Serenade >> m.c

//two//

dedicated to purfects bc i rlly love her writing !!

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I was sitting on my balcony the next morning, a mug of tea in one hand and a book in the other, when I heard a frantic yell from the house next door.

“Luke! Luke! Whatever the ever loving fuck colour jet excellence black is, it’s not working on my hair! You have to help me or it’s all going to fall out and I’m never going to be pretty again! Luke! Are you on the balcon-“ Michael stumbled through the doors with a towel on his shoulder and a scary looking gunk in his hair.

“Shit! Hi, Viv! You haven’t seen Luke by any chance, have you?” he asked hopefully.

I shrugged, putting down my mug and book before squinting at his hair.

“I think I saw him leaving in the car about ten minutes ago. Um, what colour are you trying to dye your hair again?” I asked doubtfully.

He sighed, passing me the hair dye packet across the gap between our two balconies.

“it says jet black excellence on the front, but I think it’s going weird. The plan is to go, like, a skunk but the other way around. Reverse skunk. Black down the middle, white down the sides. I think maybe I left it in for too long or something though?” he wrinkled his nose.

“Your hair is going to fall out. All of it.” I said solemnly.

“Don’t even suggest that. I get it enough from the guys, I don’t need you to stop believing in my hair too!” he whined.

I snickered, still eyeing his hair.

“Do you want help or something? I mean, I have dyed my hair before.” I suggested, pointing at the faded blue in my hair.

“Seriously? I should warn you, if you’re really good at this I might have to replace Luke with you.” Michael said.

“I’m okay with that. Give me a few minutes to get dressed and I’ll be over in a sec!” I said.

He nodded eagerly.

“I’ll see you in a bit then!” he said happily, turning and going back into the house.

I went into my room and started pulling on some black denim shorts and an old shirt that was too big for me, a shirt I was prepared to ruin while dyeing Michael’s hair. I grabbed some old towels from the cupboard too, remembering how long it took to get the dye off the back of my neck and my forehead, and the keys from the door before heading to my neighbour’s.

My foot was barely on the front step when the door was yanked open and I was being pulled up the stairs by Michael into the bathroom.

“I just want to say, if my hair falls out and I lose all my street cred I’m one hundred percent blaming you.” He announced.

“I understand and I accept the responsibility now that Luke isn’t here.” I replied, picking up the package from the sink and skim-reading the instructions.

“Okay, when I did my hair blue it was basically the same. I’m going to add the rest of the dye because you haven’t done it all and then we need to wait for a bit. Do you have foil or something I can use to stop the dye going on the rest of the hair? I also have some hair stuff for damaged hair at home that you’re gonna have to use.” I said confidently.

“we don’t have foil but I’m prepared to risk it, don’t betray that trust, I’m begging you. Thanks again for helping. Luke is always the one that does this kind of thing with me, but I think he decided to bail on me, the bitch.” Michael complained, rubbing the dye into his hair as I pulled on the plastic gloves and started gingerly rubbing the dye on the rest of his hair.