“That all sounds great,” Dad said.
“It is,” Mom said. She looked at me and said, “All thanks to this one.”
I gobbled up my dinner, as happy as I’d been since I started working at the salon. I’d finally done something Mom was really impressed by.
After dinner, I knew I should be reading To Kill a Mockingbird, but I couldn’t help going online for just a couple of minutes to see what else I could learn about Cecilia. Soon, I was weaving through links and going from site to site, learning all these really cool things about her. Like how she was raised in the Midwest but always wanted to live in New York City, so as soon as she graduated from high school she moved there all on her own. I read about her first job at a salon in the city (as a sweeper!), and how she rose through the ranks to become the youngest stylist in the salon’s history. I read for so long that I almost forgot I was supposed to be reading something else—a certain classic for English class. Oops.
CHAPTER 8
“You should have seen her hair,” I said to Eve at lunch the next day. “Like electric red, but not harsh. And I think it’s natural. Well, mostly.”
“That’s so cool,” Eve replied.
“Yeah, except I totally didn’t read anything for English. Did you?”
“Yeah, the book is really good,” she said. “Hey, give that back.” She turned to Jonah, who had just swiped a chip from her lunch.
“I’m an animal!” Jonah said. “A wild beast who takes what you’re not fast enough to eat!” Then he reached over and grabbed another chip from the pile.
“Jonah!” Eve laughed. “You have your own lunch.”
“I’m a growing boy!”
“Boy is right,” I muttered. But at least I got a laugh out of it. From Kyle. “Seriously. What is with these two?” I asked him, jerking my thumb toward them.
“I think they’ve been infected,” Kyle said.
I grinned. “Aliens? Body snatchers?”
“Stupidity,” Kyle said. I agreed.
“Eve,” I said. “Are you going to come to the salon while Cecilia is there? Maybe we can get you on camera.”
“No, you said he was the best gamer of all time. Which totally isn’t true,” Eve said.
If what Eve just said to me made no sense, there’s a good reason for that. It’s because she wasn’t talking to me. She was talking to Jonah. Still.
I shook my head and turned back to Kyle. “I think we’re both right. They’ve been infected by stupid alien body snatchers.”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been saying for a week!” he said.
“And by the way, where are Kristen and Lizbeth?” Lunch was almost over but they still hadn’t come to our table.
“I’ll give you a hint,” Kyle said. “Argyle socks.”
“Oh no,” I said, immediately understanding. I looked over to the next table and sure enough, Kristen and Lizbeth were sitting with Tobias and Matthew. Tobias might not be the type to wear preppy socks, but Matthew totally was. Matthew was saying something and the girls—especially Lizbeth—looked totally captivated. “Should we call the nurse?”
“Unfortunately, I think they’re a lost cause. No antidote strong enough. It’s too bad, really,” Kyle said, gazing off at the other table as if in deep thought. “I was just starting to get slightly less annoyed with them.”
“The girls or the guys?” I asked, picking up my bottled water and taking a drink.
“Both, of course,” he said. “I mean, Tobias is the greatest player in the history of baseball. Didn’t you get that memo?”
“Jonah, let go!” Eve said, laughing and leaning away from Jonah—and onto to me—as he tugged on her wrist. She jerked her hand back, which banged into my arm. The one holding the bottle. Water spilled down the front of my shirt.
“Ugh, real nice,” I said, looking down at the wet spot. Eve didn’t even notice. She and Jonah just kept goofing around.
“It’s safe over here,” Kyle said, nodding to the empty seat next to him and across from me and the mutants.
“Thanks,” I said, pushing my tray across the table, then walking around. I dabbed my napkin on my shirt, trying to dry it. “Don’t worry! I’ll be fine!” I said loudly to Eve, but she barely glanced my way. “I think we should pick up some masks from the nurse,” I said to Kyle. “You know, so we don’t breathe in their disease.” I looked back at Tobias and Matthew and pretended to be seriously observing them. “Okay, Tobias is obviously the king of baseball.”
“Obviously. And Matthew is the duke of argyle.”
