Chapter 2 - Black Cats and Sparkling Fairies
Over the next weeks Jenny was busy studying for her midterms. Wanting good grades, she spent most evenings at her desk, reading through her notes. As a result the times she hung out with her best friend Sophie, decreased drastically. Even as her focus was exclusively on her school work, she didn't forget to clean her ears twice daily. She couldn't risk getting an infection, as she was quite sure that she would never find the courage to get them re pierced, again. The first time she had to look up instructions on the internet, as she didn't listen to the lady who had explained to her how she was supposed to care for the new earrings.
A few days after her final exam, Sophie knocked on Jenni's door and without waiting barged in.
"You have to come to the Halloween party next Wednesday. I just heard that we got permission to use the courtyard right behind our dorm." She said excitedly.
"But I have to finish my English assignment by next Friday. I won't have time." Jenny muttered.
"Even if I wanted to go, I don't have the time to shop around for a stupid costume."
"You're so lame. You and your excuses." Sophie responded. "Let me worry about your costume. I'll figure it out. Trust me."
"Ok, ok, I'll come. But please stop calling me 'lame'." Jenny replied.
"Good. Make sure to keep your Wednesday afternoon clear." Sophie shouted, already halfway out of the door.
Over the weekend Jenny started to worry about what Sophie had planned for her. She had only been to one party in her whole life. It had been a disaster. For the first hours she had been standing in a corner, not wanting to dance and without friends to talk to. Later that evening a guy had accidentally emptied half his beer over her long dress. When her mum finally had picked her up she smelled the alcohol and Jenny's TV privileges had been taken away for a month.
Halloween finally arrived. After her morning classes she hurried back to her dorm without stopping for lunch as she wasn't feeling hungry at all. Waiting for Sophie she paced up and down her small room, thinking about all of the ways the evening would end in catastrophe. She felt sick. Sophie finally arrived at half past 3 wearing a very revealing cat costume that somehow gave her a perfect hourglass figure. She had cat ears in her now platinum blonde short hair, her strapless black top showed a lot of cleavage, she wore black leggings, a pair of extra long gloves that reached over her elbow and impossibly high heeled black leather boots. Jenny was so stunned that she didn't notice the cat eye contact lenses for a few long moments. Sophie handed Jenny a small bottle of prosecco and a stack of bright green clothes.
"That's for you." She said, "Your costume and something to get you in the right mood. Put it on but don't attach the wings just yet. I'll help you with them before we head to the party. I'll be back in 15 min."
"But I don't dri..." Jenny stammered.
"You do tonight!" Responded Sophie "When I come back, I want to see that bottle emptied. We are on a tight schedule so hurry up."
With that she left the room.
Jenny opened the prosecco and took a tiny sip. It was very bubbly and sweet. She could hardly taste any alcohol. It tasted quite good actually and she took a second bigger sip and began separating the costume pieces.
There were 5 pieces: A short green top with thin straps, a very short skirt (which looked a bit like it was constructed from large leaves), skin colored stockings, a pair of green wings and some green ballerinas. It was obviously a fairy costume.
Worried about the costumes revealing nature she almost chickened out. Not wanting to let Sophie down, who had clearly put a lot of effort into this, she quickly undressed, leaving on her bra and slip, and put on the stockings. The skirt, top and shoes quickly followed.
She took another sip of prosecco and looked at the mirror and took her appearance in.
The costume turned out to be even more revealing than she had feared, it rivaled Sophie's. Her top left most of her flat belly exposed and her skirt just barely covered her butt.
Seeing herself dressed like this made her shiver in fear. Or was it excitement? While she waited for Sophie's return Jenny's mind wandered back to her perfect hourglass figure. The only reasonable explanation she came up with was that Sophie had to be wearing a very tightly laced corset.
A few minutes and a few sips of prosecco later Sophie returned. She glanced at the bottle which was still almost full and frowned.
"I told you to empty that bottle. Hurry up, we're getting late."
"I'm not used to drinking alcohol. I tried to take it slow..." Jenny replied.
Sophie told her "You've gotta take it fast now!"
Jenny took two huge gulps. The bottle was now almost half empty.
Sophie, not wanting to wait any longer, said "Okay let's hurry to my car. You can finish drinking that in the car."
"I can't go out like this!" Jenny said indignantly, "What will other people think?"
Sophie rolled her eyes and said "They won't think anything. It's Halloween! Many people are walking around in their costumes."
On the way to the car Jenny, calmed down again, asked "Where are we going?"
"You'll see," Sophie answered mysteriously.
During the car ride, the alcohol doing its job, Jenny started to feel light headed and drowsy. Encouraged by Sophie she kept on taking small sips of the sparkling beverage. 15 min later they parked in front of a hair salon, the bottle long empty.
When Jenny realized where she had been driven to, she stammered "I don't know... Well... I don't really want a haircut..."
"Trust me," Sophie replied, "they won't mess you up. I often come here myself."
They entered the empty salon and a middle aged plump woman greeted them. "Hello Miss Brown. Good to see you again. This must be the friend you were talking about. Come right along..."
She led them to a swiveling chair in front of a large mirror and said to Jenny "Please take a seat."
To Sophie she added "Everything as discussed?"
"Yes" answered Sophie while Jenny clumsily sat down.
The hairdresser started trimming Jenny's hair. She was very relieved, when she saw how little the lady removed and relaxed into the comfortable chair. Her hair in shape the Lady tilted the chair backwards and gave Jenny a thorough hair washing, during which Jenny promptly dozed off. She didn't know what had awoken her. It was either the strong chemical smell or the stinging she felt in her eyebrows. She couldn't see what the lady was doing to her as her chair was so far reclined that she couldn't see herself in the mirror.
The hairdresser had apparently finished shampooing Jenny's hair and had gone over to plucking her eyebrows. 15 min later the hairdresser washed her hair again and the chemical smell subsided. Next she picked up a hairdryer and went over Jenny's hair with it, until it was almost completely dry. She styled it into a tight bun at the back of Jenny's head. The chair was finally put back into its upright position. Looking at her mirror image Jenny was absolutely shocked. Her previously brown hair was now a golden blonde. Not wanting to cause a scene, she kept quiet. The lady had done a surprisingly good job but after a minute staring at her hair, trying to like her new look, Jenny still preferred her old color.
"Well" she thought "I can dye them back anytime I want".
The initial shock had sobered her up quite a bit and remembering the other thing the hairdresser had done, she now focused on her eyebrows. Instead of her old bushy brows she now had a pair of thin feminine arches. She really liked them. Sophie paid the hairdresser and they headed back to the car.
