My Ex Friends Cannot Afford Me

For three years, Ive been styling wigs and doing makeup for my friends on the cheap. Everyone was always thrilled.

Until this fresh-out-of-college girl showed up: Are you guys insane? Two hundred bucks for a full styling? You can get that on Depop for a hundred and fifty, easy. Have you seriously let yourselves get ripped off like this for three years?

She added a hand-over-mouth laughing emoji.

"Just give me a hundred and fifty each, and Ill handle your cosplay styling from now on~ I just graduated, so Im not in it for the money. I just want to make friends."

I stared at my screen and let out a long, quiet breath.

She had no idea. Id been ready to stop bleeding money for these girls for a very long time.

1.

It was the final week of prep before LuminaCon, and the group chat was blowing up.

The messages were from Hailey, the group admin's shiny new friend. She'd been dragged into the chat last month, and her feed was nothing but polished con selfies and heavily edited close-ups.

Right then, I was at my workbench, struggling with a gravity-defying wig for Fiona. It was a complex design, and I had already poured three days of meticulous work into it.

"Hey Queena~" Haileys text popped up. "I was just looking over the budget for the Aether Crest lineup. Over two hundred for hair and makeup? Is my math off, or is there... something else going on here?"

She added a smug little emoji.

I assumed she thought I wasnt charging enough. I started typing to explain that since we were all close friends, I didn't mind cutting my rates to the bone.

But then she followed up: "You can get this for a hundred and fifty on Depop, max. Even professional studios only charge a hundred and eighty for bulk orders. Queena, arent you a little embarrassed charging us that kind of markup?"

"Were supposed to be friends. Charging us tourist prices... feels a little off, doesn't it?"

She capped it off with a whimpering cat emoji.

My fingers froze over the keyboard.

Christine, our group admin, was the first to chime in. "Omg, Hailey, youre so good at saving money! I never even noticed, haha. Guess weve been overpaying this whole time."

Then Christines inner circle started piling on.

"Yeah, when I did the group cosplay with the other crew, we only paid like a hundred and seventy."

"Queenas work is great, so it makes sense she charges more... but honestly, if we can save money, thatd be amazing."

Two people tried to defend me, but Hailey quickly drowned them out.

"Oh, Im not saying shes bad at it!" she replied with an innocent wink. "But were doing this for fun, right? Its not a commercial gig. Do we really need high-end studio standards? Think of the cash wed save for new outfits!"

"Tell you what, let me handle it this time. Ill only charge a hundred and fifty per person. I dont need to make a profit; I just want to help my girls out."

The chat went quiet for a moment. Then Christine, of course, broke the silence.

"Yes, please! Hailey, you are a lifesaver! Queena, looks like we wont be needing you for this run."

The rest of the dominoes fell instantly.

"Me too! Count me in!"

"Hailey, youre literally an angel!"

"Yeah, Ill switch to Hailey too. Its so much cheaper."

"Queena, well catch you next time, okay? Promise!"

I stared at the screen, watching the neat line of betrayals stack up. It felt like a slow, deliberate twist of a knife.

"Sure," I replied. Just two letters.

Honestly, it was fine. I was exhausted from subsidizing their hobbies anyway.

Three years ago, when I first got into cosplay, I taught myself makeup and wig-styling just to save some cash. They saw how good I got and begged me to style them.

Back then, they were using thirty-dollar synthetic wigs off Amazon that reflected light so badly the photographers wanted to cry, and their makeup was patchy at best.

I was the one who spent nights detangling, ventilating, cutting, and styling.

For three years, I lost count of the all-nighters I pulled. My fingers were scarred from hot glue, my cervical spine was shot, and my prescription had jumped by two diopters.

Two hundred dollars barely covered the baseline cost of high-grade materials. Not only was I donating my labor, but I was also paying out of pocket to upgrade their supplies.

If they went to a real professional who did custom wigs, makeup, and prop coordination like I did, theyd be looking at a starting rate of a thousand dollars, booked months in advance, excluding materials.

But I wasn't going to argue in the group chat. Even if I told them I was losing money, theyd just say, "Well, you chose to do that. No one forced you."

Explaining myself in that chat would feel like laying my dignity on a table just to watch them pick it apart.

I stayed quiet. Then Christine slipped into my DMs.

"Hey Queena, Haileys just blunt, dont take it personally. But were not made of money, you know? Maybe you could recalculate your costs? If you can beat her price, wed love to stick with you."

"After all, we trust your work~"

I almost laughed. Pressuring me to lower my prices while trying to make it sound like a favor.

Why should I care who they went with?

I had plenty of paying clients.

"No, thanks," I wrote back, keeping it simple.

She immediately went back to the group chat and tagged me: "Hey everyone, Queenas going to hand over the materials to Hailey, so Hailey will be taking over the styling for this con!~"

"Also, Queena, were actually at capacity for the Sovereign Five group now, so maybe sit this one out? Its just easier to coordinate with Hailey in the lineup."

The Sovereign Five was a fixed group of five characters. I was supposed to play one of them.

But I didn't fight for my spot. I just typed: "Got it."

2.

