by Caity H.
“Umm, I think it said ten washes,” I whimpered. I had ruined his graduation. I was a horrible human being, and I would never be a hairstylist. That much was for sure.
“I’m going to go home and wash my hair a ton, and then I’m going swimming tonight. Hopefully, there will be less blue by tomorrow,” he murmured, pulling at some of the blue hair.
“Lex, I’m so sorry!” I cried, feeling horrible.
He scratched his head awkwardly, like he wasn’t sure how to react. He walked over to where I was and wrapped his arms around me. I stiffened. Lex Diamond was giving me a hug? The earth was off its axis or something.
“It’s alright. One day we’ll look back at this and laugh. But, for now, I’m going to go try and get the blue to fade.” He let me go and surveyed himself in the mirror once again.
“We can ask my mom,” I said, feeling so very helpless.
He shook his head quickly. “The fewer people who see it, the better.”
“Can I take a picture?” I inquired, biting my lip. “That way if I ever think about dying my own hair, or someone else’s, I’ll know better.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s okay,” he snickered. I ran from the bathroom and went to grab my camera.
“How goes the dying?” Mom asked from her room.
I skidded to a stop and froze. “Lex doesn’t really want people to see.”
“Well now I have to go see it,” she deadpanned, heading towards the bathroom. At least we’d have someone to take the picture for us. I got back in the bathroom and Lex was sitting against the counter.
Mom was staring at him, mouth agape. “It’s just so … blue,” she breathed, dumbfounded.
I handed her the camera and went to stand next to him. “Take our picture?”
She turned on the camera and took a few pictures. “I will never let her near your hair again. I should’ve known better. Sorry, honey,” she said to Lex.
“It’s okay.” He slid an arm around my waist, sending shivers up my back. Mom took a few pictures. “It was a good growing experience for her and me. I won’t ever let an inexperienced person touch my hair again,” he swore. Letting go of my waist, he stood. “I’ll be back in a little while. Be ready to go.”
“I will,” I answered. He left.
Mom turned to me. “Well, thank goodness you didn’t choose to do that bright pink color. That would’ve been horrific.” She kissed my forehead and left me alone. I stared at the mirror. I had possibly just ruined Lex’s graduation day, and yet, he didn’t try to kill me.
Maybe Lex was changing.
Lex came back around 6:45 P.M. He was wearing the same shirt, but his shorts were hot pink with black zebra stripe. I raised my eyebrows.
“It’s a soccer thing,” he supplied with a shrug.
“Oh, okay.” Because that makes sense. I was still wearing the big tee shirt; it covered my bathing suit pretty well. I looked at his hair and immediately felt depressed when I saw that it was still super blue.
He noticed where my eyes went. “It didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. Hopefully though, Bethany’s pool will work better than shampoo.” He gestured towards the car. “Shall we go?”
“Yeah, let’s go. Bethany said she’d send everyone to my house if I wasn’t there,” I told him, walking towards the car. He laughed, opening my door for me. “Thanks.” I smiled as I got in.
“Bridges never ceases to amuse me with her threats.” He grinned, shutting my door and heading to his side.
“I think it’s a gift,” I murmured.
“Perhaps.” He pulled away from the curb, heading towards Bethany’s.
“Is Cassy coming tonight?” I glanced over at him. The setting sun cascaded through the windshield, casting a golden hue onto his already tan skin. The blue in his hair gleamed, contrasting with skin.
He shook his head. “No, she had plans already. I’m flying solo tonight.”
A few minutes down the road I again looked at his blue hair. I still felt like the worst person ever. What kind of monster ruined someone’s hair the day before graduation?
“Don’t freak out, Bee.” He smirked, seeing me in the corner of his eye.
I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. “I turned your head blue. You could pass for a Smurf, for crying out loud! I should freak out a little bit.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror, watching the group of kids behind him. They were riding their bikes down the sidewalk. “That was more of an insult than an apology.” He paused, waiting for the kids to pedal past him before he turned onto Bethany’s street.
“Sorry,” I said again, putting my head in my hands.
