Late at night, I sat staring out my bedroom window, grumbling quietly. The sound of the clock faintly ticking in the background began to drive me insane.

With the ruckus we were causing back at the dinner party, we drew out the rest of the adults, including Demi and Stephen, my mom, and Sonia's parents Priyanka and Diego. We were scolded for "stirring the pot" and "not minding our business", and everyone was ushered into their separate cars and homes. The birth certificate was torn up and thrown away before our eyes by Stephen.

Persephone, Cornelia, and Holden missed school the next day. They explained that their parents were all behaving strangely, paranoid and on edge. However, in true Sonia fashion, she shattered her locked bedroom window and made her way to school.

We shared no classes, but at the end of the day just before I could make it to the bus stop at the edge of campus, Sonia ran up to me.

"How do you walk so fast when you're so much shorter than me?" Sonia huffed, hands on her knees.

"You're supposed to raise your arms above your head so your lungs can expand easier, Sonia."

Her eyes lit up with recognition and for once she laughed, pure and genuine.

"Also," I added, "I'm only like three inches shorter!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mar," she winked, "Now listen. Schaefer is going to the salon today for her weekly touch up. Come with me."

"Why?"

"To get dirt, obviously. She has a dead daughter that no one seems to know about. There's bound to be some connections."

"Right, but what's the plan? Do you want to just waltz into the salon and be like, 'Hey Principal! This is your off time and all, but we know about your dead child and we were wondering if you could spill the tea on that'!"

Sonia rolled her eyes, "Don't be silly, Mar. I want you to distract her while I steal her phone and put a data tracking app on it. I saw her put in her password a few days ago."

"Incredibly illegal. We're literal criminals."

She smirked at me, "So you're in?"

"Hell yeah!"

•

"Wait, so what do I do to distract her? And what happens if you get caught? And what about our parents finding us?"

I questioned Sonia incessantly as we stood outside the beauty parlor, the crisp air breezing past us.

"You'll figure it out. I don't get caught. And they can go f*ck themselves. Now stop asking questions and get in line."

Sonia gave me two hundred dollar bills.

"Um," I started nervously, "You don't actually want me to spend this, right? Like, this is a lot. Where did you get this?"

Sonia chuckled, "Well if you went in just to talk to her it'd look suspicious, no? Why not get a new hairstyle while we're committing crimes? Get whatever you want."

I sighed anxiously. I'd always stuck to what I knew: My curly hair in an untamed afro, growing steadily without so much as a headband every now and then. In the back of my mind, I'd only ever vaguely toyed with the idea of changing things up. Would my mom approve of anything too extravagant? How much variety could I even get with my hair texture?

I never had a distinct general style regardless. Looking around, everyone seemed to know exactly who they were and what they liked. Cornelia with her refined black and crimson strands, Persephone with her sandy orange sea of silk. I felt like I was just a vague imitation of stereotypical femininity.

"Marnie," Sonia said gently, "Don't get too in your head about it. It's just hair. If you don't like what happens, it'll grow back. And you could always just get it styled."

I glanced up at Sonia, a new appreciation for the highlights in her hair. Why, I wondered, did it seem like a brave act of defiance for her to have them?

"Yeah. Right. Of course," I stammered, and she tilted her head to the side, taking me in.

"If you do end up getting something wild, I'll hype you up even if I'm the only one doing it."

I hugged her warmly and said, "Let's go endanger our clean records!"

She seemed to blush at my closeness before saying, "Clean?"

She went inside before I could reply.

The salon was blissfully empty, save for our principal, a few employees, and a sleeping woman under a hair dryer. As we'd planned on the journey there, Sonia made a beeline for the restrooms, from which she would come out after a few minutes of my distracting Schaefer. I, on the other hand, went up to the receptionist.

"A walk-in, are we? Goodie, goodie, what can I do for you today?" the elderly woman asked me excitedly, and I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I'd like to pay for a cut, bleach, and dye job."

The receptionist grimaced as she accepted my payment. The idea of being perceived as someone new was exhilarating, despite my apprehension. But was it too late to turn back?

Oh well.

I was sat beside Principal Schaefer, and upon recognizing me, her eyes widened for a moment. I noticed the pink purse on the floor beside her legs, tearing my eyes away quickly.

"Marinette! What a surprise," the principal said, thumbing through a home and garden magazine.

"Hi!" I said, perhaps a bit too emphatically.

There was a brief silence before the hairdresser approached me, a bulky black woman with light green hair and a nose piercing.

"Cut, bleach, and dye, right?" she asked sweetly, "How much do you want cut, and what color would you like to dye it?"

I blanked before saying, "Could you just do a side shave and dye the tips of the rest of it blue after bleaching?"

Good grief. Who was I, and what the hell was I doing?

