gooseberryhigh | (no subject)

WHO: Riley and Chloe, the sequel.
WHAT: Riley negs Chloe and then makes kissy faces at herself in the mirror.
WHEN: September 1, 2014.
WHERE: On the bus, between Anchorage and Seattle.
WARNING: Bitches be rude.

It was a nice day in Anchorage, but Riley Mae Stamper was ready to get the fuck out of Alaska. Summer for her had been windy and overcast back on that dumb island, and she was ready to go somewhere that had seasons and sun and people she wasn’t related to. The second the senior bus pulled to a stop in front of her, Riley wasted no time in shoving her way on board, her brightly colored, mismatched luggage going wherever it fit. Whatever, as long as she had her makeup kit with her.

She slipped down the aisle, casting her eyes around to decide just who she was going to grace with her sparkling presence during the trip, when she spotted Chloe. Except, like, with dark hair??

“BOO BOO!!” Riley squealed and threw herself into the seat beside her. There was not a single second in which Riley stopped to wonder where Kurt was, because Chloe had changed her hair and there is limited space in her brain for other people. “Hey girl, look at you, why the lackluster locks this year?” She grabbed a section of Chloe’s hair, holding it between her fingers, like this was definitely not a weird thing to do at all.

Kurt had barely slipped off down the aisle after Newt when the seat shifted with someone else’s weight. Chloe looked up from her phone to see a hurricane of glitter and noise pressing in on her. “Hi!” she squeaked in return, pressing against the window as Riley’s fingers found her hair. “Uh, well, my mom hates anything that isn’t a natural color, so…” she explained, and that was part of the reason, anyway. “I see you settled on blue for now,” she pointed out, hoping to refocus the conversation in Riley’s direction.

Okay, talking about Riley is one of Riley's favorite things to do, do NOT get her wrong. But criticizing other people's hair is also on that list. “Yeah boo, a girl's gotta rep for her big bad bluebirds, you know,” she said, and waggled her head. A handful of blue glitter fell from her head, like craft dandruff. “But, like, is your mama hella blind or did she just not see that you can totally definitely see the greeny tints peeking through right here?”

Leaning forward, forcing her way even more into Chloe's limited personal space, Riley said into her ear, “Or were you just tryna sneak some color in because that shit is smart.” A beat. “And hot. Love a sneaky bitch.”

“Hahaha!” Chloe laughed awkwardly, and a little too loud. Saccharine strawberry cotton candy perfume wafted in her face, and Chloe was uncomfortably reminded that they'd made it to second base last year.

“Nope, I'm not sneaky, it's just. You know. You were right! Green sticks.”

Riley dropped Chloe’s hair from her fingers, grinning and biting her lip at the other girl’s discomfort. “I mean, are you gonna spice it up when you get back to freedom? Because…” She bumped Chloe with her shoulder, “I know a girl who can hella help you out with that, if you know what I mean, cutie.”

At Riley’s question, Chloe looked thoughtful. “I'm not really sure?” she answered. “It seems kinda silly to keep dying it green, then having to dye it back brown every break. And hard on my hair...” Maybe she was getting too old - she was a senior now. That's what her mom had said.

Riley shrugged, and she dug a compact mirror out of her pocket. It had been about fifteen minutes since she last checked her makeup and she had to make sure she still looked cute as fuck. “I dunno what's so wrong with being kinda silly, baby girl,” she said, brushing a wisp of hair back out of her eyes. Then bringing it back, because it actually made her look delightfully tousled and adorable. “I'm a silly bitch and I like it that way.”

That… wasn’t a terrible point, once you translated it out of Riley-ese. “Maybe you’re right,” Chloe said, reaching up to tug at a strand of dark brown hair. “I’ll think about it.” She smiled at Riley then. “And if I decide to color it again, I’ll let you know, okay?”

Riley blew herself a sparkly kiss in the mirror before snapping it shut again. “Hell yeah girl, I'll help you out, you know I know how to make a girl look good, I make me look fuckin’ fabulous every day.”

She turned her attention back to Chloe and narrowed her sparkle-shadowed eyes, as shrewdly as she could manage. “Mmm, you should try pink next,” she said, nodding. “I've got buttloads of pink dye still and,” a small gasp, “and ohmigosh you'd look just like me!”

This was the most exciting thing Riley could possibly imagine.

Chloe laughed. She probably wasn’t going to do pink, it was more bright and bubbly than she really wanted to venture into. But maybe she could do - well, not blue she doesn’t want to match Riley. Maybe… purple. Maybe. “I promise I’ll let you know if I decide to dye it again.”

Riley winked and bounced her eyebrows once, in what could have been either a flirty gesture, or maybe just a reflex at this point. “Mmk, girly, you know where I'm at when you wanna come back to Colortown.”

The bus rolled to a stop beneath overcast skies hundreds of miles south of where they started and Riley leaned even closer to Chloe to peer out the window. When she let out a squeal and jumped up, yanking open the window and shouting “CASEYYYY!!!” to the people standing on the sidewalk outside, it was clear she had already just about forgotten about Chloe.