“Come on in–did you not notice your sleeve’s torn?” Parrish immediately spotted the loose threads dangling from Alessia’s cuff.


    “I snagged it on something by ident.” Alessia didn’t have the heart to admit she’d gotten it caught while sneaking through an alley.


    “Go change first. Come back down when you’re done.”


    If it had been anyone else, Alessia would have rolled her eyes and walked away. But with Parrish, she could only nod and head upstairs without a word.


    As soon as Alessia disappeared into her room, Parrish grabbed Cole by the ear, making him yelp and clutch at Parrish’s hand, face twisting in pain.


    “Dad, let go! Ouch, ouch, that hurts!”


    “Oh, so you *do* feel pain, huh? I told you to bring Lessie straight home, but what did you do? And what’s with that mess on your head?”


    “I think it looks pretty cool, actually.”


    Seeing Cole’s smug grin, Parrish flicked him hard on the forehead.


    “Is that how a student should look? You want to dye your hair every which way over winter and summer break, fine–but you’d better have it back to normal before school starts tomorrow.”


    “But I just dyed it! Doing two colors at once is really rough on my hair,” Cole protested.


    “Then shave it off.”


    Cole made a face. “Oh,e on, Dad, just let it go. I’ve got a n.”


    Parrish eyed him suspiciously. “And this n will actually get Lessie back in


    ss?”


    “Nobody gets it like you do, Dad.” Cole draped an armpanionably over Parrish’s shoulder, standing on tiptoe to reach.


    “Get off, you little punk.” Despite the words, Parrish’s tone was more fond than


    stern.


    “I mean it—if Lessie fixes her hair, you better fix yours too.”


    “No worries,” Cole said, thumping his chest for emphasis.


    12:35 M


    “But you said dyeing hurts your hair. If it’s really going to be painful… maybe I’ll talk to your teacher and see if we can just leave it. Hair grows back anyway.”


    “I already checked with the stylist. As long as I don’t do it too often, it’s fine. He’ll use the best treatment on it. Promise.”


    That seemed to put Parrish at ease, at least a little.


    “Alright, enough. I need a shower.” Parrish waved him off, shooing Cole and his wild, rainbow–colored mop out of his sight.


    Upstairs, Alessia stepped out of the bathroom to find Jade sprawled across her bed, watching reality TV andughing her head off, all decorum forgotten.


    “Ms. June, weren’t you heading downstairs? What are you doing up here?” Alessia was clearly used to Jade’s antics by now.


    “Go downstairs for what? To listen to Mr. Whitley lecture me for an hour? He’s been repeating himself since I was a kid–I’ve heard it so many times my ears are numb.” Jade sat up, rubbing her ear with an air of exasperation.


    “Was Mr. Whitley always so fond of lecturing people?”


    “My parents died young, so Mr. Dawson raised me. Once, he brought Mr. Whitley back with him from a medical outreach trip. We’ve been together ever since–never spent a day apart, even went to the same college.”


    There was a warmth in Jade’s voice, a smile on her lips that could brighten anyone’s mood.


    “My foreignnguage grades were terrible back then. The harder I tried, the worse! did. Eventually, I just rebelled-‘That’s it! I quit!‘ Poor Mr. Whitley was beside himself, always trying <i>to </i>coax me back. He’d nag me every day, and when I got annoyed, he’d take me out for some fun. It was always a mix of bribes and lectures, but somehow, he managed to drag me across the finish line and into his


    school.”


    Alessia chuckled; it was exactly the kind of story she expected from Jade.


    “Who would’ve thought all those lectures would go on for most of our lives?” Jade shifted, patting the empty spot beside her in invitation. “Come on–lie down and watch with me.”


    <i>212 </i>