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"Absolutely. "
The answer was slim comfort, actually. In the day theyd officially been friends, Kate had learned one thing about Tully: she was a girl who made Plans.
And todays plan was to make Kate beautiful.
"Dont you trust me?"
There it was, the big question. It was like rolling a Yahtzee: once Tully said it, Kate lost the game. She had to trust her new friend. "Of course I do. Its just that Im not allowed to wear makeup. "
"Believe me, Im such an expert your mom will never know. Come on. "
Tully walked boldly through the drugstore, choosing eye shadow and blush colors that were "right" for Kate, and then—amazingly—she paid for everything. When Kate said something, Tully said airily, "Were friends, arent we?"
On the way out of the store, Tully bumped her, shoulder to shoulder.
Kate giggled and bumped her back. They made their way through town and followed the river toward home. All the while, they talked about clothes and music and school. Finally, they turned off the old road and went down Tullys driveway.
"My gran would freak if she saw this place," Tully said, looking embarrassed. Rhodies the size of hot-air balloons covered the side of the house. "She owns this house, you know. "
"Does she visit you?"
"Nah. Its easier to wait. "
"For what?"
"My mom to forget about me again. " Tully stepped over a mound of newspapers and around a trio of garbage cans, then opened the door. Inside, the smoke in the room was thick.
Tullys mom was in the living room, lying on the sofa, with her eyes half opened.
"H-hello, Mrs. Hart," Kate said. "Im Kate from next door. "
Mrs. Hart tried to sit up, but obviously she was too weak to manage it. "Hello, girl from nex door. "
Tully grabbed Kates hand and pulled her through the living room and into her bedroom, then slammed the door shut. She immediately went to her stack of records, pulled out Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and put it on the turntable. When the music started up, she tossed Kate a Tiger Beat and dragged a chair over to the vanity. "You ready?"
Kates nervousness came swooping back. She knew shed get in trouble for this, but how would she ever make friends or become popular if she didnt take a few risks? "Im ready. "
"Good. Sit down. Well do your hair first. It needs some highlights. This is exactly what Maureen McCormick uses. "
Kate looked at Tully in the mirror. "How do you know that?"
"I read it in last months Teen magazine. "
"Im guessing she goes to professionals. " Kate opened the Tiger Beat and tried to concentrate on the article ("Jack Wilds Dream Date—It Could Be You!").
"Take that back. I read the instructions twice. "
"Is there any chance Im going to end up bald?"
"Hardly any. Now be quiet. Im reading the instructions again. "
Tully separated Kates hair into strips and began spraying Sun-In onto the pieces. It took almost an hour to get it done to her satisfaction. "You are going to look like Marcia Brady when Im done. "
"Whats it like, being popular?" Kate hadnt meant to ask the question; it just slipped out.
"Youll see. But youll stay my friend, wont you?"
Kate laughed at that. "Very funny. Hey, that sort of burns. "
"Really? That cant be good. And some of your hair is falling out".
Kate managed not to make a face. If going bald was the price of being Tullys friend, shed pay it.
Tully reached for the blow dryer and turned it on, blasting Kates hair with heat.
"I got my period," Tully yelled. "So at least assface didnt knock me up. "
Kate heard the bravado in her friends voice and saw it in her eyes. "I prayed for you. "
"You did?" Tully asked. "Wow. Thanks. "
Kate didnt know what to say to that. To her, praying was like brushing your teeth before bed, just something you did.
Tully clicked off the dryer and smiled, but she looked worried again. Maybe it was the smell of burning hair. "Okay. Take a shower and rinse it out. "
Kate did as she was told. A few minutes later, she got out of the shower, dried off, and got dressed again.
Tully immediately grabbed her hand and led her back to the chair. "Is your hair falling out?"
"Some is," she admitted.
"If youre bald, Ill shave my head. Promise. " Tully combed and dried Kates hair.
Kate couldnt look. She closed her eyes and let Tullys voice meld into the whine of the dryer.
"Open your eyes. "
Kate looked up slowly. At this distance, she didnt need her glasses, but force of habit made her lean forward. The girl in the mirror had straight streaked blond hair, parted with precision and dried perfectly. For once it looked soft and pretty instead of thin and lank. The white highlights showed off her leaf-green eyes and the hint of pink on her lips. She looked almost pretty. "Wow," she said, too choked up with gratitude to say more.
"Wait till you see what mascara and blush can do," Tully said, "and concealer for those zits on your forehead. "
"Ill always be your friend," Kate said, thinking shed whispered the promise, but when Tully grinned, she knew shed been heard.
"Good. Now lets go on the makeup. Have you seen my razor?"
"What do you need a razor for?"
"Your eyebrows, silly. Oh, there it is. Close your eyes. "
Kate didnt think twice. "Okay. "
Kate didnt even bother to hide her face when she came into the house. That was how confident she felt. For the first time ever, she knew she was beautiful.
