Behind Closed Doors // Billie Eilish

Chapter 17

I grabbed a strand of my hair and looked at it. All of my hair was in terrible condition. It was really long and a lot of it was dead. My mom never took me to get haircuts. "Dude, my hair's fucked up," I said to Starlit.

"Shave it," she joked.

I laughed. "Yeah right."

"But honestly..." She tilted her head, examining my face. "We could do something if you want."

I crinkle my nose at her. "Like... what?"

She studied me for a moment. "Wolf mullet." I opened my mouth to cut her off but she didn't let me. "No, please, Camilla. It would look so good on you."

"My mom would go ballistic. She's already mad because I finally told her that I'm gay."

"Actually, she forced that out of you so you should do it to get back at her."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "Do you know how drastic of a change that is. My hair is so fucking long."

"Yeah. It'd feel so much better. Your hair is unhealthy. Speaking of unhealthy hair, would now be a good time to add in that you should dye it too?"

I look at her like she's crazy. "What's wrong with you?"

"It'd be so cool. Just... let me do what J do best. Pleaseeee."

"Yeah, you only say that because you wouldn't have to deal with my mom afterwards or something more important like..." I thought for a minute. "Billie's reaction."

"Billie's reaction would probably be: "Wow, Camilla, you look so good. I wonder who's great idea this was. By the way, I'm in love with you. Kiss me."

"Haha," I say sarcastically. "You're so fucking funny."

"You can't tell me that you don't want to make your mom mad."

"I think I've done quite enough of that." I laughed.

"But that wasn't on purpose," she pointed out. "This could be your revenge and hair grows back anyways."

"Uhh..."

-

I ran my fingers through my freshly cut and dyed hair. We stuck with something with something that looked like a grown out wolf mullet, random strands of my hair now a dark red. I had to admit that my hair texture was perfect for the layers and Starlit really knew what she was doing.

My mom was going to actually kill me. Billie was obviously the first one I had to show this to. She was my best friend and her opinion was the most important. Plus, she didn't bullshit. She'd actually tell me if I looked weird. I clicked on Billie's contact and called her. She didn't answer so I texted her.

Me: so... I did something

BILLIE BILLIE BILLIE: oh no

Me: are you busy

BILLIE BILLIE BILLIE: yes

Me: oh
Me: ok
Me: sorry for bothering you

BILLIE BILLIE BILLIE: ok

I started walking and aggressively ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to separate it. Starlit's aunt put a lot of product in it and it felt too neat for me.

I probably looked like an idiot walking down the road right now, aggressively rubbing my head. I pulled my hood on and chewed on the plastic part on one of my hoodie drawstrings. Soon enough, I arrived at my house.

My mom's car was parked in the driveway. Fuck. I quietly opened the door and twisted the door knob before pushing it shut. She must've been in bed already. Thank God. I grabbed my blanket and laid down on the couch.

-

I rolled over, trying to get comfortable and fell off of the couch. I groaned in pain and looked around. I was gonna leave before my mom woke up. I pulled my hoodie on and grabbed my skateboard before quietly opening the door.

"Where are you going so early, mija?"

I froze. "Skatepark."

"This early?"

"That's the best time to practice new tricks."

"Turn around and look at me while I'm talking to you," she said.

I pressed my lips together, turning around.

She squinted at me. "Hood off."

I clicked my tongue and held my breath, pulling my hood off. She gasped and walked towards me, looking at my hair. "What did you do to your hair?"

"Well..." I laughed although she didn't seem to find it funny. "I cut it. Actually, I didn't cut it. Starlit—"

She held up a hand and closed her eyes, shaking her head. "No. Just shut up. I don't want to hear it. It's too early to deal with this. Hair grows back. You're gonna let it grow back and cut it right. We'll talk more about this later."

I shrugged. "Okay. Bye." I grabbed my skateboard and walked outside. That was a much better reaction than I was expecting. I was sure I'd hear more about it later though—once she really realized what I did.