Small talk | Reece Bibby | Jake Sims | Stereo Kicks

xviii

i v y

"Honey, can I have a word?" my Mums voice asked as I lay, sprawled out on my bed.

I immediately shot up, those words never brought good news. "Is everything alright?" I asked, brushing my purple hair out of my face, letting my mum sit down next to me.

"Yes, nothing to worry about" she smiled, patting me lightly on the shoulder. "You're starting back to school on Monday and I don't particularly think that your hair is 'school friendly', so I was hoping that you'd consider changing it."

"Mum" I gasped,"but-"

"No buts Ivy! You were always the perfect student. Perfect attendance, perfect grades and now you've turned all punk rock on me I don't want any of that to change. I know you're famous now, but you need an education. Don't think I'm giving out to you, I just don't want you getting into trouble at school" my mum gushed,"after your last day feel free to do whatever you want, but for this time being, can you try being the old Ivy for a while?"

I flung my arms around my mum,"I get it mum, I'll do it and I promise to work hard and get all my grades."

"You're growing up so fast" my mum gulped.

"Blond or brown?" I asked, beaming at my mother.

"Brown, and try to find your natural colour, you looked beautiful with your hair like that, you still do but I feel like the old Ivy is hidden in the shadows" she said, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ears before leaving me room.

'@IvySmallTalk: my mum just called me punk rock...'

I grabbed a couple of quid from my dresser, pulled on my jacket before running down the stairs, phone in hand. "I'm going to get that dye now" I called,"I'll be back soon."

I plugged in my music as I walked towards the local chemist, the Arctic Monkeys blasting in my ears.

I pushed open the doors of the chemist and went down to the aisle with all the hair dyes. It took me a while until I was able to find a shade of light brown that looked like my natural hair.

I made my way over towards the cash desk and wasn't looking up as I fished my money from my pocket and walked straight into a rather muscular body.

"Sor- Casey?" I exclaimed, looking up to see my friend. He looked rather flustered, a box of condoms in his hands. "Err hi Ivy" he grimaced, clearly embarrassed.

The old Ivy (the one that my mother claimed she was missing) would have turned bright red and awkwardly waddled away but the new Ivy who was confident and daring smirked, said,"You alright there?"

Casey managed to turn an even brighter shade of red, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone" I laughed, paying for my hair dye.

I waltzed out of the shop, music blasting in my ears once again and I waved madly at Casey, winking repeatedly, he returned my gestures with his middle finger held up in the air.

Once I returned home, with my mothers helped I got my hair back to it's natural colour. Obviously it wasn't natural, but who cares.

____________________

I sighed as I looked in the mirror, I really hated my schools dull uniform. The dark grey skirt hung off my hips, due to all the weight I'd lost during the xfactor and it fell to just above my knees. The square shaped, white shirt was stiff and uncomfortable, so was the black blazer, I straightened up my tie and pulled up my black socks.

"You ready Ivy? Reece will be here soon" My mum called from downstairs.

I quickly checked that I had everything in my satchel and ran a shaking hand through my curly hair, I hadn't made an effort with my natural tangled mess. I slid on my black creepers and raced downstairs, just in time to hear the doorbell go off.