Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Chapter Fifteen- Friday Highlights

Two days ago Ada had spoken with the police, leaving out only what she knew Tom would have, such as her going to his apartment that night and them going on a road trip for furniture. She didn't deny their friendship, only toned it down a bit.

Ada decided not to go back to school until this whole thing was figured out. If Tom wasn't cleared, she wasn't sure what her next move would be. She wouldn't be able to make it through another school day without him there.

Yesterday, her Nonni arrived home from her vacation. Nonni and Ada's parents had stayed awake until the early hours of the morning, crying and drinking and laughing, before crying some more. Their tiredness and hangovers were obvious in their appearance, yet they still insisted on a shopping trip a few towns over.

Ada walked down the sidewalk, sandwiched between her mother and Nonni. If the shopping trip was in her town, she would have declined. She'd tried going grocery shopping the day before and left empty-handed, the stares from everyone becoming too much to handle.

Ada was sure the gossip had still traveled this far, but no one knew who they were, so Ada could finally leave the house without feeling the eyes of the world on her. Ada was used to blending in. Now everything about her life felt like a damned soap opera.

It was nice to get away, even if only going a few towns over. It was warm enough for the businesses to leave their front doors open and with every door they passed, a new genre of music played. Passing the restaurants was her favorite, the smells lingering out the open doorways and surrounding her, along with the chatter and laughter that seemed to come with the booze being served inside. Everyone was in high spirits here with their spring fever. The shops were planting in their flower boxes, the town workers were putting out the garbage cans painted by the local artists. Some artist's were doing chalk drawings on the sidewalks.

"You should do something different with your hair, Ada," Nonni said from next to her.

She wasn't sure where that had come from. "Why?"

"You've had that same damn hair cut for more than half your life, that's why," Nonni replied.

She had a point there. Ada couldn't remember the last time her hair was different. When she went in, it was for a trim; nothing more. She always kept it her natural honey blonde hair color and always the same length, down to the chest and very few layers.

Ada took her hair out of its high bun. She rarely wore it down. With how often she worked and had her nose in a book studying, it was just in the way when she wore it down. She grabbed the blonde ends and held them up to view. She needed a cut anyhow. "If someone around here can take me without an appointment, then sure. Why not?" she answered with a shrug.

"And highlights," her mother added, distracting Ada from her thoughts.

"There's one across the street!" Nonni yelled before grabbing Ada's hand and pulling her into the street. Sure, it was empty, but the woman hadn't even looked.

Ada was already beginning to regret her decision for fear it was going to get out of hand. But her hair grew plenty fast that she wouldn't be stuck with anything for long, so she decided not to speak up. If something new even had a chance of distracting her or making her feel better about herself, Ada was in.

Add the fact that the sandwich board in front was featuring a special on highlights. She figured it was best not to disagree with fate.

Nonni flung her into the salon. Shelves sat in front of the brick wall, filled with products that Ada had never once purchased because they were always so expensive. She'd been frugal with her money for years to save for college, and now she was eyeing them up excitedly.