Heliotrope

Chapter 3: White Heather

I watched the dark blonde hair cascade to the salon floor, the feeling of it touching the back of my neck getting lighter and lighter until it wasn't there at all. The stylist brought me a mirror, my hair was now shorter than it had ever been. I ran my hand through it, in shocked delight. "Do you like it?" I asked Bonnie. Now, her hair wasn't like mine. Her's reached the top of her pale shoulders and mine was a pixie 'do, the ties had been cut. A weight had been both literally, and metaphorically, lifted off of my shoulders.

"You look beautiful!" She smiled, thirteen years of age and as sweet as honey. I was enjoying spending time with my beloved Bonnie, I knew it was going to sting when her and her brother inevitably had to go back to Kalos.

When Bonnie was back at the hotel in the next town over, and I was back home, I saw Ash. He had bags under his worn-out, leathery brown eyes and an aching pain in his chest. "Ash! Ash, what do you think?" I rushed over to him, he was sat on the couch watching television.

He looked up at me, his mouth dropped a little. Then he looked away. "You said you were just going for a trim."

"I- I know," My heart was quaking, "but I fancied a change." He rubbed his eyes, blanking me out. "What's wrong?"

"You looked better before." That was all he said on it, with a monotone voice, no hope in it.

"Oh." I didn't know what to say to him. "Well, I'm sorry, Ash." I went to the bathroom and started at my reflection. Was this really a mistake? As soon as I saw it, I fell head over heels in love with it. I felt new, improved, overjoyed. Why didn't he like it?

And more so, why was I the one saying sorry?

He was just still a little immature, that's what I told myself, but that was one of the reasons I loved him so much. He didn't know how to filter his words! That was all! And besides, at least it would grow back. It wasn't the be all and end all of it. And then, he would call me beautiful again.

Ash was my husband, we were perfect. I was his wife. Everything was how it was supposed to be. No relationship is perfect, right? There were bound to be little bumps in the road like this! The main thing was that we could get over them, which I was certain that we could. I could feel it in my young heart. I knew it.

I went to the hotel, I cycled over there (we were too poor for cars). Talking about this to Clemont was sure to help me calm down. He was a very close friend.

I knocked on the door of his room. "Serena! Come in!" He welcomed me, brightly, his teenage eyes twinkling. "Bonnie is in a room just down the hall, I'll go get her-"

"Actually-" I went into the spacious suite. "Could I just speak to you first?"

He closed the door behind me, "Of course. I see you cut your hair even shorter, too."

Those words made my cheeks painfully flush with dark emotions and my body to shake. "Exactly."

He rushed over to sit beside me on the bed. "Serena? What's wrong?"

I wiped my eyes with my sleeves. No. No crying. There was no need to cry. It was just hair, yes, I had done a stupid thing which my husband didn't like, but it would grow back. And then everything would be fine, again. Ash would find me pretty, again. We were the perfect couple, afterall. "Ash doesn't like it."

"He doesn't? But it's so unique and wonderful." Clemont was so kind and thoughtful. He was quite a bit younger than Ash, but more mature. He was careful with his words and spoke softly to me.

"Thank-you, but I don't think he thinks I'm pretty, anymore."

Clemont but his lip, for once he seemed unsure of what to say. He suddenly whispered, "Wear the clothes you want to wear, do your hair how you want to do it. It's nice to look good for your partner every once in a while, but is he your husband or your dad? He shouldn't dictate your appearance down to the last detail, Serena."

I had never thought about it that way. But he made a good point. I really liked my new pixie cut, it suited me and it would be so much easier to style. It made me happy, I cut my hair for myself, not for Ash.

"Yeah." I felt a lot better. I came here because I knew I would. Clemont just had a way of making it all alright. "Thanks."

"Hey, Bonnie has a spare bed in her room. I'm sure she would let you stay with her just for tonight if it would make you feel better."

"I think it would. Can you go ask? Ill text Ash."

"Hey, I'm staying out tonight, I'll see you after work tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Okay, night, Serena. Love you."

"Love you too."

This was love, this was marriage, this was a princess getting the prince she had always wanted.

It was just me and the teenage girl. "Serena, did Clemont tell you when we're leaving?" A voice came from the top bunk.

It was dark, but calm, only the faint noises of a few lone cars filling up the air. "No. When are you?"

"Three days."

"That's so soon!" I'll admit, I felt a little bit crushed.

"I know, I'm not happy about it either. But Clemont says he has work to do and I have more travelling to do. I'm planning on going to Sinnoh, soon."

She really was growing up. Boys, pop music and high heels. She wasn't a little girl. She was travelling on her own, seeing and learning new things, and becoming a beautiful young woman. I was proud of Bonnie. But it was sad to see the old her, the one who was set on finding a girl to 'take care of her brother' and wore dinosuar costumes to bed, leave so quickly.

But time was passing so quickly. Before I knew it, I would have kids and Bonnie would have a husband of her own. Her brother has told me about all of her 'boyfriends', she was 'single and crushing' at the moment, but had dated a kid from Opelucid City in Unova and a boy from somewhere in Johto. But she wouldn't tell us a single thing about her current 'crush'.

"But I need to tell you something, before I forget."

"What, Bonnie?" I was quickly growing tired.

"Serena, you are my rolemodel and my dearest friend." She was so young and free. Free to live her life and fall in love, no strings attached. She was waiting for a boy to grant her all her wishes. "But remember, even when we're apart, we'll both be under the same sky."

"That's very poetic, Bonnie. Did you think of it yourself?"

"Sadly no. A friend of mine said it to me."

"Oooh, a boy?" I teased.

"Yes, a boy. A boy who is very close to my heart. But that's all I'm saying on it! Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bonnie."

And I knew that this soon-to-be fourteen year old was experiencing love for the first time, I just hoped that she would cherish it. I hoped she would keep it with her. She wouldn't throw it away.

She wouldn't do what I did.