Runaways

All I'd need right now would be freckles. Instead, I have dark stains everywhere—on the sink, the bath, my hands, and somehow, the ceiling. I wasn't born with freckles, but I sure was born with a talent for making a mess.

I keep staring at myself in the mirror a little longer. It's inevitable to feel kind of weird, unfamiliar. Going brunette was my first choice for a change. As you can tell, giving myself a make-over was an urgent matter to me, and to be completely honest I'm a bit regretful now.

I pull at a strand and hold it against the light. Maybe if I squint, it looks better? Nope. But it's too late now, and I'd rather die than go crawling to a salon for help. This is fine. Totally fine. Right?

Big sigh.

Maybe I should start cleaning up the mess I made. Can't blame it on any of my siblings cause it'd be so obvious that if there's dark stains all over the sink and bath, and there's only one kid whose hair matches the color, it couldn't have been the other two blondes and the only natural brunette.

What a disastrous mess! A five-year-old would've done a better job. But that's alright, I'm not one to paint within the lines, quite literally. How did some product reach the roof? I should've asked my older sister for help, but of course I had to keep my pride intact and now look at that!

Well done Kate, you've set yourself up with that one, genius.

I clean up with a lime colored towel. Hold on, not lime. I mean, it used to be lime before this but now I'd be a liar to say it's lime. Can I say that one more time? Lime.

As for the roof stains, I doubt my parents will notice. Got to make sure my dad always enters the bathroom with a newspaper, it might take him four years to notice I've changed my hair color imagine how long it'll take him to look up while doing his stuff or whatever. And mom... oh mom will definitely notice. Once she does and murders me, you got to promise you'll remember me, Kate Silverstone, and write books about me.

How did some product reach the roof? I scrub at the stain with a wet towel, but it barely fades. Ugh. I should've asked Hannah, my big sister, for help. She probably would've done it way better—definitely less mess, no ceiling casualties. But, of course, I had to prove I could do it myself. Because asking for help is just so easy, right? Except, for some reason, I never do. And now I'm on my hands and knees, battling hair dye like it's life or death.

There's a knock in the door.

"Dude you've been there for hours" I hear my brother say.

"I'm almost done!" I say loud enough, as to be heard through the door.

"Hurry up! It's kind of an emergency"

"Ew, I don't wanna know" I stand up and open the door: "Try not to clog it"

"I'm in no position to make promises"

He rushes himself in and closes the door right in front of my nose. Just realized I left my phone in there...

Let me give you a quick family tree tour as to make things less complicated. This family has quite the cast. Six people live in this madhouse: mom, dad, my three siblings and I.

In chronological order, Hannah is the first child. She works at a law firm, dreams of getting a getting a better paid job so she can save all her money, buy a house and move out as soon as possible. The golden child, overachiever, perfect, you know the drill. Then comes my brother Alex, who is almost year older than me. We have a pact since we're both in the middle, and it consists of us being a team to overpower the first born and the big baby, Jade. She's just turned eighteen and she hasn't left behind that whole Effy Stonem wannabe situation. Someone tell her she is not that mysterious, just a pain in the ass.

As for me, I'd introduce myself as a rockstar who dropped out of college.

Hannah and I get along the most. Maybe because she was never really part of the sibling banter the way Alex and I were. When she and Alex used to fight, our parents shamed her for arguing with a little boy, like it was beneath her. I guess that's why she kept her distance instead of diving into the mess like the rest of us.

I drag my feet downstairs to grab breakfast, meeting my little sister. It's 11 in the morning and she's already wearing all that eyeliner. This is the earliest I've seen her up ever since school ended.

I start making my favorite smoothie and she represses a burst of laughter.

"Is it Halloween already?" she greets me.

"Why? You're wearing your costume right now?" I mock her makeup like it's my birthright.

"Better than a that cheap box dye for sure, what were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking, I just went with it you know? Live and let live."

"Yeah but I gotta see you everyday like that, so at this point it's affecting me."

"Whatever" I say before I take a sip of my freshly made drink and make sure to enjoy it. "Why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep so I pulled an all-nighter."

"I believe you" I say in a passive aggressive undertone.

She simply rolls her eyes and ironically goes: "Shady as fuck comebacks, Kate. Make sure you don't have a milk moustache next time."

Almost as a reflex, I wipe my upper lip with the back of my hand. She won this battle, but she won't win the overall sibling war. I'm about to say something, once I get an idea, but Alex shows up at the scene and now the kitchen looks too crowded.

"We've got new neighbors, did you know? They are moving in," he glances at me and raises his eyebrows "Oh my god"

"Save it, I know it looks bad."

"I think it looks cool. Anyway...," he goes on as he opens the fridge to grab a slice of white bread and peanut butter "Imma go help them cause I think there's a new babe in town."

"We really don't care but you go do that, and keep further details to yourself." Jade tells him.

Alex spreads the peanut butter all over and quickly folds the slice. Not one bite takes place, he seems to be in a hurry to meet the new girl without even chewing his food. Oh lord, I wouldn't like to be his stomach, got to make sure I keep note of that for thanksgiving. Stay grateful.

I quickly grab a baseball cap to hide my hair as much as possible, still grieving my natural color but not going anywhere to get it back. As for my brother, he waits until his mouth's empty before crossing the front door's threshold. Peeping through the window, Jade and I see him welcome the newbies. There's definitely a girl but she's giving us her back.

"Someone remind that fool we're leaving tomorrow." Jade goes.

"Not now, we're having so much fun. See, this is why he should've started packing, at least he would've been reminded we were leaving."

"Have you packed yet?"

"Still on it, have you?"

"No, duh. Packing doesn't make sense unless you start an hour before leaving" she says in an isn't-it-obvious tone, and she adds: "What's with the cap?"

Jade points at it.

"Still not used to it"

"I like it"

"Woah, what's going on?" I open my eyes real big, taken aback by her sudden kindness.

"I don't know... I guess Alex giving me content to make fun of him for quite a while kinda healed me and freed my soul. I no longer need to be mean to you. Plus you don't look bad as a brunette."

"That's actually really nice of you, thanks."

Jade smiles, which makes her look kind of cute. I try to hide mine.

"Ok I gotta go check if my camera's battery is full, I wanna tape the whole trip. Later hater."

She goes upstairs at lightspeed.

I choose to sit by the window to watch my brother actually make himself useful, but my mind starts going elsewhere when I catch my reflection in the glass. I sigh.

Why did I dye my hair? Good question. I wanted change. I wanted to stand out. And now that I've done it... I guess I'll just have to own it.