only fools fall for you [mileven]

20 - eleanor byers

Jonathan brings Joyce, and when she and Mom hear about our ideas, Joyce breaks down into tears.

'What if, what if it doesn't work?' she sobs.

'They won't recognise her. You can legally change her name to Eleanor Byers, so we can still call her El. It's going to be okay,' Mom says.

Joyce tries to smile. 'Okay. But I get final say. If it doesn't look good, she's going back to normal.'

'She'll look great,' Jonathan says, reassuring his mom.

Joyce and Nancy come back from town after school, with bags and bags of different clothes and products. They empty it out onto Nancy's bed and send El to the bathroom countless times to try on different clothes. They all look incredible on her - red flannels and ripped jeans and spiky chokers.

Then Joyce pulls out the bleach and hair dye. The girl on the box hair has deep auburn hair, and I try to picture it on El, but she always seems so little girly and dainty that I can't.

Mom comes upstairs to help, and it takes the rest of the evening for them to finish.

When she comes out of that bathroom, it's like I'm looking at a completely different person.

She's wearing big glasses, and her hair is a warm burnt orange colour. She's wearing the clothes that she tried on, and she looks amazing.

I run to her and hug her, then step back and look at her properly. 'You look awesome, El.'

She smiles, and Joyce looks her up and down. 'Well, I like it. Go get the boys from downstairs,' Joyce says to me.

I run off, almost falling down the stairs. I yell at the boys and they come rushing up after me.

When they get upstairs, they gasp.

'She looks so...' Dustin starts.

'Cool,' Will says.

'And totally out of your league, Mike.' Lucas grins and I shove him in the side.

'Well, I think Eleanor Byers is all set to go out into the world,' I say, smiling at her.

She looks at me in her knowing way, and it's like she never changed.