by Nancy Krulik
Katie looked down at the picture. The model practically had a buzz cut.
“That’s way too short,”
Katie said. “I like to put my hair in a ponytail sometimes.”
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Katie, to be stylish, you have to be daring,” she said.
“Maybe, but I’m not going to be bald,” Katie told Suzanne.
“Speaking of bald,” George interrupted, “do you guys know what the bald man said when he got a comb for his birthday?”
“What?” Kevin asked.
“He said, ‘I’ll never part with it!’” George began to laugh at his own joke.
Katie laughed, too. George could be so funny sometimes.
Unfortunately, Suzanne didn’t think so. “That was a really dumb joke,” she told him. “Hairstyles are serious business. They’re not something to joke about!”
That made George laugh even harder. Which made Suzanne even madder.
Just then, Emma W. picked up her flute case. “Katie, we have to go to band practice,” she said.
“Great!” Katie exclaimed. She picked up her clarinet case and leaped out of her seat.
“Where are you going?” Suzanne demanded. “We still have a lot of hairstyles to look at. You can’t leave now.”
“She has to,” Emma W. explained. “We’re practicing during recess every day this week.”
“But your hair . . .” Suzanne began.
“Sorry, Suzanne,” Katie said. “I have to go. If the band doesn’t practice, we won’t be able to play in the concert. And then there won’t be any reason for me to get a new hairstyle.”
Suzanne couldn’t argue with logic like that. “Okay, go ahead,” she said. “But right after school, you and I are looking at these magazines. Every single one of them. We’ll find you the perfect hairdo. You’ll see.”
Katie sighed as she looked at the huge stack of magazines on the table. Somehow Suzanne was turning the search for Katie’s new ’do into a major don’t!
Chapter 6
“Katie, sit still!” Suzanne insisted. “I can’t get the rubber band around your hair if you move like that.”
“Ouch!” Katie shouted as Suzanne tugged hard on her hair. “I don’t know why we’re doing this, anyway.”
“We have to try things out so I know exactly what to tell Sparkle when we get to her salon,” Suzanne explained.
Katie frowned. Why had she agreed to go to Suzanne’s house after school? She should be practicing her clarinet instead. But there was something about Suzanne that made it impossible to say no. So for the past hour, Katie had been sitting in Suzanne’s bedroom, having her hair yanked, combed, tied, and curled.
“Ouch!” Katie cried out again. “What are you doing now?”
“I’m teasing,” Suzanne said.
“What do you mean? What are you teasing me about?” Katie asked.
Suzanne giggled. “No, I meant, I’m teasing your hair,” she explained. “I’m holding it at the ends and then combing it up instead of down. Teasing makes your hair more poofy.”
“Why would I want poofy hair?” Katie asked.
“It will look absolutely great,” Suzanne assured her. “Trust me.”
Katie sighed. “If it looks so great, why won’t you let me look in the mirror?” she wondered.
“Don’t you want to be surprised?” Suzanne asked.
No. Katie did not want to be surprised. What she wanted was to go home.
“You’re going to look so amazing! All the other moms and dads will be looking at you instead of their own kids,” Suzanne continued.
Katie frowned. She didn’t care about other parents. She just wanted her own dad to be there. But he was leaving tomorrow on his trip and wouldn’t be home until Tuesday.
“Ouch!” Katie exclaimed as Suzanne tugged hard on a strand of her hair.
“Almost finished,” Suzanne assured her. “Just another ribbon on the other side.”
Just then, Suzanne’s two-year-old sister, Heather, toddled into the room. She looked up at Katie and burst out laughing.
“Katie, you look silly,” she said.
Suzanne glared at her little sister. “She does not,” she told Heather. “Katie looks beautiful.”
Heather shook her head. “Silly,” she insisted. “Silly, silly, silly!”
“Mom!” Suzanne shouted at the top of her lungs. “Heather is ruining our playdate!”
Mrs. Lock came rushing down the hall. She bent down and scooped up Heather. Then she stared at Katie.
