The Metamorphosis Diaries

Chapter 29 - Back To The Lab

Chapter 29

I stared at myself in the mirror. Bare, naked, and in my most vulnerable state.

The note remnants of my synthetic extensions laid in a pile on my bathroom sink still, and so did the scraps of battle scars I had gained in letting my hair down. It had been another three months since I last saw myself like this, but somehow this felt more foreign than usual. the feeling this time was different. Usually I just felt like I was rejuvenating... But this time around, I felt likeI was letting go of something, even giving a part of myself up.

I gave my hair one last shake before tightly putting the short curls into a tight ponytail.

I had two hours until Argus was here for our date. He said dress up, and now I felt like nothing I could wear would measure up. Would he recognize my touch without the long braids that his hands would tangle themselves into? I desperately hoped that my hair wouldn't be too foreign for him. Foreign for HIM. He's from Spain, and I want to talk about foreign? If I was going to fall for this guy, there was one final test he needed to pass. I could NOT get Darrened again. I need this to be real. I need us to be real.

"So remember that one time we went downtown? Nikki, you, and I? The first time we all really hung out."

"How could I forget?" Argus had me blindfolded in the back of his car as we were driven to a secret destination. Obviously it was not so secret anymore, since he just mentioned downtown, but there was still a chance he was only taking me to the giant Starbucks besides the shawarma palace.

The car came to a slow stop and I heard Argus open his door and get out, then make his way to open mine. He usually would have never opened his own door, not because he's pretentious but because it can be hard to navigate around a car when you're blind. It made me feel special that he was putting in extra effort to a gentleman, even though he really didn't need to. "Okay, so I realized then how much you really love music, and we had such a great time... It just made sense if we relived the best times, but alone this time."

"We're going to Cocoa?!" I asked.

"Even better," he led me out of the car and onto the street. "Okay so I can't exactly lead you in from here, so I guess... uhm..." he began to undo the knot that tied the blindfold. "Your hair..."

I panicked immediately. "Oh, I... It was—"

"It's different than usual." He lightly treaded his fingers over my head, inching towards where my pony tail became puff. "Woah."

I almost never let anyone see my natural hair. Often times the stares were just too much for me to handle on top of the questions and non consensual touches. It'd feel different if I wasn't the only one, but at a school like St. August's, I was.

"I've never felt hair like that before. It's awesome."

Argus was completely excused from any black-girl-grudge I had against people who started touching my hair with no warning. I loved watching him learn about the world with his curious hands, especially when his innocent touches were a way to learn about me.

For Argus to like my hair the way it was felt awesome. I didn't know if being able to see it would change his opinion, but I didn't care. I think I needed to let go of 'what-ifs' when it comes to a hypothetical not-blind Argus. The fact of the matter is, Argus can't see. It wouldn't change, until they came up with some treatment or operation to fix the damaged part of his brain. Until then, Argus was blind and Argus liked me the way he could experience me.

"Okay. I'm taking off the blindfold. Ready?"

"Yes!" I piped.

And there it was. La Bella. The most talked about, raved about, fanciest restaurant in all of town. From the outside, it looked like a dream surrounded by brick.