Fashion Disaster Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1 Purrfectly Purple

  Chapter 2 Ever Green

  Chapter 3 Pinktacular

  Chapter 4 Souper Green

  Chapter 5 Mellow Yellow

  Chapter 6 Back to the Fuchsia

  Chapter 7 Red Rover

  Chapter 8 Right as Rain

  Chapter 9 Purple You May Know

  Chapter 10 Blue Suede Shoes

  How to Give Yourself (or a Friend!) a Loving Locks Special Occasion Pedicure

  About Jill Santopolo

  For my mom, who knows exactly what it means to be strong and smart and sparkly

  Glittery thanks to Karen Nagel, Miriam Altshuler, Marianna Baer, Anne Heltzel, Marie Rutkoski, and Eliot Schrefer

  one

  Purrfectly Purple

  Aly and Brooke Tanner had gotten to the Sparkle Spa extra early on Sunday morning.

  Their dog, Sparkly, was in his favorite corner of the spa, busy chewing on a piece of rawhide that was spiraled like a staircase.

  Aly was busy finishing a blueberry muffin.

  And Brooke was busy experimenting. She took out the elastic from the bottom of her braid, unbraided her hair, then took out the top elastic, letting her hair fall loose down her back.

  “What do you think?” she asked Aly. Since Aly was in fifth grade and Brooke was only in third, Brooke often asked her older sister for advice. But sometimes, even though Brooke was younger, Aly asked her for advice. So it was pretty much even between them.

  “Wow,” Aly said. “I think your hair might have grown more overnight!”

  Brooke’s hair wasn’t just long. It was really long. It was the kind of long where the bottom ends of it brushed the top of her shorts. She pulled some strands over her shoulders to the front side of her body.

  “I think it goes past my belly button,” Brooke said, lifting up her T-shirt to see where her hair stopped on her stomach. “Yep, definitely,” she confirmed, pulling her shirt back down.

  Aly inspected her sister. She braided Brooke’s hair all the time, so Aly knew it was long, but because Brooke never, ever wore it down, Aly hadn’t thought about just how long it had gotten. Brooke always had it in either one braid or two: sometimes a French braid, sometimes Dutch, sometimes a fishtail, or sometimes a regular braid. But it was always tied back somehow.

  “I think you have mermaid hair,” Aly told her sister.

  Brooke’s eyes lit up behind her blue-framed glasses. “You think so?” she said.

  Aly nodded. “I do. But it’s still kind of clumped into three pieces. Do you want me to brush it?”

  “Do we have a brush here?” Brooke asked.

  “I think there’s one in the desk,” Aly answered.

  Brooke walked over to the other side of the Sparkle Spa—which was really just the back room of their mom’s nail salon, True Colors—and found a brush the color of Purrfectly Purple nail polish in the desk drawer.

  The girls had done their best to decorate the Sparkle Spa with colorful pillows and beautiful paintings and a huge display of nail polish on multiple shelves—in addition to the two teal pedicure chairs and two blue manicure stations that were already there—but some things had to stay, like their mom’s desk and the mini-fridge right next to it.

  Brooke sat down on one of the pillows in the nail-drying area, and Aly sat behind her, brushing and brushing her sister’s hair until it looked more mermaidy than ever.

  “When was the last time your hair was cut, Brookester? At a real salon?” Aly asked. Aly had gotten a haircut about six weeks ago. She liked keeping her hair chin-length like her mom’s.

  Brooke thought for a few moments. “Kindergarten?” she said. “Or maybe preschool?”

  Aly quickly counted in her head. “Brooke!” she said. “That’s, like, three or four years ago!”

  “Actually, I think I got a haircut right before kindergarten started. I remember the pieces of hair made my new shirt itchy—the one with glitter hearts—and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to wear it for the first day of school. But then Mom washed it, and it was fine. Remember that shirt? I wish it still fit.”

  “I remember,” Aly said. “I had one just like it with glitter polka dots, and I wore it for the first day of second grade. So it’s really been three and a half years since your hair was cut.”

  Brooke turned around to face Aly. “Want to know a secret?”

