Dialogue

3/29/10 - Dialogue

Admired Author:
"Hi," I said. She just looked at me, her expression ureadable. "Um, I'm Annabel. You just moved here, right?"
She didn't say anything for what seemed like a really long while, during which time Kirsten walked out of the ladies' room behind her. She stopped when she saw us talking.
"I," I continued, now even more uncomfortable, "I, um, think we're in the same grade."
The girl reached up, pushing her sunglasses farther up her nose. "So?" she said, in that same sharp, snide voice as the first time she'd addressed me.
"I just thought," I said, "that since, you know, we're the same age, you might want to hang out. Or something."
Another pause. Then the girl said, as if clarifying, "You want me to hang out. With you."
She made it sound so ridiculous I immediately began back-tracking. "I mean, you don't have to," I told her. "I was just --"
"No." she cut me off flatly. Then she tilted her head back and laughed. "No way."
-Sarah Dessen

My Dialogue:
“Lexie, could you help me do my hair? It's not turning out right.” Katie's voice questioned from the two seater behind her.
“Sure.” Lexie answered, zipping her uniform up and moving to sit in the seat next to her friend. Katie's hair was in a state of disarray, pieces were flying everywhere and her attempt at French braiding her own hair made her golden blond hair resemble Medusa's snakes. Sitting down next to her on the dull brown seat, Lexie couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
“Don't laugh!” Katie cried, her arms moving protectively to her head as she tried to unravel her mess of hair.
“I'm ... so ... so-sorry.” Lexie exclaimed between laughter as Katie's hair got messier and messier with her attempts to tame it.
“You stink.” Katie declared solemnly, a pout adorning her features.
“You love me anyway,” she responded jokingly, their camaraderie smoothing the hard edges of sadness on Lexie's face, “Now move your hands away and let me work.”
“Fine.” Katie huffed, passing Lexie the brush from her bag before she had the chance to ask for it.
“Thanks.” Lexie said as she got to work carefully untangling Katie's wild hair. The other girls chatter filled the air. Their excitement evident as Lexie put a big glob of gel on her hand and smoothed the slimy substance through Katie's now flat head of hair. Their anticipation was contagious as Lexie could feel it slowly overwhelming the sadness (in it's battle for dominance) within her.