The hairdresser hummed with approval, "You'll be fabulous when I'm done with you, sweetheart!"

After a bit more questioning about what I'd like and a bit more recklessly given feedback, the hairdresser set to work. Schaefer's own hairdresser was on break as she sat for a few minutes with conditioner in her hair. Sonia peaked out of the restroom, and I quickly began speaking about the one safe thing I could think to grab the principal's attention.

"Principal Schaefer," I started, and she turned to me kindly and expectantly, "Did you ever mention what happened at camp between me and Sonia to our parents?"

Schaefer folded her magazine up and set it in her purse, leaving it unzipped before turning to me.

"I didn't. And don't worry, I wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?" I pressed cautiously, watching Sonia creep slowly towards us, getting on her knees.

"I wouldn't ever out you girls, of course. But I must say, I was shocked to see it happen. I always suspected you and Holden Lin would pursue a little relationship."

I couldn't help but giggle fondly, "What gave you that idea?"

"Just a little staff gossip. Us faculty observe students too, you know. Not too heavily for the sake of propriety, but I suppose if I'd paid a little more attention before I could've caught on to your being LGBT."

I was silent. Did I correct her?

Was there anything to correct?

"Ha, yeah. Right. That," I replied awkwardly, desperately trying not to let my eyes fall on Sonia, who'd just unlocked the principal's phone.

Schaefer quirked her eyebrow, "Unless you're not, dear. I've had my fair share of experimentation too!"

I laughed at that, then asked, "And where did your experimentation go?"

"I called myself bisexual for a while, then lesbian, then straight. Nowadays I just call myself old."

We chuckled again, and my hairdresser, hyper-focused on her work, cut in, "I feel that, boo. But labels aren't everything. What matters most is that we're confident in ourselves."

Principal Schaefer smiled, "Amen to that."

Frantically, I searched for another thing to say as Sonia tapped away.

"So if I like girls I don't have to call myself a lesbian?"

This caused Sonia to peer up and smirk for half a second. Principal Schaefer nodded at me, and the hairdresser spoke.

"Right. And just because you like girls doesn't mean you could only be a lesbian. You could be bisexual, pansexual, all those other fancy new labels. But one thing I can tell you for sure? Your hair will be the coolest thing about you once we're done here, not your sexuality!"

Principal Schaefer added, "And anyways, everyone your age has cooties, right? Focus on your academics."

I chuckled, then sighed, "That sounds like the easy way out. Life feels so much more complicated."

The hairdresser spoke, "That's how it always is, babe. But a year from now, or even a month from now, will any of your current problems matter?"

Principal Schaefer smiled, "I'll tell you one thing: Your grades will certainly matter a year or month from now!"

Everyone shared a good-natured laugh at that. Sonia silently backed away from Schaefer's purse, giving me a thumbs up. She disappeared behind the corner, then stood, walking in as if it was the first time.

"Sorry I took so long in the restroom, Mar, I was fixing my makeup. What did you choose to get done?" Sonia asked, setting down on a guest chair a few feet away.

The principal raised an eyebrow for a moment, then picked up her magazine again, flipping through it from where she left off.

I opened my mouth to answer, and that's when the hairdresser pulled out a razor.

"Oh, nothing too extravagant," the hairdresser beamed, and my chest tightened as the razor was powered on and I saw the first bits of hair fall.

Sonia widened her eyes for a moment before she folded her arms, looking on excitedly.

•

"I can't believe I did that. Why did I do that? That was stupid."

As we walked through the park, I kept looking at myself in my phone's camera. I felt dreadful and exuberant in equal parts.

Sonia, on the other hand, was completely elated. She fawned over my new appearance, bouncing around like a toddler who'd eaten an entire cake.

"Shut up! Look at you, oh my gosh! It's gorgeous!" she said, stepping in front of me to rifle through my new extravagant ocean blue curls.

I lowered my phone after briefly examining myself once more. Gradually, my lips curled into a smile.

"...it is kind of cool, isn't it?" I whispered, and Sonia nodded enthusiastically.

"Hell yeah it is! You're so cute!"

"You mean my hair is so cute?"

"Yes. No. Both! But how's it feel to make your first big fashion decision?"

"First? You obviously didn't see me in that neon green shirt a few months ago!"

"Is that because you took it off when you realized how much you looked like a crossing guard?"

"...maybe."

We came upon two empty swings and simultaneously made a break for them. Giggling, we began to push ourselves. The wind on the then exposed portion of my hair was chilling and liberating. There was finally a part of myself that I'd consciously chosen!

As we swung, I caught Sonia gazing at me with adoration. The same unadulterated kind she used to, before the conspiracies and connections and murders. Before the laser tag arena.

***

On the weekend, my friend group had finally managed to break away from their families. We met up at Persephone's home while her parents were away to discuss all of our findings. I was the last to arrive, and when I crossed the threshold, all eyes fell on me.

