Running Away

Chapter 5: The New Me

"You feeling better, Diesel?" Barbara asked, ruffling my hair.

"Are you kidding? Of course she is!" Adam laughed, watching me skip around the bedroom in pure glee.

There was a knock on the door interrupting my celebration. Before Barbara could even say "come in," Delia and Lydia barged in with a bunch of makeup and some craft scissors.

"What the heck is that for?" I laughed.

"I assume you broke the news to Diesel..." Delia said, laughing. "Anyway, do you wear makeup?"

Barbara and I stared at each other. "No...never have. I want to, though."

"Right...the money issue." Lydia said. "Well, anyway, we're gonna give you a fresh new look. Haircut, makeup, hair dye, the works. Delia, take it away!"

Lydia turned me away from the mirror so it would be a surprise, then Delia started applying blush on my face. I didn't know when to close my eyes or anything like that, I had never done this before. After Delia was finished with the blush, she said, "Close your eyes," and right before I did, I saw a little peek of some brown eyeshadow.

Right after she added the eyeshadow, I felt something touch my eyelash and I yelped. "Stay still!" Lydia whined. "It's mascara." Delia laughed. "Don't worry, we're almost done!"

After the makeup was applied, Delia said I could open my eyes. I saw her get out two boxes, and said to me, "Okay, you're a dirty blonde, so we don't really have to bleach your hair. Do you want auburn or brunette hair?"

I debated this in my head for a few minutes, and said, "Auburn." Delia took out the tube of auburn hair dye and then pulled out a smaller bright red tube. "As a little something, we're gonna add red streaks. It'll look really cool." she said.

Delia and Lydia used a paintbrush to add the auburn dye all over my head. Then, I had to wait 40 minutes for the dye to set before we could cut it. Once it was set, Delia said, "Go take a shower. Shampoo your hair really well, though.

As I entered the bathroom, I noticed that Delia had taken all the mirrors out. "Seriously, Delia? I'm anxious to see this!" I said to myself. I took a nice shower, and when I came back to the attic, Lydia was waiting for me with scissors.

"Woah..." Lydia said, feeling my hair. "It's so long!"

"I assume that's because she's never had it properly cut." Adam said, peeking up from his book. Delia and Lydia looked at my hair, then Lydia said, "How about we do a cool bob? You wear beanies a lot, so it'll look neat. It'll be a little shorter than my hair."

"Sure!" I said, awed at all that was new to me today. Delia and Lydia snip-snipped away with the scissors, and then, finally, after a bunch of hair fell on the floor, it was done. All but the red streaks.

Lydia pulled on my hair a bit to get the red streaks in my hair. After that was done, and I washed out my hair a second time, I got to see myself in the mirror.

I looked amazing. Older. It's too bad the makeup washed off when I took a shower, but nevertheless, I still looked great.

"Do you like it?" Lydia asked, smiling.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" I said, hugging Delia.

Charles came upstairs and saw me.

"Woah! Diesel! You look great!" he said. "Did Delia tell you?"

"My adoption?" I said, and Charles nodded. "Barbara and Adam told me. I'm so excited to be a part of your family!" I giggled.

"Well, we're excited to have you. You have Lydia as an older sister now, she's really nice." Adam said.

Lydia smiled and hugged me, then she took a whiff of my hair. "Delia's gonna kill you when she realizes you used her shampoo." She laughed hysterically.

"It's fine. Diesel, you can keep it!" Delia said.

"Hey! What about me?" Lydia whined.

"You, my dear, have shampoo of your own. Diesel doesn't."

"Hey!" Charles whooped. "Delia finally knows how to pronounce Diesel's name!"

We all laughed. Laughter makes me feel safe and happy.

Laughter makes me feel at home.

I was home.

AN: This chapter is on the shorter side, but I'm planning on putting another one out right after this, so look out for that. I finally convinced my mom to let me cut my hair short, so that's the main inspiration for this. Let me know how you like the story so far and Diesel's character! Have a great day! ~Em 💕✌😁