Lieutenant - Daughter of the Captain

Chapter 54.0 - School

The evening before her first day of school, Carter wasn't getting a wink of sleep.

She was studying the layout of the campus...

Memorizing the traffic routes to get there and back from her new apartment...

Starting at herself in the mirror...

...and feeling absolutely ridiculous.

Carter had never struggled to pick out something to wear. She had always valued function and comfort over fashion. The only times she'd allowed herself to dress up were the few times they had birthday events or parties, and she could count those with one hand.

Pepper and her had gone on a small shopping endeavor, and yet none of the clothes they'd bought seemed to feel or fit right.

The denim had no stretch, the shirts were either oversized or far too...fitted for her taste, and the shoes...

...she had only let Pepper buy her a pair of the trendy Converse brand because her tennis shoes were wearing out, and even then she made her get them in black.

Carter probably spent a solid three hours assembling outfit after outfit, and eventually giving up and deciding that she'd pick something in the morning.

And then it was her hair.

Her long, blonde hair that she'd kept tucked back in a braid every single day for the last few years.

By the time 4:30 am rolled around, she had decided she wasn't going to sleep, so she'd thrown on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt so she could go on a run and get herself acquainted with the block.

But the second she sectioned her hair into three to begin her braid, it hit her.

The widow smiled, "Good. I still have time before I need to suit up, I can show you a braid if you'd like?"

And so they did. Natasha showed her the movements on herself, and guided her while Carter tried it on her hair.

Carter stared into the mirror, meeting her own reflection and seeing the pain reflected in her eyes.

She remembered that day.

The way her and Nat had settled in the little bathroom at the Tower, cutting and styling and braiding...

It was she first day Carter had considered her facial features, and looking back she realized just how much she'd changed.

Her face had thinned out, losing it's childlike roundness and accentuating her cheekbones. Her nose was proud but feminine, and it now complimented her soft brow bones and formed her almond-hooded eyes

But her hair...

New...no memories...no attachments...just me...

With that mantra in her head, Carter took to the collection of school supplies Pepper had delivered and took the scissors to her long, blonde locks.

Thanks to the widow, she knew a bit of what she was doing, and despite using craft scissors and not having the energy or the patience to dig out a handheld mirror to correct the back she thought her new haircut turned out pretty well.

Though upon feeling a cramping, aching sensation in her lower abdomen, and spotting the piles of hair around the room, Carter realized she may have just found herself in her first PMS and stress-induced manic episode...

And she had fully given in to her impulsive emotions.

Without having much of a choice, she rang Pepper in a slight panic.