The Boyfriend Bet by Josie Eccles Read Free Book Online

because no normal person
would have two children that close and of course tells me I’m to blame for why
our dad ran off shortly after I was born. She’s always had the upper hand over
me. Ella always wins, well I’m not going to let her win this time. I retrieved
my phone from my pocket and rang Sarah.
    “Hi Charley, have you pulled him yet?” Sarah answered. I
mean honestly, who the hell answers the phone like that? Sarah is what my mum
would say ‘a penny short of a pound’, but then again I guess that’s why she
hangs around with me.
    “Erm... yeah, he totally went for the crazed stalker
look. I think the binoculars just did it for him.”
    “Really? That’s amazing!”
    “No Sarah! I’m being sarcastic.” I muttered. “But are you
still up for doing my hair? Bring one of those highlighting kits you were going
on about and bring Bex.”
    “Yeah ok, see you soon!” Sarah shrieked, wow she was
always so enthusiastic. I wondered if it was really such a good idea but then
Bex was coming too and Bex wouldn’t let her completely trash my hair, I hoped.

Makeover magic (or not)!
     
    While I was waiting I stretched out on the carpet in the
lounge. I was doing all the usual stretches we do at dance for warm up. I’d
just managed to warm up into the splits when Ella walked in and gave me a dirty
look.
    “Wow that’s impressive Charley. Well, to the five year
olds you help teach anyway.” She laughed as she walked through to the kitchen.
I really do hate her. Ella thinks she’s too grown up for dancing now. I never
ever want to quit, I would dance for a living if I could. Ella came back
through with a cereal bar and wandered back up the stairs. Good, I didn’t want
her hanging around when Sarah and Bex eventually got here.
    It felt like an eternity before they finally did arrive. “It
took ages to find the right stuff for your hair!” Bex must have read my
mind. We made our way to the kitchen, and Sarah took forever reading the
instructions and pulling different stuff out of the box.
    “Just make me look like her on the box!” I sat down and
started brushing my hair out.
    “I’m now popping to the shops. Are you not planning on
going out today?” Mum popped her head in the kitchen and then raised her
eyebrows at the highlighting kit. “You should be careful with home bleaching,
why don’t you wait till Yvonne comes over?”
    Yvonne is the mobile hairdresser that comes over and cut
and colours Mum’s hair and occasionally trims mine if I’m home. “Because I want
it done now, how hard can it be? Sarah knows what she’s doing.” I snapped,
stupid Mum always poking her nose in. Mum shrugged and then thankfully left us
to it.
    Sarah looked unsure as she held out a highlighting cap (a
very thin plastic looking one I might add) and this weird plastic thing with a
hook on the end. Was it too late to go back on it now? Apparently so!
    Sarah had one side of the plastic cap and Bex the other
and they stretched it over my head and then Sarah started prodding at my head
with the plastic hook contraption.
    “Ow, ow, ow.” I kept repeating in a dead pan voice. “Not
too much!” I shrieked, I swear she was just pulling my entire head of hair
through the cap.
    “It’s ok I’m doing every other hole in the cap.” Sarah
explained. Oh that was ok then, she sounded confident. Then I sat there while
she mixed the bleach up and plastered it onto the cap and then I had to have a
rather attractive plastic bag tied over the top of that.
    “How long does it take?” I asked.
    “It says wait until it is as pale as required and then
rinse off, but a maximum of 45 minutes.” Sarah screwed up her face as she read
the instructions from the box.
    That was ok then, what could possibly go wrong? So we sat
and waited. It had only been on 20 minutes when Sarah started getting all edgy.
“What’s up? I thought you’d done this before?” I asked.
    “Yeah, I have to Briony but we left it on too long and it
kind of