“What are you girls doing?” Mrs. Lock asked.
“We’re trying out new hairstyles,” Suzanne said proudly. “Don’t you love what I’ve created for Katie?”
Mrs. Lock didn’t say anything. She just kept staring at Katie’s head.
“Mom?” Suzanne asked. “Didn’t you hear me?”
“I heard you,” Mrs. Lock replied. “I just don’t know what to say.”
Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good. Katie leaped up out of the chair and dashed toward Suzanne’s bedroom mirror.
“Aaaahhhh!” Katie screamed when she saw her reflection.
“What’s wrong?” Suzanne asked. “I think it’s perfect.”
Katie stared at the wild, red nest of hair on the top of her head. Below were four messy braids sticking almost straight out. She started to scream again.
“I look like the Bride of Frankenstein!” Katie exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, Katie,” Mrs. Lock said. “As soon as you unbraid and brush your hair, it will go right back to normal.”
“But I can’t go home like this,” Katie said.
“What if someone sees me?”
“I’ll fix it now,” Mrs. Lock assured her.
“Thanks,” Katie said, choking back her tears.
“You’re going to change it back after all my hard work?” Suzanne shouted angrily. “That’s the last time I’ll try to make you look gorgeous!”
Katie certainly hoped so.
Chapter 7
The next morning, Katie had pushed all thoughts of hair out of her head. She couldn’t help feeling really sad when she kissed her dad good-bye.
“I feel just as bad as you do about missing the concert,” Katie’s father told her.
Katie knew he meant it. But it didn’t make her feel any better. And to make things worse, Katie was really tired. She’d spent most of last night reading a book about things that glided, like flying squirrels, hang gliders, and, of course, kites. Katie couldn’t wait to tell Mr. G. all the new things she’d learned.
Of course, Katie wasn’t the only fourth-grader thinking about how kites flew.
“I think we need more than one tail,” she overheard Jeremy saying as she walked over to where he and Manny were standing on the playground. “That will keep the kite more stable when it’s flying.”
“Hi, guys,” Katie greeted the boys cheerfully.
Manny frowned when he saw Katie.
“Hey, did you hear what Jeremy was saying?” he demanded.
“About what?” Katie wondered.
“About our kite,” Manny said.
“I’m not sure,” Katie admitted. “I think you said something about its tail.”
“Oh, great,” Manny said angrily. “Now the enemy will find out what we’re planning.”
“What enemy?” Katie asked. She was confused.
“George, Kadeem, and Kevin,” Jeremy said.
“I bet you’re on their side,” Manny added.
“Why would I be on their side?” Katie asked.
“Because they’re in your class,” Manny replied.
“I don’t want to choose a side,” she said. And she meant it. After all, George, Kadeem, and Kevin were in Katie’s class. But she and Jeremy had been friends since they were babies.
“You have to,” Manny told her. “If you’re not with us, then you’re against us.”
Katie sighed. This kite-flying thing had turned into more than just a friendly competition. It was a
major kite fight!
Things got worse after lunch, when the kids in the beginning band went to rehearsal.
Katie sat down in her assigned seat—the third chair from the left. Emma W. sat down in her seat in the middle of the second row.
A moment later, Jeremy came into the room. Katie smiled up at him. But Jeremy pretended not to see her. He sat down behind his drums without saying a word.
Then Becky came into the band room. She had her big French horn with her. “Hi, Jeremy,” she cooed as she took her place in the third row.
“Hi, Becky,” Jeremy replied.
Now, that was weird. Talking to Becky but not talking to Katie—did Jeremy consider Katie the enemy now?
Before Katie could ask him, George and Kevin strolled into the band room together. George sat down at the keyboards. Kevin took his assigned seat on the left side of the room.
“Hi, Katie Kazoo,” George greeted her. “Ready to play ‘Go Tell Aunt Rhodie’?”
“Definitely,” Katie told him. “I practiced it last night.”
“I practiced, too,” Kevin said.
“You guys are going to sound great,” Mr. Starkey assured them.
