Chapter 24 Saylor
Saylor
I check myself one more time in Heaven’s bedroom mirror. It took us a few hours, but we are sufficiently made over. I turn and look at Heaven sitting on the edge of her bed. She’s looking at me with the funniest scowl on her face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I laugh.
“I’m not looking at you like anything. I want out of this,” she says, her frown growing deeper. I snort and walk over to the bed.
“I have the perfect nickname for you,” I say.
“What? Fashion victim?”
“No, stop.” I laugh. “I’m calling you Cutie ’cause you look so freaking cute when you make that face.”
She makes a grumbling noise then stands up. “You ready?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.” I have to stop myself from kissing her again.
I’m wearing a ton of makeup and no setting spray for starters, and then there’s the small issue of just how scrambled my head is.
I keep thinking about Rhys and the boys before him.
I’m shocked that I didn’t realize I was gay sooner.
I’m a little sad that I sat through all those relationships being so unhappy because I thought it was what I was supposed to do.
I feel so different with Heaven. I never want to stop touching her or kissing her. It feels amazing, but sometimes a good thing can be a lot to process. I follow her back down to the second floor. She stops at the next set of steps and yells down into the kitchen.
“Are you ready?!”
“We’re ready. Come on down,” I hear Dr. G say.
She and Dr. Campbell arrived while we were still mid process, but we forced them to wait downstairs until we were ready for the final reveal.
Heaven all but stomps down into the kitchen and I’m right behind her trying not to laugh.
The looks on their faces when they see us are absolutely priceless. I start my little presentation.
“Doctor. Doctor. We give you, a makeover. Heaven is wearing a floral maxi dress and white canvas sneakers from Old Navy,” I say.
“And I’m returning all of it,” Heaven adds.
“Turn around.” She grunts, but she does a little twirl. “We decided on a wash-and-go, styled half-up, half-down, and accented with this lovely white bow. For the face, we went with light mascara, just a hint of sun-kissed blush, and a clear lip gloss. Keeping it light. Keeping it fresh.”
“Very nice,” Dr. Campbell says, offering a polite little clap. “Heaven, how do you feel?”
Heaven spins back around and I almost die at the look on her face, like she’s winding up for one hell of a tantrum.
“I look like I get on the internet and lie about being a trad wife,” she says.
“Heaven!” Dr. G gawks while Dr. Campbell busts out laughing.
“It is giving sister-wife realness, but you look very nice,” he says. “Okay, you gotta walk us through Saylor’s very drastic change.”
It’s my turn to pose, so I point a hip out. Heaven clears her throat then turns and looks at me.
“Basically, we cleaned out the Vans store in the mall. Baggy black Vans tee with a classic ‘Off the Wall’ logo, Vans curbside relaxed chinos—what was the color?” she asks me.
“Otter,” I say with a nod. “But, like, definitely khaki.”
“And we finished the look with the classic black-and-white-checkered slides. Oh, and soft matte lipstick in the shade Copenhagen, and Very Black eyeliner. Really makes the hazel in her eyes pop.” I feel myself blushing and stop myself from kissing Heaven on her cheek.
“Very nice,” Dr. G says. “So, walk me through what we did with the hair. And please tell me Mrs. Ford knows you dyed it. That’s dye, right? Not that rinse-out wax?”
“It’s dye and she doesn’t know,” I confess.
“But it was all my idea.” My hair is a deep burgundy and I absolutely love it.
I asked Heaven to slick it back in her signature side part/bun combo, and I am now silently suffering because my hair is so tight.
No wonder she’s so grumpy all the time. I have no idea how she lives like this.
“Is there dye all over your bathroom?” Dr. G asks with a wince.
“Nope,” Heaven says confidently. She was very careful.
“Okay, I can live with that. Warren, I think this is another box checked off the bingo card.”
