Cut To Pieces [Complete]

Move

I stood utterly lost in the aisles of a Boots store in Manchester. Seriously, how difficult could this be? I had stayed a grand total of seven hours at my Aunts before I was chucked onto an early morning train to Manchester. There was every chance my father would turn up at Iz’s to look for me, however, we highly doubted he’d travel as far as Manchester. I had been set up in a small flat already, courtesy of my uncle, and so after dropping off my bags and unpacking my first order of business had led me here. I stared at the range of boxes in front of me and realised that maybe what I had thought would be a simple task would not be so simple after all. I picked up a box of red hair dye and instantly put it back down when I saw the price. I took a step back and scanned the shelves, trying to find some bright, out there colour.

“You look utterly lost.” A voice came from behind me and I turned to see a shock of bright green sticking up from behind the shelf. I shrugged as the boy made his way around the aisle until he was standing next to me. “What are you looking for?” He must be a tourist. I concluded from the stupid accent escaping his accent.

“Something totally out there but that will still look good.” I smiled at the stranger who obviously had experience in the field I was exploring. “Aleanbh.” I held out my hand to the tall boy who took it and shook it firmly.

“Michael.” His smile was mesmerising. “I’ve never heard the name Aleanbh before.”

“It’s Irish for Alannah.” I explained, picking up a tube of purple dye. “But you can call my Allie. I like it better any way.”

“Ah, I thought I detected a twang.” I shook my head and put the tube back down, thinking that this conversation wasn’t going to be a quick one.

“Nope. It’s on my mother’s side, and I never knew her. I’m English through and through.” At the mentioning of my mother Michaels face dropped into a frown and he mumbled an apology which I quickly waved off. “She died. It’s not like she ran out on me. It’s okay. As for accents, I’d bet pounds that you’re not from here.” Michael laughed and pushed his fringe back out of his face.

“Australian.” He laughed and I clapped a hand over my mouth in mock astonishment.

“No shit!” I exclaimed, throwing a hand on my hip. “I never would have guessed.” The boy shook his head and turned his attention back to the hair dye, picking up a tube of dark blue. He held it up next to my face and paused.

“What are we running away from?” His question sounded more like a statement as his eyes burrowed into mine, searching for answers.

“Everything.” I pronounced each syllable and Michael nodded picking up another tube, this time purple.

“Well, in my expert opinion, I’d say you’ve never done this before. So I shall offer my obviously” He waved a hand to his hair and grinned. “Super fantastic skills and recommend blue and purple. Like ombre.” I raised an eyebrow at the overly kind stranger and he plastered a cheesy grin on his face as he waited for me to accept his offer. I took the tubes out of his hand and headed off towards the check outs.

“Coming, Oscar?” I called over my shoulder, smiling to myself, proud of my Sesame Street reference.

“Woah!” Michael called after me, obviously offended. “I’ll have you know Oscar the Grouch is a much deeper green than this.” I nodded slowly as I slid the tubes over to the cashier and turned to look up at the boy.

“You’re right.” I conceded, causing a smug grin to spread across his face. “You just look like you took a swim in a nuclear reactor.” The smirk quickly morphed into a frown and I couldn’t help but laugh as I slid a couple of twenty pound notes across the counter. A thought crossed my mind and I slowly turned to face the perfect stranger. “Your super fantastic skills don’t happen to stretch to the actual act of dying the hair, do they?” I smiled sheepishly and Michael flung an arm over my shoulder and scoffed as I took my dye and change off the cashier.