Green Hair Dilemma

Emma stood at the edge of Jake's backyard pool, clutching her iPhone like a lifeline. The beanie hat pulled down over her ears was practically melting in the July heat, but there was no way she was taking it off.

Not with her hair looking like this.

Yesterday's DIY dye job was supposed to be subtle teal highlights. Instead, her formerly perfect brown hair now featured a massive patch of electric green right in the front. Like, radioactive-slime green. The kind of green that made her look like she'd been swimming in toxic waste.

"Emma! You coming in or what?" Jake called from the pool. He and his friends were having a cannonball contest, their zombie makeup from earlier's film project still smudged across their faces.

"Maybe later!" Emma called back, her voice cracking. She scrolled through her Instagram feed, watching everyone else's perfect summer unfold in photos. She felt like a zombie herself — dead inside, barely functioning, just going through the motions.

Her phone buzzed. A text from her best friend Maya: did u tell him yet??

Emma's thumbs hovered over the screen. Tell Jake that she'd liked him all freshman year? That every time he looked at her with those warm brown eyes, her brain turned to mush?

Suddenly, Jake hauled himself out of the pool, water dripping from his zombie-pale face. He marched right up to her, and Emma's heart did that stupid fluttery thing it always did.

"You've been hiding in that hat all day," he said, reaching out and — before she could stop him — snatching it off her head.

Time stopped. Everyone stared.

Jake blinked. "Whoa. That's... actually kinda sick."

"What?" Emma blinked back.

"The green." He grinned, water dripping from his hair. "It looks awesome. Like, mermaid-core." He stepped closer. "Hey, so, after everyone leaves, wanna stay and help me wash this zombie makeup off? My mom's got this really good coconut conditioner I can steal."

Emma felt herself smiling for real. "Only if you promise not to make fun of my hair when it frizzes up."

"Deal." He pulled his iPhone from his waterproof pouch. "But first, we're taking a selfie. My hair looks like a wet poodle, so we're matching in the disaster department."

Thirty minutes later, Emma was swimming in Jake's pool with actual green hair, wearing no hat, while her new favorite person floated beside her, ranting about how zombie movies never explained how zombies maintained their skin care routine.

Some days, she thought, floating on her back and staring up at the perfect blue sky, the disasters were actually the best part.