//------------------------------// // Sonata Dusk: The Hairstyle Queen // Story: Tales of Sonata Dusk // by Tennis Match Fan //------------------------------// "Oh my gosh!" 14-year-old Sonata Dusk exclaimed, sitting straight up in bed. "High school starts tomorrow!" She started across the room into the mirror on her dresser. Her hands flew to her frazzled blue hair, which was sticking out all over. "I have to fix this!" she grasped, leaping out of bed. "I can't show up looking like a monster! What if they kick me out?" Sonata's mouth began to wobble as she imagined the scene: lots of Freshmen and older students laughing at her hair, while the principal silently and sternly pointed her out the door. She would be a disgrace to the school all because of her hair! "I need to do something!" she yelled, picking up her iPhone and searching "Cute Hair styles" on Google. "Here's something!" Sonata exclaimed, grabbing a hairbrush in her free hand. "'Step One: Brush your hair exactly four hundred and twenty two times!' "One, two three..." Sonata chanted as she ran her brush down her hair. "...six, seven, eight, nine..." While Sonata brushed, Mystery Mint, her younger sister, popped her head into the doorway. "...twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six..." Mystery stood their for a while. "What are you doing, Sonata?" she asked. "...forty-eight, I'm, forty-nine, doing my, fifty, hair for, fifty-one, high school, fifty-two, fifty-three..." Sonata continued, never taking her eyes off the mirror. "Well have fun!" Mystery replied. "I hope you get a great look ready for tomorrow!" "...fifty-nine, thank, sixty, you," Sonata replied, "sixty-one, sixty-two..." Mystery left and shut the door behind her. "...one hundred, one hundred one, one hundred two..." "...one hundred thirty-five, one hundred thirty-six..." "...one hundred seventy-four, one hundred seventy-five, one hundred seventy-six, one hundred-OUCH! -seventy-seven..." "...two hundred one, two hundred two, two hundred three..." "...two hundred twenty two, two hundred twenty three..." ...two hundred forty-six, I'm, two hundred forty-seven, hungry, two hundred forty-eight..." "Sonata, Mom wants to know if you want waffles for breakfast," Mystery called. "...two hundred seventy-nine, TOO BUSY!, two hundred eighty..." ~ "...four hundred twenty-two, finally!" Sonata released her grip on the brush and watched it clatter to the ground. "What's next? "'Cut your hair to shoulder length and pin back with a hair clip?!" Sonata read aloud. "Uh, no!" Sonata scanned the other search results until she found a rather simple one. "MYSTERY!" She yelled. Mystery came running down the hall as if a bear was chasing her. "What is it, Sonata?" She asked. "Do you need my help?" "Yeah," Sonata replied, pointing at her phone. "I need you to put my hair up in a bee hive!" "Are you sure?" Mystery asked nervously. "I don't know much about hairstyling and I want to help but I'd hate to get it wrong!" Sonata waved a hand. "If you mess up I can try anything style. Now, try that bee hive please!" "I'll do my best," Mystery promised. ~ "Did I do alright?" Mystery asked anxiously, peering into the mirror. Sonata scrunched her face up as she looked at the lopsided hairdo Mystery had given her. Several strands of hair fell into Sonata's eyes. She blew them back up and managed to tuck several behind her ears. "Uh, let me see how a braid looks," she suggested. "I don't think a bee hive suits me." "Alright," Mystery agreed. She pulled the bee hive attempt apart. Sonata closed her eyes and felt Mystery separate her hair into three different sections. Then Sonata felt Mystery flip the sections over each other and back underneath, weaving her hair like a basket. "Ouch!" Sonata cried when Mystery tugged too hard on a strand. "Sorry!" Mystery squeaked. "No problem," Sonata replied, forcing a smile, though the pull still stung. "So, uh, who from your middle school is going to your high school?" Mystery asked as she worked. "Lots of people!" Sonata replied, eager to talk. "Adagio and Aria, my friends, are gonna be there! I'm sure high school is going to be as great as it is on TV! We'll have slumber parties and karaoke and- I got off-topic, didn't I? Sorry, Mystery! Well, like I said, lots of people are coming! There's Tempo Twiz, you know her, right? And Octave, I think his younger sister's in your grade, you know. Do you know a girl named Octavia? I've met her once..." Sonata continued talking, getting off topic more than once. "Sonata, I'm done," Mystery declared, interrupting a story. Sonata opened her eyes, and her mouth dropped open. How is it possible to screw up a braid? She wondered. It was lumpy, off center, and strands of hair poked out at all angles. "Is it alright?" Mystery asked, chewing on her lower lip. "I try to help, but I-" Sonata held up a hand to stop her. "Today is a Hair Day!" Sonata declared. "We shall not rest until I have tried every wacky hairstyle that ever existed!" ~ "Aria would think I'm a copycat,' Sonata commented, tugging on her twin ponytails. "How can you see?" Mystery remarked after flipping all of Sonata's hair onto her face. "Too sophisticated," Sonata decided, eying the bun that had been created with some help by Mystery. "Is this even allowed at your school?" Mystery wondered, examining her work. It was an attempt to recreate a lion's mane, but to know avail. "Too classy." "Too sci-fi." "I look like a medieval princess!" "Hobo much?" "Great look- if you're going for a cowgirl theme." "You know what?" Sonata asked after trying a spiky hairstyle. "I think I'll brush my hair and put it up into my usual ponytail." "Fine by me," Mystery agreed. "Now, do you wanna go have dinner?"