Kadeem and Manny walked into the band room at almost the same time as Mr. Starkey. Kadeem sat down in his seat in the back row. Manny plopped down in the chair next to Kevin.
Kevin leaped out of his chair!
“What’s the matter?” Mr. Starkey asked Kevin.
“I don’t want to sit next to Manny anymore,” Kevin explained.
“You have to sit next to him,” Mr. Starkey said. “You both play the trumpet. The trumpets sit together in one section.”
“Can’t I sit next to Kadeem?” Kevin asked. “He’s on the same team as I am. The class 4A kite-flying team.”
“I’ll sit next to you, Kevin,” Emma W. said. “I’m on class 4A’s team.”
“Everyone stay right where you are,” Mr. Starkey told the kids. “There are no teams in this music room. Music sounds best when we all work together.”
Just then, Suzanne appeared in the doorway. Yikes! She was holding another fashion magazine with her finger stuck between the pages.
“What are you doing here?” Kadeem asked her. “You’re not in the band.”
“I know,” Suzanne said. “I just stopped by to show Katie a hairstyle. We’re both getting our haircut on Saturday morning.”
“Saturday is three days away,” George reminded Suzanne.
“Suzanne, please leave at once. We are trying to have a rehearsal,” Mr. Starkey said.
“Sorry,” Suzanne said, although she didn’t really sound very sorry. “These appointments are very, very important. Sparkle is only fitting Katie in as a favor to me.”
Katie didn’t really believe that. After all, Sparkle’s Salon was brand-new. Sparkle needed as many customers as she could get. But Katie didn’t say that to Suzanne. She didn’t want to embarrass her in front of everyone.
So instead she said, “I’ll see you later, Suzanne.”
“Great,” Suzanne said. “I’ll meet you after school. I have some awesome pictures for you to look at. Have you ever considered getting a Mohawk?”
Katie didn’t even know how to answer that one.
As Suzanne left the band room, Katie tried to concentrate on the songs she was about to play. But it was hard to think about “Camptown Races” when everyone else was fighting. If the kids in the beginning band didn’t start to work together, they were going to sound terrible at the concert. How embarrassing would that be?
Katie frowned. This was soooo not good.
Chapter 8
And things didn’t get any better as the week went on. By Friday, the fighting in the fourth grade was totally out of control. No one in class 4A was speaking to anyone in class 4B. Well, except for Suzanne. She was still talking to Katie.
Or rather, she was telling Katie what to do. Constantly.
“I don’t think you should wear your hair super-straight,” Suzanne said as the girls walked through the mall together on Saturday morning. “It would be too much work to straighten it every day.”
“I’m just going to ask Sparkle what she thinks I should do,” Katie said. “After all, she’s the professional.”
Suzanne’s face turned all red and angry. “I’m a professional,” she insisted. “I’ve modeled three times.”
“But those were recitals for your modeling class,” Katie reminded her.
“I told you, they’re not recitals. They’re called runway shows,” Suzanne insisted.
Katie rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Hey, isn’t that George, Kevin, and Kadeem?” Suzanne said, pointing straight ahead. “What are they doing here? They don’t need haircuts.”
“There are lots of stores in the mall, Suzanne,” Katie reminded her friend.
“I guess,” Suzanne agreed. “I’m just so focused on our haircuts, I can’t think about anything else.”
That made Katie laugh. What a Suzanne thing to say.
“Hi, Katie Kazoo,” George greeted her a moment later. He didn’t say anything to Suzanne. After all, she was in class 4B. The enemy.
“You guys have been doing a lot of shopping,” Katie said, pointing to three huge bags they were carrying.
“We’re buying supplies for—” Kevin began.
Kadeem poked Kevin in the side and pointed to Suzanne.
“We’re just buying stuff,” Kevin murmured.
“We’re off to get haircuts,” Suzanne told the boys. “And we’re late already.”
Suzanne grabbed Katie by the arm and started to pull her away. Katie lost her balance. She grabbed at George to keep from tripping. Instead she grabbed his shopping bag and it ripped.
