The Wildest Heads in Bloomberg

Bloomberg was the kind of town where everyone looked good. The hairdressers had gleaming shops on every corner, their windows full of photos showing perfect cuts and sharp fades. People in Bloomberg took their hair seriously. Everyone, that is, except six kids.

Jackie spotted Ollie first, racing down Maple Street with his hair flying behind him like a dark brown cape. Remi was right beside him, his curls bouncing past his shoulders. Mike, Jacob, and Carson weren't far behind, all of them hollering something, their long tangled manes flapping wildly in the wind.

"Oi!" Jackie called out, her black hair — streaked red and hanging past her waist — whipping across her face. Her skull earrings swung like tiny pendulums.

Ollie skidded to a stop beside her, breathing hard.

"Did someone say it?" Jackie asked, eyes wide.

Ollie pressed a hand to his chest.

"Carson's mum," he wheezed. "She said the word."

The Parrot Knows Too Much

The six of them piled into Remi's garage, slamming the side door shut behind them. Everyone was breathing loud and messy.

"We can't keep running forever," Remi said, dropping onto an old beanbag.

"Watch me," said Carson.

Jackie leaned against the wall, pushing her bangs out of her face. They flopped right back.

Outside, a large green parrot sat on the windowsill of the shop directly across the street — Sal's Style Studio, where a hairdresser named Sal had been watching the whole chase from his doorway.

The parrot knocked its beak against the glass.

Sal squinted at the kids.

"Six of them," he murmured, arms crossed. "Every single time."

He pulled out his phone and started typing into a group chat labeled 💈 Bloomberg Barbers 💈.

*We've got a situation,* he wrote.

Three typing bubbles appeared instantly.

Then Ollie made the mistake of glancing out the garage window. The parrot was still there, staring straight at him with one bright yellow eye.

"Remi," Ollie whispered. "That bird is looking at me."

"Birds look at things, Ollie."

"Not like *that* it doesn't."