A New Life

A New Friend

Days went by slowly as the bus went from town to town, city to city, waiting to arrive at Kiara's destination, and finally, she had. It was 8:20 at night on Saturday, and the first stop that Kiara made was to book into a hotel until she found an apartment that she could stay in and a stable job. Kiara needed to get more cash. The few hundred bucks she grabbed from her mother's journal weren't going to last long. Considering Kiara only had enough money for a cheap hotel for two nights. The need for a job was pressing, but first thing in the morning, Kiara was getting a new look. One that would give an entirely new appearance so that no one could recognize her, and she can move around the city without worry. Kiara set aside her bag and got out her pajamas, laying them out neatly on the bed before she went into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.

Kiara sat at the bottom of the tub, letting the warm water run over her. She spent forty minutes in the relaxing shower, scrubbing the stench of the bus off her and contemplating if what she did was the right move. Kiara felt a sense of relief being away from home and doing things on her own. She may not know what is to happen next, but that was part of the excitement, and she determined that she was thrilled about her new life. Kiara may have some doubts, but she forced them to the back of her mind and stayed excited about the road ahead. She stepped out of the shower and put on the pajamas she previously had laid out, then went to bed, unwinding in the warm bed beneath a pile of blankets.

The following morning, Kiara woke, dreading the busy day ahead of her. She put on a black top with jeans and her rose gold tennies. She then slipped on a hoodie with a baseball cap beneath the hood to hide her identity, then walked out of her hotel room and headed to a store that she noticed last night to get hair dye.

She walked into the shop and saw a young girl around her age working behind the counter. She had gorgeous pink hair that flowed past her shoulders and vibrant green eyes and was wearing a royal purple crop top, a short black skirt, and black and purple plaid boots that went with the outfit perfectly. Kiara approached the young girl, keeping her head down, making sure her face remained covered.

"Hi. Can you help me?"

"Of course, I can help. What can I do for you?" The young girl said, overjoyed with the opportunity to help someone out.

"I am in need of a new look and was wondering if you could help me decide on what to pick," Kiara stated as a bright smile spread across the girl's face.

"Of course, I'm great at fashion. Here comes this way." She grabbed hold of Kiara's wrist and pulled her towards the hair dye aisle. The contact that the girl made with Kiara, for some unknown reason, didn't make Kiara pull back like she thought she would, for the girl reminded Kiara of her friend, Sabrina, back home.

"I'm Cassandra, by the way, but my friends call me Cass or Casey." The girl said, letting go of Kiara's wrist and bending down to the last row, grabbing a few different color boxes of dye, then handing it to Kiara with a proud look on her face.

"These should look nice on you. Which one do you like?" Kiara looked down at the boxes Cassandra had handed her, and while many intrigued her, there was only one that stood out, the dark red. Kiara lifted the box, showing Cassandra the one she liked most.

"Perfect!" Cassandra said enthusiastically in agreement. Then they walked back to the cashiers to buy the box of red dye. As Cassandra was checking Kiara out, it suddenly came to her she hadn't learned Kiara's name.

"Hey, I never got your name." Kiara froze from Cassandra's statement, unsure of what to say. She hadn't had time to think about what her new name was going to be, so she said the only one she could think of, on the spot.

"Scarlet. My name is Scarlet."

"Well, with that name, this dye will be perfect for you! And if you want, we could go to the mall. Then you can come over to my house so that I can help you out with the dye." Cassandra offered. Kiara thought about her offer, wondering if it was a good idea to spend so much time with someone who has seen her original look.

"Yeah, okay. That would be nice." Kiara responded, agreeing.

"Great, I can tell we are going to be great friends." The memory of when Kiara first met Sabrina flashed through her mind with the words Cassandra had used.

It was the first day of second grade. Kiara walked into the classroom, and the first person to march up to her was Sabrina.

"Hi. You must be new. I'm Sabrina," she said with a welcoming smile and a cute red dress and black leggings beneath.

"I'm Kiara," Kiara replied shyly. Kiara had never really been much of a talker until she met Sabrina. Guess you could say Sabrina dragged Kiara out of her shell.

"I like it. I can tell we will be best friends!" With that, Sabrina pulled Kiara over to the seat next to hers, and they had been friends ever since.

The thought of Kiara's best friends began to make her eyes start to water. However, she quickly washed the memory out of her head, not wanting to drown in the memories, and continued to check out. Then she waited for Cassandra to get off work to begin their long girl's day ahead.