Run Away with Me (anytime you want)

Tennis Courts

March 14th, 3:00 pm, Stella
Cherry said I should do something fun for once. Burn something or get so high the walls drip. I didn't want that though. I was going to a new school in less than a week and God forbid I walk in with a police record. That's why I dyed my hair pink.
Cherry helped. We were sitting on the park's tennis courts, waiting for it to soak in while watching the sunset. I couldn't help thinking what my parents would say, how my friends would react. I wish I was more like Cherry. She doesn't give a shit about anything, and I think that's why I like her so much.
"Hey, look," she says and points to the sky, grinning at the cotton candy clouds,"that'll be your colour, once it's set." I laugh,"hopefully."
I'm leaning against the metal fence, pressing indents into my soft back while Cherry is lying starfished across the cement, head up. Her shaggy violet hair is glinting in the light and I smile. "I'm going to miss this," I say softly. Cherry smirks in response,"Of course you are, you'd have to be a bitch not to." Her eyes are soft. I know what she's thinking, it's that she'll miss me too. We've been friends for years, but me moving four hours away could really change that. I glance at the sky again and notice how the sun is almost gone, and the stars are starting to peek out of the clouds. "Hey, Stel?" she asks me, sizing me up from under her purple bangs,"Don't forget about me."

March 15, 12:06 am, Stella
"Stella, what the HELL have you done with your beautiful hair?!" my mom had screamed when I walked inside. I shrugged. "I got bored," I told her, which was almost entirely true. Part of me did miss being blonde, not that I'd ever admit it. "Go to your room," she'd said,"I'll be talking to your father about this." I shrugged again and climbed the stairs to my room quietly before clicking the door shut behind me.
Boxes. Everywhere. All of my photography stuff has been packed up, same with my clothes. It doesn't look like my room anymore, and I'm starting to think that that's a good thing. I'm starting fresh this week. Blonde Stella is going to be left behind with the walls she loved her whole life.

March 19th, 12:00 pm, Stella

It's not that I hated myself, or my old town. I was fairly comfortable with my appearance and living in a small town seemed, well, like a bit of a relief. Less to fuck up, less people to watch you when it happens. I guess it's like what I told mom the other day, I was bored.

I didn't expect everything to change on the first day, until that guy came screaming out of the class room. Holy shit. The teacher seemed nice enough, but everyone in the class just looked, well, bored. If this was going to be my new normal, I guess I'd get get bored of it too, eventually, even if I tried not to.

There was a girl across the class staring at me. I'd seen her earlier, but hadn't had a second thought. Everything about her was plain, cookie cutter, as Cherry would have remarked. But she was being weird, and something about her quiet confidence confused me. When the bell finally rang and we all got up, I could see her, casually glancing at me. I caught her eye and New Stella smiled. The girl looked shocked and I laughed a bit on the inside. It was going to be a fun semester.