“It’s not as bad as it looks. My mom saw it and thought I was going for a patriotic look,” he told me. Lex parked along the curb and turned the car off. He turned to me. “I’m not mad. I said you could do it. Granted, I didn’t know how it would turn out, but I should’ve known better.” He smirked as I frowned. “Now let’s go inside okay? I’ve got to get some good swimming in if I want to try and lighten the color more.” He looked at his hair again.
“It does look more faded since this afternoon,” I said, trying to sound positive.
“It’s dry too, instead of just towel dried. So that helps. I’ll just have to make it work tomorrow. I’ll shove it all under my hat or something,” he winked, getting out of the car.
I got out to and grabbed my bag. He locked his car and we started towards the front door. We could hear everyone else in the backyard laughing and talking. I led him over to the door leading to the backyard and walked in.
“Olivia!” Desmond yelled loudly, getting the attention of everyone inside.
“Desmond is here?” Lex complained from behind me.
“Yes, he is. And you two are going to pretend that you’re best friends,” I replied.
Ryan and all of his friends were there. Desmond, Ryan, Billy, and Rick were playing something in the pool, probably Marko-Polo. Bethany, Noelle, and Grace were all in chairs laughing and talking. I wondered where Grace’s boyfriend Aaron was.
Lex looked out of place, standing there almost awkwardly, mainly because when everyone looked at him, they saw his blue head. Noticing the stares, Lex seemed to straighten, standing taller. I let a small smile slip at his confidence.
“Dude, what the heck happened to your hair?” Desmond inquired, wiping the water from his eyes.
“Consider it a graduation gift that overdosed,” Lex said flippantly, walking past the guys and over to a chair where he sat down.
“Olivia, are you going to get in?” Ryan swam over to the edge.
I bent down, sitting on my knees. “I need to put my stuff down and say hi to the girls, but then I’ll get in,” I promised.
“Good, but hurry up. I wanna dunk you.” He smiled giddily.
“Sounds great.” I remarked sarcastically. He stretched up, kissing my cheek before returning to the other guys. I stood up and walked over to where the girls, and Lex, were all sitting.
Bethany stood up and gave me a hug. “You’re so spilling later what happened to Lex’s hair.”
I laughed and walked over to the other girls and smiled. “Hey guys,” I said, giving a general wave.
“Hey Livie, long time no see!” Noelle smiled. She was wearing a bright pink bikini, a belly button ring sparkling in the fading sunlight.
“Yeah, forever almost,” I jested, glancing at Grace who smiled at me. Her dark brown hair was in a braid, and she was wearing a grey one piece bathing suit with shorts. “Hey Grace,” I smiled. “Where’s Aaron?”
“He had work tonight, sadly,” she replied.
“Lame,” I said and set my stuff down on one of the chairs and slipped my flip-flops off. I lifted my shirt over my head and dumped it with my stuff. I then let my hair fall down from the pony tail.
“Okay, I’m going to go get dunked,” I said, glancing back at Ryan who had Billy in a headlock.
“Have fun,” Noelle called with a laugh. I walked over to the edge
of the pool and saw it glimmer under the sun.
“I hope Honeybees can swim!” Lex called right before he pushed me in. I screamed and barely managed to hold my breath before I hit the water. The chill of the water sent shivers down my spine. I rubbed my arms under the water before pushing off the bottom of the pool and surfacing.
As I broke the surface, I saw that Lex was still standing there, smirking like he was king of the pool or something. I frowned and splashed him before swimming toward where Ryan was. Ryan met me half way and smiled.
“Hey,” I said, smiling. He glanced at Lex who had moved back to his chair. He had his sunglasses on over his eyes, and he was looking at his phone. He was probably bored already. “How was the ride over?”
“It was fine. I told you, we’re friends again. It’s okay.” I promised.
