AllFreeNovel
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The only sign of me left in his place was the framed picture of us at our college graduation. It still hung above his living room couch, but it was now coated in splattered raw egg.
I marched to his bedroom and swiped the puck in his bedroom with tape around it that read “first AHL goal” and smashed the glass.
Then I slid the stupid ring off my finger and left it on his kitchen counter. I choked on a sob as I turned and left the apartment for the last time.
When I was back in my jeep, I turned my phone back on for driving directions home and immediately regretted it. A stream of notifications popped up with no ending in sight. Instead of stressing over it, I deleted each of my social media apps off my home screen.
I blasted Taylor Swift’s Reputation album, trying to drown out my thoughts as I drove… But when I reached home, I couldn’t bring myself to pull in the driveway. I just couldn’t imagine walking in and rehashing everything to my parents. So, I continued driving. I aimlessly took a few laps around the city, but then my sister’s workplace caught my eye, and my intrusive thoughts won. I slammed on my brakes and threw my jeep in park in front of her high-end salon.
I slid my sunglasses on to cover my blowfish eyes from crying all morning and marched in.
I completely ignored the teenage girl manning the front desk yelling at me that I didn’t have an appointment, and I made my way back to my sister’s station where she was sweeping up hair on the ground.
I plopped in her leather chair. “Dye it brown,” I said, gesturing to my hair. “Please. Right now.”
My sister faltered for a second, looking at me in confusion. “I thought… I thought you were in Ohio this weekend?”
I eyed her darkly in the mirror. “Not anymore. Brown. Dye. You have it?” I waved my hand impatiently at my head.
Her face cracked in confusion. “Uh… Okay?”
My phone started ringing and I let it go to voicemail. It proceeded to blow up with a bunch of texts.
“You gonna get that?” my sister asked. She was now mixing gooey shampoo colors in a little plastic bowl.
I picked up my phone, turned it off, then slammed back down on the counter.
“I’m entering a new era,” I announced. “A dark one.” I sat back sullenly and tried to hang onto my anger. Anger was less painful than regret… and grief.
“Okay then,” she drawled. “What happened to Garrett’s insistence on going blonder?” She snorted.
I glared at the mention of his name. “Fuck. Garrett.”
Her mouth formed a perfect little oh.
After what felt like a full hour of painting and pulling and tugging on my hair, my sister finally led me back to the sink, which was the only relaxing part of this whole hair fiasco.
After painstakingly blow drying what seemed like each individual strand of my hair, she finally spun me around to face the mirror, and I let out a deep breath. My chest actually physically loosened.
Gone were my old, grown-out, blonde highlights, and now my hair was a rich milk-chocolate color.
Seeing myself in the mirror with this color, something clicked into place, like this.Thiswas me. Not some fake, knock-off version of me that I molded myself into in an effort to win that idiot’s love.
“You like?” my sister asked hesitantly.
I nodded. The reflection staring back at me looked and felt moremethan it had in years, and I hated Garrett a little more for making me feel like I always had to change myself. “Love it,” I confirmed.
I took a selfie– with my sunglasses on, because blowfish eyes, ya know? – and sent it to Garrett.
His phone calls and texts stopped coming.
It was that simple for him.
Fucking dick.
________
I didn’t care what anyone thought of me, but I slightly regretted airing my reaction to the world. At the time, I thought it would make me feel better. I thought it would stop people from continuing to tag me. Because I couldn’t take it. Each tag was a reminder of what Garrett had done and it was like an additional little stab to the heart. And by taping my reaction, I thought I’d show people that yes, they made me aware of his cheating, and I got my retribution.
