After school on Wednesday, we all go to Mara's house after school. Jamie stands in front of the full length mirror on Mara's wardrobe door, raking her fingers through her wavy curls. She turns and looks at me thoughtfully.
"Come here Mal". She gestures me towards her with her left hand, her right still in her hair.
I walk over to her, standing next to her. Both of us are looking at the reflections in the mirror. I am quite a few inches shorter than Jamie, even now she's kicked off her heeled shoes.
"I think.." she began, lifting up my hair to just past my shoulders. "I think your hair would look great this length."
I'd never thought about cutting my hair. It wasn't that long, about midway between shoulder length and elbow length and when it was straight it was far longer with all the curls stretched out.
"It would be so much easier to take care of, straight or curly." She continues.
"Hmm, I'd never considered cutting my hair before. I don't know…" I reply uneasily.
"Right, it's your life hey.." She turns away and snickers.
"What's so funny about not wanting to cut my hair?" I retort defensively.
"Well, we're just trying to help you Mallory.. You really have shocking split ends!" Liz blurts out. It's such a tactless remark. I'm shocked and a little offended. None of my old friends would have pointed out my split ends.
I don't want the girls to see they've upset me. Maybe I should cut off my split ends. Because now, I was beginning to feel self conscious of them. Even though I didn't even really know what they are. "Maybe I'll do it tomorrow night, so it will be done in time for Lauren's party." I turn and smile meekly at the other girls.
"I'm going to the mall tomorrow night, my mom could drive you too and then you can get it cut then." Maria offers.
"Thanks, that'd be nice." I reply.
"You are so lucky you have us Mallory!" Mara declares. "I'm glad you finally got on with your life away from Jessica Ramsey!" she continues and rolls her eyes.
"She thinks that anyone who doesn't like her is just racist. It's so pathetic." She adds with a laugh. I giggle along. I know she's right but part of me still feels defensive when it comes to Jessi.
I leave with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Sometimes my new friends weren't that kind. But they were trying to be helpful I guess. And I needed all the help I could get.
After school Thursday afternoon, Maria meets me at my locker. "Ready?" She greets me. With a grin.
"Yeah, let's go." I force a smile and we walk out to the car park.
Mrs Fazio drives a shiny red Mazda Miata. It's not brand new, but in great condition. Maria jumps into the front seat, and I climb into the back. She looks a lot like Maria, only her hair is shorter and a much warmer shade of brown.
"Hello Mrs Fazio!" I greet her.
She glances at me from the rear – view mirror. "Amelia is fine dear. You must be Mallory?" she asks.
"Yes, I'm Mallory Pike. Thank-you for driving me to the mall." She smiles at me and starts the engine.
Maria argues with her mother about a skirt she wants most of the way. Mrs Fazio tells her she can't afford it and Maria tells her she knows that's a lie. They talk like I'm not even there, so I sit in silence, staring out the window as we drive through Stoneybrook.
When we arrive at the Mall, Mrs Fazio tells us she has her own things to do and she will meet us at these entrance doors in 2 hours. Maria takes me strait to the store which has the skirt she's not aloud to buy. It's an extremely short black leather skirt. I'm not surprised Mrs Fazio won't let her buy it.
Next, we walk into the hair salon. A short Asian woman with a bob haircut with loud blue streaks through at smiles at me and tells me to take a seat. She reminds me of another old friend, Claudia. She'd do something outrageous like that with her hair.
After about 5 minutes she gestures to me to sit in the vacant chair. She puts the sheet over me.
"Now, how would you like it?" She asks.
"To about here." I instruct, with my finger sitting just past my shoulders.
"Not a problem." She smiles and gets to work, she sprays my hair with water. The cool drops make me squint when they hit my face.
"Have you considered bangs?" She offers after about 5 minutes.
"Well, no I haven't." I reply truthfully. I wonder what I'd look like with bangs.
"I think they'd suit you great!" She tells me, as if reading my mind.
"Ok, why not, you can cut me some." I was scared, but maybe it would look fantastic. She brushes some hair from the front of my face over my eyes. I shut them while she snips away.
Finally, she announces she's all done. I open my eyes and take a look in the mirror. My bangs look good. They sit on the line of my eye brow. The rest of my hair doesn't even look much different. It's just shorter. I look down at the floor at all my hair, there's so much of it!
The hair dresser sees my shock.
"Your hair is really thick!" She laughs and I walk to the front and pay.
Maria is waiting for me out the front. "It looks great!" She assures me.
We take a look around a few more stores as we still have a while before we're due to meet Mrs Fazio.
"I don't know what I should wear tomorrow night." I announce to Maria while we're in one of the stores. I know I can't afford anymore clothes and what I have isn't great. I tell Maria this, even though I'm quite embarrassed.
"I know what will be perfect. I'll lend you some clothes, ok?" She offers and rests her hand on my shoulder reassuringly.
"You know, Craig Avazian asked me today if you're coming to Lauren's party." Maria informs me, elbowing my gently in the ribs and winks. I can't help but turn bright red.
"Oh my gosh!" You like him don't you! She shrieks. I don't say anything, I just look down at my shoes embarrassed and continue walking.
Still, it was the best news I'd had all day. He was interested to know if I was going to the party!