a bad hare day -- marisa

[STELLA HINES]

Stella Hines was going to kill her mother.

Stella Hines had said no. She had very vehemently said no. She had thrown a temper tantrum, saying no.

Oh, but you're already here! Her mother had said, all wide eyes and pouting lips. The dress in her hands was pastel pink, all ribbons and ruffles and lace. It was hideous. There was a curling iron plugged in in her mother's giant bathroom -- of course the master suite bathroom was always the best and most lavish. There were all sorts of tins and containers of makeup and hairspray. Please, Estella, dear! Just this once!

Stella should have walked out the door the moment her mother had mentioned anything to do with dresses and hair and makeup. The very second she'd walked in, she should've known better. Her father had hugged her quickly and he'd muttered a be prepared into her ear before hurrying away. Her mother looked only a bit guilty, as if she was going to regret what she had planned. And oh, Stella Hines thought, she would.

Stella Hines put up a fight. She only agreed because lunch had just been made and she was starving. Her stomach wouldn't stop growling. It was her fault she hadn't had breakfast. Stella only stayed for food. Simple as that. She put up with the dress for two grilled cheese sandwiches. She put up with the curled hair for a bowl of tomato soup. She'd put up with the makeup for a slice of apple pie. It was when her mother tried to put her in heels that Stella Hines put her foot down -- before being put in those death traps, thank God.

Stella stormed out of the bathroom and into her old bedroom, ripping the dress off and tugging on her nice normal bright clothes. She raked her fingers through her crunchy locks (hairspray SUCKED) as she walked out of the house without a word, slamming the door behind her. Stella took off running as soon as she hit the sidewalk. She didn't know what she was looking for until she saw it -- the first hair salon on her way back to Baum. Stomping in, she hoped the waves of anger rolling off her wouldn't set off the stylists.

"I need this--" She pointed to the disaster on her head, only made worse from the wind and her fingers, "fixed. Gone. Straight. Normal." For a moment, Stella seemed to realize how demanding (and probably scary) she looked and she plastered on a sweet hopeful smile. "Please."

outfit!

[MARISSA HARLEY]

Today, Marissa decided to do something not normal. And with her usual unusualness, there wasn't a lot that could fit into that category for her. She tried to do something different every day, but there was one thing she consistantly didn't do, and today she decided she wanted to do just that.

She didn't know how she still knew the way (though honestly, she wasn't sure how she knew anything), but somehow she ended up at the door of the apartment after being buzzed in by some kind lady that wasn't the person she was visiting. She lifted a hand to the door and knocked without hesitatation, since she never had hesitance about anything in her life. If she did something, she did it.

The door opened, and her mother with that disappointed look appeard in the frame. "Marissa, what are you wearing? And what's wrong with your hair?!" She grabbed an end piece and examined the knotted thing like it was a dirty sock. "You haven't been kicked out of the apartment or anything? I told the manager to call me if there was any problem..." Marissa shook her head. Really, she jad just forgotten to brush her hair for a while. And as to what she was wearing- well, her mother always said that when she dressed in different colors before, so she figured it was just the norm. "Well, come in," she said, and Marissa smiled and followed her mother in.

The animosity from when her mother had kicked her out seemed to be gone, and if Marissa had been the observant type, she would have noticed that the bags under her eyes and gray hair from when she was still caring for her were gone. Having one slightly less stressful thing in her life did her good, and though she worried about Marissa often, she was much better off.

They sat at the coffee table and chatted about a lot of things, Marissa doing her best to answer right the first time and stay on topic. While she slipped up a few times, her mother was used to it, and now seemed to find it in a less frustating light and even smiled sometimes. She asked Marissa if she had met any interesting boys, and she replied with 'Just one. His name is Nicholas,' but gave no more information and her mother didn't press.

Eventually, they had finished the sodas they had and the sandwhiches, and didn't have much else to say. Marissa did notice one thing: even though hermother tried to keep her eyes on her face, it eventually went back to her messy hair. So when a silence fell over them, it was broken by the older woman. "We need to get this fixed. Your hair, I mean." So she offered to pay to go to a salon since there was no way she had the proper tools to do it and that was way too much physical labor, and Marissa accepted.

So there they were, at a salon. Marissa couldn't remember the last time she had been to one, so she took in all the sights and sounds and smells while her mother explained the situation to the hair dresser. The most interesting thing she could find was actually a person. A very small person with normal clothes and nicely done hair. It obvioulsy didn't match, seeing as Marissa was an expert on non-matching things, and Marissa wanted to congratulate her or even ask her why she wasn't matching because usually people didn't do it like Marissa did, but the girl asked for it to be fixed. Oh, maybe she wanted to match after all.

"What happened?" Marissa asked, though that wasn't the question she intended at all. Oh well, it was already spoken, and there was no use taking back things unless people were confused. Which happened very often to Marissa Harley.

[/justify]

[STELLA HINES]

Stella Hines did not like waiting.

Being told to please wait just a moment was not okay in her book. If these dumb hair stylists made her wait more than fifteen minutes, she was leaving. She’d find a better salon. She’d find one that wouldn’t make her wait. Arms folded over her chest, her lips set into a frown, and her foot tapping against the floor, Stella Hines waited. It took everything in her to not rip at the messy hair herself. How hard could it be? If she could just grab a brush from one of the tables, she could fix this disaster on her own.

Before Stella had long to think about it, somebody was talking to her. She turned and looked at the woman. Stella was almost mad that her thought process had been interrupted but she was also somehow relieved that she had a distraction now. This lady was dressed mismatchedly. Stella very much liked it. “My mother is insane is what happened.” Stella answered, sounding much snappier than she’d meant to. So what if she was still angry over it all? There was nothing wrong with that. “Try to put me in heels again…” Stella muttered under her breath, looking around for the stylist she’d been talking to.

When it seemed that the employee had somehow disappeared and Stella couldn’t see her anywhere, she looked back at the woman. “I’m Stella.” Maybe one day she’d go a whole conversation with somebody new. Without introducing herself. Oh, that would be way too much fun. Yes, she’d have to try it. Stella wondered if they’d go along with it or if they’d start to think maybe they knew her from somewhere and couldn’t say anything about her name because if they knew her but didn’t remember her name, HOW EMBARRASSING WAS THAT?

Stella wasn’t able to help but laugh at the very idea. Covering her mouth with her hand, she shook her head. Rude. Was she being rude? Probably. Lowering her hand after a moment, Stella put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, curiosity etched all over her face. “So, what’re you doing here?” There was absolutely nothing wrong with the woman’s hair. In Stella’s opinion, anyway. “I think your hair looks great.” Stella started to think maybe she wasn’t the only one having mom troubles. Was it wrong to assume everybody else had the same problems she did? Probably.