The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S4 E5.2: Chronicles of Kinsington

Hazel's POV

Brayden and Fatima lead our cluster as we walk down the pathway. Beside me, Linny's attention flicks around at all the shops, eventually getting caught on the same thing that makes Darius stop and watch.

"Check out the dancers," he says.

The rest of us pause to see the two break-dancers twirling around on their hands, bopping to the beat of a girl rapping over a microphone next to them. They've drawn in a crowd with their performance, and people occasionally step forward to drop cash into the fedora on the ground.

Darius glances over at Fatima who puts her hands on her hips and sighs, knowing where this is going.

"Should I?" he asks.

"Dance your heart out," she replies.

With a jolly grin, Darius jogs into the eye of the tornado, joining in with the free-styling dancers. Both of them begin cheering Darius on as my friend starts popping and locking. The crowd hoots and claps, and I hear Linny let out a laugh beside while as she watches Darius in amazement. As my eyes shift down over her shape, I notice she's snapping her fingers at her side, subtly taking part in the roaring applause.

After about a minute or so, Linny brings her hands up to her chest and takes a step back, asking, "Can we keep going?"

Brayden glances over and immediately complies. "Yes, of course."

Then my cousin looks at Darius again, but Darius is far too hooked on the music to get his attention.

"I'll get him," Fatima says.

While she and Brayden step toward the dancing, Linny looks drops her head downward and begins retreating away from the scene. Not wanting her to be alone, I catch up, following her around the corner where the music is blocked substantially by the brick buildings. She seems to loosen, letting her hands dangle free again and her chin rise. As she does, her face lights up, and I look ahead to see why. Renaissance Ensembles, surprisingly not the most niche store I've seen in Kinsington—that was the Build-Your-Own Fountain Pen Emporium—has a single mannequin in their window, and it's dressed in a ruby red gown with gold accents and bell sleeves that puff at the elbows. Like a paper clip to a magnet, Linny drifts toward the dress, oblivious to the other shoppers whom she's cutting off as she crosses the path.

"Oh, wow," she breathes.

"It's pretty," I comment.

"It's exquisite," she responds. "It looks like what Juliet would wear."

Linny's eyes practically sparkle as she stares at the dress, or maybe that's just the reflection of the gown's gems in her irises. Maybe it's both.

"You should try it on," I say.

She immediately shakes her head at that. "No, I couldn't."

"You'd look stunning."

The compliment makes her blush, and she looks over at me, but the moment her eyes touch mine, she turns away again, saying, "Anyway...where are Brayden, Fatima, and Darius?"

Realizing we left them around the corner, I make my way back to the place where the dancers should be, and Linny trails close behind. But when I get over there, I still see the dancers, but Darius is not among them, and neither are my other two friends.

"No idea," I mutter, answering Linny's question.

Marty's POV

Buffy and I sit across the table from my sister and her family, all of us trying to ignore the awkwardness that came from my lack of explanation for Cara's disappearance. Jordyn does her best at filling the air by talking about Laine who clearly just wants to focus on her phone like any bored-to-death fifteen-year-old.