The Written Novel of Sweethearts
Chapter Two: The Make-over
Anthony sat on his bed in his simple bedroom, thinking of what to write. Maybe he would do better after reading a book. They had plenty of words and phrases he might be able to use, and it might spark his writing flame. He walked over to the old hand-me-down book shelf, and grimaced at it. It was old and slightly splintery and not the best looking color. But, he just had to make due with what he had. Spotting what he thought would be a good book to read, 'The Hardy Boys' book seven, he pulled it out gently and sat on his bed. When he opened the book and began to read, he almost got lost in the story.
An hour or so later, around 6:30 pm, Anthony closed the book and sighed happily. He loved a good ending, especially when he actually made it to the last page. He again picked up the paper on which he was writing the letter, and smiled.
"Hello Ange,
Hi, how are you doing? I got your letter, and I just can't believe that you don't have a lot of friends. You so far seem incredibly friendly and nice, and very fun to talk to. Even if you might not look the best, you'd still make a great friend. I could be your friend!
Wouldn't that be fun? We could… umm… recommend movies to each other and stuff. I mean, ay oh, oh ay, how hard could that be? Just a little description here, a joke here, and the works! Well, I have to go eat dinner now, but I will definitely write more to you later, maybe after I receive your reply to this letter.
Write you later,
Anthony"
Anthony put the letter in the beforehand addressed envelope, ran down the steps and outside to put the letter where the mailman would get it, and ran back inside. "Yum… it smells delicious Dad!" Anthony said, walking into the kitchen.
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Angela laughed as she read Anthony's letter, she loved how sweet he was, and how he tried to care and make her feel better. Well, she dyed her hair for camp, but hadn't taken time to dye it recently, so now she was back to her mousy brown hair. It was rather ugly, flat, and un-groomed. Sadly, Angela often thought down on her looks. She was very beautiful, if you looked in the right places, and even on the outside, if she took some time to fix up her hair.
Angela fingered her long brown hair. It was time she did something to it. She would have her mother cut it, dye it, feather the ends, and go on a shopping spree with her. She fiddled with her un-pierced ears. She sighed and decided to pierce her ears as well. What could it hurt right…? 'My ears!' Angela thought and grimaced. But, she would do this, even if it did hurt her ears for a little while.
"Mother!" Angela called, wondering where her mother could possibly be. "Mother, where are you? Come here!" She called out again.
"Coming dear!" Came the reply of her mother, floating in from the kitchen. She once again looked gorgeous.
"Mother, I want… no, Ineed you to cut my hair. Short please. Not to short, but short." She stood her ground, fingering her long hair again, as if enjoying it while it lasted. Then she thought of how it almost always got in the way, and finalized her decision then and there, dropping her hands to her side.
"What? But you have protested cutting your hair since you were seven… why the firm decision now?" Mona asked, slightly surprised.
"I, I just feel like getting rid of this tangled mess." She said, pushing away several loose strands of hair.
"Okay then dear…" Was all Mona said, returning to the kitchen. "Meet me in the downstairs bathroom." Angela could here her mother through the kitchen door.
"Okay Mother!" She replied, hurrying into the bathroom with a chair to sit on. Quietly Angela hummed the tune to 'Who Wrote the Book of Love?', being one of her favorite songs, of her favorite style. Well, she did have to say that she equally liked classical, do-wop, and jazzy swing music; however, most of her favorite songs were do-wop. Just then, the door opened and Angela stopped humming. Mona made her way behind Angela, with scissors, a comb, a brush, and she pulled a towel from the rack.
"Are you ready dear?" Mona asked her daughter, just in case she would change her mind.
"Yes, I think… wait, Iknow that I am ready." Angela replied, and she looked down, closed her eyes, and crossed her fingers between her legs so her mother couldn't see.
