Let the Good Times Roll
Chapter 9
Haircuts and Hair Dye
Mara's POV
Jimmy was the king of the school; of course first he had to go through the jocks, which meant pranking the big opening game. I managed to witness jocks drink from the cooler…. it had piss in it, then Jimmy glued a few jocks to the bench, spread marbles on the field, had an explosive game ball, and my favorite had to be the fact that Jimmy changed the large words that go across the scoreboard to "Jocks play with their balls." When Lexi had seen this, she turned red, I had simply laughed and when I next saw Jimmy, I complimented the pranks. He had soaked it up; it was rare for me to compliment anyone.
But I knew something was going to go wrong soon, so I warned Lexi, Petey, and the greasers. The beginning of the problems started when rats were set loose in the library, the gym was set on fire, and basically everything went to hell.
"I'm finding it hilarious." I informed Jimmy who was rushing from the scene of the burning gym as I jogged next to him.
"You're not helping!" snapped jimmy. I grinned at him.
"It's not my job to help; you're the king of the school aren't you? Or is his royal ass being overthrown?" I chuckled and Jimmy shot me a glare before he stormed into the boy's dorm. I stood outside laughing.
"What are you laughin so hard bout Mara?" I turned to find Peanut standing there, looking at me like I was insane….. Or more insane than I already am.
"Jimmy's kingliness is going to shit." I explained, "The gym was burned down and rats were set loose in the library, someone's going down and who else to blame but his royal ass?" Peanut snorted.
"That suck for Jimmy, ey have ya seen Johnny?" questioned Peanut. I shook my head.
"Nah, I was following Jimmy around and trying to piss him off." I replied as the boys dorm doors open and Jimmy rushed out.
"It's working." Jimmy grumbled as he passed me, and I grinned.
"See ya, Peanut!" I called as I ran after Jimmy who shot me a glare.
"If you're not going to help then leave." he snapped.
"But it's more fun annoying you!" I protested as he hopped onto his bike. I frowned as he shot me a look and pedaled away.
"Well damn…. now what?" I questioned as I looked around. I doubted anyone was going to be much fun since everyone was pissy.
"Mara!" I turned around to see Lexi rushing up to me, her face slightly red. When she reached me she started breathing deeply. I waited for her to catch her breath before she looked up at me, a ghastly look on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked sharply, turning serious when I saw that she looked scared.
"There are new students from an exchange program," Lexi informed me, "But that isn't the bad news." I blinked.
"What's the bad news?" I questioned.
"Of those students…." she whispered, looking around, "Angela is one of them."
I stood there, shocked into silence.
"Angela…. Melson?" I inquired quietly, my face slipping into an emotionless mask.
"Yes…." Lexi looked ready to pass out. I quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her with me. I pulled her back to the boy's dorm where I circled the building, peering in windows until I found the right one. I knocked on the window, holding myself up on the ledge.
"Petey!" I snapped, hitting the window harder to try and get the short boys attention. When he finally noticed I was there, he just stared at me in the window like I was insane.
"Open the damn window rather than stare at me like I have four heads!" I hissed. Petey slowly approached the window and opened it, "Finally! Now I'm going to sneak Lexi in here, got it?!" I dropped from the window and turned to Lexi. I squatted down and ordered Lexi to get on my shoulders. She did as I ordered, albeit shakily. I stood and Petey helped her through. I jumped up and caught the ledge with my hand again before hoisting myself up and through the window.
"What the heck are you guys doing?" Petey questioned.
"I'll explain later, right now I have to go grab some things, Lexi, Petey, do not leave the room!" I barked before I went back out the window. Petey stuck his head out after I dropped to the floor, I gave him a serious look before I turned and ran.
First I went into the girl's dorm and grabbed a few things I had in my room, then I quickly stole some kid's bike and went into town to get a few things. I was back in Petey's room in about half an hour.
"Now can you explain? Why does Lexi look like she saw a ghost?" Petey interrogated me, sounding almost irritated.
"I'll explain in a moment, let me finish what I'm doing!" I snapped back as I pulled some things from the black backpack I had. I threw them on Petey's bed and scowled.
"Do you think we'll be able to sneak into the boys showers without anyone seeing us?" I questioned Petey. He gave me an incredulous look.
"Why?!" he exclaimed. I rolled my eyes.