“If you say so,” he said. I took a minute to take in Ryan's appearance. He had on black board shorts, and the water came just a bit below his chest. He too had well defined abs, I would make sure to get in a good hug before he put his abs away. He winked, catching me staring. I bit my lip, feeling the heat spread across my cheeks. Laughing, Ryan looked back at Lex. “Are you going to come swimming?” he called out. “Unless you’d rather gab with the girls,” Ryan taunted.
Lex lifted his head, looking our way. Encouraged by the taunt, Lex took his sunglasses off and then his shirt. The butterflies stirred when his abs were on display again. He walked over to the edge, slipping into the pool. “Happy now?” he raised an eyebrow.
“I suppose. Are you?” Ryan wondered, raising an eyebrow as well. It was like some kind of gentle standoff.
“He better be,” Desmond mumbled, swimming over. Billy and Rick swam over as well. I looked up when the other girls got into the water. Noelle slid next to Rick, and his arms encircled her waist.
Ryan looked from his friends to Lex. “Do you know everyone?”
Lex glanced at the group of strangers, shaking his head. “Never met them. I’m Lex Diamond,” he introduced himself, nodding at each of them.
“This is Billy, and Rick.” Ryan gestured to them as he said their name. “That is Noelle and Grace.” The girls smiled.
“Nice to meet you guys,” Lex murmured, shooting a glance my way as if to make sure I saw him being polite to the guys. I gave a smile in reply.
“I take it you know Desmond already?” Billy mentioned, tipping his head toward where Desmond was standing.
Lex grimaced. “Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “We’re on the same soccer team, and apparently we’re best friends.”
“Wait, what?” Desmond gaped, glaring at Lex. “When did this happen?”
Lex jerked a thumb in my direction. “Honeybee’s declared that we’re to act civil and pretend we’re best friends. Don’t blame me.” I grinned, shaking my head.
“Seriously?” Desmond moped, his head drooping. “You know we can’t stand each other, right?”
“I do, but I also know that if I’m going to be friends with both of you, you’re going to see each other on occasion. I’d rather it wasn’t a blood bath each time you set eyes on each other,” I admitted. “Plus! You can both be mad at me for it, and it’ll be a bonding experience.” Desmond and Lex glared at each other, apparently not liking the idea.
“Tag anyone?” Billy suggested, trying to break the tension.
Ryan grinned at me. “Olivia’s it.”
It was like something exploded, shooting each of them away from me simultaneously. Sighing, I bolted toward whoever was closest to me.
For the next half an hour we played tag, splashing and swimming as fast as we could to avoid being tagged. I was hit a few times, mostly by Lex and Ryan. Desmond and Lex made it their mission to tag each other as hard as possible, leaving red marks. Bethany left and went inside to help her mom finish getting things ready for when we all went inside for food and movies.
Desmond charged past me in the water, Lex right behind him. Unable to stop himself, he ran right into me, dunking me under the water. His hands found my waist, pulling me back up from the water. “You okay?”
I sputtered, nodding as I coughed up water. “Yup.”
“Good, cause you’re it.” He smirked. “No tag backs.” I glared and was about to protest when Bethany came back outside, standing on the deck.
She had her hands on her hips. “If you all want to come inside, there is a food and a movie.” She glanced over at Noelle and Rick who were pulling themselves from the water. “And everyone dry off a bit before you come in, or my mom will kill you with a butter knife,” she mentioned. “And that’ll be a slow death.”
“I’m afraid,” Desmond deadpanned, glancing at me.
“Alright,” Billy called, shoving Ryan back down into the water before he hauled himself out of the water.
Lex sighed, standing next to me. “And I just tagged you.”
I smirked, shaking my head and swam to the edge. Moving to my chair, I wrapped up in my towel to dry off. The rest of the girls had already gone inside. I looked to see the guys all out and drying themselves off. Pulling my shirt back on, and twisting my hair into a bun, I headed inside.
The countertops sparkled under the lamp hanging from the idle of the ceiling, and the wooden floor was cold from the A.C. I shivered slightly and quickly went to grab some food. We girls had to get our food before the guys came in and made the food disappear with their magical stomachs that never filled up.
