✺ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ✺- Josh Kiszka

Part 22

Violet woke me the next morning by violently shaking my shoulder and yelling something loudly in my ear.

"What, what," I said, darting up and shooting her a disdainful glare.

"Sorry," She said defensively, "I think you're deaf, your phone rang about four times, waking me, and I've been trying to get you up for the past ten minutes."

"My bad," I said drowsily and slightly annoyed. I leaned over and grabbed my phone from my bedside table, trying to blink the tiredness from my eyes.

Looking down at my phone, I had to squint because of its brightness. The four missed calls had been from my mom.

Fuck. I thought, scrambling to unlock my phone.

I found her contact and held the phone up to my ear. I probably didn't even need to call her back. I already knew what she was calling about.

After a few rings, my mom's voice echoed through the speaker,

"Hey, there you are."

"Hey, sorry, I just woke up," I replied.

"It's alright," She sighed and hesitated before continuing, "I'm going to have to stay in Detroit for a few more nights, at least until Monday."

I knew it,

"That's ok, mom," I replied, trying to sound as positive as I could because I knew she already felt bad.

She sighed again, "Ok baby, I'm sorry. Are you good on food? You can order whatever."

I suddenly remembered the alfredo I had left in the microwave the night before and grimaced.

"Yeah, I'm ok on food," I replied, again trying to sound cheery.

"Ok, I have to go for now, but text me if you need anything. I love you."

"Love you, bye," I said, removing the phone from my ear after she had hung up.

Violet had wandered into the bathroom, leaving the door open so that I could see her digging through my cabinets. I walked over and stood in the doorframe.

"My mom's going to be gone for a few more nights, so you can stay here until she gets back."

"Sick," She replied, not moving from her crouched spot on the floor in front of the cabinet.

"Do you need something?" I asked after watching her dig around the bins for a while.

"You don't happen to have any hair gel, do you?"

"Hair gel? Why do you need that?" I asked

"I was watching videos on curly hair, and I want to try and make mine look less... crazy." She replied, turning around and looking up at me.

"I don't have any, but I can pick some up for you at the store," I responded, looking at her quizzically. "What's with the sudden urge to leave your hair natural? I mean, it's a good thing, your hair is gorgeous, but you always straighten it."

Her face flushed red while she searched for a response.

"Sam said something about it, didn't he?" I asked, smiling down at her.

She smiled back and ran her hand over her curls. "He said it looks more like 'me.'" She replied, holding a strand of hair up and looking at it.

"That's sweet," I said, crouching down next to her. "But weren't you the one who told me to never care about a man's opinion?" I laughed.

"Yeah, well, I'm doing it for me." She replied, pinching her eyebrows in and smiling at me.

"Alright," I said, standing up and walking back into my room. "I'm sure CVS has some hair products. I'll check their website."