“Rafe, are you responsible for this?” Mom asked.

“Absolutely,” Rafe said between snickers.

“I’m going to shove that cereal spoon up your nose and into your brain!” I screeched at my brother. My wet, scraggly green hair dripped into my eyes.

“Worth it!” Rafe crowed. “You look like you’ve got seaweed on your head!”

“Why would you do something like this?” Mom demanded.

“Georgia knows why,” Rafe snapped. He flashed me an evil, triumphant grin.

“This is very serious, Rafe,” Mom said.

A flash of guilt passed across my brother’s face. He doesn’t like disappointing her either. “It’ll wash out…” he said. “After a while.”

“How long?” I demanded.

“A week?”

“Mom!” I screamed.

“Rafe, I don’t have time to deal with you this morning. But you will be punished for this.” She turned to me and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Georgia, maybe you can wear a hat or something.”

“How about a paper bag over her head?” Rafe suggested.

Mom glared at him, and he clamped his mouth shut.

No hats, I thought grimly. “I’ll just suffer.”

“Rock the Casbah!” Grandma Dotty shouted.

I had no idea what that “casbah” thing was about, but somehow I got the message. Mission: Blend In was terminated. I needed to buck up and steel myself for whatever was next.

Rock on!

The Princesses’ Hairstyle Rules

I got a lot of stares the minute I walked through the double doors. Not surprising. Grandma Dotty had been so enthusiastic about the “punk” style I was rocking that I decided I might as well play it up. Before I left the apartment, I’d pulled my hair back with a sparkly barrette.

I spotted Rhonda at her locker, so I put my face down and steered in the other direction. Not to be mean—I just didn’t feel like answering ten zillion questions about my hair. But with my head down like that, I nearly ran right into someone else.

“Sorry,” I said as I swerved to avoid slamming into Sam Marks.

He stopped in his tracks. “Wow!” he said when he realized it was me, which made me blush. “You look like…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Like a leaf… with sparkly dew on it.”

“Um, thanks.” I hadn’t been expecting a compliment—at least, I thought it was a compliment—and didn’t really know how to handle it. “You look nice too,” I said, which didn’t make any sense at all. He was just wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

And then I heard the voice I’d been expecting—and dreading.

“Oh my gawd!” Missy screeched. “She went from Weedwacker to weed!”

Okay, so even though I knew I looked like I was about to start sprouting dandelions, the dig still really hurt, coming from Missy.

I cringed as the Princesses surrounded me. “Now her hair matches her face—ugly,” Brittany said.

“I thought her hairstyle was bad before,” Bethany agreed.