"I need a sink, and we can't go in the girls dorm until after I finish." I barked, "Now go make sure there aren't any guys around!" Petey scurried from the room, slightly afraid of me. When he returned, he told me that all the guys were out except for a few who were in their rooms. I nodded and Petey led us to the boys showers.
"Ok, Lexi, now what I'm doing is absolutely necessary." I told Lexi. She pulled on a somewhat brave face and nodded. She knew what I was doing, I had done it before.
"What are you doing?" Petey asked again, sounding exasperated.
"What did you tell Petey so far?" I questioned Lexi as I pulled a pair of scissors out. I looked Lexi over; trying to decide what hair length would be good.
"Um…. that I have a twin and a little sister and it's complicated." Lexi answered me quietly. I nodded at her.
"I see… well that's a pretty much blank canvas, so I could lie, but I suppose since you're close to Petey the truth is fine?" I muttered as I made Lexi turn around so I could decide what length would be good.
"Yes." Lexi nodded and I nodded back before I turned her around again.
"Well, Petey, you're in for a tale, and you're my assistant, it's your job to dispose of the hair I cut off." I told him, snipping the scissors in the air to prove that I was actually cutting Lexi's hair. Petey looked baffled.
"What?!" he almost shouted, but a look from me silenced him.
"Shut up, now, be quiet and I'll tell you why we're doing this." I shushed Petey as I started trimming the bottom of Lexi's hair.
"Fine, tell me." mumbled Petey. I smirked as I continued cutting Lexi's hair.
"Well, I got involved at…. well we met when I was seven and Lexi was six. Anyway, I suppose I really got involved when I was nine." I paused the story to question Lexi, "Do you care how short it goes?"
"No… how short are you going?" Lexi questioned, her eyes widening.
"Not too short…." I dismissed her before continuing my cutting, "Anyway, the main point is that Lexi had family issues." Lexi twitched, almost making me mess up.
"Don't move!" I growled, pausing the story yet again to scold Lexi, "Anyway, from my point of view, which is an outsider's point of view, Lexi's family was fine. Until, what Lexi told me she used to refer to as Doomsday. Now there's a new Doomsday, but I'll tell you about that in a few minutes." I made Lexi turn around so I could fix her bangs.
"Mara, my head feels lighter, what are you doing?" Lexi questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Don't fret, we both know I can do this," I scoffed while patting Lexi's head, "Anyway, back to my story. So from the outside view, her family was perfect. A hard working father, a mother who worked part time, and three lovely daughters who were like little angels." I paused because Lexi snorted.
"I said don't move!" I scolded her before continuing the story, "But that was just the outside point of view. That was just a show they put on. Really, all three daughters got along like water and oil, they were always fighting and the one who always lost was the most timid one…. the weakest one…. our dear Lexi." Lexi frowned, but didn't comment.
"So they fought a lot?" Petey questioned. I paused my cutting, before shrugging.
"Lexi's sisters had very creative insults, I actually think the two people in that house that weren't such…. assholes were Lexi and her mom." Lexi smiled when I said this.
"My mom was a great person." she chirped brightly.
"She was." I hummed as I made her turn around again, I stood back for a moment to observe my work, "Hm…. not shot enough." Back to the scissors.
"So there was a lot of yelling involved? Is that why Lexi was sent here?" inquired Petey.
"Petey… remember that time I was talking with you and Jimmy…. it was a little before Halloween? I was defending Mara from Jimmy?" Lexi commented, I frowned. That little midget had been insulting me? ME? Of all people? Dumbass, I'll get him back later. I'll enlist Johnny and Peanut to assist me in hanging him from the top of the school gate in just his underwear this time, rather than just the boy's dorm.
"Yeah, I don't remember what you said though, you were speaking really fast, and your voice was all high and you were actually really mad." Petey nodded, making a thinking face.
"Well, that means you don't remember that I said that I ran away." Petey blinked.
"Ran…away?" he repeated, looking thoughtful.
"I suppose I influenced that, me being me and all." I nodded.
"But, just a little arguing made you want to leave your family?" Petey asked skeptically.