“So that means Kristen is . . . ,” Kyle began.
“Be careful,” I said. “Those are my friends.”
We both watched them. Kristen was trying to spoon-feed Tobias some of her chili, but he brushed her hand away. Then he reached over and snatched the bite from her, anyway.
“Kristen is the princess of persuasion. And Lizbeth is her lady-in-waiting,” Kyle said.
“Well done, sir,” I said. “So what does that make us?”
“Court jesters, of course,” Kyle said.
“Perfection.”
As we dug back into our lunches, I thought about how boy-crazy all my friends had become. Kristen and Lizbeth had been crushing on Tobias and Matthew for weeks and weeks and they were just now finally talking to them. Well, maybe talking wasn’t the right word—more like giggling hysterically. Didn’t they know that guys are normal people (mostly) and they didn’t have to act like that around them? They’re actually really easy to talk to. You just sit down and . . . talk. Presto!
“It’s a battle out there,” I said to Kyle. “We can’t let them take us.”
“You’re right,” Kyle said, matching my serious tone. “We have to stick together or our brains will melt.”
“Melt into stupid alien body snatchers soup.”
“I think that’s what they’re serving at lunch tomorrow,” he said, turning to look at me with a small smile. I smiled back and took a bite of my sandwich.
We watched as Jonah challenged Eve to thumb wrestle—which she refused—then Eve challenged Jonah to rock-paper-scissors instead. I shifted in my seat just as Eve bopped her “rock” on Jonah’s head, wondering if I should make another joke to Kyle or ask something about him.
Kyle cleared his throat and said, “Hey, so get this: Jonah and I had plans to take our bikes to the top of that trail above Camden Way. You know that one I’m talking about?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Bended Brook.”
He turned his head slightly to look at me. “Yeah. Have you ever done it?”
“No,” I said. “But I’ve always wanted to. I heard you can see the whole town from the top.”
“Right. So Mr. Love over there made plans to go with me tomorrow after school. We were going to ride up to the top on our mountain bikes. But guess who’s bailing?”
“No way,” I said. “Jonah canceled on you?”
“Yup,” Kyle said. Jonah and Eve were so wrapped up in whether paper covered rock that we didn’t even have to lower our voices to talk about them. “Supposedly they’re going to study together.”
“Oh, gag,” I said.
“I’m still going,” Kyle said. “You can come with me if you want.”
“I don’t have a mountain bike,” I said, wishing more than anything that I had a mountain bike. I had no idea Kyle did such cool things.
“That’s okay. I mean, we can walk the trail,” he said.
I really wanted to go—it sounded amazing. But I’d have to ask Mom if I could be away from the salon for one afternoon, since Cecilia wanted me to be there. I felt lame telling Kyle I had to ask for permission so I said, “Yeah, okay, then. That’d be cool.” And I hoped it would be.
“Awesome,” he said.
Kyle and I spent the rest of lunch talking to each other since everyone else had gone crazy and abandoned us. It was like we were the only two sane people left.
CHAPTER 9
When I got to the salon after school,
Cecilia was at Devon’s station, watching closely as Devon cut a woman’s chin-length black hair, while a camera captured it all. Two other cameras roamed the salon but everyone seemed much more chill about it today.
“Hey, hon,” Mom said from reception when I came in. “Cecilia was asking about you.”
“Really?” I asked, excited.
“She wanted to make sure you were coming in today,” Mom said. “You must have made an impression on her.”
This made me feel amazing, totally incredible. So while I was feeling fab and Mom was, too, I figured it’d be a good time to ask her about tomorrow and hiking with Kyle.
“Hey, so, um,” I began in my signature smooth style. “Do you think it’d be okay if I went hiking with a friend after school tomorrow? I’ll come here first to see if you need anything. If that’s okay?”
“Are you going with Eve?” Mom asked as she thumbed through receipts.
“No,” I said. “My friend Kyle.”
She paused and raised an eyebrow. “Kyle?”
“He’s a friend of Jonah’s, too.”
