Considered Insane: How They Saved My Life (NO LONGER UPDATING)

Chapter 12 [PART 1]

"What does the timer say?" I'm sitting in the bathtub of my room in the hotel, waiting for the color in my hair to finish.

"Three more minutes, Skye," Frank calls from outside the bathroom door. "You ready soon?"

"Yeah, come on in," I crawl from the tub and fumble with the knobs until I find a satisfying temperature.

I make sure my new Parade uniform remains safe and dry from the chemicals in my hair by covering myself with the black shower curtain, yes, the one I basically tore from the rod that it hung on. Frank showed up at my room at three in the morning to find me modeling my new uniform sleepily in the large mirror above my bed.

"Well, well. Looks like someone has style," he yawns.

"Never knew I had it in me," I spread my arms and fall back onto my bed.

Frank bounces over to the edge of the bed, lightly skipping as he nears, "I have a surprise for you."

I roll my head to face him and find two boxes of hair color brightly reflecting the colors into my eyes.

"Orange and purple. I like it," I mumble sluggishly, tired beyond belief.

Now, as I wrap the shower curtain tightly around my neck, I lean over the edge of the bath tub and let Frank pull the shower cap from my head. My hair is slick with fresh dye, tickling my nose while painting it bright purple.

"Ready?" Frank asks, bending over me to look into my eyes through my dye-soaked hair and wipe the color form my nose.

His body presses against my back, our breathing in sync. I nod, and he straightens back up to roll his sleeves back up to his elbows. Strong hands begin to rub the dye from my hair under the warm water of the faucet. My head falls forward and Frank massages my scalp, causing me to nearly fall asleep. Before I know it, before tiredness overwhelms me into sleep, my hair is washed through, blown dry, straightened, and trimmed a little to perfection. I notice that a permanent dark, discoloration forms around my eyes and my cheeks appear sunk in. Joining the Parade has transformed me into almost a skeleton-like figure.

The bathroom mirror shines and reflects a near-perfect image of myself, Frank hovering behind me.

Frank gives a giant toothy grin and gives me two thumbs-up, approving my new style. I smile back excitedly, bouncing around and squealing so loud that Frank covers his ears. I tire myself quickly.
"I need to sleep, I've been up for a while," I slur, feeling somewhat drunk in a way.

As soon as the words left my mouth, two strong arms lifted me off of the floor. Frank held me close to his chest as he rested his chin on top of my head. He doesn't stumble as he turns slowly from the mirror, flipping off the lights before whisking out of the bathroom and into the main room. I close my eyes and go limp, letting he short man carry me across the room to my bed.

Frank seems to hesitate before gently detaching my arms from his neck and placing me on the soft covers. I roll over onto my stomach, resting my face on the pillow, and begin to drift off. Beside the bed, footsteps echo away before the lights in the large room are switched off before Frank slips out the door, most likely to his own room. Even though Frank has left, I still feel like I'm not alone. I roll onto my side, taking in the fresh air rather than stale fumes in the pillow from breathing into it.