“I think you are correct. Ladies, I appreciate your continued dedication to the challenge.” Dr. Campbell comes around the island and gives us both a firm handshake, and I have to admit, summer projects where I feel like I get an A on every assignment are kind of my jam.
“Let’s get a few pictures and then I’ll drive Saylor home,” Dr. G says. “Heaven, you’re coming with us because I need Cristine to see both of you, live and in color.”
“Ughh, fine,” she groans. “You can all soak it in and get all the pictures you want because this is never happening again.”
· · ·
Twenty minutes later the three of us are walking up to my house.
“What do you think your mom is going to say?” Heaven asks.
“We’ll find out,” I say. It finally hits me that my mom might flip out. She doesn’t get angry a lot, but my hair is a big part of her overall vision. I stop and turn toward Dr. G. “If she disowns me, can I come live with you?”
“She’s not going to disown you.” Dr. G laughs. “But if things go south, we have a guest room that’s all yours.”
“Thanks for being such a supportive dentist.”
“Come on.”
We don’t even make it up the front steps before the door flies open. I texted Mom to let her know I was coming inside with company, but I’m sure the porch cam ratted us out.
“Oh my gosh! Look at you two! Hi, Maurene! Come in.” My mom ushers us into the kitchen, and from the way she’s bouncing around all giddy, I think Dr. G is right—I won’t be disowned today. Heaven and I give her a quick walk through our looks, and Mom is just eating it up.
“They told me they did not clear the drastic hair color change with you,” Dr. G says.
“They did not, but I love it. You both look amazing.”
We take a few dozen pictures in my backyard, and finally I force Mom to stop ’cause I can tell Heaven is ready to end it all.
We walk Heaven and Dr. G back outside and say our goodbyes, and I hate that I can’t kiss Heaven or give her a real bone-melting hug.
But I feel a lot better when she tells me she’ll text me later.
“I need your help washing this gel out. I’m digging the clothes, but my head is killing me,” I tell Mom when we walk back into the house.
She touches my edges. “It does look really tight.”
“Heaven is stronger than a marine.”
“What color is this?” Mom suddenly asks in a tone that has all my alarms going off.
I take a step back. “Why?”
“Because I wanna tell Sherri.” Sherri. Her hairdresser.
“Mom! No!”
“What?”
“We are not walking around with the same color hair.”
“Fine. But I still think it’ll look good on me.”
“Can you help me with my hair? Daddy can look at the picture if he wants the full vibe.”
“Yes. Head on up. I’m right behind you.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, I forgot to tell Heaven, I posted the pictures of your cast. People are loving it.”
“I’ll check it out.” When I get up to my room, I pull up Mom’s Instagram account. The pictures of my cast are up there for sure, and Heaven’s tagged in the first slide.
Say’s brilliant friend jazzed up her cast!
Look at these adorable ghosts. #loveintheafterlife
I smile at the little ghosts being all cute together, but the number of likes and comments makes me a little nervous.
I click over to Heaven’s page and see that she’s up to seventy-five followers.
I start scrolling, and for the most part things are pretty chill.
Of course @Cara_Cats47 thinks “its ugly, sorry.” And @Momojijo thinks Heaven “ruined a perfectly good cast.” My stomach gets all tight as I keep scrolling.
Who cares what these people think? I love my cast and I love that Heaven took her time with it.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Mom says, walking into my room. I drop my phone and start shucking out of my clothes. I don’t want to get my otter chinos wet.
“Mom, how come you don’t delete negative comments?”
“I do.”
“You leave a lot up, though. You only delete the real nasty ones. Why don’t you delete them all?”
“It’s not good for engagement,” she says as we walk into my bathroom. “People get all pissy when you try to control the comments section, so you gotta just let it ride. It’s a part of the job.”
I just let out a deep breath, biting the inside of my lip.
I get what she’s saying, but something about it doesn’t sit right with me.
And what makes me feel worse is that Heaven is going to see those comments too.
I don’t think having her feelings hurt should be a part of any job, no matter how many followers it gets her.