Arkham High

Chapter 9

"You a natural blonde, Harley?" asked Pamela, as she perused the hair dye at the salon. "Ever thought of changing it?"

"Uh...no," stammered Harley. "That is...I am a natural blonde, and no, I've never thought of changing it."

"You shouldn't be afraid of experimenting with your hair," said Selina. "I used to be a blonde too, y'know."

"I'm not afraid of experimenting – I just don't want to," replied Harley.

Selina sighed. "Ok. I'll guess she'll just have the simple cut and blow-dry, and maybe style it some," she said, turning to the hairdresser.

"Do you like pigtails? I think you'd suit pigtails," said Alice.

"Yes, but curl the ends," said Pamela. "So you don't look twelve."

"Yeah, I guess that'd look...nice," said Harley, nodding at the stylist.

The next few hours were a form of torture for Harley. The "simple cut and blow-dry" took an hour and a half, and while she had to admit that the pigtails looked nice, they kind of gave her a headache. Nevertheless, she had to endure getting her nails done too (Harley had insisted on a nice, traditional color, like red), and what felt like about a pound of makeup being applied to her face, and finally, dress shopping.

"You'll need a red dress to match your nails, maybe with a nice black border," said Alice, hunting through the racks in the store.

"Uh...gee, these things are...kinda pricey, huh?" asked Harley, staring at the tags.

"It's called a credit card, darling," said Selina, pulling hers out. "It buys you anything you want, and it's all on your parents!"

"Oh. I don't...uh...have one of those," said Harley, slowly.

"No sweat, Harley," said Pamela. "Since you're helping my boyfriend out so much, I think it's only fair that I buy you something nice in return. So don't worry about the price tag. C'mon, let's go try some on."

"But I don't even know where I'd ever wear something like this," protested Harley.

"Uh, duh! Prom!" retorted Pamela, rolling her eyes.

"But I ain't...gonna go to prom," said Harley.

They all stared at her in astonishment. "But you have to!" exclaimed Selina. "You just have to! It's only the most important event of the whole school year!"

"Maybe for you, but...I just don't feel like going," said Harley. "And anyway, I'm sure nobody would ask me to..."

"Harley, you gotta go to prom," interrupted Pamela, firmly. "And you gotta have a nice dress when you do, so just try one on!"

"How about this?" asked Alice, holding up a long, red dress with a few black diamond shapes sewn into the skirt.

"Good enough – c'mon, Harley," said Pamela, pulling her into the changing rooms.

Harley felt very uncomfortable in the dress – she didn't normally wear them. But the other three were so insistent about telling her how darling it looked, and pressuring her to buy it, that she found herself reluctantly agreeing. She regretted her weakness in the face of peer pressure as they walked out of the shop, Harley carrying a bag containing a dress she knew she was never going to wear. She felt bad for wasting the money, even if it wasn't hers...

"Well, look who's here!" exclaimed Selina, pointing over at the fountain. Harley looked up to see the Joker fishing around for coins at the bottom of the fountain, and occasionally splashing passersby.