It's About Time

Just Bang Each Other

Natalie spent the morning pacing through the house, biting her nails down to the quick. Her nerves were past the point of butterflies in her stomach and had now escalated to fire breathing dragons. She knew that the dinner wasn't a big deal, and that Grayson's family just wanted to meet his friends, but she couldn't help but worry.

Any time she thought about the dinner, her heart would start to race and her palms would start to sweat, so she attempted to steer her mind clear of it. To keep herself busy, she decided to watch a collection of Youtube videos teaching her new ways to style her mop of hair. It had been over two years since Natalie had gotten a proper haircut and by this point, her locks fell past her waist and she was constantly looking for new ways to style it.

On any other given day, Natalie would have ended up frustrated, given up on her hair, and thrown it in a ponytail before going out. However, as it neared closer and closer to the dinner, her tightly wound nerves were making her feel a little reckless.

And that's how Natalie found herself, 20 minutes later, seated in the chair of a walk in hair stylist. The woman, Jenny, had already washed Natalie's hair and was beginning to cut off the dead ends. Natalie watched, slightly heartbroken, as Jenny's scissors made their way closer and closer to her chin. Natalie began to have second thoughts about her choice but knew that it was too late. About an hour later, Natalie's locks no longer touched her waist but now rested just below her shoulders, brushing her collar bones.

She admired it in the mirror, running her fingers through it. Though this had been an impromptu cut and she had been slightly panicked about it, she really liked the turnout. Her hair felt a lot lighter, moving freely around her face as she moved her head. She smiled up at Jenny from the chair, thanking her for the cut.

After paying, Natalie walked out to the parking lot and sat in the driver's seat of her car. Pulling down the sun visor and opening up the mirror located on the back of it, Natalie admired her hair a little bit more. She had a new obsession with running her fingers through the hair, enjoying when it stopped before she was used to. She smiled to herself the whole drive home.

When she pulled into her driveway, she saw her mother's car already parked in its usual spot. As Natalie entered the house her mother came rushing out of the kitchen, ready to hurry Natalie along. The hair appointment had taken longer than Natalie had expected and they only had about twenty minutes until they were supposed to arrive at Grayson's. However, her mother stopped as she got a better look at Natalie's hair.

"You got a haircut" her mom said, sounding shocked.

"Yeah" Natalie said wearily. But her mom smiled.

"It looks good. Now go get ready, we're going to be late."

Natalie rolled her eyes but jogged upstairs. She knew her mother's aversion to tardiness and if they weren't to Grayson's by six o'clock sharp, her mother would have a fit. Quickly, Natalie threw on the first dress that she could find- a floral number with spaghetti straps and a sweetheart neckline- before going to the bathroom and throwing on a coat of mascara and lipgloss. At the last minute, she decided to throw her new hair up into a ponytail and then jogged back down the stairs just in time to see her mother putting on her shoes. She looked up as Natalie entered, appraising her outfit choice. Natalie held her breath, knowing full well that if her mother did not deem this outfit appropriate she would have to go find a new outfit, and there wasn't time for that. But her mother simply nodded, handing Natalie a pair of nude heels. Natalie sighed but slipped her feet into them anyway. And then they were on the road.

Pulling into Grayson's driveway delivered a shock to Natalie. She knew that Grayson only lived two streets over, in the same neighborhood, and that his house was likely to be similar to hers but she had always imagined him in some sort of mansion. His arrogance and aura of superiority belonged in a house of a much higher stature than the one Natalie and her mother were in front of. This house was a small ranch style. It was coated in a layer of peeling white paint, the gray shutters matching the gray door. There were no flowers out front, no landscaping of any kind, really. Natalie knew that her mother would never leave a front yard without some type of shrubbery and that she must be itching to redecorate.