Candi pushed her hand away. “Hey, be nice. That straw happens to be my hair, and it’s naturally curly okay? It’s been a frizz bomb since I was a baby. There’s nothing you can do with it, so don’t even bother trying.” Candi tried to move away, but Sarah wasn’t having it.
“Not so fast, Sugar Lump. I think I have something that can help you.”
She walked over to her suitcase and started digging around inside.
“Not make it perfect, mind you, it’s much too far-gone for that. But I can improve it, at least.”
“Wow, thanks. Thanks a lot,” said Candi sarcastically, as she took a clump of hair in her hands, trying to examine it next to her face. It wasn’t very long. All she could see were a few inches of the ends – they were dry and split.
“Ah-ha, here it is!” She popped open the top of the green tube that had emerged from her bag and squeezed some white goop from it out into her hand. She started smooshing and rubbing it between her fingers.
“What is that? Glue?”
“Shush. And sit.” Sarah gestured to the chair in front of the table with her elbow. “And don’t look in the mirror; I want this one to be a surprise.” She smiled wickedly.
Candi didn’t like the evil smile, but she figured Sarah wouldn’t go to all this trouble with her makeup only to ruin her hair by gluing it all together. She walked over to the chair, sitting down as instructed, facing the door so she couldn’t her reflection.
“That stuff better wash out of my hair.”
“Don’t you worry your frizzy little head about that. Having to shave your hair off wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen to it, trust me.” She started working the cream through Candi’s hair, starting at the ends and moving up towards the roots. “You should just shave it all off and start over – treat your hair right from the beginning.”
“Well, I guess I don’t know how to ‘treat my hair right.’ It’s not my fault my hair is impossible.”
“Don’t feel bad. Lots of girls with hair like yours don’t know what to do with it. I’m going to show you some tricks. Don’t you have any black friends? See, you just need to work with the natural curl instead of fighting it. You’re not a straight hair person, so you should stop trying to be one.”
Candi sighed, “I don’t try to be a straight hair person, and yes, I have black friends, but we don’t share hair tips. I just wash and brush my stupid hair.”
“That’s what I mean. Someone with hair as curly and frizzy as yours shouldn’t be brushing her hair.”
“What? I’m supposed to have dreadlocks?”
“No, stupid, you should use a very wide-toothed comb like this one and only comb it once, when it’s wet. Let it air dry. Put product in it so the frizzies don’t rear their ugly heads. Fluff later with your fingers as necessary, but never, EVER brush. Sheesh. You’d think your mother would have told you this stuff.”
She was pulling chunks of Candi’s hair and Candi was trying like heck to sit still. She let the comment about her mother go by because the pain was too distracting.
“Ouch! You’re pulling!”
“Shut up, I’m almost done.” Sarah walked around to take a look at Candi from the front. She reached out and pulled a few more chunks of hair around Candi’s face.
“Okay, Sugar Lump, behold my magic.”
Candi turned in her chair and faced the mirror. Again, she was speechless, but this time, she felt tears burning her eyes.
“Hey!” yelled Sarah, pointing at Candi’s face, “No tears! You are going to ruin my makeup job!”
Candi immediately started laughing, and then hiccupped a cry. She jumped up, hugging Sarah fiercely. All these years of her life spent with horrible hair she thought was hopeless, only to find out after five minutes with Sarah that she could have pretty hair she actually liked.
“Thank you so much, Sarah! Thank you!”
Sarah awkwardly patted Candi’s back. “You’re welcome.” All this affection was obviously uncomfortable for Sarah, but she didn’t detach Candi from her shoulders. “Go ahead, get it out of your system.”
Candi stepped away to look back at the vision in the mirror. She reached up, gently touching her hair.
What used to be a frizzy, puffy, dried mess of, yes, straw-like hair, was now a mass of strawberry blond curls, falling gracefully around her face, surrounding her beautiful, sparkling green eyes that had been perfectly highlighted by Sarah’s expert makeup job.
“Who is this person?” asked Candi, breathlessly.
