“Um, well. Hi!” I said. “I got to work at my mom’s salon which is called . . .” I leaned into Eve as planned and we both said, “Hello, Gorgeous!” This time we got a couple of pity chuckles. “Okay, so um, Eve is going to help me show what it’s like to work at a salon and what I learned from the experience. Lizbeth already did a great job in her presentation of showing us the business side of things, didn’t she? Way to go, Lizbeth!”
I visualized the crowd applauding Lizbeth and her shyly waving from her seat. Instead no one applauded. I looked over at Ms. Carter and caught her checking her watch. Had I made a huge career-ending mistake by trying to be clever in my presentation?
“The first thing I learned when I started my job,” I said, trying to get back on track, “is that being gorgeous takes a lot of work.” Eve sat in the chair and I took out a plastic cape and wrapped it around her. Even though we’d never use plastic in the salon, it made for a better prop. “And you should never try to do beautiful things to other people unless you’re, you know, qualified.”
“Um, excuse me, miss,” Eve said in her best la-dida voice. “I’d actually like to keep my hair, thanks very much.”
There were some laughs in the audience—word had spread about what I’d done to Eve’s hair. It was all tied up in her being-in-a-commercial story.
“When you work at a salon, you should always be courteous to your clients,” I said. “Offer them a beverage while they’re waiting.”
I offered her a bottle of water, then accidentally-on-purpose spilled it all over her legs as an ode to what I’d once done to Ms. Carter. “But don’t spill it all over them!” Eve said, jumping up.
I glanced over at Ms. Carter and said, “Sorry!” I ran to the side to get my next prop. “You should be prompt with great customer service. But don’t race through the salon because you could trip, fall, and possibly blind someone.”
I pretended to trip and then tossed Eve a phony bottle labeled HAIR DYE with a skull and crossbones on it. She pretended it had spilled on her. She yelled and clutched her hands over her eyes. “I’m blind! I’m blind!” Eve was really working it. By now, people were getting more into it. I even saw Ms. Carter smiling.
“Pay attention to what your job is, not what other people are doing,” I said.
“Um, Mickey?” Eve said, standing up and pointing to the floor. “Please put down the scissors and sweep up this mess.”
We went on like this, mostly going over all the mistakes I’d made but turning them into jokes—I mean, lessons. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
“And never,” I said at the end, “no matter how few mistakes your friend—I mean, co-worker—makes, never resent her for that. Remember, you’re a team, you’re not in competition, and we all have room for improvement.” I looked at Lizbeth. “And you should never punish anyone for doing what’s right. And if you do, well—you should say you’re sorry.”
Lizbeth flicked her eyes back down. I couldn’t tell if she was emotional or embarrassed or what. Trying to end on a light note I said, “Now! If anyone would like me to color their hair for free, step right up and . . .”
“Mickey!” Eve said, all exaggerated and right on script. “Have you not learned anything from this experience?”
“I’m only kidding.” I looked back out at the audience and said, “Of course I’d charge for hair coloring!”
We ended our presentation with everyone laughing right along with us, including Ms. Carter. We took a bow. As I looked out at the audience, I locked eyes with Kristen.
Five million messes corrected, one more to go.
CHAPTER 24
After the presentations, Eve and I invited Kristen and Lizbeth to sit with us at lunch. Kristen shrugged as if she didn’t care if she ever sat with—or talked to—us ever again, but Lizbeth said of course they’d sit with us.
“Mickey, that was awesome!” Lizbeth said as we sat down at our table. Jonah and Kyle were on the end. They were deep in their own conversation and not paying attention to us. “Yours was the best one, for sure.”
“I think everyone did a great job,” I said, looking at Kristen, who looked bored. “Kristen, your job didn’t turn out to be so bad after all, huh?”
She looked off across the cafeteria and said, “I guess.”
“Kristen,” I said. I knew I had to fix everything, now. There was no more oral presentation prep to hide behind. Maybe being surrounded by my friends—the ones who weren’t mad at me—would give me some strength. “Look, I know you’re still mad about the whole mall-lying thing.”
