Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter six . . . ! H E A V E N ' S B A N I S H M E N T
MARIÉ STOOD IN front of the bathroom mirror, darting her eyes over her freshly trimmed hair that morning. Once she woke up, Marié felt complete shock for a moment once she noticed her long hair gone. She wasn't used to that image yet. She also had noticed that her hair was a bit uneven after taking scissors to it the previous day. The thought of that scene still makes her chuckle, especially Descamps' and Dupin's shocked faces as they watched locks of hair fall to the floor.
That spontaneous risk made her happy somehow. It was freeing especially since she's never felt or seen her hair so short before. Marié liked how the haircut complimented her face shape and almost gave her a new look. It wasn't an innocent look like she always had, how she looked now reflected how she felt on the inside.
Marié had taken out her uncle's good hair-cutting scissors and evened her hair out with a trim. Along with a trim she also gave herself bangs which was a difficult process in itself. But she remembered all the times her grandmother would cut her own bangs in the bathroom. In the end, she figured it out and she loved it.
Marié couldn't help but reach up to her head, touching her hair with fascination and then slowly going down to her exposed neck. A small smile stretched onto her face. It was the first time Marié had truly felt like herself. At that moment, it was to hell with what her mother would think. She wasn't even there in France with her and who knows when she'll be back. The only person she needed to get past was her uncle.
As Marié descended the stairs that led into the foyer, her uncle's ears perked up at the sound of her footsteps. He quickly tucked a letter he was writing under a stack of papers just before she entered the kitchen. As Marié walked in, Claude continued to keep his head down, finishing grading one of his student's last assignments for one of his classes.
"Marié, you came home late last night. Where did you—?" Claude cut himself off at the sight before him. He finally noticed that Marié had cut her hair short. Marié stood at the other end of the kitchen table putting her textbooks and homework in her bag.
Marié tried to act as normal and nonchalantly as possible but it was difficult with the sudden frozen silence from her uncle. She was worried about what he would say and if he would spread the word of this to her mother. He knew better than anyone how much her mother valued her long hair.
"Monsieur Macelin assigned the class a pair project and I went over to my partners' house to start the assignment" Marié explained.
Claude nodded slowly, continuing to eye her hair. "Oh, I see. Did, um, how was the study session? Did anything interesting happen?"
Marié paused for a moment, finally turning her attention to her uncle. He sat with uncertainty and shifted in his spot, unsure of how to approach the situation.
