"Done-Done, Faye-Faye. Hair no longer black like coal. It's yellow like sunshine. Sunshine!"

Faye looked in the mirror. Her hair was bleached platinum. They left the dye on a little too long, so it was almost white.

"It'll do." Faye sighed.

"Faye-Faye looks like snow queen."

The most subtle, sophisticated shade of lipstick she owned was Parisian Pink, a bright hot pink that matched the nail polish she was wearing. She put it on. She still wished she had blue contacts.

"Presenting, Presenting, Presenting, the new illustrious Faye Valentine. Thrills! Yay, Yay! Yay!"

Jet laughed at her. "Doll, you look like a 10 woolong hooker!"

Spike didn't even look up from his magazine.

"Spike-Spike like Faye-Faye's sunshine hooker hair?"

"What did you do Faye?"

"Just needed a change." She said casually.

"Right." Total indifference.

Why did he say 10 woolongs? Maybe 1000 woolongs? Platinum hair just made her look cheap. Her own blackish-purple hair suited her emerald eyes and provided an excellent contrast to her porcelain complexion. Actually he found her rather pretty, and he felt bad because he knew he'd made her cry.

She really wasn't sure why Jet's comments had hurt her so badly. Spike had ignored her completely. At least he hadn't made any derogatory comments. She cried for three hours.

"Faye-Faye's been crying forever! What did you do Jet-Jet?"

" Told her that her hair looked bad."

"Faye-Faye looks like cheap hooker. 10 woolongs. 10 woolongs. "

"Shh! Ed she can still hear."

"Go tell her you're sorry. Tell her it was a joke. Faye-Faye your hair is pretty like sunshine."

"Faye's hair still isn't pretty, Ed. It just doesn't suit her. It was pretty before."

Ed went into Faye's room.

"Jet said he was sorry, Faye-Faye. He thought your hair was pretty before, before 10 woolong whore. Ed will help Faye-Faye."

Ed had a box of black hair dye. Jet must have gone and gotten it as a peace offering.

"Faye Valentine." Ed's voice became like that of a TV announcer. "You've been chosen to be on a new reality show: "What not to do with Faye-Faye's life"!"

Ed cheered wildly sloshing black hair dye as she squealed.

"Ed stop it. Jet's already pissed about the mess we made last time."

"You will give your mind, body, and soul over to Edward the makeover master."

"What are you talking about, Ed?"

"Faye-Faye has bad luck. If Faye-Faye weren't on Bebop, she'd lose all her money in three days. Three days later she'd either be a stripper or a cheap cheap hooker. He thinks that's really really sad, Faye-Faye, but Faye-Faye doesn't know she can do better."

Her eyes lit up. "Spike said that about me."

"No silly! Ed just heard that somewhere!"

He could smell the second round of hair dye. She'd probably end up frying her hair and complaining about the texture. He'd really never felt her hair, so he merely imagined its softness.

"Jet." Spike's voice knocked him out of the intoxicating hair dye induced daydream.

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna go out."

"Ok"

Ed dyed Faye's hair back to black. Then she decided that Faye's wardrobe was all wrong. She went into her own dresser drawers. She pulled out a baggy hot pink t-shirt with glittery butterflies on it. Ed had recently acquired it at a martian thrift store. She then went into Faye's dresser drawers and found a pair of jeans. She washed off Faye's make-up and pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail.

"Faye-Faye. One more thing."

"What?"

"No padded waterbra. Aren't you afraid it will pop and leak all over?"

"Fine Ed, no padded bra."

Faye lost about three cup sizes, and instead of what looked like a D or DD chest, in reality she was about a B. She looked in the mirror.

"Wow, I look so different."

"Faye-Faye, now you must create a life goal. Some way to make sure that you have a way to support yourself if you leave Bebop."

Jet listened to most of this. Why had Ed told Faye what he had said about her not living up to her potential?

Faye emerged from her room in the outfit Edward had chosen. Ed had messed it all up. She'd turned Faye into a Before girl. Jet had been subjected to enough of these shows because of Faye's addiction to them that he knew what a Before girl was. Before girls were just normal. Average, nothing flashy, but at the same time not too ugly or odd looking. Before girls at least had to have the potential to shine.

Emotionally Faye was a before girl, too. Physically she was hot, and she came off as extremely sure of herself. However, it was all a front. Now Ed had matched the outside with the inside. Faye looked as vulnerable and self-conscious as she probably felt.

He thought she looked good, and a lot more approachable.