"It wasn't just verbal fighting." I informed him solemnly, "Doomsday for little eight year old Lexi was the day her only friend met her family… other than her mother. I was invited over to their house for dinner and a sleepover, a fun fact about me is that my first sleepover was that one. Anyway, so at first, I met her two sisters. Nine year old me, because I was a sarcastic foul mouthed child, openly said to them, "Damn, you two don't stop bitching. Why don't you close your pie holes so that my ears will stop ringing like bells."." Lexi made a choking noise, trying to hide her laughter, and Petey just shook his head. I glared at his reflection in the mirror I had been using to look at him.
"I still remember that, I remember my mom laughed when you did that and my sisters looked dumbstruck. They actually shut up for more than a minute, just trying to figure out why something hadn't told them they were amazing, but I myself like what you said to my father." Lexi commented. I laughed, remembering that. However I stopped myself and went back to the story
"That man, now, nine year old me was used to big men like your brute of a father, hell I wasn't even phased when he had said "What the hell is this little shit doing here?" but what I was surprised at was when I saw it happen." I muttered as I stopped cutting Lexi's hair. I stood back, then decided I was satisfied with the length; it had went from being almost as long as mine, and now it was only a few inches past her shoulders. I had left her a few bangs, but they could be clipped back with clips easily.
"Alright, I'm satisfied with it, I was thinking of doing really short layers, but I think you'd have found your inner strength and tried to kill me had I done that." I chuckled thinking of Lexi trying to kill me, "Anyway, red, yellow, orange, dirt, streaked, black, or color?" Lexi sighed upon hearing my way of asking "What color dye?".
"Surprise me…. nothing too fancy though." Lexi muttered. I grinned and pulled out the bottles from my bag. I looked at them, then nodded to myself.
"Alright, head over the sink." I commanded, and Lexi did as she was told, "Now, I really like this brand of dye because it's simple to use. It stays in for a good long time and it's easy to get out if you use a certain hair product. To use it, you have to wet your hair, and if your hair is a dark brown or black then you have to use this stuff first so that the color can be absorbed easier." I turned the warm water on and Lexi held her head in the sink until her hair was soaked. Then, as I started my next part I poured the dark hair stuff into her hair and began to massage it in.
"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, it. Anyway, so her father drinks a ton, and he's a bit of a perfectionist. His other two daughters were fine, they weren't afraid to do what they wanted and they fit in. But no, Lexi's eyes were too big and too blue and her hair was never perfect! Honestly, her twin looks just like her, only her twin does have her differences, such as her eyes are a bit more…. what's the word…. browner? They're a bit dark I suppose." I paused for a moment, trying to remember Lexi's twin, "Meh, she doesn't matter. Anyway, so what happened was after we had eaten her moms amazing cooking, Lexi and I were running around their living room doing whatever shit little kids do. Unfortunately, her little sister decided she wanted in, and we didn't want her to bug us. Long story short, her little sister threw a tantrum and knocked something over, I don't remember if it was a vase or what…"
"It was my father's beer table; it had a few unopened bottles that shattered when she knocked it over." Lexi added as I grabbed the hair color dye and started to pour it in as well. I loved this dye; it was so easy to use. I used to use it when I dyed my hair different colors. I don't dye my hair anymore though; my hair already has natural crayon red tips that grow back fast.
"Right, beer, anyway so her father came running in at the noise, and of course her little sister had flew from the room with a little grin that made me want to smack her. Now, nine year old me knew the difference between a totally smashed man, a slightly tipsy man, and a sober man, so when I was told later on that he had been completely smashed I knew it was a lie." Petey's face told me he was piecing things together, "He comes flying in, his face turned a new shade of angry red when he saw what happened. And where was Lexi? Close enough to the table to get blamed. So, he stomped across the room and before little me knew what the hell was going on, he had hit his daughter so hard that she was sent fling halfway across the room." I smacked my hands together to imitate the sound of someone getting hit.
"That hurt like a bitch." Lexi mumbled, she made a spitting sound after that. I laughed.
"Don't get this shit in your mouth, it tastes horrible, it's probably somewhat toxic, and it'll turn your teeth and tongue a different color." I sang, and I heard Lexi take a deep intake of breath. She probably got some in her mouth, oh well. Sucks for her.
"Anyway, so he hits her and because I was a smart little kid, I ran across the room and tackled him while yelling "Hey you big dumb fuck, lay off Lexi, before I kick your motherfucking ass!". My… eh probably sixty pounds, knocked into him and did nothing. He turned around, and was going to attack me, but Lexi's mom rushed in, then started yelling and he left after swearing at us. But I'll never forget that scared look Lexi had on her face." Lexi snorted at me when I said I was a smart little kid, but she said nothing.
