Callie
Hell yeah! What kind of trouble are we getting into??
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when you sent your text,” Callie says as she plays with my hair, carefully assessing it. “What inspired the sudden impulse?”
I swing my legs off the chair I’m sitting in, assessing the decorative pattern in the tile of Callie’s bathroom floor. “Jax helped me make this stupid list of things I could do now that I’m single again. This was number two.”
“Jax?”
“Yeah.” I try to keep things brief, but she stares me down with this look that cracks me open. I leave out the parts about all the crap I’ve been dealing with, but I wind up spilling the story of Austin harassing me at the bar, Jax punching him, me trying to kiss him, and everything that followed.
“Oh my god! You and Jax!”
I leap from my seat as if I’m afraid someone will hear us, even though we’re in the privacy of Callie’s house. Even if someone were trying to eaves drop, the sheer volume of plants on her bathroom windowsill would surely do something to muffle our conversation.
“No way. Jax is a player, and he’s my brother’s best friend. Plus, Ijustgot out of a relationship. Nothing is going on.” My words are as much for me as they are for her.
She nods and presses her lips together tightly as she digs through the top drawer for scissors. “I’m not saying you’re ready for anything yet, but maybe someday when you are…I don’t think Jax would do all that for just anyone.”
“Probably not, but he’s doing it for Charlie. He’s always just seen me as his friend’s little sister.”
Callie shrugs then claps her hands. When she shifts the direction of the conversation, I’m incredibly grateful. “Okay, what length are you thinking? I have some ideas, but I want your input first.”
“I’m thinking just past my shoulders.” I hold my hand up to show her where I want my hair to sit. It’ll be a substantial change from my hair now, which sits at the middle of my back. “I still want to be able to put it up in a bun or a braid.”
She continues to assess my hair, then grabs a chunk. “I have a vision. Be patient and let me work my magic.”
Before I have a chance to say anything back, she snipsoff the first piece. A whole bunch of curse words I won’t say out loud cross my mind. This is actually happening.
“No going back now.” Callie smirks.
She goes to work, and I play a game of counting the number of colors in Callie’s bathroom to distract myself from the nerves. I’m at ten, but it’s not working, so I close my eyes. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so impulsive. I’ve never been the kind of person who acts on a whim. I like to plan. And plan. And plan.
Callie catches me pinching my eyes shut. “Lauren, you look amazing! Stop worrying.”
“I think I should’ve thought this through.”
“You had it on your freaking list. That means you’ve been thinking about it for years. Jax was right. It’s time you finally did something for yourself.” She fluffs my hair. “You look incredible.”
“Are you almost done?” I peek an eye open.
“Yeah, I just need to do one final check.” She circles around me, her eyes laser focused on my hair. She snips two more pieces around the back and then shouts, “Bellissimo!”
She opens her middle drawer and pulls out a tiny hand mirror, decorated with yellow suns on the rim. Tugging me from the chair she hands it to me and spins me around.
When I take in my reflection in the large mirror, I feel a whole swirl of emotions. Without even trying, I’m smiling, and I can’t stop. I feel beautiful and lighter, and not just because I have less hair on my head.
Putting her hands on her hips, Callie says, “How does it feel to have finally done something for yourself?”
“Really good.” I press my hands to my cheeks, which are growing red from all the excitement.
“We have to show you off. Let’s go to the Long Neck!” Callie is already scrambling out of the bathroom andgrabbing her purse from the hook by her front door. “This will be perfect. You can show Jax your new look too. Wehaveto go.”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course.” She looks down at her sweatpants, grimacing. “But we both definitely need to change first.” She wraps her hand around mine and bolts down the hallway.
When I walk into the bar, I’m incredibly nervous. Nothing about my look tonight resembles the old Lauren. My hair is five inches shorter. I’m wearing a black leather top Callie gave me and a pair of her bootcut jeans which she said made my “peach look extra juicy.” Whatever that means. All that’s mine are my boots and the necklace my mom gave me on my sixteenth birthday. Even the eyeshadow and lip gloss on my face belong to Callie, but between her knack for knowing how to accent a person’s best features and her constant compliments, I’ve managed to keep my head held high and even start to feel kind of pretty. Scratch that. I feelreallypretty.
