Settling Slowly

Chapter 19 - Wounded

Not that awesome boots saved me from ridicule from Luke and Evan. Evan laughed as he gave me and Dan the uniform exemption notes and then laughed some more when I asked Lexie to do something with my hair and tie my tie. Luke walked into our form room, saw what was happening (Scott was doing Dan's tie as well) and laughed. My brother and I scowled at him but didn't say anything knowing that he'd either ignore us or we'd just make it worse.

I ended up with my tie neater than it had ever been and my hair in a simple, but supposedly secure pony tail. I say supposedly because the tie snapped when I was cutting some wool. I didn't move the scissors in time and sliced a chunk out of my hair.

"Oh no!" I wailed and sat up straight.

"What?" Alexander asked and looked up from his sketch book.

"My hair!" I wailed.

I'd had my whole plaster cast resting on the wool, it was the only way to keep it still enough to cut, but that meant my head had been closer to the material than normal. That meant on the left side from front to behind ear, my hair was now mid neck length instead of just below my shoulders.

Alexander burst out laughing. Mrs. Kemp came over, frowning a little, but then softening when she saw my hair.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Grayson, I think that is quite enough," she snapped.

He bent his head back to his work.

"Are you alright, Zoey?" she asked.

I nodded forlornly. I wasn't going to go home just because I'd cut my hair, but I was still pretty upset about it. I may have been low maintenance, but I still liked to look good. Wonky hair was not a good look. Camilla walked over and I'd never been so glad to see her. I hadn't actually spoken to her that much since she started going out with Scott, but I'd been either not sleeping properly or been so snowed under with work I hadn't talked to anyone outside family, Grigory and Lexie.

"Want some help with that?" she asked and pointed to my hair.

"Only if you have hair ties in that make up kit that aren't going to break."

"I've got a thousand bobby pins too."

"Don't take long," Mrs. Kemp said. "And if you don't stop sniggering Alexander, I'll sit you with Josephine and Kimberly."

That shut him up straight away. They were friends of Harriet and he'd ever associated with anyone who was friends with her. Since learning that I'd also learned it was because Harriet was horrible to me. Camilla began brushing my hair.

"How's Scott feeling?" she asked. "He was complaining about a headache last night."

"Ah, he's fine," I said. "Better than my hair any way."

"It's not too bad."

"She looks like Paris Hilton," Alexander sniggered.

I threw whatever came to hand first at him. It turned out to be a pin cushion.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Yeah, it'll be the scissors next," I grumbled. "Pointy side first."

"You wound me," he said dramatically.

"Yeah I bloody well will if you don't shut up."

"Come on, Alex, be nice," Camilla said, twisted and then pinned more of my hair up. "Guys can I sit over here?"

"Sure," he said.

"What did they say?" I asked.

For a few moments she was silent as she worked my hair and I could hear her foot shifting a little on the floor. Alexander looked up from his leather and tilted his head a little.