HC/Negotiate
From Create Your Own Story
'Look,' you say, 'I can't do that. You've got to see it my way. It would ruin the shop.'
Rachel opens her mouth to argue but doesn't say anything. She glares at you. You know what she's thinking. She doesn't want to hurt you in any way. She just wants to get at her step-mother.
'I'm sorry,' you say, treading cautiously. 'There's really nothing I can do.'
Rachel looks downcast. Then she smiles. Her eyes gleam mischievously. Uh oh. 'Okay,' she says. 'I'll take the fall for it.'
'What?!'
'I'll say it was me,' she says firmly. 'I'll say you went to the back room for a bit and I started messing around with the scissors. When you came back you did your best to fix it.' You look at her inn horror. 'But then you'll be punished for it too.'
'I don't care,' she says. 'I just want to get at her, that's all.' You stare at her, dumbfounded. You wonder what Evelyn had done to get her so riled up. If you were any judge of character, probably nothing. Just being her step-mother was probably enough.
'Okay,' you say finally. You're resigned to it now. 'But I'm not going to do it very short. I'll leave about a foot of hair.'
'No way! You're missing the whole point.' Rachel crosses her arms and looks at you angrily. 'A centimetre at most.'
You shake your head. 'I'm not doing it that short.' You both stare at each other, neither willing to back down. Then Rachel smiles again, in a way that's becoming all too familiar. 'All right,' she says. 'One foot of hair. But on one condition.'
'What?' you ask, dreading the reply.
'You have to do the same to Charlotte.'
You look at the sleeping girl with her long, never-before-cut hair. 'It's one or the other,' Rachel says.
