Jonatha looked at Mikelle and then at Zoe, then he sighed heavily.
"Alright, then, looks like I'm dyeing your hair." He hadn't actually done it before, but he had memories of doing it in the past. Mikelle's hair was normally a sandy brown, but if he wanted to look like Zacharielle of "ZachieTV" fame, he was going to need to be a blonde. "Zoe, do we have dye?"
"I think we do", she replied. She began rummaging in the taller kitchen cabinet—one Jonatha probably couldn't reach now—and eventually came across a bottle of blonde hair dye and some supplies to make it useful. "I don't know how to really do this, it's more of a boy thing, but have at it."
Jonatha looked at the brushes, bowls and other paraphernalia with trepidation. Am I really expected to do this? He stared at Mikelle's puppy dog eyes. He had to.
"So, what is that Zacharielle show about?" Jonatha was almost on autopilot doing it, aided by his memories from this world. However, they didn't help him when it came to whatever TV show his little brother had become enamored with. He'd had to pull up pictures of Zacharielle on his phone to give him an idea.
"Well, Zachie is a streamer. He streams video games, and he's a beautiful blonde. Like I wanna be!" Mikelle chirped. "And so the show is about him and his life streaming to hundreds and thousands of people, and also his life at school, and how he goes between the two," he added.
"What are some of the things he has to deal with?"
"Well, because he's pretty, and not that many boys stream playing video games, some girls don't like him and call him rude things."
"So is this show really popular?"
"Yeah! A bunch of my friends got their hair dyed blonde because they wanna look like Zachie, and I can't be left out now, can I?" Jonatha idly wondered if he'd make a good blonde, but those thoughts were cut short by a knock at the door.
"Zoe? Could you get that? I'm tied up here," Jonatha called out.
"I got it," she replied, walking to the front door. She opened it to find a boy about Jonatha's age with blonde hair, wearing a fairly thick jacket to deal with the cold. "Hi, what do you want?" Zoe asked, a little baffled.
"I'm one of Jonatha's friends from cheer, I came by to talk to him?"
"Oh, OK, uhh..." Zoe looked back. "He's actually dyeing his little brother's hair right now?"
"I can help him if he wants," Maddie replied.
"Jonatha, it's one of your fellow cheerleaders. He says he can help you?"
"Well, uh, sure," Jonatha sighed, glad at the relief. "Which one?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. What was it?" Zoe asked.
"Maddie Carlyle."
"It's Maddie, Jonatha."
"Oh, OK, let him in." Zoe stepped back and allowed Maddie to come in, take off his jacket and walk over to Jonatha in the kitchen.
"Oh wow, you've got a job ahead of you!"
"Hi, Maddie. You just met my younger sister, Zoe, and this is my little brother, Mikelle. He's becoming a blonde today because of that Zachie show." Maddie smiled a bit, seeing all the foil in Mikelle's hair. "What brings you here?"
Maddie looked around a bit nervously. "Well, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something, but I kinda want to do it in private. Mind if I help you with your bro first?"
"Of course. I could use the help, actually."
"Good thing I'm taking beauty classes," he chuckled. With his jacket off, Maddie looked stunning as usual, even if he wasn't wearing any makeup. "Looking forward to the game tonight?" He dove in and began helping Jonatha wrap up Mikelle's new look.
"Well, it'll be nice to be one step closer to ending the basketball season grind," Jonatha sighed. "Though Ridgecoast is a little different place from here."
"It's usually a good game, though. Their girls are athletic," Maddie explained as he put the finishing touches on the color. "Mikelle, wanna see yourself?" Jonatha brought out a handheld mirror and put it in front of his little brother's face, showing him the blonde look he had pleaded for.
"Ooooooh!" he cooed. "I like it!" A big smile broke out on his face.
"You'll need to let this sit for a bit, and then we can take some of the stuff out," Maddie explained.
"Thank you, Maddie!" Mikelle replied. He then promptly dashed off to watch cartoons in front of the TV.
"Can we go in your room?" Maddie asked. While Jonatha wasn't expecting it, the look on Maddie's face was serious enough that he knew he was not going to be denied.
"Alright." The two walked up to Jonatha's room and sat on the bed.
