From the Ashes

[7] A Change of Style

The evening finds us sitting in the hair salon of Miss Jackson, myself in the styling chair, and Kait across from me. Having selected the style and colors I wanted, the stylist is busy at work with setting the dyes in the proper spots. She and Kait converse casually, and I sit in nervous, though extremely excited, silence. After waiting to let the dyes take effect, my hair bleached to hell and wrapped up in tons of pieces of foil like some kind of alien, Miss Jackson washes my newly cut hair. She dries is, and sets to work styling with a blow drier, a round brush, and a straight iron. I chose not to face the mirror until after it's entirely finished, and am left to face Kaitlin, who cries out in joy and excitement every so often as she watches the progress. Finally, the moment of truth arrives.

"Are you ready to see your new hair, Allie?" Miss Jackson asks me with a broad smile. I give a nod, and she swivels the salon chair around.

My eyes widen at the site before me.

My hair is cut shorter, in straight, textured strands that fall in spikes around my shoulders, and my bangs are trimmed and straight-hanging off to one side of my face, almost covering my left eye. The color is an attractive soft pink, with faint, gorgeous light streaks of texture throughout, and for some reason, it makes my bright blue eyes pop. Overall, I am over the moon with excitement.

After paying Miss Jackson, Kaitlin and I rush to the nearest mall to pick out new clothes to complete the effect of a new style. Hitting up Rue 21, we get distracted with the pretty bras quickly, and end up wasting an hour trying them all on. We head to Hot Topic with a few new articles of frilly under-goodies, buying a pretzel to share on the way.

"Band tees are the way to go. They're my favorite to wear, at least," Kaitlin chimes as we stroll down the mall toward Hot Topic, taking a big chunk of pretzel from my hand and biting into it. I nod as I follow suit with a piece of pretzel.

"I agree. Have you noticed how soft Hot Topic's shirts are?"

"Mhm, magic. Or 100% cuddly-puppy fur."

"That's bad ass," I snort sarcastically. We toss our Auntie Anne's trash into a wastebasket before we wander into our store of choice. Kaitlin tugs me to the back, where they have their giant wall of band tee shirts. I start poking through the Avenged Sevenfold shirts, the Asking Alexandria shirts, and the We Came As Roman shirts with Kait before she wanders off to go look at the interesting bras. Like she doesn't have enough already, I think with a smile as I roll my eyes.

I pull out a few tees I like, and begin to add numbers in my head before pulling my wallet out of my purse. Upon looking up to do so, my eyes fall to what has become a persistent entity in my life recently. Roman Spade stands a few feet away, beside a glass display case of odd jewelry, the kinds that fit in belly button and face piercings. I pause, caught off guard by his weird ability to appear wherever I happen to be. I have a view of his chiseled profile, and I watch his strong jaw set and unset in focus as he, I presume, calculates the styles of new snakebites. He turns his head towards me unexpectedly, and gives me a quick glance. From behind a frame of dark hair, his smoky gaze flickers to mine briefly before turning back to the display case. He does a quick double take, and I give a start as I realize I'm staring at him. I fumble with my wallet, blinking rapidly as I feel his quizzical gaze on me. I look back up, and see him standing still, staring at me with a blank look. I furrow my brow at him, and give him a "what..." gesture.

"Aleithea?" he breathes.