“Ah,” she said, setting down the receipts and giving me her full attention. “Jonah’s going as well?”
“No,” I said. “Just me and Kyle.”
Mom nodded slowly, considering this. It made me feel like I needed to explain myself more. “Eve’s spending a lot of time with Jonah lately and now Kristen and Lizbeth are hanging out with these boys they’ve liked for decades,” I said. “So that leaves me and Kyle, fending for ourselves. We thought we might as well hang out together.”
Mom brushed my hair off my shoulder. “Is everything okay with your friends?” she asked.
“Of course,” I replied, giving a little shrug.
“What about your homework?”
“I have a test on Friday but I’m caught up on my reading,” I said. Mostly, anyway. Except for not reading those chapters last night. I could totally catch up, though.
“All right,” Mom said. “Come by the salon first tomorrow, just to check in. And I want to see what chapters you’ve read before you go to bed tonight. If it’s done, then you can go.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said. I was already thinking about what I should wear tomorrow. Did I have a good hiking outfit?
“You sure everything’s okay with your friends?” she asked again, a worried expression on her face.
“Yes,” I said. “They’re just busy with boys.” I didn’t tell her I was getting a little annoyed with the whole thing. It was frustrating that I couldn’t have an uninterrupted conversation with Eve, or that Kristen and Lizbeth had entirely ditched our lunch table to sit with Tobias and Matthew.
I didn’t want to admit I was a little worried that I was starting to lose my friends.
Mom rubbed my back and said, “If you’re sure you’re okay. But I want you to start on your reading as soon as we get home.”
“Consider it done,” I said.
I went to the back to put away my stuff and put on my smock. I realized I was pretty excited about tomorrow. Hanging out with Kyle would be like hanging out with Jonah, and I hadn’t done that in forever.
And knowing that Cecilia was impressed with my help yesterday really made me want to step it up today. I wanted to show her that I was not only helpful at sweeping up and bringing supplies, but also amazingly good at hair stuff. I could be like her someday, and she could help get me there.
“Hi, Cecilia!” I said when I came out from the back, snapping on my smock. She was inspecting the hairwashing sinks, the chairs, towels, and products we used. She wrote everything down in her black notepad. Her black skirt suit fit her perfectly, the jacket flaring out over her hips. She even had rhinestones on the lapel, tying the look into her signature glasses.
“Hello, Miss Mickey,” she said. “Good to see you again.”
“Can I get you or your crew anything?”
“No, I think we’re all set,” she said. She picked up one of the towels and ran her hand across the fabric.
For a rare moment there was no camera over her shoulder. I thought it was the perfect time to try to learn more about her. The articles I’d read last night were great, but I wanted to hear some of Cecilia’s stories from the woman herself. “So, um, I read online that your very first client was your mom,” I said.
She smiled. “I was fourteen when I first cut my mother’s hair. It was a disaster. Totally lopsided in the back, bangs butchered. And I had used dull scissors, which damaged her ends even more than they probably were.” She laughed at the memory.
“I colored my friend’s hair blue,” I admitted, thinking what a bonding moment this could be for us.
Her eyes widened. “Is she still your friend?”
“Miraculously, yes,” I said with a laugh.
“Lucky you,” she said, looking relieved. “Did she keep the blue?”
“Only for a day. But she looked amazing, especially when I added the makeup,” I said. It had felt incredible to create a look for Eve’s commercial, even if it came out of my mess-up. “She was shooting a commercial when I colored her hair,” I told Cecilia. “I did her makeup to tie the whole look together since we couldn’t fix her hair right away. The makeup artists on set liked it so much they used it for her and all the other actors.”
“That sounds very impressive,” Cecilia said.
“Yes! I mean, thanks. Have you seen it yet? The commercial? If you want to see what I did maybe we can look online—”
“Mickey!” Violet called from her station. She motioned to the floor.
“Don’t let me keep you,” Cecilia said. “Just pretend like we’re not here.”
“Okay, sure.” But come on—how could I step away when I had Cecilia von Tressell all to myself? “How old were you when you got your first job in a salon?” I asked.