  Aly nodded, but she was pretty sure her sister would have told her even if she hadn’t.

  “I’ve been thinking about getting a major haircut,” Brooke said. “A super-short one, like yours and Mom’s.” Brooke took a bunch of her hair in her fist and looked at the ends.

  “Really?” Aly asked. “But your hair’s a little different than mine and Mom’s.” Aly and her mom both had brown hair—Aly’s straight and Mom’s a tiny bit frizzier—while Brooke’s was soft, blond, and wavy, like their dad’s. Aly wasn’t sure what Brooke’s hair would look like if it were much shorter. It definitely wouldn’t fall straight down like hers did.

  Brooke shrugged. “I don’t know. My other secret is that I’m a little scared to get a haircut. I mean, my hair has looked like this forever. Everyone kind of knows me as the girl who wears long braids. They might not know me anymore if I get a haircut.”

  Aly laughed, even though she tried not to. Her sister was a little bit nutty sometimes. “I think people will know you just fine with shorter hair. There’s a lot more to you than your hair.”

  Brooke laughed now too. “I guess you’re right,” she said. “I have glasses and a big sister, and we run a nail salon, and I’m good at art.”

  “Exactly,” Aly said. “And speaking of our nail salon, everyone should be here soon—our customers and Sophie.”

  “What about Charlotte and Lily?” Brooke asked.

  “They’re coming in late today,” Aly told her. “Charlotte’s cheering for Caleb at his basketball game, and Lily has her own basketball game.”

  Sophie, Charlotte, and Lily were Brooke and Aly’s best friends and helped them run the Sparkle Spa.

  Sophie was in third grade and was the third manicurist.

  Charlotte and Lily were in fifth grade and in charge of different parts of the salon. Charlotte did all the organizing, so she had the title of COO (chief operating officer), whereas Lily took care of the money, so she had the title of CFO (chief financial officer).

  And Brooke and Aly were co-CEOs (chief executive officers)—that meant the sisters were in charge of everything.

  Even though Aly kept asking Charlotte and Lily if they wanted to learn how to polish, neither of them did. They liked their current jobs just fine.

  “Okay, let’s set up, then!” Brooke said, hopping up from the ground. Her loose hair swished around and caught on a button on a pillow. She moved forward, but a piece of her hair didn’t. “Ugh,” she said. “But can you braid me first?”

  Aly quickly braided her sister’s hair—nothing fancy, just a low braid that didn’t use an elastic on top. As she secured the bottom, she said, “You know, if you really do want to get a haircut, we can look through magazines to find people with your kind of hair and see what styles look best. I bet you’d look just as good with shorter hair as you do with long hair. We just have to find the right look.”

  Brooke smiled and tugged on her braid—something she did whenever she was excited or nervous. Something, Aly realized, she wouldn’t be able to do if she cut her hair short. “Let’s look later,” Brooke said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m cutting it for sure.”

  Aly nodded. “Of course not. Just doing some research.”

  And with that, Sophie poked her head into the Sparkle Spa and the girls got to work. All thoughts of haircuts zipped right out of Aly’s mind
. She wondered if the same thing was true of her sister.

  two

  Ever Green

  A few hours later the Sparkle Spa was super busy. Once Charlotte arrived, she greeted all the customers, using her clipboard to check off the day’s appointments and inform clients who would be doing their manicures or pedicures.

  “Hi, Hannah,” Charlotte said to a fourth grader who walked through the door. “You’re with Sophie today. Please choose your color from the wall. We just got a new one called Ever Green that I think is really pretty.”

  “Does it go well with stripes?” Hannah asked. “Because I was thinking about stripes today.”

  Brooke turned her head from where she was polishing Clementine Stern’s toes. “Perfect with stripes,” she said. “Especially if you pair it with White Out or Silver Celebration. Those both look really good against Ever Green. I tested some out yesterday when the box of new colors was delivered.”

  Aly finished the final clear coat atop a Red Between the Lines manicure for Uma Prasad, a sixth grader Aly knew from school, and then led her to the drying area. On her way back to her station she stopped to ask Charlotte, “Who do I have next?”

