Soulmates

Chapter 21

Hazel loved her hair. She really did.

    She just got tired of how much maintenance black hair required.

    Finding good shampoos, conditioners, deep conditioners, scalp serums, leave-ins, holding gels, brushes, hell, even the way you blow-dry your hair matters with black hair. She didn't even deal with that. She usually lets her hair air-dry.

    But, there were solutions to her problem. One of the more common being box braids.

    She loved the way they looked, the ability to not do her hair for a month, getting her hair wet without wasting half a canteen of deep conditioner. It was heaven.

    The only problem is that she didn't know how to do box braids, and getting a stylist was $300. Minimum.

    "I'd be in pain for a week anyway," Hazel muttered as she ran gel through her hair for the third time. "It would've been hell."

    It took another hour for her to finish. But she didn't get a break.

    Hazel adored realistic drawings. It was her strong suit, and they were therapeutic to look at.

    The only bad thing was that a drop of water took twenty years to finish.

    Still, she took out her kit and began shading. It was so much easier digitally.

    She never knew why art teachers were so blatantly against digital art. There were so many career opportunities with it, and all of her favorite comics were made digitally.

    She decided to add the final details on Monday morning. It was a bet with the devil, and she was determined to get it done.

    She'd just need to get up a bit earlier.

    Hazel slept through her alarm the next morning.

    She rushed to get the drop done and practically ran to the subway. She didn't bother trying to freshen up her hair. She just used her wrap to pineapple it.

    Nico was friendly enough to pack her lunch and passed her a bag of trail mix. "Sorry, that's all I had."

    Hazel grabbed a handful of granola. "Thanks," she said, though it sounded a bit more like "fanks."

    Nico rolled his eyes and gagged. "I don't know how I'm related to you."

    She swallowed. "Technically, you're not."

    Nico shrugged. "You know what I meant."

    Hazel snorted. "Yeah. I wish I had your genes. Straight hair is so simple." She ruffled his hair.

    Nico glared and threw it in a man-bun. "Curly hair looks better."

    He wasn't wrong.

    The best part of starting the day with English was... nothing. There was no good part.

    She was unfortunate to have Mrs. Chau.

    It wasn't that Chau was a bad teacher; she was just passionate about her students.

    Again, not a bad thing. But, Chau really wants to connect to her students with stories that have no relevance to the material. Hazel knew she'd be rushing through newer subjects most classes have already learned in the long run.

    The class itself was one of her dead ones. No one really talks, despite Mrs. Chau's unrelenting encouragement to do so. Hazel was happy to use the time to pay attention to the lesson if said lesson ever started.