Roxanne
I walk with Isaac, his arm over my shoulder helping him keep balance. We get up to his door and I knock on it. His mom opened the door with shock on her face.
"Oh my god what happened?" She shrieked, the little porch light reflected the blood on Isaac's face from where he fell, and clearly showing the blood on me.
"Got into a fight with two people. Take him, I'm sorry but I have to leave first thing in the morning. Make sure Isaac doesn't leave the apartment until noon. I don't need anyone else I care about getting hurt." She looked like she was going to plead, but she took another look at Isaac and nodded.
Once she got him in, she looked back at me once more and gave me a faint smile, "be safe sweetheart." I gave her a small smile back and nodded.
I went back up to my apartment and got cleaned up. I began to pack and took the money for the this months payment, I'll put that in the mailbox of the front office before leaving.
I went and grabbed a shower, looking in the mirror I see my hair. Maybe it would help if I dyed my hair tomorrow to my natural color, it might help making it harder for people to find me. I'll also go and buy a new outfit, I need to make a disguise.
Once everything was prepped and packed I crawled and bed and went to sleep.
***
Morning rolled around, the sun was barely rising over the horizon. I grabbed my bag, the envelope with money and headed out the door.
I stopped at the end of the stairs looking at Isaac's door, I took a deep breath. It's for the best, his and the girls at the cafes safety is much more important than mine.
I walked to the mailbox in front of the officer and placed the envelope of money in there. I began walking. I'll look for a hair salon first, I'm sure I saw one not far from the cafe. It's too early so they won't open for another few hours.
Walking around this early in the morning I noticed how peaceful and beautiful this little town is. There's not many houses that don't have plants in front of them, I don't see much graffiti on the buildings like I do back in Los Angeles. It's a shame things for me here have to end, I could easily call this place home and find out who I truly am. Everything will work out how it needs to, I'll find where I belong eventually.
I stopped by a boutique and bought an outfit and wore it out of the store. It was a pair of black skinny jeans, a royal blue cropped tank top, and a leather jacket. Out of the 20 something outfits the lady helped me try on, this was the one.
After leaving the boutique, I came up to the salon and walked in, there were two ladies working. The one was busy sweeping while the other one was styling a woman's hair. The one sweeping came up to me with a bright smile on her face.
"Goodmorning, how can I help you today?" She spoke in a soft tone. She's still holding a smile on her face, I faked a smile back.
"I'm looking to dye my hair to its natural color." I noticed she started studying me.
"Okay right this way." I followed her to a chair and she played with my hair for a bit. My natural loose waves and curls were showing themselves.
"Okay so I see your natural hair is black, I'm going to go get the dye ready and then I'm going to start applying it. You have a lot of hair so it might take awhile." She patted my shoulder and walked off to get the materials, hopefully she doesn't take too long. I need to get out of this local area before anyone starts searching for me, if they even do.
She came back over and began sectioning my hair and applying the dye. She precisely took section by section, evenly applying the black dye all over making sure she doesn't miss a spot.
After an hour and a half she had all the dye placed in and she told me to let it sit for 45 minutes. She's roamed around the salon cleaning and setting stuff up for when she needs to finish my hair. The lady that was here before me has already left so now that stylist has either helped the other stylist out or she sits in her chair.
"Okay, let's get this rinsed out, then we will trim it up, blow dry it, then I'll style it and we will be all good to go." I nodded and followed.
The lady finished with my hair, she didn't let me peak until she was done. She turned the chair around and I was most definitely in shock. I don't even recognize myself. I felt a genuine smile smear across my face.
"You like it?" The lady asked, I'm lost for words honestly.
"I... I love it, thank you so much." I grabbed my backpack and grabbed some money to give to her. I handed the money to her and took one last look in the mirror and I saw how effortlessly my now, long black hair rested against my back down to my waist. I assumed she just did a trim. I've never straightened my hair so I never thought it would've been this long.
I looked back at the lady once again and smiled.
"Thank you so much." She smiled back at me.
"No problem love, it's my job to make girls feel beautiful with their hair. I'm just not quite sure why anyone would've wanted to dye that beautiful black hair of yours. People would die for the color, length and thickness of what you got on your head." Her words hit a soft spot, my mother was the one that wanted to dye my hair. I could never figure out why, but now that I see my new hair, I don't care about knowing. My natural hair color is back and that's all that matters.
I grabbed my leather jacket, putting it on. Took one more glance in the mirror to see my outfit put together with my new hair, and smiled.
Watch out world, a new Avery is arising.