“It’s hard to believe we were able to get away,” Lorelie said, dropping her bags on the floor.
“Now we need to change our hair.”
“I have the dye right here,” Circe said, pulling out boxes of hair dye. She was going to dye her hair a dark red color, Lorelie was going to go to a dark blonde. Calypso still refused to dye her hair, so they decided to streak it red.
“Should we cut it first?” Lorelie asked.
Circe thought for a minute. “Yeah, it would be easier that way.” She looked at Calypso. “Got the shears?”
“I’m only going to cut it to how short you want. Afterwards, we’ll go to a salon and get it styled.”
“God, I can’t believe I’m losing my hair,” Lorelie began. She had mid- back length hair.
“I couldn’t stand to cut my hair,” Calypso told her, as she wet Lorelie’s hair. She grasped the mass in her hand, right below Lorelie’s shoulders. “Is this good?”
Lorelie nodded her head, her eyes closed tightly. The only sound that filled the room was the sound of the shears snipping off Lorelie’s hair.
“Well, that’s that,” Calypso said, stepping back. She surveyed her handiwork. “Once you get it styled, it’ll look good.”
“Thanks,’ Lorelie choked out.
Circe took a deep breath. “Cut it to the same length as Lorelie’s.” Her hair was the same length as Lorelie’s had been, falling to her mid-back.
Calypso quickly cut it, then cleaned up all of the hair on the floor. “We’re certainly going through some major changes.”
“We need to decide on names now,” Circe said. “Our names are too uncommon. And we need to make the flight arrangements.”
“We should have done this days ago,” Calypso told them.
“We couldn’t, Calypso,” Circe reminded her. “It was too hard to make plans with everyone around us.” They had carried out the first part of the plan perfectly. While in San Diego for a party, they had drugged their bodyguards, and escaped from the hotel, quickly making their way back to LA and finding a cheap hotel no one would think to look at.
“Should we use our middle names?” Lorelie asked.
“Our middle names are common enough to use, but I don’t know how smart it would be,” Circe said. “I say we should go with totally new names.”
“Anyone got any ideas as to what?” Lorelie asked.
“We should all have the last name, so we can pass each other off as sisters,” Calypso said. “And it needs to be somewhat ordinary, but not so ordinary that people suspect.”
Circe grabbed the phone book. “Whatever name I point to is going to be our last name.” She flipped it open, ruffled through the pages, and jabbed her finger on the page. Calypso leaned over and read the name she pointed to. “Cameron.”
“So our last name is Cameron,” Lorelie said. “What about first names?”
“Pick a name you like.” Calypso reached into her carry-on and pulled out a small book of baby names. “Here you go.” She tossed it to Lorelie.
Lorelie flipped through it. “I want a simple name, so I’m gonna go with... Alice.” She tossed the book to Circe. “Although, the meaning doesn’t suit me. ‘Truth’.”
“We should all find names that mean deception or lies,” Circe suggested.
“That’s an idea,” Lorelie said. “And besides, we don’t want names too ordinary. That will arouse suspicion.”
“There aren’t any that I can find,” Calypso told them. “I’ve already looked.”
“Then let’s go with names that have meanings that aren’t us,” Circe said. “For truth, truthful, etc., we’ve got....” She flipped through the book. “Aleta, Aletha, Alice, which also means noble, Alicia, Alissa, Vera, Verda, Verlee, and Veronica.”
“I’m gonna stick with Alice,” Lorelie said.
“I’m gonna go with Veronica,” Circe told them. “Calypso, what about you?”
“I think I’ll go with Alissa.”
“Alice Cameron, Veronica Cameron, and Alissa Cameron,” Circe cited. “Sounds good.”
“Now we need to get fake ID’s,” Calypso reminded them. “And make flight arrangements.”
“I’ve already got the ID cards,” Lorelie said. “All Jason needed were our names.” She grabbed her cell phone. “I’ll call him and tell him now, and tomorrow morning, we’ll have our ID’s.”
“I’ll make flight arrangements while you two are getting your hair done,” Calypso said.
“Do you want to streak your hair now?” Circe asked.
“Sure,” Calypso sighed. “I don’t want to, but it’s necessary.”
“Actually, what’s necessary is to cut it,” Lorelie told her, as she set out the contents of the three boxes needed to streak Calypso’s hair. “But you won’t do it, not that I blame you.” Lorelie looked at Calypso’s hair. “I wouldn’t have cut it, either.”
It took them an hour to streak Calypso’s hair.
“I like it,” Calypso said, looking at her hair once it was dry. “It looks good.”
“Yeah, it does.”
“Different.” The streaks were deep red, the color of blood, against her black hair.
“Just keep reminding yourself it’s necessary,” Lorelie told her.
“What are we gonna do when out hair grows out?” Calypso asked.
“That’s what touch-ups are for,” Circe replied. “We need to get to sleep now.”
“Just think, after tomorrow, we’re gonna be new people.”
“I like the cut,” Calypso told Lorelie. She’d gotten cut to just a few inches below her chin, in a sleek bob. Circe’s was a just above her shoulders.
