She's Too Naive

Chapter 31

"Out of all colors, why did you choose this one?" I asked, placing the box up next to Rosen's face to compare hair color. I laughed when I confirmed my assumptions that they pretty much matched.

"Hey, now you guys can claim you're siblings!" Cole exclaimed with a wide grin.

"Cole picked it out," Rosen complained, shooting a glare at the other boy. Cole raised his hands in surrender.

"I just grabbed the first box I saw," Cole defended. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Have either of you ever dyed hair before?" They both shared a glance and then shook their heads.

"It can't be that difficult," Rosen muttered, plucking the box from my hands and reading the back.

"Hey Rosen," I called from the bathroom. "Can you help me do the back?" Rosen came up behind me in the cramped bathroom, our eyes meeting in the mirror. I had the top half of my head pretty much done, I just was struggling getting the roots covered thoroughly. He grinned at seeing my hair clipped up messily on my head. "Don't laugh," I warned him as he slipped on a pair of gloves.

"I feel like i'm ready to do surgery," he said, waggling his glove covered fingers in front of me. I shook my head at him, and instructed him how to properly dye my head without getting it all over my skin.

Gingerly, he squirted the bottled from the dye onto a strip of my pale blonde hair. I had to admit that i'd miss my natural hair color, but I could always get this dye stripped off when I got back home.

He massaged the dye into my hair gently, both of us staying pretty quiet. Cole had left not too long ago to go find some food, so it was just us two in the hotel room.

"You have a lot more hair than I thought," Rosen said with a small laugh, picking up another section. "I keep thinking i'm almost done, but then I find more blonde."

"The bad thing about being a blonde and dyeing your hair is that if you miss a spot it's very noticeable. And when my roots grow out it'll look weird," I said.

"I'll pretend like I know what you're talking about when you say roots," Rosen answered, making me smile.

After about fifteen minutes, he unclipped the rest of my hair, double checking for any missed spots. I resisted the shiver running down my spine as his fingers combed through my hair.

"Okay, I think you're all good," Rosen interrupted the silence, slipping off his gloves.

"Thanks," I smiled. "Now I just wait for like twenty minutes before rinsing." I clipped my hair back up, wrapping a towel around my head. I felt bad, but this motel wouldn't be able to use the towel after this.

I joined Rosen back in the main part of the room as he watched the news.

"Are they still talking about me?" I asked, my eyebrows drawn as I watched the reporter speaking right outside Mr. Milkshake. I missed working there with Ara. I felt my homesickness kick up a notch.

"The media are eating up the story that the boyfriend kidnapped the girl and that he had been lying about his identity the whole time," Rosen replied, his eyes glued to the screen.

"It has been a little over two weeks now since Ellie Charleston was last seen, but this little town is not giving up hope. They have already conducted numerous searches within the town for any evidence, and have started a fund to help the family pay for a private investigator. There have been no leads so far, but Ellie's family and friends are optimistic she will return unharmed." The reporter droned on. I didn't pay much attention to whatever else she said, until she mentioned Josh's name.