Kissing Frogs - A Tropical Fairytale

Multi-Faceted (or Polka-Dot Peacocks)

(author's note: couldn't resist this song for the scene - an oldie but a goodie ;)

"Owww!" Harp says as I run a comb through her very unruly and very tangled dark hair. It snags in a particularly gnarly spot.

"Sorry!" Full of nervous energy and unable to sleep, I woke her up with the news she was getting her makeover this morning. We're out on the balcony and the breeze gently flutters the ends of her hair. It's cool for the first time since our arrival.

"I hate my hair." She tugs at it. "It's so frizzy."

"Most girls would kill to have such thick hair." I think of my and Ky's over-processed blonde locks. Ky needed conditioner all right.

"You've never dyed it before?" I shake the bottle of hair dye I grabbed off the shelf yesterday in the store.

"Never." She bites her lip. "My parents are going to kill me."

"It'll be fine," I reassure her. "You can just say it got bleached by the sun." It already looks lighter from the developer. The color in the bottle is a lustrous auburn. I coat her locks, trying not to get the messy dye everywhere, then wrap a plastic bag around them.

"Done. Let's move on to the eyebrows." I pull out a pair of tweezers from my makeup bag. Harp squirms and yelps as I pluck. "Stop moving." Standing back, I admire the finished result.

"I want your eyebrows," I say. My own are so light and thin I have to pencil them in.

"So you're saying I should be thankful for the excess of body hair I've always hated?" She arches a now perfectly shaped brow.

"Yes. Let's rinse you out before we start on the makeup." A few minutes later she's back in the chair, wet hair in a towel. My tools are laid out before me.

"Where'd you learn to do all this stuff?" she asks as I set to work.

"I was hopeless before my ... friends taught me." Are they still my friends? I wonder if Ky knows I know. If she even cares. Part of me wants to scream and yell at her, the other part just feels sad and drained. Some of the nervous energy leaves my body. I sponge some foundation onto Harp's face. "They're good at this kind of thing."

"They sound nice," she says.

"Sure." My voice wavers. Until they steal your boyfriend.

Harp catches my tone and looks up at me, brown eyes quizzical. "Aren't they?"

I sweep some blush and bronzer over her face, thinking of Alyssa and Ky and how they like to control everyone around them. As long as you do everything they want, things are great. But have a different opinion or idea and watch out. The last time I disagreed with them they didn't speak to me for weeks. I don't even remember what it was about. Just that I felt very lonely and scared I'd never have friends again.

"I guess even crappy friends are better than no friends," I say. Except I'm not sure I really believe that anymore.

"Have you heard from your ex lately?" Harp looks at me.

"As a matter of fact," I say, moving to brush her lids with shadow, "I talked to him yesterday. Close your eyes."

She obliges. "And?"

"It's definitely over," I say, surprised that as I speak the words aloud, most of the sting has melted into sadness at the wasted time I'd put into Miles. Into all of my so-called 'friends.' If Ky and Miles have been going on for a while, the others must have known.