Ellie's boyfriend kissed her goodnight and disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again... until now.
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A week before their high school graduation, Austin and Ellie parted ways with a goodnight kiss, thinking they'd be seeing each...
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"Aunt Ellie," Brielle shouted as she came bouncing towards me in the parking lot outside the nail salon.
"Careful, Brielle," my sister reprimanded her from where she was getting out of the car, a few parking spaces down from me.
There were no moving cars near us, only parked ones, but I understood my sister's fear. A lot could happen in the blink of an eye. It was important that Brielle learned to watch where she was going, especially around cars. I hurried my steps to get to her.
"Hi Brielle. Are you excited?" I asked as I pulled her into a hug.
She certainly looked it, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She wore a pink dress- her current favorite color. It had been purple a few months ago- and had pink ribbons tied around her pigtails.
"YEAH!"
I giggled at her excitement at getting her nails "painted" at a real salon. At a place where "mommies" go as she had called it when I'd asked my sister if she and Brielle wanted to go with me.
"What color do you want?"
I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway.
"Pink."
Just what I thought. "Yeah? I might want pink too."
Her eyes widened. "You do?"
"Maybe. You think I should?"
She nodded her head energetically up and down.
"What about your mom? Do you think she wants pink, too?"
Instead of answering me, Brielle pulled out of my arms and turned to my sister who was yawning as she took her bag out of the car. "Mama," Brielle shouted. "You want pink nails?"
Aubrey smiled and said, "I was thinking purple."
"Oh." Brielle thought about that for a second and then she nodded. "Okay," like that was an acceptable choice.
I laughed as we caught up with my sister.
"Hey," she said and gave me a hug. "Your hair looks nice." She touched the ends of my hair that I'd just gotten done. I'd spent the morning in the hair salon getting a trim and some highlights. I hadn't cut too much off, just enough that it looked fresh and full as it hit my shoulders. It was by no means a drastic change, but that wasn't what I was after. I wanted Austin to recognize me, and I wanted him to think I was pretty. Knowing my hair looked good it helped my self-confidence.
"Thanks."
Aubrey smiled and grabbed a hold of Brielle's hand and together the three of us crossed the road and walked over to the nail salon. It was a Saturday afternoon, so the shopping plaza where the salon was located was busy, but I had managed to get appointments for the three of us to get mani pedis.