Snip. There goes the first chunk. Snip. There goes the second chunk. Clip. There goes another chunk of hair, but Angela held her eyes closed, afraid to see the hair fall to the floor. Even though she held her eyes closed shut tightly, she knew there was a lot of hair hitting the floor. She could feel the ends of her hair on the left side an inch or two beneath her ear lobe. 'It's just hair… you will look better like this… it's just hair…' Was running through Angela's mind the whole time, even as her mother sprayed her new hair with some slightly sticky spray and kept flicking at it with the comb. Then she felt a whoosh of air, and opened her eyes to see that her mother turned her to face the mirror.
"Oh my… gosh! Mother it's, it's so beautiful!" Angela said, looking at her hair in the reflection. It was a light blonde, but not really to light, and it was layered and feathered just right. It seemed to glow, much like Angela's face. "Ohhh thank you Mother! Thank you so much!" Angela said jumping up and hugging her mother.
"Well, your welcome… it wasn't too much trouble. Besides, now you look stunning." Mona said, smiling and hugging her daughter back firmly. Angela thought now might be a perfect time to ask her mother about the shopping spree. And while she was at it, she could get rid of her old clothes and things she didn't like.
"Hey Angela, suppose you came shopping with me? I was about to come find you and tell you I was going shopping anyway before I cut your hair. It can be a little before school spree and we can get rid of some of your old things." Mona said, right before Angela spoke. Angela smiled, rather amazed at her mother's newfound gift of reading her mind.
"Yeah! That would be great!"
Mona gave Angela a small pat on the shoulder and was off to the coat rack to get her coat. "Come on Angela, there's a sale going on at Bloomingdale's!"
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Anthony looked at the calendar. It had been a few days since he had sent his letter to Angela, and was wondering when his reply would come.
"Hmm… school starts back in a week or so…" He said frowning. He wasn't very fond of waking up for school, and he definitely didn't like the fact it would take up his precious writing time for letters to Angela. Oh well, he might get to hang out with the 'guys' some more. He decided it would be fine, and walked over to the television.
"No… no, no… ahh… there's a good one…" He said as he stopped when he heard the Hazel theme song. He had forgotten that the mail hadn't arrived yet, and was getting into the plot of the episode when he heard the familiar sound of the mail-man whistling. "The mail!" He said, jumping up, switching the television off, and running to the door. Then he stopped and caught his breath, not wanting to seem too anxious for the mail. 'C'mon… please be here…' He thought to himself a bit giddily.
Through the mail-slot of the door, a few letters fell to the floor, and hastily Anthony grabbed them up, searching through them. "Yes! It came, it came, it came!" He said, waving Angela's letter in the air. He placed the rest of the mail on the side-table beside the couch, and ran to his room to read the letter.
"Dear Anthony,
Earlier today Mother and I went shopping, after I got a haircut. It was a blast. I got a lot of new clothes, and most of my older clothing was donated to charity. Right now I am wearing my new pajamas. They are white silk with pink, purple, yellow, and orange polka-dots of different sizes. I love them.
Sorry it took so long for the reply, but with all the preparing for school and shopping got me busy.
I would write a lot more, but it's getting rather late, and I have to wake up early tomorrow. Mother is taking me to the city for 'Last Ice-Cream Cone of the Summer'. A tradition we've celebrated since Kindergarten.
Wishing you Well,
The New and Improved Angela."
Anthony smiled and laughed. A new school year was about to begin, and that would mean it would be a bit harder to keep in touch with Angela. But he'd manage. He let out a soft sigh, and folded the letter, and neatly placed it back into its envelope. He got up from the couch, and made his way to the small bedroom of his. He opened a drawer on the bedside table and carefully placed the letter inside it, on top of the last letter he'd receive from Angela.
"Anthony… Anthony, we need to go shopping for your school supplies." Said his father, and Anthony smiled weakly and replied.
"Okay dad!" He walked over to his closet, and pulled out a worn pair of gym-shoes. He slowly made his way from his room, and looked back before turning out the light and running out to meet his dad in the simple car.