// amethyst //
-
"nothing is more beautiful than a smile that has struggled through tears."
-
"how the hell did he get your number?" I ask, pacing around in the living room.
"I-I really don't know." Val answers, running her hands through her dark purple hair.
the only way he could've possibly found it was if he somehow found the small abandoned paper in one of my vanity drawers. no he wouldn't do that, he doesn't even care about me. he has that Barbie doll girl who's probably as head over heals for him as he is for her. he wouldn't go that far out of his way to find me. that isn't reality.
"what did he say?" I ask her, just hoping and hoping he still cares.
"he just kept asking me to talk to you and I said no because i know how bad he hurt you." she says, biting on her nails. "I should've let you talk to him."
"no no no you shouldn't have. I promise you it wouldn't have turned out well." I reassure her, placing both of my hands on her shoulders.
"are you sure?" she asks biting her bottom lip.
"positive." I grin.
"so how did lunch with drew go?" she turns away, putting the dirty dishes from dinner in the dishwasher.
"it went okay." I shrug.
"okay?" a confused look appears on her face.
"yeah, he's nice and all, but all I can think about is michael." I laugh to myself. "ugh I really need to move on."
"I know sweetheart. I was the exact same way when I was your age." she replies, closing the door to the dishwasher shut. "I was so deeply in love with this guy who had light blonde hair and he dyed it all the time. I loved him so much but he didn't love me. and I knew then that I needed to move on."
"you know what's super crazy?" I ask her, fiddling with my fingers.
"hm." she replies.
"you and I have gone through the exact same situations in life." I laugh, because it sounded so silly.
"we have haven't we?" she says placing her hand on top of mine with a smile on her face.
"do you- do you think that he still cares? about me?" I ask her insecurely.
"honestly babe I don't know. but that phone call had to at least mean something." she shrugs before standing up and wiping her eyes tiredly. "I'll see you in the morning."
"night." is all I say before I'm left all alone with my thoughts to over think. yes, again.
in my room, with the window wide open, I smoke my last cigarette for the night. the relief-filling burn rushed through me, making all of my worries suddenly fade away for a moment. the small cloud flows from my mouth again as I watch at the scenery in admiration. I watch the lights gleam in New York City a few miles away that can still be seen.
once I finish the last of my cigarette I lay in my bed and fall asleep.
-
"get up lazy ass!" is what I'm waken up to while a pillow is smashed onto my head. All I do is groan in reply.
"cmon Ames." Val whines, yanking me by the arm until I'm standing up.
"what is it?" I ask her, wiping my eyes.
"we have work remember?" she says as if i completely forgot, which I did.
"what time is it?" I ask, ignoring her question.
"9:45! we have 15 minutes!" she says, stomping down the stairs into the salon.
"shit." I say to myself before I quickly get dressed and brush my tangly hair quickly before I grab a muffin from the counter and quickly running down the stairs.
"well good morning sunshine." I hear a voice behind me say, scaring me at first.
"oh shut up drew." I say, shoving him with my elbow playfully. while I'm setting up all of my things in the station I hear my name being called.
"hey amethyst can you help me?" Val says, walking up to me with a girl about my age behind her.
"sure what up?" I ask, trying my best to sound chill or 'cool', but failing miserably.
"this lovely girl wants her hair dyed, you up for it?" she says, knowing it'll be my first time dying an actual person's head.
"yes!" I say, excitement rushing through me.
"great, well amethyst this is.."
"maisie." the girl behind her fills in for her.
"well maisie, I'm amethyst. but you can call me Ames." I tell her with a friendly smile. she sits in the seat in front of me while I stand behind her, running my hands through her thick brown hair.
first off, Maisie is gorgeous. she has long, slightly wavy, dark brown hair. she has freckles running across her nose and her upper cheeks, and her eyes are a dark chocolate brown. I can tell that any guy would be lucky to have her.
"so what color do you want to dye your hair?" I ask her, brushing through the small tangles in her hair. she pulls her phone out from her pockets and reveals the amazing color of lilac purple, which I happen to adore.
"I have just the color." I tell her, walking over to the boxes filled with different colored dyes until I find the exact one I'm looking for. right before i leave, I grab the bleaching dye to make the color much more vibrant.
as I run the bleach over her hair, the brown color turning almost white.
"not much of a talker are you?" I ask her playfully.
"no, no it's not that." she begins. "I just- never mind."
"you know you can tell me if you want." I say kindly.
"you don't mind do you?" she asks shyly.
"no not at all." I say genuinely.
"okay, well I ran away from home in Illinois with my boy- well I don't know what to call him. but he called his cousin on the way over here and he's letting us stay with him and his friends in a small apartment and it's super hard living with four boys and I've only been here for a day. even better news, a new one is coming next month from Australia. I will literally die from living with so many boys." she says. "but hey it's better than being in Illinois."
"yeah I feel you. I ran away from my life too, from Australia actually." I chuckle to myself before I finish wrapping the bleach dye in tinfoil. "hey, why don't you go over to the seats and I'll tell you when it's done."
"would you mind talking to me? I don't mean to bother but-"
"of course I'll talk to you." I start. "so who's this boy of yours?"
"his name is wren. we were neighbors before we both ran away together." she blushes. "and I really like him a lot, but I really don't know what's going to happen."
"well, even though I know nothing about love, I know that him running away with you has to mean something." I tell her. "hey I know this is completely weird and random, but can I have your number? so we can like hang out while you're here?"
"yeah yeah sure." she says, grabbing my cracked phone and typing away quickly before handing it back to me.
"so um you said a guy was coming from Australia? to stay with that guy you're staying with?" I ask her.
"oh yeah. his names like um- uh what is it?" she says to herself. "oh yeah it's something like Mackenzie!"
"oh okay sorry I was thinking of someone else." I blush and curse to myself for thinking about him when he doesn't give a damn.
I can't believe I thought that it would be michael coming after me, because that's not how reality works.
•••••••••
hey guys!! thank you so much for 300 so you get a super long chapter!!
so if you read the hipster next door by broitsaddiee you'll recognize maisie and wren!
thank you again ily
