Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

A loud, loud, loud knocking at my door. Grrrr! Who in the hell is that and why in the hell are they here?! I roll over slightly in the bed and run into something. Hesitantly, I bring my hand into the air to find the wall.

No, I find a body in bed next to me. Another groan, some more knocking and suddenly my eyes are wide open. Can I freak out now? Amy is in my bed! Ouch…yelling inside my mind doesn’t help the headache.

Last night we went to a party in the other dorm building, had a bit too much to drink, and now I have no recollection left in my mind. I remember coming into the room and stumbling with her in my arms. A few kisses here, a few there. What else could have happened? Oh shit…

The knocking will not let up. Will somebody get that! NOW! Another groan and yet another that I soon realize isn’t mine and I have to wonder again…WHO THE HELL IS BANGING ON MY DOOR!

"What!" I yell, at a loss for anything else to say.

A grumble comes from beneath the covers, "You don’t have to yell so loud."

With a furrow of my eyebrows, confusion runs into my mind when I see her bring up her arm, wiping at some hair across her face. I see a complete sheath of cloth covering her arm. That’s a good sign right?

"Uh," how in the hell do ask this, "Last night?"

She turns over, burrowing her head into the pillow we had been sharing throughout the night. "Are you going to answer the damned door?" asked through gritted teeth, I’m sure. Apparently her headache isn’t as nice as mine is.

I practically fall out of bed and stumble to the door before opening it up. In front me is standing this tall piece of woman that I would suppose most males would fall dead in their tracks for. From her long, curly, jet black hair to the smooth dark skin.

I guess with the hangover, the presently depleting headache and the fact that I’m half asleep would be reason enough for me to have a failed memory. I’m sure I’ve seen her on Amy’s floor before. But for now, the life of me, I don’t know her name. And as the single part of my mind begins to reel, I really wish I knew it.

Then I hear a rustling in my bed and the ‘boyfriend’ mode kicks in. I cough nervously as I can tell this girl is looking at me strangely, knowing that I was checking her out. "Ya?" I ask, at a loss for real words.

She began to peak her head about and peer inside the door. "Is Amy here?"

"Ya, who are you?" while scraping a hand through what I knew was bedhead.

In an odd, nearly annoyed voice, she spoke, "Je’Nise. Is she here or not?"

I just had to repeat it. "Je’Nise."

"Yeah," she responded in a short tone. "Look, she was supposed to be upstairs almost an hour ago. Is she coming or not?"

To say I was confused was an understatement. I leaned against the dresser near the door and crossed my arms, "Where you guys going?"

"Mall." Je’Nise craned her neck in an odd position and I could tell with her widened eyes and hefty sight that she finally caught sights of Amy. "Hey, Notty! Get your ass up and let’s go."

It took a few moments, but Amy finally moved as she tried to sit up on the bed. I looked between the two and had to ask, "Notty?"

With a wry smile, Amy finally spoke in a normal voice; "She refuses to call me the right way."

I lowered my voice and walked closer to Amy, "Ame, can we just talk for a minute before you leave?"

"I can’t right now," in an obviously patronizing voice. "I have to go," and she glanced over to her friend.

Je’Nise simply groaned as she leaned against the doorjamb, "Come on! You’re late! We’ve got an hour to get to Aveda!"

Amy instructed her friend in a terse tone, "Say it."

"I will not say that! I’ve told you time and again, it’s Boo or it’s nothing."

"Oh, boo hoo," she mocked in instants. I could only stand where I was and watch them. They had this odd interaction that you swear you missed the translations. "Say it."

With a roll her dark eyes, Je’Nise spoke in a flat tone, "Nortorious A-M-Y. Can we go now?"

Amy gave off a pleasing smile and stood up straight, "Yes, we can go now." She reached a hand up to my neck and leaned in for quick peck at my cheek. It was a nice gesture, but I was still a bit puzzled with what was going on and I let her leave the room without so much more of a word.

I don’t really know what time it was, but the darkness that came in through the windows made me guess well past six. Amy had been gone for nearly five hours now. To the Mall. There was something more than that. I just had this feeling that I couldn’t put my finger on. Next thing my finger found was the buttons on my cordless as I called her number.

Leave a message, that’s fine. Just say you’re wondering where she is and to stop by your room when she gets back. That’ll sound fine, right? Shit, that sounds desperate. But, I wanted to clear things up to figure out what happened last night, even if it wasn’t sex. This was Amy. The one who always seemed conservative in matters like this. She was crazy and social about other things, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t overstep any boundaries.

As my mind reeled, I heard a quick click and "Hello?"

"Amy?"

"Ryan?"

Well, duh! "You’re back already?"

"Yeah, have been for a lil’ bit now." The way she cut off that thought, I knew something was wrong.

I had to ask—I heard people talking on her end and I knew she was busy, or at least in the middle of something—but I had to ask. "Could you come over?" I was met with silence and I had to run through my mind the fact that I should have said ‘will you,’ or ‘would you.’ Not ‘could you,’ that just sounds way too informal.

"Now?" No time better than the present. "Well, if you really want, you could come up here?" I guess it’s better than nothing, right?

And so I ventured to her room where Je’Nise was inside, but no Amy. I suddenly felt very, very strange. She was looking at me with flat eyes, as if taking in every move I made as I walked in and glanced across the walls. The posters were back up. Is that a good thing, or a bad? The girl is still watching me, and it feels so awkward that I’m afraid to say something stupid so I just stay silent. I guess this is what I get for the way I looked at her this morning.

There was a magazine at the desk and I hesitantly picked it up, feeling the need to have something in my hand. Keeping my eye to the pages before me, "Did you guys have fun?"

I think I heard a slight giggle, "Ya."

As I gazed at the pictures inside, I fell upon the spread of her beloved Backstreet Boys. God, that one with the hair that is greasy looking now and growing longer than before, he’s really asking for someone to beat on him. "At the mall for long?"

"Nah, we just got her haircut and came back."

I narrowed my eyes. First at the fact that this guy looked like he got his hair cut with wings, mocking Charlie’s Angels. Then at the fact that they had been back for a bit now and I hadn’t heard from Amy. Not that I expected her to be at my door the moment she returned, but she knew I wanted to talk. "Where’s she at?"

"I’m here," her voice spoke hesitantly from the doorway and I looked over quickly, magazine still in hand. "Like the articles? Or just the pictures?" she humored when she spotted the YM in my hands.

In instants, the magazine fell from my grip and my eyes widened. "Your hair," I muttered.

She ran a hand over it self-consciously, moving away a few whisps of hair that now seemed to be able to take flight. "What about it?" in a small voice, sensing disapproval.

"Well, it’s so short, first of all."

"I like it," she argued before Je’Nise spoke up quickly with the same statement.

"I kinda do too, but…"

Amy gave me an odd look, "But, what?"

"It’s like his," I pointed back to the magazine.

Her friend spoke in an annoyed voice, "Yeah, and? I like it. I think it looks nice on her."

"I didn’t say that," I had to quickly argue. My problem wasn’t that she got it cut. It was that it looked just like that guy’s. Kevin’s.

Je’nise then realized the odd tension and perhaps remembering that I came up to talk to Amy; she left the room. Amy came across the way and sat down at her desk, motioning for me to sit on her roommate’s bed. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah, but I think we’ve got a whole new subject now."