Stoic

Girls Day For Change

Two years. Two long years of the Center. They finally released me saying I had improved dramatically. I mean I guess I did, it was two years of no rude comments, supportive and motivated people, it was a breath of fresh air for me. My environment change so I guess I changed. The best part of being at the Center was, I made a friend. Her name's Paisley Braxton, she was at the Center because she was suffering from depression. I admired her, she worked hard everyday to get better and sure enough, she did. She first checked into the Center a year before me and was cleared a month before me. Her three years certainly paid off because she was so happy and full of life. We had a quick connection from the start and became best friends.

Paisley was coming to pick me up because she wanted to go and have a "girls day." I was sitting on the bench outside of the facility, tapping my foot anxiously on the cement. She finally pulled up in her old yellow buggy. I loved that buggy, it matched her perfectly. I jumped into the front seat, extremely over joyed to see her.

On the way to the shopping plaza we were laughing, having a great conversations and singing along to songs that we're blasting from her radio, "well well well, looks like someone picked up on a few of my makeup looks," Paisley playfully pointed out. I laughed and shook my head. It's true, Paisley taught me how to do a natural makeup look, she then forced me to ditch my glasses and switch to contacts and she may have also been a really big help for me in buying clothes ever since I lost over half my body weight. "Now let's see, we're going to go get our hair done first!" Paisley turned into the little shopping square and parked in front of a beauty salon.

We walked into the semi-empty salon, "hi my friend and I want to dye our hair," Paisley smiled. My eyes widen, "um Paisley, I don't know about this," I whispered to her but she slightly elbowed me back. The two ladies took us both back and started the process. "What color would you like to do," the lady asked me bringing a mass pallet of colors out. I scanned the different colors, "this is my first time doing this so I'm not really sure," my voice trailed and the lady smiled, "don't worry love I know just the color!"

When my 30 minute wait was over, she washed out the dye and revealed my hair. My dark curls had been lighten to a brownish blonde color. My smile was big, I loved how it looked! The lady was very pleased with herself. Then Paisley came up next to me with her once fire red hair to black with some hints of red at the ends. It was crazy to see how different we looked in the matter of an hour. We payed and thanked the ladies then we were off. It was now my turn to pick the next stop and I chose the tattoo shop. I had been wanting to get a little tattoo and a nose piercing. Even though I wasn't 18 yet, Paisley's cousins worked at the shop so they helped us out. Ironically I was less freaked out about the piercing and tattoo than my hair dye. Paisley and I went into separate rooms and were helped by each of her cousins. "Hmm can I get a small stud on the left side of my nose and for my tattoo can I get this anchor on the outer side of my wrist," I said showing him my phone with the picture of a small drawn anchor. He nodded and went straight to work.

"So what did you get!" Paisley was overly excited. "I got an anchor." I showed her the side of my wrist. She gasped and held up her wrist as well. She had an identical anchor on hers. We both busted out laughing.

After our long girls day, she finally dropped me off at home, "ready for school tomorrow?" I sighed, "I guess we'll find out." Paisley reached across the car and grabbed my hand, "I know your freshman year there doesn't bring back the best of memories for you but we're going to make the best of it! You have me now at school, and screw anyone who tries to fuck with us." She gave me a smirk and I couldn't help but laugh at her. "Yeah yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

I walked into the house expecting no one to be home but I was ambushed by Derek and Jase. "Whoa what the hell?" Derek gasped looking at my nose and hair, "mom come see Linh!" Jase grabbed my wrist, "you got one before me?" "Well hi to you all, how was my stay? Oh you know it was dandy, thanks for asking! Oh you know I missed you guys too," I sarcastically laughed at my brothers. "Linh? My goodness, you look so different! My baby, you lost a lot of weight! And your hair? I'm so proud of you, you look like you got so much better!" Mom wrapped her arms around me, I could her her soft sniffles. "I missed you so much sweetie!" I smiled and tightened my hold on her, "I missed you too mom, I'm really glad to be home."