The group chat erupted in celebration.

"Christine, youre the best!"

"A hundred and fifty for everything? Hailey, Im literally obsessed with you! Youre an angel!"

"Hailey is a goddess!"

...

My phone buzzed with a private message from Prima.

"Queena, are you okay?"

I didn't reply. I locked my phone and set it face down.

On my workbench, Fiona's gravity-defying white wig sat half-finished. Good. I didnt have to finish it now.

I stared at the headpiece for a long time. Then I picked up my needle-nose pliers and slowly, methodically, tore it apart.

I salvaged the materials. I had other projects to focus on.

That night, I wrapped up work three hours earlier than usual. I was just about to crawl into bed when my screen lit up again.

It was Hailey.

"Hey Queena, I hope youre not mad at me for taking over the gig? Its nothing personal, honestly. I just dont think friends should take advantage of friends."

"By the way, could you send over the contact info for your material supplier? Just wanted to compare prices~"

I was speechless.

She calls me a scammer, and then has the nerve to ask for my sources.

I started typing a furious response, but my thumb hovered over the send button. Then I deleted it.

Not worth the energy.

I sent her the links to a few of my regular wholesale suppliers. A few minutes later, she came back crawling into my inbox: "??? These are insanely expensive!"

"Are you trying to sabotage me?"

"If I buy from these places, the raw materials alone will cost five hundred per person. You didnt pay anywhere near that when you did it!"

Exactly. Because for three years, I had been quietly subsidizing them.

I should probably thank her. Shed just saved me from throwing any more of my own money down that drain.

I opened my professional app, and saw a message from Maeve.

Maeve was one of the premier wig fiber suppliers in the country. Her high-end custom hairpieces were so sought after that people booked her a month in advance just to get on her waiting list.

I called her directly.

"A girl reached out to me today," Maeve said, her voice crackling over the line. "From the way she talked, Im guessing shes from your old circle?"

I rolled onto my side. "Yeah. Im done doing their styling. Shes their new girl."

The line went quiet for a beat. "I figured. I didnt give her a discount. Did you want me to?"

"No."

Maeve was a veteran in the scene; she didnt need me to spell it out.

"When outsiders want my materials, I mark them up three times over and still turn them down," Maeve scoffed. "Those kids have been spoon-fed luxury by you for years, and now theyre turning up their noses?"

"Maeve," I interrupted gently. "Its fine. I have more commissions than I can handle anyway."

My skills had only sharpened over the last three years.

"Fair enough. I cant wait to see what their cosplays look like this time without you."

After we hung up, the bedroom was incredibly quiet.

I opened my personal social media account and scrolled back to my very first posts from three years ago.

Every single shoot was a carefully preserved memory.

The first group photo: seven of us. Christine was right in the center. I had stayed up for two straight nights styling her wig, and Id crafted her hairpins piece by piece from shrink-plastic.

The comments were flooded with people calling her the perfect fantasy heroine.

The second photo: Phoebe as the celestial general. I had carved her armor plate by plate from EVA foam, spray-painting it until four in the morning.

The third, the fourth...

I went through them all, then closed the app.

I opened a different platform.

On TikTok, I had a creator account Id never shared with any of them.

The username at the top of the profile read: Sweetbriar & Snow.

Three hundred thousand followers.

Everyone in the local scene knew Sweetbriar & Snow was a master wigmaker and stylist, but no one in my immediate circle knew it was me.

I switched to my main account and messaged another local cosplay group: "Hey, about the styling we discussedI have an opening now. Are you still looking for someone?"

Within seconds, three exclamation points popped up.

"Omg, the master replied! Yes, yes, yes! Wed be honored!!!"

A small smile touched my lips.

I couldnt wait to see what happened when our two groups crossed paths at the con.

3.

Hailey began posting feverishly in the group chat, practically humming with chaotic energy.

"Look at this wig, guys! Only forty bucks! I spent hours comparing shops to find this deal. Such a steal!"

"And the outfits are pre-made, so I don't have to waste time sewing. Im not like some people who insist on doing everything by hand. Its such a waste of time and money."

At first, the girls cheered her on, but as the updates kept rolling in, the enthusiasm began to curdle.

Eventually, someone started a separate group chatexcluding Hailey and Christineand added me.

"Ive bought from that shop before," one of the girls wrote. "The color is always completely off. Are we sure Hailey knows what she's doing?"

"Oh god, I just looked up the wig shop. The reviews are terrible. Someone said the fibers started shedding the second they put it on..."

I watched the chat silently, offering nothing.

Every time Hailey boasted about a new purchase in the main chat, the secret chat tore it to shreds.

Finally, Prima tagged me.

"Queena, what do you think? Are these materials actually legit?"

I took a slow sip of my coffee.

"No idea. Never used them."

It wasn't a lie. I had never touched that cheap trash.

Prima DM'd me privately. "Queena, maybe you should talk to Christine again? You get what you pay for, and honestly, your prices were incredibly fair."

"No," I replied instantly. "Im not interested in chasing after people who threw me out."

