Kim did not know how long she had been asleep for. All she knew was that, after that ambitious amount of time, she was rudely jolted awake by a loud and shrill voice. It sent a surge of panic up her spine as she realised Trudy had just come home and she could hear Fraser’s voice gibbering away in his fake sobs. She caught snippets of the lie-riddled story he told his mother. Kim kept her eyes closed, her head still ached but not as badly as before. It was a dull pain now. It hung around her brain like a storm cloud rolling with thunder. Kim could only hope that Trudy would simply rage herself hoarse and…

Kim’s door rattled with a sudden pounding of a fist. And Trudy’s shrill and angry voice barked through the wood.

“Kimberly Fionnagh! Get out here! Right now!” Trudy shrieked. Kim froze in her bed, almost afraid to get up. She had only ever heard Trudy this angry a handful of times, and that was enough if you asked her. Then again, she knew what could happen if she did not answer. So, despite herself, Kim slowly got up.

“Did you hear me? Come! Out! Now!” Trudy shouted through the door, “Come out and explain yourself, young lady!”

“How could I not hear you?” Kim grumbled to herself as she finally opened the door, to be met with the furious face of her stepmother.

Trudy was a small, curvy woman, slightly shorter than Kim. She had watery blue eyes and bright blonde hair tied into a plait. Today she was wearing black leggings and a matching black sports top. She must have gone for a run before coming home. Trudy, by everyone else’s opinion, was a good looking woman. But now it was Kim to regard her as if she had green skin and a wart riddled nose.

“What?” Kim groaned as she opened the door.

“What? What?” she prodded a finger into Kim’s chest painfully, “You throw cups at your brother! Destroy his room and traumatise him to the point of tears! And you have the gall to… ask… what…?” Trudy’s tirade faded away suddenly, her pink face suddenly overcome by a look of shock. Fraser, who had been watching sneering through the gap in the door to his room, also blinked in surprise. Kim looked between them, an unsettled swirl brewing in her stomach.

“…What?” Kim took a step back into her room.

“Your… your hair!” Trudy shrieked, pointing her shaking finger at Kim’s head like a pistol, “What did you do to your hair? Kim’s insides twisted and she clamped her hands against her head.

“What are you talking about!” Kim took another few desperate steps backwards into the room, “What’s wrong with it!”

“What were you thinking!” Trudy shrieked, “Explain yourself! Right now!”

“I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kim stammered, grabbing her hair to run it anxiously through her fingers. As she did, Kim saw something that made her feel faint and her blood run cold. Instead of the hazel hair she had expected, it was purple!

Kim could barely splutter out a word before Trudy grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her downstairs to the large mirror in the hall. She threw Kim in front of it. What she saw in the mirror almost made Kim scream out loud.

Her brown hair was gone, and in its place were the most unusually coloured locks she had ever seen. It was purple with varying degrees of shade, it was as if a deity had cast a projection of a galaxy onto her head. Tiny white flecks completed the picture, like little snowflakes throughout the universe. Kim felt her face drain of colour and a prickling sense of dread ran down her body. She was numb.

“Well!” Trudy snapped, “What have you got to say for yourself!” Kim stammered stupidly, words completely escaping her. What was she supposed to say?

“Did you seriously think you would get away with this!”

“I don’t know how it happened-!” Kim spluttered, her mind short circuiting in its attempts to figure out what happened. Trudy got closer to Kim’s face and glared straight into her eyes.

“Don’t you lie to me!” Trudy spat venomously, digging her nails painfully into Kim’s arm, she tried to tug away but her grip just tightened, “You got that done after school- did you seriously think we would never notice? Were you trying to make yourself look pretty? Cool? You just wait until your father gets home, I am so ashamed of you!” She released Kim’s arm and stormed away to Fraser’s room. Kim rubbed where the nails had dug in and went back to her room. Her head raced with frustration and confusion. What was she supposed to do about this? How was she supposed to fix something she had no control over?