“Mom made hotdogs and hamburgers, and we have chips and sliced up fruit. I’m going to go set up the movie,” Bethany said, and left the room.
We all started serving up our food and we were walking into the living room to sit down when the guys made their way in. Desmond and Lex still had their shirts off, what their reason for that was, I had no clue.
I sat down on the couch next to Noelle and Bethany, Grace on the other side of Noelle. There was a table in front of us for our drinks to be set on. The other two sofas were smaller, but there would be enough room for the guys.
“What movie did you pick?” Rick asked, coming and sitting down in the green couch across from us.
“That’s a surprise! I’ve got it all set up, so I don’t even have to go to the main menu.” Bethany smiled.
I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my hotdog. “She enjoys making people guess. It’s her little game,” I told him, sipping some water.
“Grace does the same thing. Whenever I ask her what we’re watching she makes me try and guess. It’s so annoying!” Billy groaned as he came into the living room. He surveyed the seating arrangement and took the spot on the empty couch. “I’m a lone wolf,” he supplied when we looked at him.
“Is it a Disney movie?” Desmond asked, taking the spot next to Billy.
Billy sighed. “There goes my lone wolf-ness.”
Desmond elbowed him. “Dude, you don’t want to talk like that. No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend.” Grace gave a small laugh, which caused Billy to glare in her direction. She stopped laughing and looked away from him.
Ryan walked in, with a plate in his hands. “Billy’s a stud.” He took the spot next to Rick. Next to come in was Lex, who sat down next to Desmond.
“Have you guys figured out what the movie is yet?” Ryan glanced at Bethany.
“Nope,” she answered. “They haven’t even bothered to make any guesses.” Of course as soon as the Bond music came on, everyone knew exactly what she’d put into watch.
“I love this movie,” Desmond said, “There are hot chicks in it.” I rolled my eyes.
“Is that all you ever think about?” Lex wondered.
Desmond glared at him. “Best friends, remember? We support each other.”
Lex snorted, nodding his head. “Yes, of course. Apologies.”
“Friends sometimes, am I right?” Desmond grinned, slapping Billy’s shoulder. I settled in against the couch to watch the movie and enjoy my last night as a high school senior.
Around nine o’clock Rick and Noelle headed home, s
oon after Grace and Billy left as well. By nine thirty, Ryan was leaving too. After he said goodnight to Desmond, Lex, and Bethany, I went outside with him to say goodnight.
He hugged me and kissed my cheek. “I guess I’ll see you later then, have fun graduating tomorrow, okay?”
I nodded, leaning my head against his chest. “As soon as it’s over I’m going to be the happiest girl ever.” I let go and looked up at him.
“Good.” His ring glinted in the faint light as he twisted it with his tongue. It was a habit of his.
“Can I ask you something?” I murmured, biting my lip nervously.
“Of course,” he replied, brushing my bangs from my eyes. “Anything.”
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my heartbeat. “What … are we? We’ve gone on a few dates. We hang out a lot and flirt. But I don’t know what to call you.”
The smile on his lips weakened. “I’m not sure. What do you want to be?”
A frown fell to my lips when I realized he’d put the ball back in my court. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship before, and I don’t know when to classify something as such.” He smiled. “So I don’t know if I should consider us to be a couple if we’ve only gone on a few dates. I mean, how do you know when it’s serious and when it’s just for fun?”
He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t really know. But I think the easiest way to decide what this is, is to figure out if we have real feelings for each other, or we just enjoy each other’s company in the friendly sense.”
I’d only ever had real feelings for Lex, and I wasn’t sure what feelings for Ryan felt like. Sure, I liked him, and I thought he was cute. But I wasn’t the kind of person to take dating casually. I had to feel like there was a possible future before I let someone call me their girlfriend. Biting my lip, I met his eyes and shrugged. I didn’t know how I felt about him.
Ryan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “After getting to know each other these past few weeks, if you don’t know what your feelings are toward me, I think that’s an answer all in itself.”
“I’m sorry, Ryan,” I mumbled, looking away from him. Why couldn’t I fall for him? He was wonderful.