His words were hoarse, and his voice was softest I had ever heard it as he asked, "It was not because I made fun of it, was it?"

"No. Of course, it wasn't." I assured him, my mouth quirking up "I don't hold your opinion in that much of a high regard."

He chuckled and released another deep breath from his chest.

"You are going to find it hard to insult me now." I pointed out.

Stone taunted lowly "You are no longer the wicked witch of the west."

I asked, "Then who am I?"

"You can now go and live in munchkin city with all of the other short people."

I moved the phone away from my face so that he could not hear me laughing. I calmed myself down and then brought the phone back to my ear.

My laughter did not last long.

I was reminded that he could no longer call me Medusa because I did not have green hair.

At least I could still call him Lurch. I doubt he would ever stop growling or grumbling.

"Are you still there?" I questioned quietly after a minute or two of silence

The deep voice confessed, "I'm going to miss your hair."

I almost dropped the phone onto my face in shock.

"What?" I said, thinking that I had misheard him.

"Fairytale green is the most amazing colour I have ever seen." He replied lowly.

My eyes blinked a few times. I had definitely misheard him.

I told myself what he really said was I'm going to miss insulting your hair. Fairytale green is the worst colour I have ever seen.

"Are you high?" I asked, "Are you a stone-r?"

He did not laugh at my pun and instead repeated his question "Why did you get rid of your green?"

"I told you. It was time for a change." I lied and then decided to change the subject "You can no longer call me Medusa."

Stone let out a grumbling sound of disapproval before he claimed, "You will always be my Medusa."

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

My confidence might have gone down the drain along with the green hair dye.

Lana sighed as she pointed towards the no longer green head of mine "I still can't believe you got rid of your green hair."

I tried to smile at her as I claimed, "It was time for a change."

"You loved your wacko hair." She mentioned softly before she asked, "Are you sure everything is okay?"

We walked along the beachfront with our bikinis under our clothes. I was glad that we would not have to change in the small sweaty cubicles.

My father left the apartment before the sun rose. I was up most of the night, letting my imagination run wild with worry. I spent the late hours listening at my door to the sounds of my dad stumbling around the place until I heard the front door slam shut.