Tinseling

Chapter Two - Normalcy

Inexplicably, Treasure had started getting better. At first the doctors thought it was her body giving one last push against the cancer, but the push stayed strong. The medications slowed, she was able to go home, and slowly, her hair began to grow back. Most promising of all was when her parents stopped worrying and let her go back to school.

With things so normal now, Treasure tried not to think about Harrison.

Instead she thought about mornings. To make it downtown in time for his job, Treasure’s father usually left early in the morning. Treasure’s mother had a much shorter drive, however, so she often ran into Treasure getting ready for school while the sun fought to rise. When Treasure walked downstairs she wasn’t really surprised to find her mom moving around the kitchen, searching for misplaced objects.

“Morning,” Treasure said after scuffling her feet on the tile so her mother wouldn’t be surprised someone else was in the room.

“Have you seen my glasses?” her mother asked as her own greeting. “There are muffins in the oven. I really need to find my glasses. Where could I have put them?”

Checking the time on the oven and settling against the counter, Treasure ran through the normal locations. “Did you check the counter by the sink? Did you leave them on your nightstand again? Put them in your purse and forgot, maybe?”

“Purse,” her mother repeated. “Yes, that’s a good idea.” She passed Treasure on her way to her purse and ran a hand through Treasure’s hair, something that had become a habit. “Your hair is so nice,” her mother said, hints of jealousy coloring her tone. She did this at least one morning out of the week. Treasure didn’t know if it was because her scalp didn’t look bald anymore or if her hair had really grown back nicer.

From pictures of herself as a child, she’d had straight brown hair. The color still looked the same, but loose curls waved over her shoulders and down her back now. “Thanks,” Treasure said, catching the ends of her hair. “I think I should get it trimmed soon, dead hair and everything.”

“Don’t touch it,” her mother said sternly. “It’s the perfect length.” Realizing she might’ve come off too harsh, she added, “But it’s your hair, so it’s your choice. I’ve gotta go to work now, be good at school.”

Drily, Treasure asked, “So I should stop bullying kids now?”

Her mother raised one angular brow before slipping out into the garage. When Treasure had gotten bold enough for sarcastic comments the entire household had been stunned and didn’t know if they should ground her or accept the change from their demure, sick little girl. By now they were over it.

The oven dinged, prompting Treasure to take the muffins out. She obliged, checking the clock on the microwave to make sure she left on time. The muffins had barely cooled when she stuffed them into a paper bag, grabbed her backpack, and walked into the garage. The musty darkness made her crinkle her nose but then the garage door opened and things were visible again.

Light illuminated her car sitting in the garage. Not much of a car person, Treasure knew nothing except the color was blue, it was older, and it liked to make a funny whining noise that no technician could ever fix.

Tossing her stuff into the passenger seat before sitting down, Treasure started the car, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel while she gave the car a few minutes. She didn’t know what she expected those few minutes to do—except when outside felt cold, because then the engine had time to heat up—but it was a habit she couldn’t kick.

As soon as she reversed the whining noise started, but it didn’t bother her. By now it was comforting.

Cutting through a neighborhood minimized traffic until she had to deal with the school parking lot. Some days were worse than others. The school had given out numbered parking spaces, so technically there shouldn’t have been parking issues as everyone had a spot, but some people liked to not pay or fight for a better spot. Those were the bad days.