Emelie
I tried not to laugh, honestly I did, but how could I not?
“Go ahead,” Corbin said, “laugh it up. I’ve got purple hair.” He lifted his hand and ran it through his hair.
“And a mohawk,” I added, covering my mouth.
“Jay and Blake apparently had time to plan their attack while we were gone. I was guilty by association, even though Clay was the one who tormented them. I can’t win for shit, even when I’m the good guy. Just wait until you see your boy.” He lowered his hand and moved away from the doorway. “He’s in the bathroom, with a razor.”
“What?” My eyes widened in horror; I knew because I could feel the fear racing through me as I imagined what he was doing with a razor. He could not shave his head, I needed his hair. I had times that called for me gripping that hair.
My legs were now moving fast as I walked toward the stairway and began running up the stairs.
“Clayton…” I knocked. “…open the door.”
“No.” He didn’t sound pleased. I could almost picture him pouting in my mind. He pouted like a little boy when he didn’t get his way. Sometimes it was cute, others not so much.
“You do know that I could just get Blake and have her get Eli’s keys, right?” There was still no answer and no sign of movement. “Okay fine, I’ll just go get—”
Before I could finish the sentence, the door came flying open and there stood Clayton with pink hair. It was almost so pink I swear, if we turned off all the lights he just might glow.
“It’s fucking pink, Emelie, and it won’t come out. I’ve washed it ten damn times and still nothing.” He flipped the razor and began lifting it. “So I’ll just shave my head to get rid of it.”
“No, you won’t.” I reached out for the razor and he leaned away, small little pieces of his hair floating through the air as they fell.
“It’ll grow back.” He held me back away from him, lifting his hand once more.
“Drop the razor.”
His hand froze in the air as he arched a brow at me.
“Now, Clayton.”
“Emelie.”
I said nothing, only crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“What do we have here?” Xavier asked as he stepped up behind me, only I didn’t look away from Clayton. He was having some type of meltdown and I wanted to laugh, I did, but I couldn’t. If I laughed, he would take it as me accepting the situation and he’d shave his head. He could not shave his head, absolutely not.
“Blake,” Clayton said that one word as he pointed to his head.
Corbin stepped up on the opposite side of me, taking a big bite of an apple; the noises he made were obnoxious. He didn’t seem to be affected by his new look, in fact he was owning it quite nicely. “Look at it this way…” I felt the juice of the apple splatter my arm and closed my eyes tightly to fight off the urge to mother him. The boy was so close to being a grown up, so so close. “People can tell us apart easier now.”
“Seriously,” Clayton dropped his hands to his side, “they can tell us apart now because I’m the one with the damn sense. You’re like an overgrown kid.”
Corbin shrugged, walking off like he knew this to be true and whistled as he went.
“Vitamin C,” Xavier added, and both Clayton and I looked at him. “You remember that year Red dyed my hair green, orange and blue?” Oh, my hell, what was wrong with these people?
“I Googled it and found that vitamin C powder mixed with shampoo helps to remove hair dye out of hair. Just make sure you don’t get the toning shampoo, because it doesn’t turn out so well.”
Xavier walked away, and the next thing I knew Clayton was handing me his wallet. “What?”
“Vitamin whatever,” he shook his wallet at me, “I need it. Get all you can find and the biggest damn bottle of shampoo.” When I just stared at his eagerly shaking hand without grabbing for the wallet, he sighed. “Please, Em, I can’t leave like this.”
“You are such a baby.”
“Fine.” He sagged back against the bathroom vanity. “I’m a baby. I’m ridiculous and everything else you wanna throw at me, but I need you to get me that stuff.” I watched as his eyes widened just a small fraction as if something triggered in his mind. “Or I’ll be forced to shave my head.”
Oh, so we’re playing that game, are we?
“Shave your head,” I shrugged, “but don’t plan on sharing my bed with me until it grows back.” I leaned forward, kissed his cheek, and turned to walk away. “By the way, I came by to tell you that Palmer is taking Ethan with her to her parents’ for the night and we have the entire apartment to ourselves. Plus, I bought something new in the form of lace that I’d like to show you.”
“That’s cruel, Emelie,” he shouted after me, but by the tone of his voice I could tell he was smiling. “What about the stuff?”
“I think you know where the store is.”
Maybe it was a dick move on my part, but I kinda liked the idea of him having to face his stupidity. This house and those who accompanied it were off-the-wall crazy. Come on—piercings, tattoos, and hair dye. The list went on and on; it was like a torture chamber for the scammers and jokester driven.
As I stepped off the last step and into the entryway, Blake peeked around the corner with caution. “Oh, it’s you.” She seemed relieved. “I was hiding from Clayton. The boy is so testy. Who knew he was such a perfectionist about his hair?”
“He spends longer than I do getting ready.” It was true, he did.
Suddenly Blake’s eyes widened and her body grew rigid. “I gotta go.” Then she was gone, no goodbye, no see ya later.
Arms I was very familiar with circled my waist before I was lifted into the air. “You’re coming with me. If I have to look like an idiot out in public, you have to look like one for being with me.”
I was tossed over his shoulder and we were moving toward the door. “I kinda like your pink hair.” Lies, they were all lies. “It’s like a statement or something.”
“Yeah, look at me, I’m a dumbass,” Clayton said as he lowered me to the ground next to his SUV. “I’d show up on radar with this color. Why the hell did Corbin get the purple? It’s less obvious.”
He was so unbelievably scorned by this new look, and all I could do was stare at him.
“What?” he asked as I climbed into the car and watched him with a smile. “This isn’t funny.”
“Oh yes, it is,” I stated, and he narrowed his eyes at me. “We’ll see if you feel the same way when you wake up fucking glowing one day.”
“I wake up glowing every morning after you spend the night in my bed.” I tried not to smirk, but it was hard when I found him fighting his own grin.
“Well played.”
“I know.” I shrugged before fastening my seatbelt and leaning back into the seat. “I’m hungry.” I stretched out my legs. “I think we should go out for lunch.”
Wait for it.
“I’ll make sure you’re full later, we’ve got things to handle first.” A wink and a cocky smirk told me he wasn’t referring to food.