It was harsh, but it was the truth. Wed been friends for years, and they knew what professional stylists charged. The fact that Christine had sided with Hailey so quickly proved she didnt value me.

Prima sent back an ellipsis.

By that evening, Hailey proudly announced that all the materials had arrived. The total came to just under a hundred dollars.

"Ill take the extra fifty as a small labor fee, even though I'm practically doing this for free," she sent, followed by a grinning emoji. "After all, I put a lot of heart into this!"

Then, she slipped into my DMs.

"Hey Queena, now that Im doing the math, I see how much of a markup you were charging~ Keeping half the budget as profit? No wonder you could afford such nice things."

I ignored her.

She pushed harder. "Don't say we're leaving you out! What are you going as this time? Want me to do your hair and makeup? I'll give you the friend discountonly a hundred and fifty!~"

Still, I didnt reply.

Instead, I opened a blank document and began drafting a comprehensive guide on wig fibers and prop materials, analyzing products at every price point from high-end to budget-bin.

I spent forty minutes writing, filling it with raw, undeniable facts.

Id post it after the convention.

I shut my laptop and lay down in bed.

My phone chimed.

"Hey! The con is in four days. Do you have time tomorrow to check out our outfits and props?"

It was the cosplayer Id messaged, who went by Hazel.

There were seven of them in total, planning to debut characters from the new Aetheria expansion.

They had a massive followingeven their smallest account had over a hundred thousand followers.

"Tomorrow afternoon works for me," I replied.

"Oh my god, thank you so much!" Hazel shot back. "I cant believe you were free! Their loss is definitely our gain, haha."

I stared at her message for a long beat.

"I had a booking," I wrote. "They bailed on me."

"What the hell? Do they have any idea what they just gave up?!"

I smiled faintly.

I didnt know what they had given up.

But I knew what I had given up: three years of a one-sided friendship.

4.

Three days before LuminaCon, Haileys orders started arriving.

She hosted an unboxing livestream in the group chat, uploading a dozen videos back-to-back.

The first video showed the wigs. They were cheap, forty-dollar Amazon specials. The synthetic fibers glinted under the fluorescent light with a harsh, plastic sheen, and the ends were already tangling into a frizzy mess.

"Arent they gorgeous?~" Hailey gushed in the voiceover. "This shine is going to look so good on camera!"

The chat fell dead silent. Finally, Prima spoke up. "...Is it just me, or is that fiber going to reflect the camera flash like crazy?"

Hailey fired back instantly. "Thats what Photoshop is for! No one posts raw photos anyway!"

I didn't say anything, but I knew better. No amount of editing could fix that. The cheap plastic shine would bleed through any filter, making a quick touch-up impossible. The editor would have to manually brush out the glare frame by frame. For seven people, it would be an absolute nightmare.

But it wasn't my problem anymore.

Haileys second video showed the makeup.

A pile of cheap palettes from brands Id never even heard of. She swatched a concealer on the back of her hand to show it off, but the formula was so dry it cracked as it spread, catching the light in ugly creases.

"Full makeup kits! The color selection is way bigger than what Queena used to bring. And its incredibly cheap!"

Sure, the palettes had plenty of colors, but the quality compared to my professional-grade kits was laughable.

I used to custom-blend foundation shades for each of them to match their skin tones and types.

I kept my mouth shut.

In the secret chat, the girls were spiraling.

"Oh my god, look at the ends of those wigs. It looks like spider legs."

"Who is actually going to let her put that cheap makeup on their face? My skin is going to break out."

Prima ventured into the main chat, keeping her tone cautious. "My skin is really sensitive and prone to breakouts. Are we sure about these brands?"

"Aren't you a little high-maintenance?" Hailey replied with a rolling-eye emoji. "Its just makeup. The ingredients are all the same; youre just paying for the brand name. Someones been spoiling you guys too much."

A passive-aggressive dig aimed right at me.

I remembered the first time I did Primas makeup. Her skin was incredibly sensitive, covered in acne scars, and easily irritated. I spent weeks testing seven different professional foundations on her skin before finding one that didn't trigger a reaction.

I had bought those products specifically for her.

And how had Prima repaid me?

Sure, shed checked in on me privately. Shed made the secret group chat to make me feel included. But when it mattered, none of them had stood up to Christine for me.

So, I washed my hands of it.

The night before the con, Hailey posted the schedule: Everyone meet at 7:00 AM sharp. Ill do everyone's hair and makeup. I'm handing out the wigs tonight, so adjust them yourselves.

Seven people. The con started at nine. She was starting at seven.

Subtracting travel time, that gave her less than twenty minutes per person.

I didn't have time to worry about their train wreck. I was out the door by 3:00 AM to style Hazels group, spending at least forty minutes on each person.

By the time I finished Hazel's entire crew, my feet were throbbing. I finally sat down and unlocked my phone. Christine had posted a heavily filtered photo in the chat.

"Looks gorgeous! Hailey, you have such a great eye, and this was so cheap!"

Hailey tagged me in the main chat. "Hows it look, Queena? Not bad, right?"

At the exact same moment, the secret chat exploded with notifications. My screen lit up with panicked texts.

"Queena, help!"