Kristen rolled her eyes. “I’m, like, so over that.”
“Oh, puh-leaze!” Lizbeth said, practically laughing at her friend.
“I am!” Kristen said.
“And I know you invited everyone over last Friday night except for me,” I said.
She looked right at me and said, “I thought you already had plans.”
“Lies,” Lizbeth said, shaking her head. “K, that is so not true and you know it.”
Kristen looked embarrassed, but I knew she would stand her ground, at least for a little bit longer.
“Look, I’d be mad, too, if you had ditched me and lied like I did. And I was sort of mad about you leaving me out of things the other night,” I said. “But I shouldn’t have lied to either of you. And I’m really sorry.”
“I told you,” Kristen said, “I don’t care about that stupid mall thing. It’s no big deal.”
“Then what are you mad about?” Lizbeth asked her.
“It’s just,” Kristen began, then stopped and turned to Lizbeth. “Okay, fine. It’s just that you and Mickey got to work together and Eve got this amazing commercial and, like . . .”
“Oh my gosh,” Lizbeth said, and for a moment I thought she was going to start laughing. “You’re jealous!”
“I am not!”
“You practically just said so,” Lizbeth said.
“Whatever,” Kristen said, but she sounded more hurt than angry. “I just felt a little left out, that’s all.”
“Well, we’re all here now,” Eve said. “Together!”
“I guess,” Kristen said.
“Come on,” I said. “I forgive you for not inviting me last Friday if you forgive me for lying about the mall. We can call it even. What do you say?”
Kristen sat quietly for a moment, until Lizbeth nudged her. Finally she looked at me and said, “Okay. That seems fair. So, look, I’m sorry about not inviting you on Friday and you’re forgiven for lying. Just don’t do it again.”
“Really?” I said. “I’m forgiven?”
She smiled. “Totally and completely.”
I felt relieved. Everything was finally getting back into place. “Now we can celebrate Career Ex ending and . . .” I looked at Eve pointedly. She blushed instantly. “Eve? Anything you’d like to share with the table?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Eve said. She pretended to be annoyed, but I could tell she was excited. “It’s just that my commercial is done and I thought maybe it’d be fun for us all to see it together. If you guys care, I mean.”
“Of course we care,” I said. “We’re your friends!”
“Well,” she said, leaning in toward us with her back to Jonah and Kyle, who were still totally ignoring us, all into their own conversation. To me she said, “Remember how I told you I got free passes? Well, I thought we could all invite someone.” She nodded behind her, indicating the boys.
“Like ask them to come with us?” I asked quietly so the boys wouldn’t overhear. Even Kristen looked mortified at the idea—and she was the brave one.
“It doesn’t have to be a date,” Eve said. “I just think—hang on.” She turned around to Jonah and said, “Hey, could you do me a favor? I’m totally craving some, uh, milk. Could you go get me a carton?” She got some money out of her bag and handed it to Jonah, who looked a little thrown off.
“Uh, yeah,” he said. “Sure.”
Jonah got up to leave and Kyle sat starin
g at us—like either we were crazy for not being able to get our own milk or because he was going to try to join in our convo while Jonah was on his mission. Eve nudged me.
“Oh, um, Kyle?” I said, digging in my bag for cash. “Will you get one for me, too?”
“Sure,” he said, looking at all of us like we’d gone insane. He took the money and headed off.
Once he’d gone, Eve leaned in to us again and, speaking quickly, said, “I just think it’d be fun if we all went together. Don’t you guys think so?”
“You seriously want us to ask them out?” Lizbeth asked.
“Why not?” Eve said. “People do it all the time. Come on, don’t be chicken.” She turned to see the boys walking back to the table, each carrying a carton of milk. Was she really going to do it? I looked at Kyle, carrying my drink for me. I wasn’t sure I could do it, even though I liked him and thought he was cute. As they sat back down at the table, I was attacked by a major case of the butterflies.
