“Promise me you won’t laugh at me.”

I look up from my book to see Kristina standing in front of me, holding her arms. “What would I laugh about?”

She clears her throat and then lets her arms fall to her sides. She reaches for her hair with her right arm, and pulls on it. What clearly is a wig comes off of her head and I stare in awe at what her natural hair has become. I clasp my hands over mouth in an attempt to stifle the laughter building up inside of me.

“You said you wouldn’t laugh at me!” Kristina exclaims, her voice now whiny and upset.

“Those weren’t exactly my words. How on earth did this manage to happen?”

She looks to the right, the beach visible through our window. “It was a bet. I made a bet with Ami and lost…clearly.” She turns back to face me and now I’m laughing audibly. I see her scowl and try to contain myself.

“First of all, you shouldn’t make stupid bets. Second of all, you shouldn’t make stupid bets with Ami. What was the bet anyway?”

She sits down in a dramatic fashion, her arms crossed against her chest. “We were at the Jacob’s house preparing for the festival on Saturday. Ami and I were in charge of handling the baked goods. I suggested, to make the 5 hours of baking more bearable, we compete and see who can make the most cupcakes. Whoever won could do whatever they wanted to the loser’s hair.”

She touches her half orange, half green hair, now at her shoulders when it once reached her lower back. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a while. Honestly, it doesn’t look horrible on you. Seriously though, you basically brought this on yourself.”

Kristina begins to laugh. “Yeah, I did.”