hanging out with Jimmy after drama club was so much fun. we went to the diner first for a meal (which i actually ordered real food, ate most of it, and kept it all down - i'm proud of myself for that) before going to a corner store for some hair dye since the cyan was fading, and i was in desperate need for something new anyways.
"so, uh... what are we here for?" Jimmy asked as we walked into the corner store.
"hair dye," i answered simply. "if you couldn't tell, i need a new color."
Jimmy laughed. "i didn't want to say anything, but now that you've brought it up yourself-"
"oh, hush," i said, rolling my eyes and smiling. when we reached the hair care isle, i stopped and turned to look at Jimmy. Spinning my finger in a circle, i motioned for Jimmy to turn around. "when was the last time you had your hair done?"
Jimmy's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "what do you mean?" he stammered. "does it look bad? it is too long? i know it's been a while since i got it cut, but-"
"no, no, the cut's... fine," i said hesitantly. it really wasn't fine, it was all uneven and grown out. but i could fix that easily. "let me rephrase: have you ever dyed your hair before?"
"uh, no?"
"are you allowed to?"
"i mean, i can ask my dad," Jimmy said. "he lets lizzie dye hers. Why?"
i smiled as i examined Jimmy again, this time looking him up and down. i turned to the rack of various colors, reaching down to grab a couple of greens for Jimmy and purple for me.
"uh... that's going to come out, right?" Jimmy asked, as i grabbed hair bleach.
"if you bleach it out," i answered sarcastically. "or swim in pools with chlorine a lot. the semi-permanent ones last for, like, a day, by the way. but you're blonde anyways, right?"
"well, yeah, but-"
"then it's fine."
Jimmy sighed. "what if my dad says no?" he asked when we got in line for the register. "then you've gone and wasted your money."
i shrugged. "we could always do it behind his back," i offered.
"oh my god, you're not kidding," Jimmy said, and i looked up at him, confused. "why would you even say that, i- did you dye your hair without your parents' permission?"
i shrugged again. "they're kind of irrelevant anyway."
"how- what- why- huh?"
i sighed. "nothing."
"your total is forty-eight, twenty-four," the cashier told us after ringing up the items.
i reached into the pocket of my hoodie and pulled out my wallet. pearl gave it to me. it had a deer embroidered into it. but all it had was a twenty and a ten. "Jimmy, do you have-"
"here," Jimmy cut me off, already having the rest of the money out.
"oh my god, thank you," i said "i'll pay you back, i promise."
Jimmy shook his head. "it's fine," he said. "i don't mind sparing a few bucks."
i smiled fondly at Jimmy, and he took the bag from the worker. "thanks."
"of course," Jimmy said with a wink, making me blush.
did he know i liked him?