ALICE AGAIN
Murky light fills the room from the shattered window. The air smells terrible and when I breathe in I can tell there are tons of spores floating around by the dampness of the room.The place is silent, and that scares me.
Just like an answer to my thought I hear thumping on the other side of the wall from his stumbling around. He is here. He has arrived. Hoping to scare him off like you would with a bear I stand to my full height and press my shoulders back to look strong.
When his figure looms into the room it is shielded into the shadows. I take a deep breath and regret it when the gross air seeps into my lungs and makes me feel suffocated.
"Hello, darling! It's so terrific to see you!" His deep voice slurs
"Oh, sure." I whisper so as to keep the tremble from reaching my words, as it has already taken my legs under it's power. I think every second I will fall to the ground with fright.
"What? Isn't it good to see me too, you fat ugly disgrace? Maybe I should teach my baby a lesson!" The man roars to me, causing my legs to give out, sending me to the splintered wood floor.
"No! Please!" I cry out for mercy.
"Too late, little disgraceful freak!" His voice booms towards me and he is reaching into his pocket, pulling out a snake.
My eyes widen and I cure into the fetal position. I can feel as the beasts tongue lashes at my back, leaving a trail of fiery pain across my back. Just as life is fading away, I see a lock of his familiar light brown hair as it falls into a beam of light.
When I wake up I'm soaking in sweat. As fast as I can, I lunge off of my bed to flip on the fan. Nausea swarms over me, so I go to the bathroom. When I see myself in the mirror I am disgusted at my light brown hair, the same color as the man in my dream.
The sight makes me cringe, there is no way I can look at my hair like this anymore. There is only one way to fix this issure too. Angry and upset I march to my mother's room. When I peek in she is sitting on her bed, reading a book. She is off today because her boss is in labor and they are getting an intern to do the work today.
"Mom, can I stay home today? I am feeling sick, I had this nightmare," I don't get to finish my excuse before my Mom jumps up onto the bed.
"Yes! You can stay home! Of course, of course!" Tara squeals while jumping up and down
"I also want to ask you something else." I state, putting it out there.
"Sure," She says, plopping onto the bed
"Can I dye my hair? It looks so much like his and that kills me." I ask her
"I've been prepared for this day for a while." Mom says, shocking me
"What do you mean?" I ask
"I bought a hair dye kit last spring when I decided you would probably want it. The color is just a darker brown that will accent your skintone." Mom says, exciting me.
It takes about thirty minutes for the dye to set and when we are finally able to take it down I wash my hair and dry it, wondering what the color will look like when it is said and done. After I dry it I turn around to face the mirror, insisting that I don't see it till it is dry I styled my hair facing away from the mirror.
Upon turning around I am faced with the monstrosity that is my new hair. The brown turned out slightly red so my head looks incased in a red halo.The color looks like the worst possible thing for me to have done with my hair.
"Tara!" I wail, trying to keep back the tears. I can't believe I made myself even more ugly than before.
Mom comes rushing in and when she sees my hair, she beams. "Oh, Alisa you look so beautiful! I do believe this is the color you were born for! It brings out your eyes and sets your skin tone!"
"No it looks terrible." I say, trudging to my room. I use my smart phone to snap a picture of my new color and then I send it to Asher.
It takes him a few seconds to respond but then we get into a full text conversation
"I see you skipped school to dye your hair?" I can imagine his perfect voice shaping every word
"Oh, no, I was feeling sick but I got better." I reply quickly
"Yeah, I can see that." He snarks back
"Don't say that! This hair color does not work for my skin tone, how bad does it look?" I shoot
"Bad? I love how you assume it looks bad. I've got to go before I get caught. See you later Ali-gator."
"Shut up, Asher."
Once I am done telling him to keep his mouth closed about my wretched hair I curl up on the bed and pass out to a song about happiness.
