Amazed

5

"That's a lot of zeros Mom," I said to her.

She was showing me her first paycheck, and she had every reason to be excited.

"I know right! Oh honey it's so nice at work. The people are incredible, and the place is so clean and organized!"

"You've only been working there a week though. Wait until people warm up to you before you make a call on their personality," I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "I've dealt with worse. How about you and I go ahead and blow some of this money?"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yep! Dad already said we could, and this check will last us awhile, even after we pay our bills and get food. We can now afford to spend it," she said, giddiness making her eyes sparkle. "What do you say?"

I didn't even have to think about it. It was a dream come true! "It's been awhile since I got new clothes. And a haircut."

"It's settled then. We'll get you all ready for this new life ahead of us, and maybe even do some school shopping."

"Mom, summer just started. Let's wait on the school stuff, please," I said.

"Fine. Let's get going then!" She said and grabbed her keys.

I threw on a pair of boots and followed Mom out to the truck. We began to head to the hair salon, my partially guiding her because I knew the town better than she did.

We entered the salon and the scent of hairspray hit my nose and pop music filled my ears. I had to admit, the beat was catchy.

"Hello, I'm Shannon. What can I do for you today?" A pretty girl with red hair and blue eyes asked us from behind the counter.

"Hi, I'd like to make two appointments for a cut and coloring," my mom said to her.

Shannon began to type into the computer.

"Would you want the earliest time?" She asked.

"Yes please."

"Alright, there's an opening for 11:30. Have a seat and we'll call you back when we're ready. What's the last name?" Shannon asked.

"Grace."

Shannon nodded and typed it in. Ma and I both sat down and I glanced at a clock on the wall.

11:25.

I asked Ma if I could use her new iPhone to look up something. She handed me it and I looked up hair colors I might want. I saw blondes, reds, and browns, but nothing sparked my attention. Then a crazy color did. Her hair was dark brown at the roots, but turned sea foam green in an ombré. I loved it immediately.

"Mom I want to get this," I said and showed her the photo.

"That's cute! Go ahead and show her that when they call us back," Mom said.

We chatted back and forth until another girl called out our last name and we headed back to the seats.

A blonde girl with green eyes began to talk to me about hair choices. I told her that I haven't had my hair done in a few years, and I didn't know what was cool today, and I showed her the photo of what I wanted for coloring.

She nodded and gave me a smile. "Don't worry, I'll handle the cut and give you the trendiest style. Then I'll give you that color and you be done! How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," I said, and let her work away at me.

During the process, I glanced at my mom in the mirror. She was getting her hair cut into a bob and dying her graying hairs brown.