The Tangled Truth

The orange coaxial cable lay across my floor like a dead snake, and I was seriously considering tripping over it just to get out of third period. But that would require moving, and I was currently paralyzed by the disaster that was my hair.

"Honey, your vitamin!" Grandma called from downstairs, her voice cutting through my morning existential crisis like a butter knife.

I groaned and grabbed the handful of supplements from my nightstand. swallowing them dry because I was basically a zombie at this point—three hours of sleep will do that to you. Senioritis was real, and it was winning.

My phone buzzed. Ryan.

"You coming to the bonfire tonight?"

I stared at my reflection. My hair had decided to rebel against society, frizzing out in eight directions after my failed attempt at beach waves. I looked like I'd stuck my finger in an electrical socket.

"Can't," I typed back. "Hair emergency."

"What?"

"None of your business."

The truth was too embarrassing to admit. At yesterday's spring festival, I'd gotten my hair caught in the FERRIS WHEEL cable. For thirty-seven minutes. While Ryan and everyone else watched. The fire department had to cut me free, and I'd missed our entire group ride.

Now my hair was basically destroyed—split ends, broken strands, and a chunk that was still suspiciously shorter than the rest.

There was a knock on my door. Grandma stood there with her ancient portable TV.

"Thought you might want to watch your shows while you... whatever you're doing in here." She pointed to the cable snaking across my floor. "Your dad said the internet's been glitchy anyway. Maybe we should just cut the cable and use streaming like normal people."

That's when it hit me. The cable. The hair. The fact that I'd been hiding in my room for twenty-four hours like the actual walking dead.

I grabbed my phone. "Ryan, you still at the bonfire?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'm bringing snacks. And my best friend is going to help me fix my hair with whatever random products she has in her purse."

"For real?"

"For real. I'm done being a zombie."

Grandma smiled as I practically ran past her, the orange cable still stretched across my floor. Behind me, I heard her call out: "Don't forget to actually chew your vitamins this time!"

Some things never change. But some things? Some things were finally about to.