"July 7th, 2021 - Today, I turned thirteen and got my hair streaked."

After a morning of homemade pancakes and eggs, hugs from her dads, and all the loving texts she could ask for, Katrina was seated in a kitchen chair next to the sink with a towel around her neck. Annie and her mom, a hairdresser, had come over, and Mrs. Carmichael was going to put a blonde streak in Katrina's hair. "So it's just the one streak above your ear?"

"Yes," said Katrina. She didn't want to sit with her neck craned for hours on end. This would only take forty-five minutes.

Mrs. Carmichael applied the hair bleach into a strip of tin foil, which she folded over and into Katrina's hair. "Now, we gotta let it sit for twenty minutes before the blonde colouring can go on."

While they waited, Katrina and Annie watched funny cat videos. One had a small kitten running around under an oversized hat. Sofie-Miette darted her head all around, trying to find the source of the endless meowing.

When the twenty minutes were up, Mrs. Carmichael took the tin foil out, and Katrina's streak of hair tumbled out very light, almost white. Mrs. Carmichael then put the blonde colouring in a new strip of tin foil to finish the deal.

"Je suis tellement impressionné avec ton travail, Carey," sad Dad, looking at the website for the salon that Mrs. Carmichael worked at. "Tu peux vraiment créer un arc-en-ciel avec les cheveux de quelqu'un?" (I'm very impressed with your work, Carey. You can really create a rainbow with someone's hair?)

"Yup," said Mrs. Carmichael. "It's a pain and a half, but it's worth it to see them flaunting their hair like it's gold on a silver platter."

When the second twenty minutes had passed, Katrina's hair came out a rich golden blonde. "Merci, Carey," said Dad, giving Mrs. Carmichael twenty dollars. "Viens, on va trouver un déjeuner d'anniversaire." (Come on, let's go get birthday lunch.)