Page 44 of Little Gray Dress

“Nope. It’s kind of why the purple was such a shock.”

“What kind of shampoo was it?”

“I dunno… Something Hannah gave me, but it was purple.”

“Well, I think you’ll look great as a blonde.”

“It’s really going to be completely blonde?” I stare at my tinfoiled head in the mirror in front of me. Oddly enough it reminds me of the dress I’ll be putting on in a couple hours.

“Hopefully. It looked like the washing got out most of the color, really it was just left in the bottom half of your hair, so this should strip it out.”

Bleaching is not a fast process. I’ve flipped through every magazine I brought with me at least three times while I’ve been wearing this tinfoil hat. My scalp is starting to burn and I don’t know if this smell will ever wash away.

“Let’s check it.” Delilah slowly starts unwrapping a section of my hair while I watch in the mirror. When she gets about six inches down her unwrapping, the foil, complete with the bottom half of my hair, comes away in her hand. “Oh… No.”

“No… No oh-nos. What just happened? Did my hair just fall off?”

“You’re sure you’ve not recently dyed your hair or anything?”

“You mean besides this morning? No. Why?”

“Cause this sometimes happens when people over-color their hair. It will essentially melt off during another color application, and bleach isn’t the easiest thing on hair anyway, so…”

“So, what?! Get it out then!” I yell at her and watch her quickly pull all the tinfoil from my hair. About every third one pulls the bottom half of my hair right off all over my head, leaving me with big jagged shoulder-length spots throughout my hair that is normally almost to my waist.

“Oh my God,” I breathe out as slowly as possible, trying not to have a full-on panic attack and wondering how this day could possibly get any worse. “Now, what?”

“I’m gonna have to cut it.”

“Cut it?! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it this long?”

“I know, but unless you want to look like this…” She points at one of the worst areas. “I suggest we cut it. It’ll be really cute on you.”

“No!” I jump off the stool and down the hallway. “LILY! HANNAH!” I’m screaming looking into each room I walk past, before I see everyone gathered at the bottom of the stairs. “She melted off my hair! But only some parts, so it looks awful, and now…” I try to take a breath between seethes. “NOW she wants to cut it. But nooo. I want the other girl to do it.” Delilah stands next to me, now looking slightly irritated.

“I can totally cut it.”

“Like you could totally get the purple out? No. You’re on bridesmaid duty now. Send up Heidi!” I shout down the stairs, sending Hannah scrambling along the hall to summon Heidi.

By the time I’m back in my room and sitting on the stool trying not to sob, a tiny woman whom I assume is Heidi walks in looking scared. “Hi, Emi. I’m so sorry about this. Let’s see what we can do.”

I close my eyes as she works, worried about how my wavy hair will look shoulder-length.

“OK,” she says, waking me up from my almost nap, causing me to slowly squint open my eyes afraid of what I’m about to see. The blonde surprises me but it’s kind of cute, it’s in layers with the longest layer being just below my shoulders and she’s curled my waves into loose curls. “Do you hate it?”

“No. I actually like it.”

“Unfortunately, all the purple didn’t come out, so there are still tiny streaks of lavender, but it looks intentional.”

“You are a lifesaver!” I jump off the stool and even to my surprise I pull Heidi in for a hug. “Thank you!” I run down the stairs and into a room filled with dresses and makeup ladies. “She did it.”

“Oh my God… Look how cute that is on you! You look like a whole new Emi!” Lily touches my hair with a huge smile on her face. “I seriously love it.”

“Me too!” Hannah nods her head in approval. “Now you can relax for a few until we have a spot for you to have your makeup done.”

“Nope, I’ll be doing my own makeup thank you. After that nonsense, I’m just not comfortable having someone else fix my face.” I laugh, but am all too serious.

“Are you sure?

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