Love Struck (18 page)

But this year I finally received the best, most amazing birthday present ever. After a dinner at my favorite brick-oven pizza place last night with Mom and Dad, today I got my real birthday present—I became an official employee at Hello, Gorgeous!

Well,
part-time
(Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday after school
)
official employee, but still. Mom had finally, after years of my begging, pleading, and tantrum-throwing, agreed to let me work as a sweeper at her über-successful salon. She was even going to pay me, though I totally would have done it for free. Mom went on and on about how it was a trial run and if I slacked off at the salon—or at school (Rockford Middle School)—I'd have to go. Which was never going to happen. I'd been waiting too long to be a part of the salon team, and the last thing I wanted to do was disappoint my mom. I wanted her to be proud of me and see that I had style-sense in my genes, too.

But my longing to work at Hello, Gorgeous! wasn't only about hair. I secretly hoped that working at a salon would give me some of the spark that all the stylists there seemed to have. You know, that sass that enabled them to say whatever was on their minds, in front of anyone, whenever it popped into their heads. I needed some of that. I'd been so painfully shy most of my life that I wouldn't even play Telephone with the kids in first grade. But unless I wanted Jonah to be my only friend for the rest of my life, I had to come out of my turtlelike shell. It was a must.

“How about some loose curls?” asked Violet. She was the store manager and most-talented stylist, and because of that she had the second-most prestigious station in the salon, second from the entrance, right beside my mother's. Not only was it my first day, but I was also getting a mini makeover as part of my birthday present.

When I came into Hello, Gorgeous! this morning with Mom, the salon had been dark and quiet until I flipped on the light in the break room, where practically half the staff jumped up and yelled “Surprise!” I nearly fainted, but when I saw the doughnuts they'd bought and the two signs they'd hung—HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICKEY! and WELCOME, GORGEOUS!—I knew it was going to be the most epic day of my life so far.