“It’s the new you. Now we just need to find you something to wear to the ball, Cinderella.” Sarah was already digging through Candi’s suitcase.
“Hey! What are you doing? That’s my stuff!”
“Yeah, I know. Sad. I already went through all of it. You have practically nothing suitable for this cruise in here, you know.”
“What? What do you mean you already went through all of it? Those are my things.” Candi was irritated knowing Sarah had snooped through her stuff. “You have absolutely no personal boundaries at all – has anyone ever told you that?”
“Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch. Boundaries are for wussies. You’ve got nothing to hide from me, we’re all girls here.” She smiled cheekily. “You just need to update your wardrobe a bit. Lucky for you, you’ve got me as your roommate.”
Candi quickly glanced at Sarah’s outfit and her face broke out in a look of horror. “Um, no offense, Sarah, but I’m not wearing any leopard print dresses.”
“Don’t be such a snob. I’m not going to dress you in anything like this, it’s not your style anyway – too sophisticated. No, you need something a little more on the cute side. I think we can make this work.”
She held up a long green blouse that Candi had packed to wear with her white capri pants.
Candi breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, sure, okay, I can wear that.”
Sarah turned around, grabbing something out of her bag. “Aaaand this!” She was holding up a black, spandex mini skirt.
Candi looked at it suspiciously. “I’m not so sure that I can ... ”
Sarah cut her off. “Shut up. Take your clothes off. Put it on – the whole outfit. I don’t want to hear another word.”
Candi stopped trying to talk, slowly reaching down to pull up her t-shirt. “Aren’t you going to turn around? A little privacy here ... ”
“Are you kidding me? What am I going to see that I haven’t already seen? I’ve got boobs too, you know.”
Candi just looked at her with eyebrows raised.
“Oh, for chrissakes, whatever, Miss Prude.” She turned around in a huff.
“I’m not a prude,” said Candi as she quickly undressed.
She grabbed the blouse that Sarah had flipped behind her back, putting it on in a rush. Sarah turned back around to watch her finish the buttons.
“Now the skirt.”
Candi stepped into the skirt, pulling it up to her waist. The blouse hung halfway down to the bottom of it.
“I look pregnant or something.”
“Patience, Prudy. I’m not finished with you yet.”
“Don’t call me Prudy. I’m not a prude, I’m just shy.”
“Shy, my ass. Now come here so I can put this belt on you.”
Candi stepped forward allowing Sarah to secure a black, wide belt around the blouse at Candi’s waist. This pulled the green blouse in so it wasn’t hanging so low, letting it emphasize Candi’s narrow waist and curvy hips.
“Yes! I have once again created a masterpiece. Men of this cruise, you are welcome.” Sarah then bent over at the waist and took some bows to her imaginary fans.
Candi turned to look in the mirror. She was surprised to see that she really liked the look Sarah had put together. Usually, she just wore the green blouse hanging down over her pants; it did a good job of hiding most of her body, which she tended to do because she was embarrassed about her curvy figure.
Candi put her hands on her butt, turning left and then
right, admiring the view from different angles. Without thinking about what she was saying, she wondered aloud, “Do you think Kevin will like it?”
Sarah jumped in the air and landed next to Candi, pointing her finger in Candi’s face. “A-HA!!! I KNEW it! You like my brother.” She raised her eyebrows at Candi, daring her to deny it.
“I do not like your brother. I was just wondering if a guy like him would like this outfit. You know ... a guy who’s like our age and everything.” She was trying like heck to deny it, but her stupid face was giving everything away. Her skin was a bright, burning red and she was starting to sweat again.
“Uh, uh, uh, little prude, I know your big secret now. Don’t try to lie to me. I can see right into that fuzzy little head of yours.” She was smiling huge and looking dangerous.
“Okay, whatever, just please don’t say anything to him!” Candi begged, desperate not to be totally humiliated. All she needed was Kevin to know she was crushing on him. It would ruin this cruise completely. He’d probably feel sorry for her and avoid her, which would make her feel like a complete idiot loser.
