Chapter 2

That night, Cay sat on the window seat in her room. It faced out over the street, towards Terry’s house. The blinds were open in such a way that she could see outside, but no one could see in. That was best, in her opinion, because she had her hat off.
Contrary to popular rumor, she was not bald. Nor was her hair short and ugly, like some of her peers expected. She had long, curly auburn hair, long enough that it went past her waist. She always wound it up, into a messy, loose bun before putting her hat on in the mornings.
Hearing a knock on her door, Cay sighed. It was traditional that the night Alicia got back from school, she and Cay would talk.
“Come in.” Cay moaned. There was no way around it, so she might as well get it over with.
“Hey little sis.” Alicia opened the door quietly and greeted her sister a bit more seriously than before. She only acted like that in front of their father. He wanted perfection from his little girls. Alicia was anxious to please him, unlike Cay.
“Hey Alicia.” Cay knew why Alicia acted like that. It wasn’t really her sister that she was disgusted with. It was her constant need for acceptance that made the younger woman sneer. One summer, after she had turned thirteen, she heard their mom and dad talking. Their dad had this whole plan. Alicia would become a doctor and Cay would be a lawyer. The girls would be the perfect little angels they were expected to be and get married soon after starting their careers, leaving enough time for grandchildren to be born and adored by him.
That summer, Cay decided to go her own way. That was the start of the hat, the art, and the sarcasm. That was also when she met Terry. Her father’s idea of a ‘perfect little angel’ did not include having a male best friend. But she liked hanging around with Terry for him, not to go against her father.
“So, how are things going? I know you probably have prom coming up, right?” Alicia asked slyly as she sat on her sister’s tie-dye bedspread.
“Everything’s fine. Senior Prom is coming up, but not for me.” Cay replied, looking at the window. She wasn’t going to tell anyone her plan. But she would need some help…
“That’s because you keep all that beautiful hair piled up under this ratty old thing!” Alicia gestured toward the crocheted, beige hat that sat on the dresser, “I bet the kids in school don’t even know you have hair!”
“Well, I just don’t like my hair being down in public. I’d feel like I’m naked without my hat!” Cay laughed, “But in all seriousness, I actually do have something in mind about the prom.”
“Ooh! Really? Do spill!” Alicia leaned in. Cay turned towards her older sister.
“Well…”

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Meanwhile, Terry watched from across the street. He ran his hand through his hair, causing it to fall into his face. He knew he should be doing his homework, but he didn’t care. His desk was positioned at the window. Anyway, the homework he had could be done in a snap.
He wanted Cay to come to the prom with all his heart. He knew the girl would have a good time. He also felt that she wanted to come, but thought that it was expected of her. She hated doing what was expected of her.
‘That damn pride is what’s keeping us both from enjoying that night.’ Terry figured. He knew that Cay refusing to go would dampen his night, causing the whole thing to be a waste of money. The money for the tickets was enough, but he still had to get a tux!
“Holy crap.” he muttered. He had completely forgot to ask Cay to help him pick out a tux. She knew colors much better than he did.
He knew it was useless to call her now. He knew all about her and her sister’s little ‘ritual’.
“TARRENCE! GET DOWN HERE! IT’S DINNERTIME!” Terry sighed as his mom called him.
“COMING MA!” His voice resounded around his spacious room, as well as going down the hall. He took one last look at his homework before standing up. He crossed the room to the door, looked out the window one last time at his best friend’s room before heading downstairs.

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Alicia let out a long, low whistle when Cay finished outlining her plan to her sister.
“This is really involved, sweetie.” Alicia finally said.
“What do you mean, involved? Cay questioned from the corner. During the conversation, she had moved to put some of her latest work up on her walls.
“Can you be sure Dad will give you the money? How will you get there?” Alicia asked, crossing from the bed.
“Well, I’m quite certain Dad will agree, because I’ll be acting like a girl for the first time in about four years. As for the ride, that’s why I told you about this. Can I borrow…?” Cay trailed off and nodded out the window.
“You mean… NO! You want to borrow my baby?” Alicia looked shocked, but wasn’t really.
“Hey! I’m not a bad driver, sis!” Cay’s voice had a note of hurt.
“How about I drive you? I don’t want your dress getting caught in the pedals or anything. We don’t need our Miss Cinderella getting into an accident.” Alicia laughed.
“Well, you can’t be seen, otherwise that would ruin it. So I’ll have to come late.” Cay replied as she went to sit down at her desk.
“Fine. I’ll find somewhere to go. I don’t want to be out too late, okay?” Alicia rolled her eyes and leaned against the lavender wall.
“Okay, one at the latest.” Cay sighed.
“Come on, it’s dinnertime.” Alicia laughed. The two girls left the room.

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“Hey dude.” Cay looked out her window as she spoke into the light blue receiver of her phone.
“Yo, Cay. I forgot to ask you something today.” Terry answered as he looked back. Her blinds were shut but he could see her silhouette, leaning against the wall of her window seat.
“Shoot.”
“Can you help me pick out a tux this weekend?” Cay’s eyes lit up. She could take Terry out in the morning, then go with Alicia in the afternoon!
“Sure! I won’t be able to in the afternoon, though. We’ll go tomorrow morning.”
“But I’ll have to wake up early!” Terry whined.
“Come on, dude. Tomorrow morning or you wait ‘til next weekend,” Cay smirked, because she knew the answer, “You know I hate it when you whine.”
“What, you think I would get my tux the weekend before the prom?” He sighed, “Fine, tomorrow morning.” “I’ll see you then! G’night!” Cay said merrily, moving away from the window to her mirror and beginning to brush her hair.
“Yeah, ‘night.” Terry replied before hanging up. “I’ll get you to go to that prom if it kills me.” He muttered as he turned off his light.
“ Good night, sweet prince.” Cay whispered as she set down the brush and receiver, turned off the light, and crawled into bed.