  Charlotte looked at the clipboard in front of her. “You’ve got Tuesday next,” she said. “Then Daisy and then Parker—pedicures for the first two girls and a manicure for Parker.”

  Aly nodded just as Tuesday walked in the door.

  “Hi, Tuesday,” Charlotte greeted her. “You’re with Aly today. Just pick your color and she’ll get started.”

  Aly headed over to the second pedicure chair, to the left of the one Brooke was using. She loved how well the Sparkle Spa ran now and how many regular customers they had. Pretty much all of their clients returned once they’d had their nails done there the first time.

  Just as Aly was helping Tuesday up onto the chair, she heard a voice yell, “Stop everything!”

  Aly did stop. Brooke did too. And Sophie. But Charlotte did not. She kept blocking the doorway.

  “Hey,” she said, “you don’t have an appointment.”

  “This is not about appointments!” the girl yelled, and then pushed passed Charlotte.

  Aly heard Brooke groan.

  It was Suzy Davis. Aly should have guessed. Ever since kindergarten, Suzy and Aly had been enemies, but just this year, things had gotten a little better. Then Suzy’s uncle had married Joan, Aly and Brooke’s favorite manicurist at True Colors, and Aly and Suzy had been junior bridesmaids together at the wedding. Because of that, they ended up kind of friendly. Not best friends or anything, but certainly not enemies anymore.

  “Hey, Suzy,” Aly said. “What’s going on?”

  Suzy thrust a doll out in front of her. The doll was wearing a dress the color of Cotton Candyland and had straight, dark, silky hair—kind of like Sophie’s, except Sophie’s was longer.

  “Look,” Suzy said. “Doesn’t her hair look gorgeous?”

  Aly shrugged. “Sure,” she said. “But what’s the big deal?”

  Suzy cleared her throat. “I have figured out a way to make the Sparkle Spa the best spa in all the world.”

  Brooke stood up and put her hands on her hips. “It already is the best spa in all the world, Suzy Davis. We’ve had this conversation a million times already.”

  Sophie nodded in agreement.

  Suzy just rolled her eyes.

  But Aly was curious. Even if Suzy was a pain and didn’t say things in the nicest way possible—or even in a way that was nice at all—she did have good ideas. “What’s your idea this time?” Aly asked her.

  “Haircuts!” Suzy said, thrusting the doll forward again. “I just cut this doll’s hair, and it looks better than the haircut you got last month.”

  “Hey!” Aly said.

  She waited for Brooke to say something, because Brooke always said something to Suzy Davis when she was mean, but Brooke was silent. Aly looked over, and her sister seemed deep in thought.

  “So,” Suzy continued, “I think that you should turn part of the Sparkle Spa into a hair salon and that I should offer haircuts. Especially since your mom said I couldn’t join the salon with my spectacular makeup services.”

  Twice, once at Auden Elementary’s carnival and once on the school’s Picture Day, Suzy had run her makeup business. Aly had mentioned inviting her to join the Sparkle Spa team as a makeup artist, but Mom had said no. Aly was pretty sure it was because Suzy had once stolen the list of all the Sparkle Spa’s clients.

  “The thing is,” Charlotte said, “doll hair is different from human hair.”

  Aly nodded. “It’s true, Suzy. Just because you can cut doll hair, that doesn’t mean it would work the same way on a real person. Maybe you could open a doll hair salon?”

  Suzy rolled her eyes again. “That’s the lamest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m not going to cut doll hair all day long.” Then she scanned her eyes across everyone in the spa. “How about I prove I can cut people’s hair? Who’s going to let me give them a haircut?” she asked. “Clementine? Uma?”

  “Sorry,” Clementine said, “I just got a trim.”

  “Not me,” Uma said. “I like my hair the way it is.”

  “You sure you don’t want bangs?” Suzy asked. “I think they’d make your eyes look even bigger.”

  “Positive,” Uma replied. “And my eyes look fine just the way they are, thank you very much.”

  “I’ll do it,” Brooke said.

  Aly gasped. “What?” she said to her sister.

  Brooke shrugged. “I was thinking about a haircut—you know we just talked about it—and the doll’s hair does look great. Can you give me the same cut?” she asked Suzy.

