Aspirine and hairdye are a girl's best friends
I don't really know how much time I spent on the floor weeping and pitying myself before I heard the faint crack of the door leading to my room. I looked up from the ground with my eyes full of tears and through the curtain of water I could make out the faint outlines of my mom. Due to the blurryness of my sight I couldn't really make out much of her frame but I could only hope that this wasn't a thief or a rapist who has the same long, brownish-blondish hair as my mom ...and also wears the same lilac nightgown with kittens. Even the smallest doubt disappeared when I heard her click her tongue and say.
"-Tsk, looks like my darling daughter had a rough night, you know sweety I told you millions of times to put on water resistant make up, now you look like a Halloween attraction."
Even in the midst of desperation I couldn't help but let out a laugh at mom's remark, now that I thought about it my dark purple eyeshadow must have spread all around my face leaving dirty , dark marks. I probably really looked like something out of a haunted house. I felt myself laughing but this time it wasn't filled with desperation and sadness and after that I felt mom's gentle arms wrap around me and she whispered.
"-Well my little moonray mom's got a date coming up in a few hours so lets clean you up okay? i don't want MY daughter looking like Bloody Mary, come on."
She slowly and carefully lifted me off the ground and guided me to the door and than to the hall. At the door I started feeling really bad and I think I would've fallen over but mom held me strongly and kept dragging me forward until we reached the bathroom than pushed it open and brought me in setting me down onto the trim of the bathtub. She slowly opened the water and started filling the bath with mild warm water not forgetting to add plenty of bathing salt and bathing cream to the mix. The water slowly started bubbling and I felt myself getting lost in staring at the bubbles. The rainbow like color spectrum which appeared on their surface was like a tiny piece of the universe. It contained, air, light, liquids and maybe even lots of happiness. i couldn't even imagine what a sad bubble would be like, could something like that even exist? Something which was capable of giving birth to a beautiful rainbow like that could never be sad. In the midst of such meaningful thoughts I was interrupted by the feeling of cold on my body. I switfly turned to look around and observe why I felt shivers when I realized that the only thing I was wearing was my black bra. Except that I was completely naked. I couldn't exclaim my surprise because I saw mom's hands move as fast as snakes , undoing my bra and taking it off. I looked up at her to open my mouth but than with her usual gentle smile she pushed my naked breasts and made me fall into the bathtub.I was enveloped in the light and warm water of the bath and I instantly felt my senses refresh. I broke out of the water like a plant breaks through the crust of the earth in spring spraying water everywhere in the bathroom.I used my hands to get my wet hair out of my face and looked at the smiling woman in front of me with long hair before shouting furiously.
" -WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU CRAZY BITCH? DO YOU WANNA KILL ME?!"
Mother just looked at me still smiling and said.
"-Well daughter if you were not under the influence of alcohol and saw yourself in the mirror...you'd probably beg me to end your suffering, you looked like some run of the mill whore you know."
I wanted to argue with her but once I looked down I saw that the clear and beautiful water turned pitch black due to the amount of mud and dirt which was all over me before. I just kept staring and staring before I erupted in laughter and from the corners of my eyes I saw that mom joined in as well laughing heartily. She than slowly stopped the laughter and told me to sit down in the bath. I did as I was told and than she brought a sponge, some shampoo and a soap from one of the bathroom drawers. The strong lavender and lemon scent of the soap could be felt even from the bathtub and I instantly realized that this was mom's favorite soap which she usually forbid me to use...Well she kinda told me that she'd slice off my arms if she ever saw me using it.
She plopped herself down on the bathroom floor on the other side of the tub and took my arms in her hands and gently started scrubbing. I couldn't say a single word I just kept on staring at mom who looked like an angel. For a fifty years old woman she still looked beautiful. Her frame was slim and petite about 165 cm and in the thin silk nightgown she was wearing she looked like some fairy godmother. The little purple kittens on the cloth and her long, wavy honey brown hair however made her look like a little girl. And there was also her face which was that of a thirty year old woman , she had beautiful skin with wrinkles only in the corner of her ever smiling mouth an elegant and gently curved nose and wonderful sky-blue eyes. Anyone could get lost in her eyes the same as when looking at the endless heavens. She nudged harder on my arms which broke my river of thoughts and spoke really softly.