"So… he hit her when he got mad?" Petey concluded, trying to stop himself from laughing at the fact that my nine year old self was just as foul mouthed as I was now.
"When he was mad yes, and then, sometimes, when she got older, he'd do it whenever he felt like it. Sometimes, Lexi would show up at random and we would silently communicate. I would fix her up with my first aid kit, give her some food since she usually missed dinner or lunch or breakfast or whatever, and then she'd leave." I added. Petey nodded and gave Lexi a look full of pity.
"But don't pity Lexi, when I was fifteen and Lexi fourteen, I got fed up with her treatment, and then what was going on with me, so after my motorcycle accident, when no one was paying attention, I grabbed my crutches and left with Lexi. A month after I healed, we went back from our hiding place in my rented apartment, and I stole back my motorcycle. Then, we high tailed it out of there and told the foster people we were orphans. Then, we were sent from various schools to various places since no one really liked me and Lexi was like my shadow. She was that adorable kid that everyone wanted, but no one adopted her because along with her came the big mean sarcastic bitch known as Mara." I told him.
"That…. that sucks." Petey muttered, somewhat lost for words.
"It sucked, yes, but it's better now for us then it was back then. Lexi's happy, hell I think she's probably better off now. When we were in the adoption places or foster homes or whatever, she only spoke to me. Now she's bitching at Jimmy, talking to you, hell I even heard that you two went to the Valentine's Day dance!" I ranted.
"I'm still here!" Lexi squeaked. I paused, remembering that I was in fact dying her hair.
"I know that… I'm just adding my opinion." I defended before I pulled my hands from the water. I scowled at them; they were the same color as the dye.
"Stay there and for fuck's sake, do not get this stuff on your face or in your mouth… again." I snapped, irritated that I got it on my hands. I turned to Petey.
"So now that you know that, pledge your silence to me or else I'll be forced to kill you and hide your body." Petey laughed, then looked very nervous when he noticed I was giving him a serious look.
"I swear I won't tell anyone!" Petey promised.
"Good, now, let's see how the new Lexi looks." I pulled Lexi's hair out and pulled a smock around her. I made her flip her hair back when I was out of the soak zone, and then I brushed it back. I blow dried it as fast as I could, hoping no one would care that there was a random drying noise in the boys bathroom. When I finished I threw the hairdryer back in my back and Petey and is stared at Lexi.
"Well, it's not that big of a difference, although she does look different." commented Petey. Lexi's once dark brown hair was now a much lighter brown with random blonde and caramel streaks in it.
"I kind of wish I layered it, it'd look good with that coloring." I decided, but herded Petey and Lexi back to Petey's room after we made sure we cleaned up after ourselves.
"So… what was with the suddenly change in Lexi's appearance?" Petey inquired. Lexi looked down and a stony expression came onto my face.
"One of the new kids, Angela Melson, is Lexi's twin sister." I informed him gravely.
Lexi's POV
I didn't really feel the need to look through Mara's diary, although I did.
March 15th,
Well, I suppose I don't want to say much, I gave Lexi a new look, that bitch Angela is here, Jimmy informed me he rescued Johnny and left me confused and wondering what he rescued Johnny from, and worst of all is that he won't leave me alone!
I am not going to give in to his offer, I don't give a shit about what he could offer me because what he wants me to do wouldn't help shit.
But, I'm getting off that topic. I suppose Lexi looks different, I did my basic changes that I made her do the first time we left. I cut her hair and dyed it. I would do contacts but then everyone would be suspicious…. and Lexi would refuse anyway.
I did the fun things.
I wonder if maybe I should change my looks, I mean, Angela may remember me…. Nah, probably not. Although, if she did, I would go through my list of person changing.
Haircuts and hair dye.
AN
So, shit just got real. Somewhat. More Johnny next chapter, originally I had done this chapter differently, where Mara went with Jimmy, but I hated how it turned out, and I was given a brilliant idea, so next chapter is where that idea is incorporated!
I also just realized i've been changing my chapter beginning format... i'm going to try and keep it to the title, chapter number, and chapter title rather than a useless AN that says nothing of impotance.
Sayonara :D