Page 70 of Just Friends Forever
“Uh …” I say.
“I can’t get the back,” she says, using the weird, thin brush in her hand to indicate the only dry part of her hair. “Could you help me?”
I step into the bathroom. “What exactly am I helping you do?”
“Dye my hair black,” she says like this is an everyday occurrence I should be used to by now.
“Oh. Wow. Okay.” Stevie with black hair. That will be new.
“I’m cutting it too,” she says with excitement. “I found a really good YouTube video with the exact cut I want, but I might need your help in the back for that too.”
I look at the box with a picture of a woman with long, glistening black hair. “Where did you even get this stuff?” Stevie hasn’t left the house by herself except for her date.
“I ordered it this morning. Same-day delivery is the greatest invention since electricity.”
“I think there were some other pretty good ones in there.” I take the brush she hands to me. “You sure about this?”
“I mean”—she points to the hair she’s already applied dye to—“it’s too late to turn back now, unless I want to look like a skunk. But, yeah. I’m sure. Talking to Landon last night, I realized I need a change. I’m not ready to skydive or join a convent, but this feels doable.”
I bite my tongue instead of sayingIf Landon told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?I’ve fully embraced my role as best-friend-who’s-here-to-support-Stevie-in-all-her-wildest-dreams-yea-verily-even-the-ones-that-crush-my-heart.
I dip the brush in the bowl of dye. “Then let’s do it.”
* * *
Two hoursand a lot of rewinding the YouTube video later, I’m sitting on the couch in Austin’s apartment with my laptop, working on Rocco’s comparison list while Stevie showers a second time—once to get the dye out and then again after the cut. The blow-dryer is going right now, so it can’t be long until she comes out.
This comparison list is a ridiculous exercise. Rocco wants pros and cons, but when you’re buying a beachfront property in Malibu, California in the range of $14-$17 million, the cons list has items likeoutdoor kitchen has obstructed beach viewand$7489 per square foot(as opposed to the more normal $5500 per square foot, obviously).
The bathroom door opens, and I glance up.
Stevie pauses in the doorway.
It’s surreal. I’ve known her a long time, and her long, blonde hair has always been a quintessential part of her. Now it sits just above her shoulders, jet-black.
I set my laptop aside and stand up.
She clenches her teeth, looking more uncertain of herself than ever. “What do you think?”
I walk over, and a little smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “I’m… trying to get used to it, but”—I touch a hand to the hair falling down in front of her ear. It’s soft. And so dark—“I like it.”
“Really?” she asks, her vulnerability on full display.
“Really. Do you?”
She nods quickly and tucks the hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“It’s the new you,” I say, wondering what other changes she’ll want to make now that she’s done this and liked it. Apparently, this Landon guy’s opinion holds a lot of sway with her.
She looks up at me, her gaze lifting to my hair. “Our hair almost matches.”
I laugh and tap a gentle hand to my hair. “Girrrrl, youwishyou had hair like this.”
A text comes in, and she grabs her phone from her back pocket. “It’s Tori.”
My smile wavers slightly. “Oh?”
Stevie glances up at me quickly, then back down to her phone. “She wants to set me up with someone.”