"-Sweetie, you know if you want you can talk about anything you want...how about it? I wouldn't have to worry about you if I knew what was going in."
I hung my head still feeling shame and desperation but I got a hold of myself, mom was the one who was always there for me, the least she deserves was my trust.I looked in her eyes and spoke with returned sadness.
"Mommy...I got shit ass drunk on that party, I ran off into the wilderness...because of Gray and now Erza...Erza..."
I felt my voice fail me and my eyes started tearing up once again when I was taken aback by a powerful wind and the hug of two gentle arms. I looked at my side and I saw mom hugging me and holding my wet and dirty head to her breast softly caressing my good for nothing face.
"-You stupid idiot-she said in a serene tone-Erza must have been so worried, these days you were so sad... so angry and so alone. You wouldn't let any of your friends close to you because of your foolish belief that they didn't care about your problems...you idiot,idiot ,idiot .I don't remember giving birth to such a stupid little chick."
She moved my head further away and gave me a kiss on the cheek looking in my eyes. I couldn't help it anymore my tears started falling uncontrollably for the God know how manyth time that day and I kept muttering.
"Mommy... I am so sorry "sob" I didn't want to worry you "sob" I just..."
I was abruptly stopped by the feeling of her warm palm covering my mouth and I looked up at her and saw her look sternly at me.
"Young lady, you know what I taught you right? Men are weaklings compared to us women, they have their damn battlefields ,their pride, their beer and whatnotever, we women may have the same but we will never be able to fight them on many fields with equal power. That's exactly why for a woman the most important thing in life is to be as pure and truthful as she can and be as strong and dominating as possible. Because only when we defeat the males in every category of life can we reign."
The typical fiery and feministic look in mom's eyes was back and I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head since I couldn't answer with words after all her palm still rested on my lips.
"-And also-she continued after regaining her composure-I don't know what Erza told you but she is your best friend for heaven's sake...that girl will never hate you. She hates this pathetic and weak face you make when you lose your power and that's why you need to get a hold of yourself and show her the strength and pride you still possess!"
I peeled off her hands from before my mouth and looked at her doubtfully before asking.
"And I am supposed to do that by...?"
Mom's eyes suddenly gained a mischievous glint and her mouth formed a cat grin before saying.
"Hmmm how naive, of course for starters you should refresh your image!-when she saw my dumbfounded expression she said while rolling her eyes-total makeover dear, total makeover. I called Carla and said that you are in some deep shit and that you'll need a total facelifting so you now have an appointment at her place in about...half an hour."
I looked at mom like she was some sort of alien. Carla was the hairdresser and beautician of Magnolia and a good friend of mom's but when I looked at the clock in the bathroom I freaked, it was still only half past seven. I looked back at mom and said.
"-...Mommy, you got me an appointment at Carla's at this time?Really now?"
She waved yes with her head and told me that I should hurry, before I could say another word she caught me and started scrubbing me. She washed my back, my arms and all of the places which weren't private, when she also scrubbed my hair she ordered me to clean my more private parts which I did really fast. Than she dragged me out of the bath , dried my hair and got me some new clothes before hurriedly rushing outside to make breakfast. I inspected the clothes which she had given me since I have never seen them before. There was a bordeaux top with long sleeves which had frills at the end and a black skirt which reached until my knees and was split in two on both sides. Hell mom even got me underwear which I had never seen before, a pair of bras and undies which were both black with laceymaterial. To finish the look she left some black high heel boots there. I hurriedly dressed myself in the clothes not debating whether they were weird or not since I knew that Carla had quite a temper and she always lost it when someone was late to an appointment.
After I left the bathroom I went into the bright and comfy kitchen to look for mom but she wasn't there, however I was greeted by the sight of pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries, coffee and some chocolate and vanilla pudding. In the midst of the feast was a piece of paper which had my mother's beautiful and refined handwriting on it. I picked it up but that moment I saw a little white pill fall off the piece of paper. I caught it in midair by instinct and inspected it before reading the letter which said the following.
