He calls a rideshare and within half an hour, we’re walking into a salon. The snobby receptionist tries to tell us there aren’t any openings, but money exchanges hands and I’m in a chair right away. I turn away from the mirror and give the stylist free range to do whatever he can with it. He tries to keep a straight face, but I know he’s dying to ask what the hell happened.
I’m dreading the inevitable moment where I have to finally look, but when I do, all that dread turns into surprise. The stylist is a true master. He’s given me a bob that is somehow both blunt and soft at the same time, and now that all the bleach is cut from the ends of my hair, the natural curl has returned.
It’s still going to take some getting used to, but it’s not the disaster I expected. It’s definitely not what Victoria meant, and that is the true vindication.
By the time Wills steps back in, three large coffees steaming in a to-go holder in his hands, I’m all nervous smiles.
He’s even more shocked than me. He has to set the coffees down so he can run his fingers through my hair. “Wow, Teddy. This really suits you.”
I leap out of the chair and hug Wills as tight as I can. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He only smiles at me and kisses me on the forehead. “With that haircut, I’m sure you’d be fine.” When he pulls back to look at me at arm’s length, there’s an intense look in his eyes. “It’s hot.”
“Yeah?” I ruffle the ends at the front. “You really think so?”
He draws me closer, his voice dropping to a whisper just as my heart races upward. “Stop being so damn cute, or I’ll have to take you here and now.”
Dana appears around the corner, and we break away before we embarrass ourselves any more.
“Do you like it?” I ask as she grins my way.
She grins back. “I love it! Do you think it comes in my size?”
Within minutes, Dana’s long brown hair hits the floor and by the time another car comes to pick us up, we are both grinning over our new short hairdo’s, and I am profoundly grateful once again that no matter what happens to me at that school and in my life, I have a good friend to see me through it. Two of them, now, with Wills.
I lean my head on his shoulder the whole way back up to school, the whole terrible ordeal forgotten—replaced, instead, with a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Victoria’s hateful action has the exact opposite effect she meant for it to have. Instead of leaving me beaten down, I am reminded that I too have powerful friends … and while the new hairstyle she forced me to get is certainly drawing attention, it’s not in the way she wants. Even Astor can’t keep his eyes off me when I walk into the dining hall the next morning.
She’s livid, plain in the way she crushes the protein shake in her hand—completely oblivious to the liquid pouring out over her fingers and spilling onto the table below.
It’s as if every time she tries to be ruthless, she’s the one who comes out with the short straw. I don’t like what she does to me, but I have to admit that I kind of love it when she fails so spectacularly.
I think it’s over between her and me now, at least for a while, until I’m stopped by one the actors in my drama club later in the afternoon between classes. His name is Drew, and though we don’t speak much … it still isn’t like him to look so awkward about it.
“Hey, Teddy,” he says cautiously, looking as if he has a bombshell to drop and he doesn’t want to do it. I stop and smile at him.
“Hi Drew, what’s up?” I ask, giving him a friendly tone and hoping to lighten his mood with it. He clearly thinks I care a lot more about drama club than I do. Right now, he could tell me I’m banned for life and it still wouldn’t shatter my glow.
Still, he looks apprehensive. “Um … I don’t know if you already knew about it, but I didn’t want you to hear it from somebody else.”
I raise a brow. I’ve learned to not be surprised anymore, at least as much as I can be. “What is it?”
He holds out his smartphone to me so I can see. “I got an invitation from Victoria to like this new page she made. It’s called The Fake Girl, and it’s basically a homage to you ... but it’s not very flattering.”
I look at the page and sigh, shaking my head. “She just never gives up.”
He takes his phone back, and shoves it into his back pocket. “You know,” he says, “you’re taking this all surprisingly well. If someone did that to me, I’d be devastated.”
I just shrug. “I’ve been through worse. Victoria is just scared. I’ll take that as a win.”
That win doesn’t last long enough for me to even tell Wills or Dana about the page.
When I hear my name called over the intercom to report to the principal’s office, I know it’s got to have something to do with this mess. For once, I’ve really done nothing wrong … so while I’m annoyed, I’m not worried.
The last time I was in his office, it was because they’d found out about my real identity. Even though the parents of the girl I’d been impersonating, Mr. and Mrs. White, made a hefty donation in order for me to say at the school, Dr. Baxter has never been particularly fond of me. I’m actually pretty surprised he hasn’t called me up before on some sort of made-up offence just to get me out of here for good.
That lack of fondness is still clearly present when I walk into his office today.