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. And a little word of advice for you ... I love my brother and everything, don’t get me wrong ... but he’s not exactly very good boyfriend material.”
“You don’t have to beat around the bush, Sarah. I know what you’re really trying to say.”
“No, seriously, that is what I’m trying to say – he’s not a very good boyfriend.”
Candi started to get mad. She was offended Sarah didn’t think she was good enough for Kevin. Of course, Candi didn’t think she herself was good enough for Kevin, but that was a different issue.
“Yeah, okay, so I know I’m not good enough for your amazing brother, I get it. Let’s just drop it.” Candi stepped over to the bed so she could try to re-pack her messy suitcase.
Sarah reached out, touching Candi’s shoulder. “Um, no, Candi, that’s not what I’m saying.” She sighed in frustration. “What I mean is that my brother usually goes out with girls who are stupid – girls he won’t fall in love with because they have nothing going on upstairs.” She tapped her temple to emphasize her point. “He uses them. He sleeps with them. And after a while, when he gets bored, he dumps them. So like I said – he really isn’t a very nice boyfriend.”
“Oh. I guess I had no idea about that.” Candi smiled tentatively, seeing that Sarah was actually trying to be nice. “Thanks for looking out for me, Sarah.”
Sarah brushed off her gratitude. “Yeah, that’s me. Always looking out for the little people. Come on, let’s get out of here. It’s getting too misty in here for my taste.” She sniffed as she grabbed her small bag and headed towards the door.
Candi kept smiling to herself. Sarah had a hard time taking thanks from people and accepting gestures of friendship and she hid her uneasiness with sarcastic or mean remarks. Candi could see now that this was just a defense mechanism, not meant to be personal. She wondered what kind of life Sarah must have had to decide she wanted to have relationships like this with people. It made Candi feel sorry for her.
“Are you coming or not? I want to show off my masterpiece if you’re up for it.”
Candi smiled, brushing off her feelings of pity. Sarah was tough – she didn’t need pity. “Yep, I’m ready. Let’s go meet some boys.”
“No, dahhling,” Sarah corrected her, using her upper crust, sophisticated voice, “let’s go meet some men.”
Candi laughed, tentatively. She wasn’t so sure about the men thing, but she was definitely sure she wanted to go strut her stuff. She’d never felt so beautiful before, and soon she would be having dinner with Kevin. She wondered what he would think of her new look.
“Let’s go to the club lounge that’s on the same deck as the dinner place. That way we won’t have too far to walk to meet the parents.”
“Fine, lead the way.”
The girls left the cabin, heading off to the lounge.
***
Sarah realized shortly after entering the lounge that Candi was no longer next to her, and stopped. She turned around to see Candi still standing in the entrance, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Sarah walked back and grabbed her by the elbow.
“Come on, little girl. Time to go to the big girl party.”
“What?” mumbled Candi, obviously panicked.
“Never mind, just follow me.”
Sarah led her over to the bar.
“We’d like two margaritas, please.” She smiled at the bartender and leaned a little towards him at the same time, giving him a nice view of her cleavage.
The bartender smiled back. “How old is your friend?” he said, gesturing with a slight tilt of his head towards Candi.
“Old enough,” answered Sarah, still smiling, with very enticing promises in her eyes.
Candi nudged Sarah with her toe. Sarah kicked her back. Luckily the bartender couldn’t see what was going on down below the bar top.
“Here you go,” he said a minute later, putting two very large margaritas on top of the bar in front of Sarah.
“Thanks, sweetie. What time do you get off tonight?” Sarah asked, flirtatiously stirring her drink.
“Not ‘til three,” he responded with a playful frown.
“That’s too bad. Maybe I’ll still be around then.”
“I hope so.”
Sarah turned to Candi who she caught rolling her eyes. “Come on, Sugar Lump, let’s go find us a seat.”
“I really wish you’d stop calling me that,” Candi said to her back.
Sarah just ignored her.
