Page 7 of Things I Read About

I want to float.

I march inside to the concierge. Time to follow Skye’s orders andgo nuts.

_____

My books did a poor job of explaining the scene just before the grand staircase reveal, wherein the main character freaks the hell out that she’s made a terrible mistake. With each snip of the scissors, I think I lose a year off of my life expectancy.

When we move to the sink, where my instructions about the color are followed to the T, I become physically ill. My hands are trembling on the arm rests by the time we’re back at the station. The blow dryer is screaming into my skull while Lulu, my stylist, claims I’m gorgeous. Though she’s also refusing to turn my chair around to face the mirror.

What have I done? Should I have made Skye stay to talk me out of such things?

Mallory offered for me to go with her family to Florida, maybe I should’ve done that. I probably should have stayed home and never mentioned this girls’ trip idea in the first place. This whole idea is DOA.Dead on arrival. Morbid, but fitting.

“Sally? Where are you? The party’s here, bi—” Kat yells across the salon. She stops when she sees me. “Biiiiiiissh! Yes! It’s givin' Selena Gomez vibes. Oh! Or TSwift Reputation Era, but brunette. I love-love-love it. Do you love it?”

“She hasn’t seen it yet.” Lulu smirks.

“Even better! Let me do her make up before the big chair turn! This is amazing. Where’s Janie?”

“Just landed, I think.” My voice sounds terrified. Not surprising.

Kat jumps a tiny bit in her chunky combat boots. Her hair, currently hot pink, flies up and then back down. She puts her hands on top of mine that grip the cool metal frame.

“You know what this is, doc?” All I can do is raise an eyebrow at her. She beams. “This is totallyPeak Sally.That’s what this is.”

I exhale.

So. Not D.O.A. after all. Strong vital signs, in fact.

I sniff and look away before I actually tear up.

Kat, my cousin, is the wild Canton and self-proclaimed black sheep of the family, even though none of us agree. Her words mean a lot because she knew my mom. She knows that that phrase was originally hers. She used to put 'Peak' before all of our first names when we were at our best, thriving, laughing, confident. When we would walk in with straight As on our report card or when we would cannon ball into the pool, being our silly selves. And doc was one of my mother’s many nicknames, too.

Kat and Lulu become fast friends talking about the unstable nature of neon hair dyes. Kat works on my make-up, and Lulu straightens my thick hair. If she did what I asked, my hair has gone from long to medium-long. She washed in one of those dark pigment shampoos so I could go from a blah dusty brown to a rich shiny brunette. And she cut some long bangs. Susan has told me my whole life that my hair is too frizzy for bangs. Yet, again and again, I would find myself on Pinterest, looking at dark brown styles with long shaggy bangs.

And Susan isn’t here.

After what feels like hours, they stand and stare at me. They pat each other on the back, metaphorically, and go on and on about how I need to prepare myself.

“You don’t need to build the suspense! I’m already suspended here!” I squeak.

Kat laughs and Lulu looks apologetic. Finally, they turn the chair.

I…

I love it.

I look older, more striking. I also look a lot like my mom. And my mom was a force.To be reckoned with. Origin unknown, late 1800s.

“I love it,” I manage to say aloud.

“So do I!” Janie says from behind us.

“Right?” Kat grabs my shoulders. “Okay, gang’s all here, new and improved Sal. Let’s get this party started!” She and Janie go to get keys to our suite while I thank Lulu and pay my bill.

I assume they’ll want to immediately hit the slopes, but Kat insists we shop for a few new outfits for “my new era.”

Janie opts to unpack and shower while we visit the strip of shops in town. By the time we return and meet Janie in the suite, she is ready to be social for a few hours. A few hours,max,she reminds us. We tease her in reply. It’s no wonder she and Skye are best friends.