Mean Girl's One Shot's for us Helpless Fanpeople

Blonde

Kinda hinted Rejanis but mainly platonic. 

I stand firm in my belief that Janis Sarkisian's hair is blonde on the ends because Regina wanted her to dye her hair and she's growing it out after her time with the plastics. This is the story of the first time Regina has her dye her hair. Shorter chapter this time, so I apologize in advance.  Trigger Warning for toxic friendship.

"Janis, we need to talk," Regina's tone was firm as she spoke. Dread pooled in Janis's stomach as she looked up from her homework. Regina's eyes meeting her own did nothing to calm her nerves. 

" 'Bout what," she replied, trying to sound calm. She averted her eyes back to her multiplication in an awkward attempt to appear normal. 

" Your hair!" Regina rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing she could have said. 

Janis's eyes shot up from her work, and she dropped her pencil. " What's wrong with my hair?!"

Regina looked at her for a moment before speaking, as if waiting for Janis to laugh and say she knew exactly what was wrong, "Janis. Your hair is brown. Not even a pretty brown, just brown. Do you just not want people to like you?  I'm sorry Janis but if you want to stay friends, something needs to change fast." 

Janis sighed and ran her hand through her hair. Why was sixth grade so difficult? "All right then. What do you suggest we do to fix this then?" Regina grinned back at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Homework forgotten on the table, Regina rushed to find her mo , pulling Janis behind her.  Twenty minutes later, they were in the car on the way to Sally's. 

Mrs. George had already called Janis's mom to make sure she'd be OK with such a drastic change. Regina spent the entirety ride explaining what would happen.  They were driving about an hour out of town, to limit the chances that someone may see them. Regina did not want anyone to know that her hair wasn't "naturally this gorgeous." Once they were at the store, Regina would help Janis pick out a suitable color, but one that wasn't exactly the same as her own. 

" Why can't we have the same color?" Janis asked hesitantly. 

Regina rolled her eyes, "You've never dyed your hair before, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. When we go back to school tomorrow, everyone is going to notice that you have a different hair color than normal. It will be painfully obvious that you dyed it. Now, imagine you go back with the same exact color as me. Everyone will know mine was dyed too! It would be horrible!" Janis just nodded along as Regina continued to give her the breakdown. In fact, that is exactly what Janis did for the next two hours. Janis allowed Regina to pull her along as she piled different things into her arms.  After what felt like hours ( because it quite literally had been) , Janis was sitting on a chair in the George's bathroom wrapped in a salon cape.

Janis forced herself to stare into the mirror the entire time.  Somewhere off to her left, Regina was sitting perched at the edge of the bathtub waiting for it to be her turn. Regina's mother worked the solution through her hair, spreading the loose paste from her hair's roots to its tips.  The smell was sharp and strong in the closed in space that was the bathroom. Yet, it didn't seem to bother Regina or her mother. As Mrs. George spread the dye through Janis's hair, Regina's steely eyes stayed locked onto her the entire time. It was as if Regina thought that blinking for even a moment would allow Janis to run, to change her mind and go back to the ugly mess that was her brown hair.

But it would be too late now, anyway.

Mrs. George took a step back, admiring her work before speaking, "All right, I think that is good. I'll set a timer for an hour and while you wait, I can do Regina's hair." Regina stalked towards her mom and Janis practically jumped off the stool to make room for her.  You could barely notice where Regina's hair was starting to grow in at the roots. Still, Regina took it like a threat to her life. She allowed her mother to begin the process of painting the dye through her hair as Janis sat and watched. Regina didn't seem to notice, or she did and didn't care, because through the whole process she had not made a single attempt to talk to her best  . 

The time trickled by slowly until finally Janis was back in front of the mirror, once again staring at her reflection. This time, however, it was different. The girl staring back at her was in not herself. The blonde looked awkward and forced and didn't belong. She tilted her head slightly and when the girl in the mirror did the same, she had to hold back a gasp. 

Regina stood beside her admiring her own reflection. The negligible amounts of touch ups Mrs. George had done did not have much effect on the girl's appearance.  Sure the blonde color was just a little but brighter than before, but why did it matter so much?

Regina's mom had the two girls smile for a quick picture that way she could send it to Janis's mother, "Well, I'll leave you girls to it. Unless of course you want me to stay we could do each other's-."

" Thanks mom, we don't need any more help," Regina cut her mom off quickly, giving her a forced smile through gritted teeth as her mom left the room. Mrs. George continued to go on and on as she left and Regina shut the door behind her. " Well, what do you think," Regina made her way back over to where her friend was standing.

" It is certainly.. different," Janis said, still not sure what to make of her updated look. 

" You'll get used to it. But look, now you almost look pretty. More importantly, you can still be my friend," Regina gave her another one of those smiles that was you needed to determine how condescending she was being. 

As Regina dragged her off to show her the new book she'd been working on, Janis spared herself one more glance at her reflection. Maybe Regina was right. It would just take some getting used to. Yet she still did not feel beautiful. Maybe it comes with time, she thought. She sighed and finally turned away, hearing Regina's harsh voice pull her towards her bedroom.