“Here goes,” Eve whispered to us, and we all watched anxiously.
“Your majesty,” Jonah said, bowing slightly as he handed her the carton of milk.
“Thanks,” Eve said. “Hey, listen. I have this commercial premiere thing tomorrow night. And they’ll be opening up the live-action game so you’d get to play after the screening. We’re all going and it’s free.”
Jonah looked stunned for a moment and turned to Kyle for help. Kyle looked down at me, but I darted my eyes away. Finally Jonah said, “Yeah. Sure.” Like it was no big deal. But I could tell it was.
“Cool,” Eve said, then turned back to us, blushing but looking very pleased with herself. She nudged me under the table with her leg. “Go,” she mouthed.
I glanced at Kyle. It would just be all of us hanging out. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I took a deep breath and said, “Hey, Kyle. Want to go, too?”
A grin flickered across his face. “Sure,” he said.
I leaned back toward the girls, feeling pretty fearless.
“You make it look so easy,” Lizbeth said in a lowered voice, glancing two tables over to where Matthew and Tobias sat. Jonah and Kyle had already gone back to their own conversation, but I knew that this time they were just pretending to ignore us. I knew because Kyle’s cheeks were still pink and Jonah kept glancing at Eve.
“It is easy,” Eve said, matching Lizbeth’s lowered tone. “You just ask.”
“Maybe,” Lizbeth said. “But no way are we doing it here.”
“Okay,” Eve said. “But you have to do it soon. The party is tomorrow.”
“We will,” Lizbeth said. “I promise.”
After school I waited out front with Eve for her mom to come pick her up.
“Are you sure you don’t want a ride home?” she asked. “We can drop you off on the way to my grandmother’s.”
“No, I’m good,” I said. “Thanks, though.”
The truth was, I hoped I could “run into” Ms. Carter on her way out so I could find out about my grade. She might not have made up her mind yet, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.
A few minutes later when Eve’s mom pulled up, Eve asked, “Want me to wait with you?”
“No, go ahead,” I said.
“Okay,” she said, walking backward toward the curb, “but I want every detail!”
I smiled and waved good-bye, then leaned against the building to wait.
It wasn’t long before I spotted Ms. Carter walking out the school door and heading toward the teachers’ parking lot.
“Ms. Carter,” I called, running to catch up with her. “I was wondering about the grades for our oral reports.”
“Hello, Mickey,” she said, looking at me curiously. “I plan on handing those out on Monday.”
“Okay. But, well, do you think you could maybe please let me know about my grade now? I know it’s a lot to ask. And I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t really really important.”
She looked at me like she was thinking about it. “I heard through the grapevine what happened at the salon.” That was the thing about hair salons and small towns—word always traveled fast. “I’ve given you an A on it. I hope that comes as good news to you.”
I thought I would jump up and hug Ms. Carter right there in front of the entire school. Instead I acted all mature and said, “Thank you so much!”
She smiled. “It was well deserved. Have a good evening, Mickey.”
I couldn’t believe it. Everything was working out, right when I thought it couldn’t. Somehow I’d scraped by, and now all I had to concentrate on was creating the perfect look for the premiere!
CHAPTER 25
We all met at Eve’s to get dressed before the big opening on Friday. Eve, Lizbeth, and Kristen all cheered when I showed up, knowing that it meant I’d gotten a good grade on my oral report.
“Hey, you made it!” Kristen said. She smiled wide.
“Back to the salon, too, right?” Lizbeth asked.
“Yep!” I said. “Back to Hello, Gorgeous!”
“I knew everything would work out,” Eve said.
I got busy fixing her hair. I did it in a half updo with piecey angles framing her face that made her look glam, but maybe like she was too cool to get too dressed up. She wore a white sleeveless blouse with silver sequins going down the front and white satin cargo pants. She looked like she was ready for the red carpet of a big-budget action movie.
