Chapter 12
Is Marlene actually kind of pissed at Dorcas for making things even more awkward between her and Barty? Yes. Does that mean she’s not still going to ask her out? No.
On Monday, Marlene walks into her last class of the day. French Diction. Stupid bougie ass art school. It’s fine though. She can just ask Regulus for help if she needs it. She’s good with languages for opera. Specifically Italian because it’s so similar to Spanish.
The class is easy because they are just reviewing a homework assignment that she got a 100 on.
Regulus is sitting next to Dorcas, scrolling on his phone. An idea comes to Marlene. It’s probably an awful idea. She decides to text him.
Regulus & Marlene
marlene m.: if i ask dorcas out do you think she will say yes?
Regulus looks up from where he is sitting and locks eyes with her. He squints, sizing her up, seeing if she’s being serious or taking the piss.
regulus b.: I don’t think she’d say yes. I’m sorry. 😢😢
Well, shit. Regulus knows Dorcas almost as well as Barty and Evan. He’s probably right. Marlene’s about to be dramatic and put her phone on Do Not Disturb and pout for the rest of class when she gets another text.
regulus b.: You know she's been thirsting over masc lesbians.
Marlene would consider herself a masc lesbian. She has a shaggy wolf cut and wears solely baggy jeans and Dr. Martens. Sometimes she thinks about her gender but it hurts her brain. That’s too much to deal with by herself. And of course she’s not alone. She has tons of trans friends, like Remus. Anyway, the thought of not appearing masculine hurts her feelings.
marlene m.: i’ve been in need of a haircut anyway
After class, Marlene screenshots her texts with Regulus and sends them to Sirius and Remus.
marlene the third wheel
marls!: Screenshot.IMG
marls!: well fuck
sirius!: don’t get yourself down
sirius!: regulus is gay
marls!: ik but he’s like besties with dorcas
“Hey, Dorcas!” Marlene starts walking towards the spiral staircase that leads down to the lobby and out the front door.
“Hi, Marlene! What’s up?”
“I’m thinking of getting a haircut and since you’re the queen of masc lesbians, I want your opinion.”
“Oh, of course. I take my courtship very seriously.” Marlene stops at the bottom of the stairs and pulls to the side. Dorcas follows. Marlene takes her phone out of her pocket and shows Dorcas her multiple different ideas. She could do a short shag kind of vibe or an almost layered bob so that she can still do things with her hair and fem it up when she wants or she could go in the middle of the two and just get a wolf cut again but shorter.
“I like that last one,” Dorcas offers. “The bob vibe is too similar to your hair last year when you had bangs and the first one might be too short for the first chop, you know?” Marlene does in fact know.
“Perfect. Thanks Cas.”
“Anytime!”
Marlene gets in Tito’s car. “Can I go get a haircut?”
“What,” Tito says, laughing. “Now?”
“Yeah! Let’s go to the Hair Cuttery next to Panera.”
“Ok,” Tito opens his car door. “But you’re driving.”
“Fine.” Marlene gets out of the passenger side and switches spots with Tito.
When Marlene is about ten minutes into the drive, Tito pipes up again. “I think I will get a haircut, too.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Marlene pulls into the handicap spot in front of the Hair Cuttery twenty minutes later. After her and Tito get checked in, they sit and wait for about 10 minutes. A lady with long black hair with blue and purple peekaboo dye underneath comes up. She’s wearing pleated, loose, black pants with a black crop top and a black shawl over top. Marlene trusts her with her hair. She follows the witchy looking hair stylist back to her chair.
“What are you looking to get done today?” Marlene pulls her shoulder-length hair out of the ponytail she had it in and puts the hair tie on her wrist. The stylist runs her hands through Marlene’s hair.
“I have some reference pictures here.” Marlene opens her pinterest and shows the stylist the picture that Dorcas liked earlier. “I like the length in this picture and I want to go even shaggier than I have now.”
“Beautiful. Let’s do it.”
“Let’s,” Marlene agrees with a smirk.
While the stylist is cutting, Marlene pulls out her phone and snaps a quick picture in the mirror before firing off a quick text.
Dorcas & Marlene
marlene m.: Attachment: 1 Image
marlene m.: hair cut incoming
dorcas m.: WHAT
dorcas m.: THAT WAS SO FAST
dorcas m.: WE JUST TALKED ABOUT IT HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT HAPPEN
dorcas m.: omg is it done
dorcas m.: im nervy send pic
Marlene’s hair cut looks good. She genuinely loves it. Plus, she discovered that when she tucks it behind her ears that it kind of looks like a mullet. But like a hot, gay mullet. Not a hillbilly, redneck mullet. It’s fire as hell.
She walks out of the salon and gets in the passenger seat of Tito’s car.
Dorcas & Marlene
marlene m.: i have my ways
marlene m.: i’ll send a pic when i get home so i can dry it and style it lol
dorcas m.: thats crazy tho
dorcas m.: was it always scheduled for today
marlene m.: no i just walked in lol
dorcas m.: im sorry im still stuck on how u got it mysteriously fast
dorcas m.: wow
dorcas m.: thats crazy ok were u just inspired after talking about it in french diction
marlene m.: yeah basically
marlene m.: and i’ve been wanting to get it cut for a while bc it was getting too long
dorcas m.: period okay send pic later!
marlene m.: will do!
Marlene walks into her house and drops her bookbag in her room. She has a full-body mirror behind her bedroom door and she checks out her hair. It looks so dope and she’s hype. It’s still long, falling right underneath her chin. It has a lot of layers and shag which is difficult to do because her hair is so straight. Making her hair look like it has any kind of volume or texture is near impossible. She tucks it behind her ears and looks at the mullet vibe. She likes that even more than the wolf cut. Maybe next time, she’ll just go full mullet.
Dorcas & Marlene
dorcas m.: im scared
dorcas m.: whats it lookin like
marlene m.: Attachment: 3 Images
dorcas m.: its cute!!
marlene m.: give me the full truth
marlene m.: don’t be too mean or i’ll cry
dorcas m.: it’s actually cute
dorcas m.: i was expecting the worst so
marlene m.: ok bless
dorcas m.: the bang situation is good
marlene m.: i had to make sure you approve bc youre the queen of fine mascs
dorcas m.: i wear my crown with pride im glad you think so