Sometimes

Chapter fourteen

The first people I got to try my new hairstyle out on, besides the whole of the salon when Cassie had made me do a cringe worthy twirl, was my parents. They were just leaving for the local Italian restaurant as I arrived home.

"It suits you," Mum said. Her smile was genuine and that calmed me a little. The last thing I'd wanted was for them or Leanne to tell me that I looked stupid; you can always count on the ones you love the most to be straight with you. "It makes you look more grown up, doesn't it, Ben?"

My dad nodded, his eyes on his watch. "You look lovely, darling."

I smiled back at him. "Thanks. Enjoy your meal."

I watched them both out of the door before I grabbed a packet of crisps from the kitchen and made my way upstairs. I knew Leanne was home by the sound of angry guitar and fast paced drumming that was coming from her room. She never played her music quietly. I contemplated knocking on her door and asking what she thought of my new do, but the moment I raised my hand to knock, the door opened. Leanne was wearing a black polo neck and a teal skirt that fell to just above her knees. Her hair was scraped back into a bun and her eyeliner was smudged under her eyes, making her look tired.

"Hi," I said, jumping back in surprise. The sound of rock music was loud in my ears and Leanne seemed to notice. She leaned back into her room and turned the volume down with the remote control she was holding.

Leanne smiled. "Ooh! You went for more than a trim then!"

I couldn't help feeling happy that the first thing Leanne hadn't done was laugh. And she'd noticed that my untidy fringe and invisible layers were gone, so that meant Sonny might realise too.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yeah! You look well chic," she replied. "It makes you look well older. You actually look seventeen now. Stick on a pair of heels and some lipstick and you could even be eighteen."

I rolled my eyes, but inside I was ecstatic. If Leanne thought I looked older, than maybe Sonny would too.

My head was starting to fill with optimistic thoughts about how Sonny would react to my new haircut, one of them included him sweeping me off my feet and the other involved him declaring his undying love for me. A girl could dream.

"So why the change?"

Leanne's words brought me to reality and I found myself shrugging. No way was I telling her the truth. Not yet anyway. "Just fancied something different. I've had a full fringe and dead straight hair since I started secondary school."

Leanne laughed. "I know. Somehow I was starting to think you'd been born with that hairstyle."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Well now the fringe is gone."

"It's still there, just modified," Leanne said, reaching out to tousle my new and improved hair.

I jumped back. "Don't ruin it. I'm going to have to take a picture so I can recreate it tomorrow after I've showered."

"Really?" Leanne laughed. "You really are serious about this new hairstyle."

I tried to look nonchalant. "I'm just tired of looking boring."

Leanne's face fell and she appeared a little sheepish all of a sudden. "This hasn't got anything to do with me calling you boring has it, Harri? 'Cause I was only joking and I know Aiden was too."

I was about to tell her that I'd been needing to visit the hairdressers anyway when I noticed a smug look replacing the concerned expression on Leanne's face.