The Revision [EDITING]

2: Mall Encounters

<<Chapter 2: Mall Encounters>>

I'm currently sitting by the front door to my house, waiting for Natalia to arrive so that we can head over to the mall.

A few minutes pass, and I hear a car honk in front of my house.

"Dad! I'm heading out" I call from the front door. I hear a faint 'have fun' in return before I shut the front door behind me and get into the passenger side of Natalia's car.

"So, which store do you want to hit first?" She asks, speeding down the quiet street.

"Actually, can we stop by the hair salon first?" I ask.

"Sure, why?" Natalia glances over at me with an inquisitive look on her face as she turns onto the main road.

"I feel like my hair's uneven... The right side's longer," I frown, tugging lightly at the ends of my chocolate brown hair.

"Okay," Natalia shrugs. "But you have to wait while I get my hair re-bleached. My black roots ain't looking so good," she chuckles.

"You going to change the color again?" A couple months back it had been a light lavender, but now it was just a light, silvery-tinted white.

"I was thinking a pastel-ish pink... What do you think?" Natalia asks with a big grin, pushing up her glasses. That girl is blind as a bat.

"Sure, why not? Go for it," I smile. We pull into a parking space in front of the salon, getting out of the car and shutting the doors behind us.

"So..." I begin as we walk towards the salon entrance, "What do you think about me dying my hair a darker brown? Like almost black, even." I say questioningly. Natalia is definitely the makeup and fashion guru of our friend group, so this is her area of expertise.

"Hmm... I actually think that would look really good on you!" So I guess it's been decided--I'm dyeing my hair today.

"Heyyyy, Natty and Katie!! What can I do for you two babes?" Tom runs up to us as we walk in and engulfing us both in a tight hug. Tom is one of the funniest guys I've met, and he's probably about 25 with his short stature and perfectly styled hair. He's gay, and I admire how he is proud and accepting of his sexuality.

"Another round of bleach for me, and I think Kate's going to go for a trim and darker dye," Natalia responds for the both of us.

"Well, come on down! I'll take you over to where your robes are situated. We wouldn't want to bleach our pretty clothes, now would we?" Tom calls out, already halfway across the main area of the salon. It's pretty crowded today, bustling with people ranging from children to the elderly getting their hair cut, dyed, and styled.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Natalia winks.

"So, I'll do her first to get the bleach started..." Tom says and points towards Natalia, "then I'll let that sit and put the dye in your hair, Kate. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds good!" I reply and grin.

Tom hands Natalia and I our robes, and we tie them up over our clothes.

Let the dyeing begin.
- - - - - - - -
It's 3 hours later, and we're just now exiting the salon.

"Jesus Christ, bleaching hair takes longer then I thought," I say, thinking back to the multiple rounds of bleaching that Natalia had to endure.

"Well, it takes a fucking while to get from jet black to this," she points out, laughing and holding up a strand of her newly-dyed pink hair. I think it may have ended up a little bit darker than she'd been expecting, but it looks great. "Beauty is pain!" She shouts, pumping a fist up in the air and causing me to chuckle.

"Your hair looks amazing, by the way!" Natalia glances at me and I wink, fluffing up my dark brown, almost black, hair with one hand.

We hop into Natalia's car and shut the doors, then she pulls out and we head over to the mall.

"What was it that you had to get, again?" Natalia turns to me and asks while we're stopped at a red light.

"A gift for my cousin. She just turned 18... I can't believe how old she is already! I've known this kid since I Was in diapers, man." I grin, reminiscing about the past.

"And here I am feeling so old and mature, since I just turned 16 a month ago and got my driver's license." Natalia sighs, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song on the radio.

"Oh yeah, I'm older than you!" I wiggle my eyebrows and the light turns green, causing Natalia to revert her attention back to the road like the responsible driver she is. (*wink* stay safe, kids.)

Natalia pulls into the mall parking lot and we both get out of the car, walking towards the entrance.

"Shall we hit Victoria's Secret first?" Natalia suggests, "I bet you could find a great gift for your cousin there."

"I am not buying my cousin a bra! Are you joking?" I respond, laughing at the absurdity of her idea. We begin walking towards the store anyways, and I decide that I'll just find a gift for my cousin afterwards.

"Oh, hey, I didn't know they were opening a Hot Topic in this mall! I love that store!" I say, craning my head to the right to take a peak at the construction while we continue to walk onwards.

I look down at my phone to shoot Preston, one of my close guy friends, a quick text when I suddenly bump into something--and hard. I fall back onto my ass and wince in pain.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" My cheeks flush and I look up, gasping slightly when I realize who it is.

"No worries." Finn says. Oh god, can this get any more stupidly cliche? On the other hand, why the hell is he at the mall? I thought guys hated shopping.

I hoist myself up off the floor and brush off my shorts, looking up at Finn as I do.

"See you around," he smiles lightly before walking off in the opposite direction we're headed.

"Talk about awkward..." Natalia laughs.

"Tell me about it," I groan internally. Could I have honestly looked any more stupid?

"I can't believe I used to like that asshole, he didn't even offer to help you up after clearly running into you," Natalia rolls her eyes. Well all used to like that guy at some point, I guess.

"Eh, whatever..." I shrug.

"To Victoria's Secret!" Natalia shouts and begins to literally march towards the store (earning a few stares from other shoppers, might I add).

Well, I guess I know where our next destination is.
- - - - - - - -
A/N: So, do you think that Finn is a jerk, or was Kate the one who actually bumped into him? Any thoughts?

Thank you so much for reading, lovelies! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and feel free to vote/comment if you did. ;) ;)

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Love you all <3
Alex