After facing my mom and her begrudging approval, I branched out even more with my appearance. I bought a white blouse with black polka dots all over it, and I paired it with a blue skirt to match the tips of my hair.

I hadn't worn skirts since elementary school.

Holden's jaw dropped, Persephone's eyes widened, and Cornelia beamed. Sonia only lounged in her chair, smiling admiringly.

"COLOR SQUAD!" Cornelia screamed excitedly, clapping in her seat.

I blushed, setting down next to Holden on the couch. A flurry of compliments surrounded me. When they quieted, I said:

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Marnie 2.0 now. Let's go over what we've got!"

•

After sharing the news of our escapade, Sonia unlocked her phone and opened an app disguised as a calculator.

"This is the data tracking app. It's actually for parents to monitor their kid's usage, but on the kid's phone, they can't see the app is there unless they go to the settings," Sonia explained, showing us icons labeled things like "incoming messages" and "gallery additions".

"That's super trippy!" Holden commented, "How did you find that app?"

Sonia scoffed, "My overbearing ass parents tried to put it on my phone. Little do they know I have an app that takes a picture every time someone unlocks it, so I knew they were on it. I found it when I did a settings deep dive to see which apps they opened."

Persephone raised an eyebrow, "That's not the healthiest set up. Are you...okay?"

Sonia only shrugged.

Suddenly, Cornelia stood, "Gotta use the bathroom, girl trouble. Where is it?"

Persephone pointed down a narrow hall, "Down there to the left."

Meanwhile, Sonia toyed with the app, going through the search history activity of Principal Schaefer's phone.

"Anything interesting?" I asked, and Sonia huffed.

"No," she said while scrolling, "She's the most boring person ever according to this search history. The most exciting thing on the list is when she searched up how to change the oil on a car."

Persephone looked over Sonia's shoulder at the screen, "Why would she need to know that? She doesn't have a car. The first day I came here during our meeting she mentioned she takes the bus or walks to the school every day to conserve fossil fuels."

"Maybe she just bought one? Like a crappy one. Or maybe she does have one and just doesn't use it. And what do the messages say?" Holden asked.

"It's mostly texts to staff and parents about school. God, does this woman have a life?" Sonia rolled her eyes.

"Wait," I said as Sonia scrolled, "There, a new incoming message! It's from a contact only labeled 'W'."

"'W' could be for Wildman!" Persephone mentioned before reading the text aloud, "'Plum Creek Sauna at 7 PM Thursday, Christine. Don't be late.'"

"So that's where we have to go, right?" Holden asked, and we nodded.

"I've also done some thinking, guys," I said, "Who really knew we'd be at camp that night? Who would've known to find Kyle there?"

It was silent for a moment before Sonia said, "Come to think of it, we never really mentioned it to anyone. It was supposed to be our lowkey after-party, the only people who would've known were close friends and me, plus our parents."

"Right," Holden said, "Wasn't Safa invited though? She passed on it because she got dizzy from the bright lights, but maybe she told someone else she got an invitation."

"Good thinking," Persephone said, "So to Safa and then to the sauna?"

We all nodded.

"Great, now-" I started, but was cut off by Cornelia rushing into the living room.

"I knew those creeps were f*cking shady!" Cornelia hissed, holding up a photo album.

"What the hell are you doing with my dad's scrapbook?! You went into our bedrooms?!" Persephone said defensively, standing to meet her gaze.

"Yeah, I did! And look what I found!" Cornelia shouted, waving an open page of photos around.

Sonia rose, eyes narrowing at the picture. Holden swallowed painfully, and I gasped.

A much younger Stephen Andreas and Diego Moreno stood in suits in front of a building with a "Now Open" sign in the window. They smiled, arms linked in a friendly, good-natured way. The building name was cut off.

Persephone froze, not seeming to know what to make of it. She recognized Sonia's dad from the dinner party.

"That building is in Plum Creek!" Holden pointed out, "Why didn't you mention your parents lived here before, Seph?"

Persephone stood still, "I didn't know..."

Sonia scanned Persephone. For a moment, we held our breath, waiting for Sonia to go off on her.

But she never did.

Instead, Sonia deflated, eyes pooling with tears.

"Great," Sonia cried, "Now everything goes so much deeper!"

I held her, patting her back comfortingly.

"We're gonna figure this out," Holden told her, "I promise."

Cornelia shrugged and mouthed a "sorry" to Persephone. For several moments after, we all sat down together silently.

(A/N: The above chapter contained depictions of bleaching and dying natural hair. This is solely a plot device and it is not advised to do yourself unless given the okay by a hair care professional. Marnie is a fictional character with miraculously strong hair, readers are real and more fragile. Thank you.)