romeo + juliet ↠ l.h

18

"I wish we could be like this forever." I whispered, my arms around his neck and his around my waist.

"We can, Emma. Don't think about tomorrow. Forever is right now."

"I hate having to hide."

"One day we won't have to, angel," Luke breathlessly whispered in my ear, "I promise."

But let me rewind.

My hair: pink. My dress: pink. My nails: also pink.

I hadn't let my parents see my hair yet, which I had newly dyed a soft pink. I came home with a hood on and made a beeline to my room. The only interaction from my parents that day was my mom texting me to 'be ready in ten, the car is almost here to pick us up'.

Yes, I had to ride with my parents and no, I was not happy about it.

I sat on my bed, staring at myself in the mirror and trying to imagine my parents reaction.

I couldn't wait to piss them off. A big fuck you to all the rich, uptight pricks, and an even bigger fuck you to my controlling mother. She'd spent my whole life telling me how beautiful my blonde hair was, and how she always wished she had blonde hair.

Sorry, mom.

I had to say, after seeing how I looked with colored hair, I don't think I'll ever go back to blonde. I started imagining all the colors I could dye it next.

"The car's here, Emma!" my mom shouted from downstairs. It was 6:35 pm.

I made my way down the stairs slowly, looking around as I did. My parents appeared to already be in the car, as the house was empty.

I excitedly walked out of my front door and, upon opening the car door, stood stilly awaiting my parents reaction.

Neither of them looked up from their phones. I cleared my throat, which only got my mom's attention.

She gasped but didn't attempt to speak.

"Do you like it?" I had a wide, fake grin plastered on my face as I climbed inside the car.

"Your blonde hair. It's gone." She continued to stare at me as the driver took off. My dad looked up from his phone, finally.

"Looks great, honey." he said, before immediately returning to his phone.

"Don't encourage her, Mark!" my mother rebuked. "Are you trying to provoke me, Emma?"

"Not at all. I just wanted to change my hair." I matter-of-factly stated, before running my fingers through it.

"You did this to embarrass us tonight. I know you, I know your games. Well you know what? I'm not going to give you the reaction you want." my mom barked, before turning away from me and crossing her arms.

"I think you already did, honey." my dad uttered, before turning to me and giving me a wink.

The rest of the car ride was dead silent. I dreaded the moment I had to walk inside and immediately fake how excited I was to be there. A gala. A gala where my dad was expected to win over some investors. A gala where Richard Hemmings was also going to attempt to win over some investors.

This should be fun.
•
Luke wasn't there yet. I'd been here for ten entire minutes, and no Luke. How was I supposed to get through this night with no Luke?

My mom cut off my thoughts by whispering in my ear.

"Oscar Kadansky is over there, but I don't know how well he's gonna like you after you destroyed your hair."