The Ink That Brands Us ✔️

Chapter Thirty

Giving up on taming my hair, I tossed it into a messy bun and grabbed my bag from the spot I tossed it by the door every day. June and Saw would just have to deal with me being late. It was like my new thing these days. I was rarely on time for anything.

    They insisted on getting out and celebrating my first month at the bar. It was more like surviving my first month at this point. June always made it sound like a great place to work and she always had a great time.

After the first week, she said things would get better and I would come to love it as much as she did.

    She was wrong.

    The manager was a complete asshole who was always inappropriate. He never approved days off when you asked for them. It was his schedule or no schedule. Which is how I ended up working through the Christmas holiday instead of going home like planned. I thought my mother was going to shit a reindeer when I broke the news to her.

    Most of the waitresses were there for a good time rather than to work. They almost always found someone to leave with at the end of the night. The only other likable person there besides June was a bartender named Conor. He was a good ol' boy from Texas and loved to use that southern accent to his advantage.

    School was the only place that felt normal. It was the only constant in my life and I was grateful for it. It was my new escape and my grades had never been better. 

    Saw and June were waiting for me at the entrance of the mall and I could tell that they were getting impatient.

    "About time!" Saw scolded me as soon as I met them.

    "Sorry. I couldn't find anything to wear and my hair is shit." Self- consciously, I tucked a stray hair behind my ear.

    "I can't imagine why." Saw gave me a once over and I could see the disapproval on her face.

    "I eat, Saw." She was constantly on my case about eating.

    "Not enough," she shot back. "If the wind picks up anymore, you'll blow away."

    "Well, I think you look fantastic!" June cut in and narrowed her eyes at Saw. "Let's head in and maybe we can find you some new clothes." She was the peacekeeper these days. Not that Saw and I weren't getting along, we just seem to be in more disagreements lately.

    "Okay," I shrugged and led the way into the mall. "Who does your hair, Saw? I need to do something different with mine. It's a mess." Excitement lit her eyes.

    "I go to a place down from the shop, I'll set you up an appointment." She clapped her hands excitedly and I was glad to have made her happy.

    "What do you want to do with it?" June asked.

    "At this point, I'll consider anything. Maybe even chopping it off," I shrugged. "I'm just sick of dealing with it."

    "Don't you dare! Your hair is beautiful!" Saw exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes.

    "Yeah, well I'm just tired of it. Maybe I'll dye it blue." I was only joking, but I had to admit I wouldn't mind an out of the box color. Saw always had a different color and her hair was always hair goals.

"Oh! Black and blue ombre," She said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. I could almost see the wheels turning in that little head of hers.

"Sounds good," I laughed.

"You guys are so brave," June sighed. "I've never colored or gotten more than a trim before."

"If my hair looked like yours, I wouldn't either." Her hair was naturally beautiful. Perks of her Native American heritage.