They walked over to a dark corner where a comfortable couch and a couple of tables were gathered together. They dropped down onto the couch, setting their drinks on the table in front of them.
“So, what kind of meat is at the market today?” asked Sarah, scanning the room slowly from left to right, her eyes locking onto two guys who stepped away from the bar and began heading in their direction.
“A-ha, yes. I thought so. Tits out, Sugar Lump. Incoming.”
“What?” was all Candi could get out before two really hot guys were standing in front of them. She looked over at Sarah who was mouthing the words ‘tits out’ at her and throwing her shoulders back at the same time.
Candi leand in and whispered, “What is this, Animal Kingdom?”
“Yes,” deadpanned Sarah.
The big blond guy on the left spoke first. “Hey, what’s up? What are you girls drinking?”
“Margaritas, of course,” answered Sarah, evenly. She didn’t seem flustered at all, just really sexy.
“Mind if we join you?” asked the other one, looking at Candi.
“Sure, sit ... for a little while, anyway,” answered Sarah, knowing instinctively that Candi would be too tongue-tied to respond properly.
“Uh-oh, Jack, we have a dangerous one here,” said the blond, smiling. They moved some nearby chairs so they could sit across from the girls.
The guy named Jack got comfortable, setting his drink down across from Candi’s. “So, I’ll break the ice ... we’re Jack and Mason, I’m Jack, he’s Mason, and we’re from New York. What are your names, and where are you from?”
Sarah answered for both of them since Candi seemed to have been struck dumb. “I’m Sarah and this is Candi; we’re both from North Carolina.”
Candi looked over at Sarah, looking as if she were trying to send a silent message, her eyebrows raised.
“What?” asked Sarah, looking directly at Candi.
“What?” responded Candi, acting innocent, while also raising her eyebrows again and giving a nearly imperceptible shake of her head.
Sarah deliberately ignored her and turned back towards the boys. “Is this your first time on this ship?”
“Yep,” answered Mason. “How ‘bout you guys? This your first time?”
“Yes, it is,” answered Sarah as she reached out, lifting her drink off the table and taking a big drink through
the straw before she continued. “We haven’t really seen anything here yet. Is there a dance club on this ship?”
“You bet. Up on B-deck, just down the hall from our rooms, in fact.”
Sarah got a sour look on her face. “B-deck. Isn’t that near the top? With the ocean view balcony rooms?”
“Yeah, how’d you know? Is that where your room is too?”
Candi blurted out, “No! I mean ... no. We’re down below that area. Our room doesn’t even have a window,” she finished sheepishly.
Jack jumped in, trying to bring the mood back to a happier place, “I’ve stayed in those rooms before, they’re not bad. You hardly spend any time in them anyway, if you’re lucky.” He lifted his eyebrows encouragingly at Candi. His message was clear. Sarah could tell he was more than willing to give Candi a personal tour.
Sarah smiled. “I like that idea ... spending no time in the room.” She looked over at Candi. “See? We just have to stay out dancing all night. Problem solved.”
Candi smiled back nervously.
“The club opens at nine, but Jack says it doesn’t really get going until ten or so. We were going to go over there later ourselves,” said Mason. He lifted up his drink, holding it up in front of him. “Here’s to having a good time, staying out all night, and dancing and drinking until the sun comes up!”
The others reached for their drinks, clinking them together across the table, toasting to a night of revelry. Everyone finished their drinks with big, long gulps.
***
Candi put her glass down on the table a little too hard, laughing nervously at her own clumsiness.
Jack looked into her eyes and grinned. He had the cutest smile. Candi took a minute to really look at him. His eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen; paired with his dark hair, broad shoulders, and trim waist, they made him look like some sort of underwear model or something. He had a really manly jaw, square with a hint of beard shadow. She didn’t know what to say to a guy this cute. He was almost as cute as Kevin. She wondered how old he was. He looked at least nineteen, maybe older.
Sarah nudged her and whispered in her ear, “Stop staring, dork.”
Candi laughed self-consciously and looked down for a moment at her hands, trying to force herself not to twist them nervously.