I kept things simple by styling my hair in loose, natural curls and wearing a short dress with wedge sandals. I styled Kristen’s hair in a messy low bun that still looked perfect, and once Lizbeth was dressed in a one-shoulder top with shredded jeans, we were ready to work the red carpet at Eve’s big premiere.
“Are you nervous?” I asked Eve as I swiped on some lip gloss.
“Not really,” she said. “Well, maybe a little. Hey, can I ask you guys something?”
“Shoot,” Lizbeth said, finger-combing her hair in the mirror.
“Are you nervous? I mean about hanging out with guys?”
My stomach tightened thinking about it—but in a good way. “I’m nervous. But it’s like you said—we’re all just friends, hanging out.”
“Yeah, but with guys. That’s different,” Eve said.
“I’m friends with Jonah. That’s not different.”
“You know what I mean,” she said, and I did know. I also didn’t want the pressure of being on an actual date, so I still wanted to just call them friends.
“I’m kind of glad I don’t have to deal with that,” Lizbeth said, “since we chickened out and never asked the guys.”
“Lame,” Eve said. Lizbeth had told us after school that they couldn’t get the courage to do it. “You should be suffering right along with us.”
Eve’s mom called us, and it was time to go.
The event was a much bigger deal than Eve had let on. There were a ton of people and cars lined up, and the outside of the old warehouse had roaming spotlights swinging across the sky plus a real red carpet leading to the front. There were even some local photographers snapping pictures as people went inside.
When we pulled up to the curb we saw all four boys were waiting for us—or for Eve, who had their tickets—just outside the doors.
Lizbeth practically choked when she said, “Matthew is here? And Tobias?”
Kristen tried to act like it was no big deal when she said, “I slipped a note in Tobias’s locker this afternoon and asked them both to come. Not as brave as Mickey and Eve, but it looks like my note got the job done.”
“Wow,” Lizbeth said. “Nice job.”
The guys wore jeans but seemed a little more puttogether than usual. Even Jonah’s cowlick seemed to be behaving, and Kyle’s curls looked a little crunchy, but one still fell over his eye so it was okay. And, okay, fine, he looked kind of cute.
Everyone said hey and then we went inside, where the scene was otherworldly. The two-story warehouse had been transformed into an alien planet with lots of white and silver and blue streaks.
Dry ice floated across the floors and blue lights shone down from the two-story ceiling. I guess I’d been on the cutting edge when I accidentally colored Eve’s hair. But Eve was right—it’d turned out perfect in the end.
Snacks were served by waiters in white jackets and we all loaded up as if we hadn’t eaten since Monday. When they showed Eve’s commercial, all seven of us cheered for her. She looked killer as a wide-eyed alien walking stealthily through a washed-out landscape while enemy spacecraft exploded around her.
“That was amazing!” I said once it had ended.
“Great job, Eve,” Lizbeth said.
“Pretty cool,” Jonah said. “But I bet I can beat you at this live-action thing.” He jerked his thumb toward the game entrance. Eve said, “You’re on,” and took off without him.
“Hey!” he said, then followed after her. “Illegal start!”
We all laughed, then Kyle, Tobias, and Matthew looked at the rest of us.
Kyle stood near me with his hands shoved in his pockets.
“How about it, Lancaster?” I said to him. “Wanna go play?”
He grinned a dimpled smile. “You’re on.”
We took off running toward the entrance.
“Hey!” I heard Kristen’s voice behind me. “Wait for us!”
We raced to the starting line, and I could hear everyone else running behind us—all my friends, together.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Taylor Morris is the author of several books including Class Favorite and Total Knockout, and her short stories and articles have appeared in Girls’ Life magazine. She graduated from Emerson College in Boston, MA, and currently lives in New York City with her orchestra conductor husband. She does not get her hair cut in a fancy salon like Hello, Gorgeous!, but she loves hearing from her readers about their latest hairstyles and favorite names for both real and imaginary nail polish colors. Visit her at www.taylormorris.com and tell her your favorites!
Foiled Page 13