"Hey Kara," Michael waved me over as I walked into the Chocolate Koala. "Over here!"
I walked over to where he stood near the register. The café was crowded with the afternoon rush. I smiled as I stopped next to him in line. "Hi," I said a bit awkwardly.
"You know what you wanna get?" he asked, gesturing to the menu behind him.
"Yeah. I usually get a caramel mocha," I nodded. "Plus, I need to get a chocolate croissant." I laughed.
"Yeah. As of today, you will have lived!" he laughed softly. "So we're set then?"
"Yeah," I nodded, stepping up as we were called.
"Hi. What can I get you two today?" asked the guy behind the counter. He had a beanie on and a nose piercing. I'd seen him almost every time I came, and he seemed to be starting to recognize me.
"I'll have my usual caramel mocha, as well as a chocolate croissant," I smiled.
"Mixing it up today, huh?" he joked, punching in the order. "And for you Michael? The regular?"
"Yup," Michael grinned, pulling out his wallet. "I'll pay for yours, Kara. Don't worry," he said to me as I went to pull out some money. He paid like he said he would and we stood for a moment, waiting for our coffee.
"Venti caramel mocha and a chocolate chip frappé?" called the girl behind another counter. I walked over and thanked her for the coffee, then gave Michael his drink and found a table.
"So. Chocolate chip frappé, huh?" I smirked at his girlish coffee.
"What? It's good!" he said as he took a sip. "At least I'm secure enough in my masculinity to drink it in public."
We spent the next two or so hours talking about school, my life in America, and the differences between the two countries. Then we got on the subject of boys.
"So how many boyfriends have you had?" Michael asked as he took another sip of coffee. My own was gone by now, so I just held my empty cup and looked around at the emptying café.
"Um, none, actually," I mumbled.
"None?!" he asked incredulously. "Seriously? I'd have thought you were breaking hearts left and right!" he joked.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't help much when you're socially awkward," I smiled.
"You talk to me easily enough," Michael pointed out.
"Yeah, but you talked to me first. I suck at starting conversations with people who are more popular than me. Which means everyone."
He looked at me closely, eyes scrutinizing my face. "I can't believe people aren't all over the gorgeous new American girl..." he muttered. "What's up with Luke?" His accent made Luke's name sound different than I was used to hearing it.
"Nothing. Just being polite, I guess. People like him don't talk to me. It just doesn't happen," I said and looked down at my cup again.
"Then you must be completely blind, Kar. 'Cause the way he looks at you? It's like you're a new experiment that needs to be tested. And I'm not sure how I feel about that."
"An experiment? Wow. Thanks, Michael." I rolled my eyes.
"What?" he said defensively. "I'm just saying."
"We should probably get going. My mom is gonna start worrying," I said, feeling the need to change the subject to anyone but myself.
"Yeah. We probably should go," Michael agreed and stood. We grabbed our trash and walked out, recycling the bags and cups.
"Have you ever thought of dying your hair black and blue?" Michael asked abruptly and gestured to my brown and pink hair.
"No. I never thought of that. Why do you ask?"
"Because I think it would look great on you. The black would bring out your skin tone and the blue would make your eyes pop," he shrugged.
I looked at him and his bright green hair. He seemed to know what he was talking about. "Actually, you're right. The colors would go together. As an artist, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that." I nodded and looked back at the ground.
"I could help if you want. I dye my hair all the time. We wouldn't have to do permanent dye, just the twenty-four wash stuff if you want," he suggested. "That is if you want me to help," he added quickly.
"Sure. Let me just ask my mom when I get home and I'll text you what she says. If I can, are you free tomorrow?" I smiled at his offer. I figured he would know how to dye my hair, as neither my mom nor I could do it and I didn't want to have to pay for a professional.
"Sure. Sounds great. Talk to you later Kara!" Michael grinned as we reached our cars.
"Cool! Bye Mikey." I said as I climbed into my car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what color do you want? Turquoise or sky blue?" Michael asked as we stood in an aisle of hair dye.
