Settling Up Read Online Free PDF

part of me (a much bigger one that I want to admit) that became jealous of her thick hair, that started to get narrow-eyed mad at her for being so selfish, hoarding all of that hair to herself.
    Next to the notebooks, I saw some scissors hanging on pegs. What harm could it do to just snip some of her hair off and add it to mine? You know, thicken it up a bit. A sad sigh escaped me as I realized how crazy my thoughts sounded, even to me.
    The woman, alerted to my presence by the sigh and startled by my now-closeness (I had been inching closer as I had been thinking my evil thoughts), bit her lip and sidled away from me.
    Oh god. Had I just been considering stealing someone else’s hair? Seriously, what would I have done with a stranger’s hair? Taped it onto my scalp? My head hung low as I pictured myself, eyes wide and crazed, different colored patches of hair being held onto my head with wayward pieces of Scotch tape.
    Shuddering at the sight, I turned on my heel and headed up front to buy this damn cream. I needed to try to fix my own hair before I started to think about stealing someone else’s.
    I was feeling bolstered in my confidence as I walked from the store back to my car, until… the wind picked up and made my hair whip around my face, flopping it to one side, completely undoing my careful comb-over. My hands flew up to correct my locks, patting them down like an old man guarding his toupee from torrential winds.
    I caught sight of myself in the reflective surface of my car windows as I stood there clutching my hair, pasting it back onto my head. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry.
    Choosing action rather than self-pity, I jumped into the car to avoid any other wind gusts, pulled the cream out of the package, and started slathering it onto the top part of my scalp. I sighed, took a deep breath, and began to drive. This was going to be fine. I was fixing it, treating it. The hair would grow back. Heck, maybe I’d start growing too much hair and become one of those people who complain about how thick their locks are.
    I let my mouth pull into a full smile at the wonderful thought. I could picture it now. This cream would help. It was already feeling tingly. That meant it was working, right? Yes, I decided.
    Oh, wow. It was VERY tingly. Was it supposed to burn? My cheeks heated up and my heart began to race. The area where I’d put the cream began to pulse as if under pressure.
    “Ow, ow, ow ouch.” I yanked the steering wheel to the right and pulled into the nearest parking lot, grappling with the box of the evil cream. The car lurched as I brought it to a stop, slanty-ways, probably taking up two parking spots. I scanned the warning labels.
    Discontinue use if scalp begins to burn. Wash the affected area carefully to remove all residue.
    Holy crap! What? It would take me a good ten minutes to get home from here. The burning was increasing exponentially each second that ticked by. In the time it would take me to drive all the way home, I might not have any scalp left to speak of.
    I needed to get this crap off my head. Now.
    I looked in my rear view mirror to see which parking lot I had pulled into and almost laughed as I recognized the red and blue neon sign of the casino. My heart settled a tiny bit as I smiled, grabbed my purse, and headed inside.
    Taking a quick left, I went straight into the bathrooms instead of going out onto the floor, and after taking my glasses off and placing them on the counter, I dunked my head into the too-tiny sink immediately. The stream of cold water that cascaded down my scalp felt like the most glorious thing I’d ever experienced. I could see globs of the evil burn-your-skin-off cream being sucked down the drain. I laughed in victory.
    Just as the door opened.
    Oh gosh. If a chick sticking her head in a small sink wasn’t weird enough to walk in on, I had added a maniacal laugh on top of that. By the time I could lift my dripping head up to look, the woman was gone,