Her dad was in the living room, sitting in his La-Z-Boy. At Kates entrance, he looked up. "Good Lord," he said, clanking his drink down on the French provincial end table. "Margie!"
Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. She wore her school-day uniform: striped rust and olive polyester blouse, brown corduroy bell-bottoms, and a wrinkled apron that read: A WOMANS PLACE IS IN THE HOUSE . . . AND THE SENATE. When she saw Kate, she stopped. Slowly, she untied her apron and tossed it on the table.
The sudden quiet brought Sean and the dog running into the room, tripping over each other. "Katie looks like a skunk," Sean said. "Pee-ew. "
"Go wash your hands for dinner," Mom said sharply. "Now," she added when he didnt leave.
Sean grumbled and went upstairs.
"Did you give her permission to do that to her hair, Margie?" Dad said from the living room.
"Ill handle this, Bud," Mom said, frowning at Kate as she crossed the room. "The girl across the street do this to you?"
Kate nodded, trying to hold on to the memory of feeling pretty.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes. "
"Well. Me, too, then. I remember when your Aunt Georgia dyed my hair red. Grandma Peet was livid. " She smiled. "But you should have asked. Youre still young, Kathleen, no matter what you girls want to be true. Now, what have you done to your eyebrows?"
"Tully shaved them. Just to give them shape. "
Mom tried not to smile. "I see. Well, plucking is really the way to go. I should have taught you how already, but I thought you were too young. " She looked around for her cigarettes. Finding them on the table, she flipped one out and lit up. "After dinner, Ill show you how. And I suppose a little lip gloss and mascara would be all right for school. Ill show you how to make it look more natural. "
Kate hugged her mom. "I love you. "
"I love you, too. Now get started on the cornbread. And Katie, Im glad you made a friend, but no more breaking the rules, okay? Thats how young girls get into trouble. "
Kate couldnt help thinking of the high school party Tully had gone to. "Okay, Mom. "
Within a week, Kate became cool by association. Kids raved over her new look and didnt turn away from her in the halls. Being a friend of Tully Harts meant she was okay.
Even her parents noticed the difference. At dinner, Kate wasnt her u
sual quiet self. Instead, she couldnt shut up. Story after story spilled out of her. Who was dating whom, who won at tetherball, who got detention for wearing a MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR T-shirt to school, where Tully got her hair cut (in Seattle by a guy named Gene Juarez—how cool was that?), and what movie was playing at the drive-in this weekend. She was still talking about Tully after dinner, while she and Mom did the dishes.
"I cant wait for you to meet her. Shes super cool. Everyone likes her, even the heads. "
"Heads?"
"Druggies? Stoners?"
"Oh. " Mom took the glass meatloaf pan from her and dried it. "Ive . . . asked around about this girl, Katie. She tries to buy cigarettes from Alma at the drugstore. "
"Shes probably buying them for her mom. "
Mom set the dry pan down on the speckled Formica counter. "Just do me a favor, Katie. You think for yourself around Tully Hart. I wouldnt want you to follow her into trouble. "
Kate threw the crocheted dishrag in the soapy water. "I cant believe you. What about all your take-a-risk speeches? For years you tell me to make friends, and the second I find someone, you call her a slut. "
"I hardly called her a—"
Kate stormed out of the kitchen. With each step she expected her mother to call her back and ground her, but silence followed her dramatic exit.
Upstairs, she went into her room and slammed the door for effect. Then she sat down on her bed and waited. When Mom came in shed be sorry; for once Kate had been the strong one.
But Mom didnt show, and by ten oclock, Kate was starting to feel sort of bad. Had she hurt her moms feelings? She got up, paced the small room.
There was a knock at the door.
She raced over to the bed and climbed in, trying to look bored. "Yeah?"
The door opened slowly. Mom stood there, wearing the floor-length red velour robe theyd gotten her for Christmas last year. "May I come in?"
"Like I could stop you. "
"You could," Mom said quietly. "May I come in?"
Kate shrugged, but scooted to the left to make room for her mom.
"You know, Katie, life is—"
Kate couldnt help groaning. Not another life-is speech.
Mom surprised her by laughing. "Okay, no more speeches. Maybe youre too old for that. " She paused at the altar on the dresser. "You havent made one of these since Georgia was in chemo. Who needs our prayers?"
"Tullys mom has cancer and she was ra—" She snapped her mouth shut, horrified by what shed nearly revealed. For most of her life shed told her mother everything; now she had a best friend, though, so shed need to be careful.
Mom sat down on the bed beside Kate, just as they did after every fight. "Cancer? Thats quite a load for a girl your age to carry. "
"Tully seems cool with it. "
"Does she?"
"She seems cool with everything," Kate said, unable to keep the pride out of her voice.
"How so?"
"You wouldnt understand. "
"Im too old, huh?"
"I didnt say that. "