"What about both, and I could do ombré?" I suggested.
"Sounds great!" he agreed and grabbed both. He threw them in the basket with the black and looked back at the shelves. "I was thinking about doing my hair red. What do you think?" he asked.
"What shade?" I asked. "It makes a big difference."
"What about this?" he pointed to a darker red.
"No. It'll look too much like blood," I shook my head.
"This?" he pointed out a bright shade.
"Yeah. I like that. It's bright but not crazy." I nodded as he threw it in the basket as well.
"That's all we needed right?"
"Yeah. I'll pay for it all since you paid yesterday," I smiled as we went to the checkout.
"Oh my. That's quite a bit of dye there," the clerk chuckled.
"Yeah. Three are for me though," I laughed.
"Good. Though I can tell that this one is dying his hair too!" she pointed to Michael, smiling.
"Yeah. I am. The green just isn't doing it for me anymore!" he laughed as I paid.
"Well, here you are kids. Make sure to come back to show me how it turns out!" she smiled as she handed me the bag.
"We will!" I replied, taking the bag from her. "Have a good day."
"You too kids."
"She was nice," I said to Michael when we were outside.
"Yeah. You ready to look totally different?" Michael grinned as we made our way to his car. He decided it would just be easier for him to drive so I wouldn't have to find his house.
"Yup! I just hope it turns out alright," I said a bit nervously. It was nice to have a friend to help me though. Michael had been so kind the last few days, and it was really helping my self-esteem.
"It'll look awesome, I promise. I won't mess your hair up," Michael said and started the car when we were both inside. He drove a beat-up Subaru, but it was still comfortable and worked great.
Once at his house, he brought me to his upstairs bathroom and we pulled out the dye boxes.
"Okay, first, you're wearing clothes you don't care about, right?" he asked and gestured to my plain white tee. I nodded and he opened the box of black dye. "Let's get to it then!"
I sat on the floor in front of the bathtub and he got in behind me. The whole process took a while, with a lot of laughter and swearing. I learned more Australian slang than I thought I'd ever use.
"Alright, I think it's done. And may I just say, I should do this for a living. Because this looks amazing." Michael laughed as he took the old towel we had been using and pressed my hair in it. No dye came out on the fabric, so we knew it was done.
"Can I look?" I asked, my stomach twisting with anxiety.
"Yup. And you're going to love it," he nodded from above me. Because my head was leaned back, he was up-side-down, and I laughed.
"Well, let's see how you did." I stood up and looked in the mirror. I froze at what I saw.
There was a beautiful girl looking back at me, far prettier than I could ever be. Her black hair, even though it was wet, framed her soft face beautifully, the contrast of the darkness bringing out the color in her cheeks. Her hair shifted from black to dark turquoise, then faded to pale blue at the tips, the whole transition smooth as silk.
"Do you like it?" came Michael's voice from behind me. I jumped a bit, my attention being snapped away from the girl staring back at me.
"It that what I look like?" I asked quietly.
"Well, yeah. All I changed was your hair," he said, his voice sounding like I was crazy.
"But... I'm not that pretty..."
"Yes, you are that pretty." he chuckled. "How are you always so modest?"
"Because I don't have anything to boast about when it comes to my appearance. But... now..." I stopped, not sure of what to say. "Thank you, Michael. I love it." I whispered, running my fingers through my hair. It was soft and damp.
"I'm glad. It took long enough!" he smiled. "Now it's your turn to help me with my hair!"
Peeling my eyes away from my reflection, I helped turn Michael's hair bright red instead of bright green. It suited him very well. His hair took a considerably small amount of time when compared to the time mine took, but he looked equally as good.
"Well, now that we've got our new hair colors, do you need to get home?" Michael asked as he dried off his hair. Mine had dried as I was doing his.
"Probably. Plus, my mom will be dying to see how it turned out. Thank you so much again Michael. It looks so amazing." I hugged him lightly.
"Your welcome Kar," he whispered as he hugged me back.
[Edited]