  “Of course,” Suzy said.

  Aly shook her head. “But, Brooke . . . that’s doll hair. And it’s straight doll hair. I don’t think your hair will turn out the same.”

  Brooke looked at Suzy.

  Suzy looked at the doll. “It’ll look just like this,” she said. “I even brought my own scissors.”

  Brooke nodded again. “Let’s do it.” Then she turned to Clementine and said, “I’ll finish your toes in a minute.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Brooke?” Sophie asked quietly.

  “Absotively posilutely,” Brooke said. “I’ve been thinking about making a change, and then Suzy showed up offering one. It’s like the whole universe wants me to get a haircut. This haircut was meant to be.” That was what Mom said when things worked out perfectly. But Aly wasn’t quite sure this was a meant-to-be moment.

  Brooke got up and headed over to an empty manicure station and sat down. “Is over here good?” she asked.

  “Well,” Suzy said, walking over to her, “for now. But not once I get my own space in a corner or something.” She stood behind Brooke.

  Aly felt like she should do more to stop this, but then again, maybe Suzy was right. Maybe doll hair and real-person hair were pretty similar. Maybe Brooke’s haircut would look fantastic, like she was a movie star or something. And maybe the universe did want Brooke to get a haircut. Maybe it was meant to be. But Aly was definitely less certain about that than Brooke seemed to be.

  “Okay,” Suzy said, looking at Brooke’s braid. “First, I’m going to cut off the braid. Then I’m going to do the styling part.”

  Brooke nodded, a smile on her face. “Do it!” she said.

  Aly found herself shutting her eyes.

  “Here I go!” Suzy said.

  Aly heard the sharp sound of scissors slicing through hair.

  Then she opened her eyes and gasped.

  three

  Pinktacular

  What is it? Why did you make that sound?” Brooke asked her sister.

  Aly watched as Brooke’s long braid slithered to the floor like a snake. At almost the exact same time, Brooke’s hair fluffed up in the shape of a triangle around her head. Aly gulped. “Just surprised is all,” she said. “I haven’t seen you with short hair since you were a baby.”

  Then the salo
n went quiet as all the girls, in various stages of manicures and pedicures, watched Suzy continue to cut Brooke’s hair.

  Aly watched her snip along the bottom to make it even, but Brooke’s hair didn’t lie even. It was fluffy. And no matter what Suzy did, it stayed in the shape of a triangle. It did not look anything like the sleek bob on the doll Suzy had brought with her.

  “Um,” Tuesday said to Suzy, “do you have to wet it? That’s what they do when I get my hair cut.”

  Suzy’s face was starting to lose its usual confident look. “I didn’t wet the doll’s hair,” she replied, “so I’m not going to wet Brooke’s hair.”

  “But people hair and doll hair aren’t the same,” Charlotte repeated.

  Brooke looked at the faces everyone in the Sparkle Spa was making. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t necessarily good, either. More like . . . concerned faces. “Can someone bring me a mirror?” she asked.

  “No!” Suzy shouted. “I’m not done yet.” She was walking slowly around the back of Brooke’s head, like she was trying to figure out what to do next.

  Suzy was holding Brooke’s chin in one hand and the scissors in the other when Brooke and Aly’s mom popped her head in from the main salon. “Hi, girls,” she said cheerfully. And then she paused. “What is going on in here?” she asked, walking into the room.

  No one answered. Aly had no idea what to say.

  “Brooke,” Mom said, very slowly, “what’s happened to your hair?”

  “How does it look, Mom?” Brooke asked. “Suzy’s an expert doll haircutter and is giving me a haircut.”

  Mom pressed her lips together. Aly knew that meant she was upset. Very upset.

  “No,” Mom said, “Suzy is no longer giving you a haircut.”

  “But I’m not done yet,” Suzy said.

  “Yes,” Mom answered, “you are. Please take your doll and your scissors and sit over there until I can call your parents.” She pointed toward an empty pillow in the jewelry-making area.

  “But—” Suzy started to object.

  “Now,” ordered Mom.

  Suzy walked over and sat down.