Much Ado About Ben and Trix

Act 2 Scene 1 (1)

"Beatrice: He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less thana man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him." - Act 2 Scene 1 

Sitting on the plastic stool in the middle of the bathroom, Helena raised the curling iron to Beatrix's hair. Tugging it, she twirled the long black strand around it.

"I could've just worn it down. Or braided it," Beatrix said, her forehead creasing as she focused on the thick maths textbook in front of her.

"No, you're wearing a black dress so you're already boring-" Helena said.

"Hey! I like that dress anyway whatever happened to 'you can never go wrong with a little black dress'?"

Helena let go of the new curl, she clipped it away from her face with the other cluster of curled hair. The tall girl, combed through the tangles of the untouched hair, pulling out strands which fell onto the tiled floor.

"Ben's going to wish he never broke up with you," Helena said, sucking on a finger that had strayed too close to the iron.

"I broke up with him, he stood me up on a date."

"Then why do you pay him so much attention - like at breakfast?"

"He stole my toast after waiting in line for five minutes, between him and the rugby boys, it felt like eternity. He never stops talking."

"You didn't have to kick him in the shins."

"If I hadn't he would have taken my nectarines."

"At the risk of being a hypocrite in front of some Year 9s, who you lecture about the importance of breakfast and the pacifist lifestyle, you kicked a boy's shin and didn't get your toast back."

"Shut up nectarines are good for you and they gave me enough energy to fight with him during maths and ancient history."

"Are you sure your argumentative tone wasn't due to hunger?"

Beatrix balanced her chin on her fist, her eyes scanning over the chapter on integration, making a note on the exercises she wasn't too sure of. Helena grabbed her head redirecting it up like an agitated hairdresser.

Leaning against the sink Helena inspected her work, on the layers of Beatrix's hair. "Alright Miss Andrist you look great. You would win over the perfect man."

"Just because Ben called me that does not mean anyone else should. The perfect man is impossible Hel, as his eyes must be blue but not blue, he must be a dog person but can't like dogs too much. He must not talk as much as Ben but he can't be quiet like Jamie. He must be kind but ruthless-"

Helena kicked the stool, jolting Beatrix. "Could you give me a name?"

"No."

"Oh! Oh! I forgot to tell you, Marlin asked me to the dance. English caused me to forget everything. I remembered what you said about him straight after I said yes, but he seems nice so I'll see how it goes."

Beatrix nodded slowly, her recently plucked eyebrows raised. "Does Claude have a date? I thought you two would look nice together."

"Yeah? He's cute and all and seems nice. We've had two conversations and one of them was him asking for a pen but...I don't know," she said, running a hand through her straightened hair. She gave a weak smile before averting her gaze; her confident demeanor gone. "I mean we're in Year 12, my only relationship should be with my bio textbook. I'm not naturally smart like you Trix, I need to focus."

"You don't need to justify yourself to me."

"Then don't put thoughts in my head, now get up, we have ten more minutes before we need to be there."

Beatrix took her outstretched hand standing up with her. Helena evened out her curls, applying a final touch of blush to her cheeks. The two girls exited the bathroom, Helena whipping a hand towel out at Beatrix, who cried out in shock.

***

Beatrix took the black mask which Peyton held out for her. Joining her friend behind the trestle table covered with purple fabric, Beatrix slipped the mask over her face, pulling out her hair. Peyton clashed with the bright purple fabric, in her pastel blue dress, which matched her hair.

"Am I unrecognisable?" she asked.

"Trix, babe, there are nine other Asian girls one of which is Korean. The six other Chinese girls have a darker complexion and are not three quarters Chinese and nearly all of them are over five foot one. The other two have dyed their hair brown. Under the circumstances you are indistinguishable."

"Great," Beatrix whispered, moving one of the feathers out of her eyes.

The two girls watched Helena go inside and stand next to the drinks table, smoothing out her red dress. Marlin greeted her and took her hand, pulling her onto the timber floor where the rest of the couples were dancing, under the dim blue light. Beatrix along with the other girls' executive handing out masks as students walked in together.