderful idea," I said, trying to imagine the different colors in the photograph.

Victoria held up her keys. "So, red or pink?"

I fought the urge to squirm while Courtney and Talor worked on me. "I guess, you would be the expert. Which do you think might look better?"

"We'll go with pink, then."

As Victoria turned to leave, Chloe shouted from behind me, "You only picked that one because I said red!"

Victoria raised her hand, flipping her middle finger at Chloe. "I'll be back in twenty."

After Victoria left, Taylor kept working on my nails and Courtney on my hair. Things settled into a comforting silence as I watched Taylor reverently apply each color so carefully to each nail. The colors struck me as bright and inviting. My heart brightly spoke that it was so pretty and I should've never waited this long to do this. But a terrible fear kept clutching at the corners of my mind. What if this was the devil's influence, trying to seize my pure heart with sinful desire?

"Relax, Kate," Taylor said after blowing a bit on the nails, her cool breath tickling my fingers.

"I-I'm trying."

"Sooo…" Chloe started, a mischievous grin on her face that told me my woes were far from over. "We've covered hair and nails. That still leaves two more things."

Her voice trailed off, leaving me to wonder just what was left. "I… I guess makeup?"

Chloe's grin grew wider. "Ding! Ding! Ding! But, that's gotta be Victoria doing that part. It is her area of expertise."

She was leading me. I didn't know where, but I got the feeling I wouldn't like it. "S-so what is your area of expertise?"

"Really, you gotta ask?" In a sweeping motion, she slid the back of her left hand down her right arm.

My heart squeezed in my chest. "I'm not getting a tattoo!"

"You don't have to get a permanent one. They do have some hella awesome temporary tattoos now, you know?" Chloe said, that smile never leaving her face.

"You're not helping, you know," Taylor quipped. "Courtney, stop fucking around and show Kate how to do her hair herself. That should keep her distracted enough."

I reminded myself to try to keep still as I found myself anxiously awaiting Victoria's return.