Set Me Free

Chapter 10

Lex said she'd text me before she went to bed and tell me how it went with Chandler and her parents, and she did. She walked in the house and went straight to Chandler. He cried and wouldn't let go of her. Lex sat with him and apologized, comforting him. After a while, she got dressed and went downstairs until her parents got home. Her dad walked in first and almost missed her completely as she sat on the couch, looking up at him. He looked worn out and sad, until he had to do a double take. He cried, too, and so did her mom when she came in. Lex said she wailed like a baby. They made her sit down and talk to them, explain as much as they could get out of her. She was much vaguer with them than with me.

They insisted she spend some time with them and Chandler for a couple days, despite her trying to strike a deal so she could see me, too. Suprisingly, I sided with them. She wasn't too pleased. She wanted to see everyone. Her reasoning was that Christmas was almost here and her present should be that she gets to split her days in half. They still said no, that she could leave in a few days and to suck it up, they missed her, too.

So, day five of her being out, she throws herself into my room and shuts the door quickly behind her.

"Tess let me in. Your mom's in the kitchen, she hasn't seen me yet, and I admit it, I'm hiding from her," She spits out immediately.

I shut the top of my laptop and set it beside me on the bed in a startle. "She'll find you eventually. She knows, and Tess is bound to mention you're here," I chuckle, sitting up and crossing my legs.

When I finally look over at her, I'm shocked. I stare at her with wide eyes and a loosejaw.

She scurries over and climbs onto the bed. Her legs cross beneath her, too, as she faces me. She completely ignores me, "Well, she can't be all that happy with me. You said it yourself, you weren't you while I was...." She sighs, then continues, "and she's bound to blame me."

"Your hair is gone," I state, matter-of-factly, but almost as a whisper.

She flushes and reaches her now collar-bone lenth hair and pulls on the ends, "Yeah. Chandler cut it off for me last night. I wanted it to be a surprise." After a short pause, she asks, quite sheepishly, "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, no, it looks fantastic!" I answer instantly. I didn't mean to make her think it didn't look good.

Her hair had a very soft wave to it before, like the ocean, but now it looks like the Andes. Her waves are full and prominent and it's the first thing you notice when looking at it. It's the kind of wave girls pay to be put in their hair and do a million DIY beach wave formulas for. I've watched Tess stress over not being able to get it right. Now, I finally understand why they all want it so bad. It makes her look so naturally elegant in a completely different way than her long hair did.

She suppresses a grin half way.

I clear my throat, "So, agenda for today: see my mom and then you, Scott, and I are going to Regal's for hot chocolate."

Regal's is a small café in town. We both love to go there in the winter for hot chocolate; it's the best I've ever tasted. She nods once with a little extra enthusiasm. I assume she's okay with, happy even that Scott will be joining us, because she doesn't say otherwise. I'm sure she wants to see him, too.

"Hey, mom," I step into the kitchen, which has completely exploded. She and Tess are baking some pie-looking dessert. "We're going to Regal's."

Mom continues to stir whatever is in her bowl, but turns her head to look at me. Lex is beside me, trying to hide. Her head is down, but she's looking up. When mom sees her, she stops stirring.