“Yes,” she said as they headed toward the parking lot, “I just….”
“Feel like we're being watched?”
“Yeah. It's been like this all day.”
“Maybe, they're trying to figure out whether or not we're really sorry,” he shrugged.
“Well, we left the milk and honey, they should be happy.”
“We'll see,” he said, opening the car door for Tamara.
She bit her lip and slid into the passenger seat. Hayden shut the door behind her and she fastened her seat belt. Tamara quickly checked her makeup in the rear-view mirror as Hayden rounded the car before getting in.
“Does your dad know I'm coming over?” she asked.
“Yeah. I called him at morning break. He doesn't really care who I have over as long as we don't trash the house,” he shrugged, “He's working on finishing his novel’s second draft today, so he'll be locked away in the basement anyway.”
“Your dad's a writer?”
“Not published,” Hayden laughed, “It's more of a hobby.”
“That's cool.”
“So where do we need to go to get the stuff to get the cross dressing cow off my head?” Hayden asked.
“Stop at the drug store,” Tamara said, “I'll run in. It'll just take a minute, I know where it's at. You're wanting something close to your natural color right?”
“As close as possible,” he said handing her a twenty.
“I'll have to go a few shades darker so it evens out,” Tamara darted out of the car.
Twenty minutes later they were in Hayden's kitchen and Tamara was attempting to explain the dying process.
“So I don't wet my hair first? Will it work that way?”
“You've read the directions. It says on clean, dry hair, Hayden,” Tamara said, throwing her hands in the air.
“I just don't want to screw this up. Sorry, if I'm not familiar with the art of putting chemicals on my head to make it a different color.”
“Do you want me to fix it or not?” Tamara asked, standing arms akimbo.
“Yes!” Hayden said, sinking down into one of the kitchen chairs.
“Then let me fix it. I've done this a hundred times and watched my mom do it at least a thousand times,” she said, draping an old towel around his shoulders, “You don't want to get any of this on your clothes. It doesn't wash out. So make sure the towel stays on your shoulders.”
“That's reassuring,” Hayden said, looking at the box of dye again. The cover showed a happy woman twirling her supposedly newly dyed hair around her head. “Are you sure this stuff is for guys too?”
“Hair is hair,” she laughed, “It'll work. Just let me work my magic.”
“I think I've had enough of magic, of any sort, to last me a lifetime,” Hayden sighed, “Magic's what got me into this mess.”
“Well, then geek boy, let me work my science.”
An hour later Hayden's hair was brown again. Tamara chose a shade that was dark and chocolatey, several shades darker than his natural color.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“It's a lot darker than my natural color,” he said, “I thought you said it would look pretty much the same.”
“The darker color looks good though,” Tamara said, “It brings out your eyes.”
“If you say so,” Hayden laughed, unplugging the hair dryer, “Anything's better than the cross dressing cow.”
“Poor cow,” Tamara shook her head, “He might have been born that way.”
“Well, that's good for him, I wasn't,” Hayden laughed.
Tamara watched as Hayden carried the towel and hairdryer down the hall. She sank into the chair next to the one he had sat in. A yawn escaped before she could stifle it. She was tired and beginning to get hungry. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the table. Hoping, that Hayden wouldn't think she was rude for wanting to go home so soon.
Tamara wasn't aware of dozing off until someone touching her shoulder woke her up.
“Sorry,” she murmured, opening her eyes and sitting up, “I didn't mean to fall asleep.”
“If you fell asleep in one of these uncomfortable chairs, you needed the sleep,” Hayden laughed, “Dinner's almost done.”
“You're cooking?”
“No, the delivery place called to say they were on their way.”
“Oh. How long was I out?” Tamara asked, stifling another yawn.
“Only about forty-five minutes,” he grinned.
“Why didn't you wake me up?”
“Because if you're tired you should sleep. I might have left you there all night if it wasn't dinner time.”
“My parents would have freaked,” Tamara said, wide-eyed.