Project X

The Way it Began: Green and Orange

CHAPTER SIX

GREEN AND ORANGE

"I am your father. He seriously said that? What the hell is this, Star Wars?"

"Yeah, I know right? And then he started insulting Kai just because she's a girl, like, sexist much- Ow, be gentle dude."

"Oops, sorry."

We had just stopped off at a truck stop to shower and Dom was putting french braids in my hair to see if we could get it to dry wavy, but apparently french braids are tight and don't feel super awesome. She said I was just 'tender headed', whatever that meant. The gossip, however, made it worth it. I still couldn't bring myself to tell her about my dream though. It'd been a week and I'd finally convinced myself it wasn't real, but I couldn't shake the feeling that telling her about it wouldn't be the best idea. To someone who'd watched their father get murdered, saying 'Hey, I had a dream that your mom died' would probably feel more like an omen, and she had more than enough to worry about already. Like, you know, saving the world.

She gave one last, painful tug on my hair and then sat back on her heels. "Perfect!" She took a picture with her phone, now mostly defunct at her mother's insistence that she leave the sim card to avoid being traced, and showed me the two long black braids that started at my hairline and went down the back of my head before trailing down in perfect lines to my chest. I tentatively reached up to touch one,

"So... How long do I have to keep these in to make my hair wavy?" She shrugged,

"Probably at least overnight."

"Is my scalp going to cry the entire time?" I asked her. She laughed unapologetically,

"Probably. But I'm not sorry." She pulled aside one of the makeshift curtains and looked out the window, "I thought your sister had super speed or whatever, what's taking so long?"

"Well, she's in there with Syd and Irwin, and trying to keep them focused is like herding cats. No doubt she's trying to drag them away from the snack aisle right now." I informed her, laughing at the thought.

"No, the snack aisle is where they're supposed to be!" Dom corrected, laughing, "They're probably distracted by all the Louisiana shaped shot glasses."

"Or the Louisiana shaped Mardi Gras masks." I added,

"Or the Louisiana shaped sunglasses." She countered. I laughed.

"Those fuckers are honestly the slowest people I've ever met... Somehow that includes Kai."

"I say we give em five more minutes." She suggested, "They're not out by then, we go in guns blazing. And if they're not being eaten by Louisiana shaped aliens, then we're dragging them out by their ears and givin' em a damn talking to."

My head twinged. I scratched at my scalp. Just as I was about to agree to her plan the door to the bed of the truck swung open loudly. Dom made a disappointed sound.

"What's that for?" Asked Irwin.

"We were just hoping you were being eaten by aliens." I told him.

"Lovely." He tossed his bag at me playfully. Sydney pushed past him and hopped into the bed, shoving a handful of gummy worms into his mouth.

"We got snackles!" He announced through the worms. It sounded more like Ee ot sbakkelsh, but I more or less got the message.

"And I put forty on the pump." Kai announced from her sudden position between the gas pump and the truck. "Should give us a good three quarter tank." She slid the pump into the tank and pressed the handle, clicking it into place. She leaned lazily against the bed of the truck and slipped the black rose out of her pocket. She'd become almost obsessed with it lately, after having discovered what it was that had been inscribed on the bottom.