"My dear, sweetheart Lucy,here are some pills for your hangover
mom has to go on her date since SHE HAS a sexual life, not like
someone else in this house. Eat the food and before you go to
Carla's check the top of the bookshelf in your room, I left you some
money there so you BETTER GO SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES
or you'll sleep on the street tonight."
Gotta rush, kisses:
Mommy
I read the note with a blank expression thinking why my mom was the only mother around who was so random. But in the end I smiled a bit and closed my eyes.
"This is how it should be...thank you mom."
I thought before starting to munch down the delicious feast.I ate and drank almost all the stuff and than before I left the house I took the pill and picked up the money from the bookshelf . When I exited our place I was overwhelmed by the rush which envelepod Magnolia. Many people were going around on the streets, many of them by cars ,some by foot. The laughter of kids could be heard all around and the place was full of doves, cats hunting the doves and old men chasing the cats to stop them from eating the doves... It was utter chaos. But in that moment my heart needed the chaos of Magnolia, the rushing sensations and the magical sounds of swearing and laughter. All of that life, overflowing from within the city felt like a shower which completely washed off the rest of the dark mud of despair which covered my soul. I felt awesome and I took a deep breath to savor the scent of life which this city oozed like it was some giant organism. I stood there for a few minutes before I realized that my appointment was in about five minutes so I started rushing. I hopped down from the stairs in front of our house onto the busy street and than I mixed into the crowd rushing to Carla's beauty palor took me about ten minutes. I arrived in front of the bright red coloured building which looked amazing from the outside, well after all it was a beauty salon but still it was amazing. All of the walls were made of glass and people could see inside and admire the black leather couch, the metal bookshelves full of magazines , the flat screen television and all the other pieces of furniture which Carla prepared for her customers.
And of course the many hairdressing gadgets, the big mirrors, the seats , the washing basin for cleaning the customers' hair and the near infinite amounts of flasks and sprays meant to give shine and beauty to the hair of the clients.
I got ready to enter and walked up the stairs however before I could touch the door it exploded and out from it sprang a tall woman with white hair and lively brown eyes who wore white cotton pants and a dye stained black shirt with the words rock star on it... Yupp it was Carla and judging by her face she wasn't happy. She inspected my face, well particularly my hair and frowned when she got a throughout look at my mug and said in a stern voice.
"-Well little Missy I was wondering if you'd even get here at all...but it seems you decided to grace me with your presence."
I looked at her apologetically and said.
"-Umm ,sorry Ms Carla...it was just you know that mom just told me about..."
She shook her head furiously and said in a faked french accent interrupting me.
"-Non, non ,non ma fille, I don't give a shit about your reason, you are late and now someone else is already here, two dudes arrived at the time you should have been here and one of them wants his hair cut ...and believe me he has got loads of hair so your purple and pink strands will have to wait for a bit."
I just gulped and looked at Carla dumbfounded before she took my hand and dragged me inside the shop which smelled of hair care products and coffee. Only than did I find my voice and said.
"-Pink and purple strands what the hell are you talking about I haven't even said what kind of hair I want I..."
"-When your mother called she told me to make them ...and give you a few extensions, also before she went off on her way to Caffé Cana for her date she dropped in and paid me already so you get what she requested ,end of discussion...Now before you get your turn take a seat here and wait till I finish that other guy."
She guided me to one side of the shop, a hidden little corner with two black chairs and a coffee table in between them however i saw that in one of the corners someone was sitting but a bookshelf blocked the view so i could only see two muscled and pale legs with black sneakers and short jeans. Carla suddenly let go of my hand turned around than called to someone in the opposite part of the shop, to someone who was it seems sitting in one of the chairs meant for customers in front of a big mirror.
" Attention garcon, I'll get to doing your hair soon, just a second."
However when the chair on the other side of the shop turned I froze, a guy with black sunglasses and dark blonde hair nodded and I realized that in that hairdresser chair was one of my classmates Loki...and since Loki was great friends with someone I felt myself stiffen.I got dragged by Carla to the seat next to the stranger and I saw a pair of dark blue eyes look up at me and than I heard Gray's smooth and slightly surprised voice.
"-Lucy?"