“I was nineteen, so you have a head start on me, that’s for sure,” she said. “Now, better get back out there.”
I didn’t want to look like I was slacking, so I took my broom back to the floor and got to work sweeping Violet’s station. “Sorry about the wait,” I told her.
“No worries. You looking for fame on film or something?” she asked, nodding to one of the many cameramen wandering around the salon, including one that was back on Cecilia.
“No, not fame,” I said, because that made it sound cheap. I wanted to be respected. I wanted to be successful. “I was just making sure Cecilia didn’t need anything.”
I started to sweep, but Mom came over and asked, “Do you want to help me with this client? We’re doing a complicated updo. I just need someone to hand me bobby pins as I twist and sculpt her hair.”
“Sure,” I said, excited for the task. Watching my mom work was even better than actually working. She was a master and made it look so easy.
The rest of the night went well, customers coming and going a bit more than usual. Kristen had been right—word had definitely gotten around town about what was happening at Hello, Gorgeous! and people wanted to try to get on camera. Of course, the salon gave priority to its loyal clients, asking walk-ins to wait—but always with a smile and a soda from Megan.
I didn’t want to bother Cecilia with questions again, but I did send friendly vibes her way throughout the evening. They finally paid off while I was stocking fresh towels by the sinks.
“Excuse me, Mickey?” Cecilia asked.
“Yes?” I said eagerly.
“Do you have a moment to show me something?”
“Of course!” I said, because hello!
“Great,” she said. “Your mom is busy with a client and I’d like to take a look at the supply closet, see what kinds of products you keep on hand and how much.”
“Sure, of course,” I said, putting the rest of the towels on the shelf above the sink. “Right this way!”
She followed me to the back, and even though she’d been roaming the salon for hours, I wanted to make sure she—and future viewers—knew where everything was and that we were well prepar
ed.
“These are the changing rooms for the clients,” I said, showing her the door to the dressing rooms. “The robes—well, I already told you about them, but they’re very luxurious.” I grabbed one off the hook and said, “See? Feel.” I wanted the viewers to know that Hello, Gorgeous! went the extra mile to make clients feel comfortable, and this was just one tiny bit of evidence.
“Yes, I see,” Cecilia said. I’m sure she had a whole closet full of cotton batiste robes and shirts, so she knew the quality of it.
“We also take care in washing them on the gentle cycle,” I said, leading her to the back.
As we passed the door to the basement Cecilia said, “What’s behind that door?”
“Don’t even think about opening that door,” I said quickly, “unless you want to be dinner for the zombie rats. They have a whole colony down there. We tried to evict them but they won the battle, so.” I shrugged. “What are you gonna do?”
The whole time I was thinking, Ha-ha-ha, look how witty I am!
“I’m sorry,” Cecilia said, pausing beside the door. “Zombie rats?”
I nodded. “Crazy, huh? Anyway, back here is where we keep the products since we can’t keep them down there.”
“Mickey, darling,” Cecilia said.
Darling? She must really be feeling me! Like I’m her long-lost daughter or her business partner!
“Did you say rats?” she asked.
“Zombie rats,” I clarified.
Cecilia eyed me with a slightly horrified expression. I guess zombie rats can do that to a person. And then I saw it. The red light just behind Cecilia’s shoulder. Camera lens aiming right at me. My stomach dropped, realizing that I had just been recorded on camera for all of the world to see.
“Did you get that?” Cecilia said, turning to the camera guy behind her.
I wanted to leap out and grab the camera. Destroy the tape, erase all the evidence. Would they leave that in the final edit for the show? They knew I was joking, right?
Cecilia started to move on, but I reached out to stop her. I stammered, “I mean, totally teasing about that. Mom sent an exterminator down there. It’s all cleaned up! The bugs, I mean. And rats. Actually, I’m not exactly sure there were ever any rats. I mean, that would be gross, right? It’s just like, really messy down there. That’s all.” I was starting to sweat, thinking of how Mom would react if she knew what I’d said.
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