Everything spilled out of George’s bag. There were bright red pom-poms, a bag of big, plastic googly eyes, and a long, green and purple ribbon.
George glared at Suzanne. “You did that on purpose!” he insisted. “You were trying to make Katie fall!”
Suzanne shot him a look. “And just why would I want to do that?”
“Because you’re a spy!” George told her. “You wanted to see our kite materials.”
“You’re using googly eyes for your kite?” Katie asked George.
“I don’t want to talk about it in front of her,” George told Katie.
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t care less about your stupid kite.” And with that, Suzanne stormed off in the direction of Sparkle’s Salon.
“I’m sorry,” Katie told the boys. She bent down and picked up the pom-poms and the ribbon.
“Be careful around her, Katie Kazoo,” George warned. “Remember, she’s the enemy.”
Katie’s mind raced back to the weird hairdo Suzanne had created for her earlier in the week. A nervous feeling came over her. Could George be right?
Chapter 9
A moment later, Katie walked into Sparkle’s Salon. Wow! This place definitely did not look like any hair salon Katie had ever been to before.
“This is amazing!” Suzanne exclaimed. “I love it.”
Katie could understand why. Suzanne loved glitter. And walking into Sparkle’s Salon was like entering a glitter factory—where there had been an explosion! There was glitter and sparkles everywhere. Sparkly stars were painted on the ceiling. A glittery rainbow covered the entire back wall.
But nothing in the salon was as sparkly as Sparkle herself! She was wearing a shimmery gold dress, which matched her gold, glitter-covered platform shoes. Her hot pink hair and long, blue nails were covered with glitter, too.
“Wow!” Suzanne exclaimed. “Sparkle looks so cool. I’d love to have an outfit just like that.”
Katie could definitely see Suzanne in a gold sparkly dress. But she couldn’t see herself in one. She couldn’t see herself with hot pink hair, either.
“I don’t know about this, Suzanne,” Katie said slowly.
“What are you talking about?” Suzanne asked her. “Sparkle has such a sense of sty
le.”
“Not my style,” Katie insisted. “I don’t want weird-colored hair.”
Katie turned around to head for the door. That was when she saw that Sparkle was standing right behind her. There was no way Sparkle could have missed hearing what Katie had just said. That made Katie feel awful. She hadn’t meant to hurt Sparkle’s feelings. Pink hair looked just fine on Sparkle. Katie just didn’t want it for herself.
But Sparkle didn’t seem angry with Katie. In fact, she smiled at her.
“Hello, girls,” Sparkle said. “Do you have appointments?”
“We sure do!” Suzanne said. “Both of us.”
Katie gulped. She couldn’t leave now. That would be rude. Katie was trapped.
“I’m Suzanne, and this is my friend Katie,” Suzanne explained.
Sparkle smiled again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
Katie nodded. “Um . . . hi,” she said, trying not to stare at the glittery blue lip gloss Sparkle was wearing.
“So who wants to go first?” Sparkle asked.
Without thinking, Katie pushed her best friend in front of her. “Suzanne does,” she said quickly. “I can wait.”
Sparkle shrugged and said, “Okay, however you girls want it. Go into the dressing rooms and put on smocks. I’ll be right with you.”
As she watched Suzanne walk into a dressing room, Katie thought about making a run for it. But she knew she couldn’t.
Katie shut the door behind her in one of the other dressing rooms. She stood there for a minute, looking into the long, full-length mirror. It felt really strange knowing that this might be the last time she ever saw herself looking like this. Normal.
Just then, Katie felt a cool wind blowing on the back of her neck. That was weird. There were no windows in the dressing room. And no fans, either.
Where was the breeze coming from?
The wind began blowing colder and harder, then whirring around until it was like a wild tornado. A tornado that was only spinning around Katie.
Oh no! This wasn’t an ordinary wind. It was the magic wind. And, boy, was it blowing. The wind was so fierce, Katie was afraid it might blow her right out of the mall. Maybe even all the way out of Cherrydale!