“It feel nice not to have so much hair,” Circe said. “Totally different. I like it.” She ran her fingers through her hair. It was wavy, and tapered in the front. “I love the bangs.”
“We leave at midnight tonight,” Calypso told them. “We’re traveling first class, because those were the only seats available.”
“That reminds me,” Lorelie exclaimed. “We need to go to Jason’s studio and get pictures, so he can finish our ID’s.”
“Is all of the information gonna be the same?” Circe asked.
“Not the eyes and hair color, but our height, weight, ages, and birthdays will be the same.”
“Don’t forget to put your contacts in,” Calypso reminded Lorelie and Circe.
“Do you have yours in?” Circe asked.
“Yep.” She looked at Circe. “My eyes are a greenish-gold color.”
“They look good.” Circe walked to the bathroom and put in the contacts. They’d gotten the contacts through a friend, who worked for an optometrist. They had enough to last them six months. And Jessica Romero, their friend, had taught them how to put the contacts in.
Circe’s green eyes turned blue with the contacts. “They look good with my hair.”
Lorelie quickly put in her contacts, turning her blue-violet eyes into a light blue. “We need to go.”
“It’s going to be hard, keeping this pretense up,” Calypso commented. “We’re going to have to watch what we say, keep our contacts in when we’re around people or there’s even the slightest chance we’ll be seeing someone.”
“It won’t be easy, but it won’t be that hard,” Circe assured her.
“We just can’t make any good friends while we’re out there.” Calypso’s warning hung in the air, looming over them throughout the entire day.
“Here we are,” Circe said as they stepped off the plane. “Florida. Home sweet home.”
“For the next three months.” Calypso glanced at her watch. “It’s nine. We need to go drop our stuff of at a hotel, and then go apartment hunting.”
“Lor- I mean, Alice, you ready?” Circe asked Lorelie.
“You bet. We need to find an apartment today or tomorrow, so we can go job hunting. Then we need to get cell phones.” They had left their cell phones at home, not wanting to risk using them and having their location traced.
“We need to go get a car,” Circe began.
“No, we don’t,” Calypso said. “If we’re gonna be normal teenagers, we’re going to use a taxi.”
“I’ve never ridden in one before, so it’ll be a cool experience.” Lorelie gathered her three bags. “C’mon, let’s go get one.”
They got a taxi, and went to a cheap hotel. From their, they went apartment hunting. It was early the next morning when they found an apartment. Located a few miles from the beach, it was a tiny, three bedroom, two bath apartment. Rent was $900 a month, utilities included
After moving in, Calypso suggested getting furniture.
“We’ll need it today,” Calypso said. “Otherwise, we’ll be sleeping on the floor.”
“Don’t forget sitting on the floor, and eating on the floor, and everything like that,” Circe said. The apartment came with a refrigerator, stove, and oven. Nothing else.
“We’ll need beds, chairs, a small table, microwave, pots, pans, dishes, sheets, towels, blankets, shower curtains, curtains,” Calypso muttered, as she wrote down everything they’d need.
“Don’t forget TV, VCR, and stereo,” Lorelie told her.
“Ok, I still have over a hundred grand on me. I’m gonna go find a used car, and then go hit some stores and get everything we’ll need.” Calypso stood up.
“Wait, Calypso,” Circe said. “Here’s ten. So you don’t spend all of yours.”
“Here’s another ten,” Lorelie told her, handing her the ten thousand dollars. “The car’s yours, because we’ll be getting our own cars soon, but we’re all staying here, so we all need to pitch in.”
“Thanks. See you two later.” Calypso walked out the door, then stuck her head in. “If you two need something to do, go exploring, and see if any places are hiring.”
Calypso arrived back home at ten that night, only two hours after Circe and Lorelie.
“Any luck finding places that are hiring?” Calypso asked, sinking to the floor next to Circe.
“Yep. There are a few stores in a mall nearby that are hiring. We got applications. Find any furniture?”
“All of it. Everything but the beds are down in the car.”
“What type of car did you get?” Lorelie asked.
“I got a RAV4. It’s used, 2 years old. Cost me ten thousand.”
“When are we getting the beds?” Circe asked.
“They’ll be delivered tomorrow. Nothing special, just full beds. I got sheet sets, blankets, pillows.”
“We need to get everything up here, then.” Circe hopped up. “Got a lot of work ahead of us.”
It was nearing midnight by the time they got everything inside and set up.
“God, I’m tired,” Circe complained, stretching her arms above her head. “I never knew life could be this much work, or this tiring.”
“Same here.” Lorelie yawned. “Doesn’t t feel great, being worn out? My sleep is probably gonna be great tonight.”
“This entire thing is gonna be great.” Circe curled up in her blankets. “’Night.”
“Good night,” Lorelie said. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“See you in the morning,” Calypso said.
Soon, the soft, regular breathing of Circe and Lorelie filled in the silent room. Calypso stared at the ceiling, thinking about the next three months. Circe viewed the entire thing as a joke; Lorelie thought of it as a way to escape from her responsibilities. Neither viewed it as something permanent, lasting. It would end in three months, and they’d go back to their old lives, with this escapade remembered only in fleeting thoughts.
Calypso wondered if going back was possible, even then.