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“Go grab her phone. I’m sure she’s asleep by now.”
“What?” I stand, grabbing Kellan before he even takes two steps. “We can’t do that. It’s a betrayal of Athelia’s trust.”
“It’s to do something nice for her,” Wes counters.
“Exactly. If we’re going to do this, then let’s not taint it. Let’s show her we’re actually worthy of her trust.”
Rolling his eyes, Kellan pulls his arm from my grasp. “She doesn’t have to know. It’s not like—”
“No,” Wes says softly. “Cal’s right. Maybe there’s another way.”
“We could try her Instagram,” I say. “Lots of girls post pictures when they do their hair and tag their stylist.”
“And sometimes it goes the other way around,” Kellan says, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Stylists tag their clients all the time.”
It only takes a few minutes to find the woman who originally dyed Athelia’s hair dark green. Even better, she’s taking walk-in clients tomorrow.
“Road trip?” I ask the guys.
Wes nods. “Road trip.”
. . .
Athelia isn’t very happy with us for waking her up early, but we want to get on the road as soon as possible. This hairstylist seems to do good work, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there are lots of other people who’re planning to stop in today.
We don’t tell Athelia where we’re going, although she recognizes the route and asks us multiple times why we’re taking her to her hometown. None of us give her even the tiniest hint.
When we pull into a parking spot in front of the salon, Athelia only gets more confused.
“Seriously guys, what are we doing here?”
“Get out of the car,” I tell her. I’m sitting in the back with her, so I unbuckle her seatbelt and push her toward her door as Wes opens it.
She glances at the salon, and then toward Kellan. “Did you—”
“Now, Athelia,” Wes says.
She climbs out, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder. “I don’t understand. Why are we here?”
“Kellan told us that you missed having green hair, and that Kammes forced you to get rid of it,” I say. “Chelsea is taking walk-in appointments today.”
“You’re serious?” She’s eyeing us suspiciously, which would sting under different circumstances, but I get it.
We’ve earned her suspicion.
“Why don’t you go in and find out,” Kellan says.
Slowly, Athelia turns and looks up at the salon. “Give me one second.”
While she disappears inside, the three of us stand on the sidewalk awkwardly. Wes shoves his hands in his pockets. Since Athelia was so tired when we woke her up and Wes did all the driving, he still hasn’t had much of a chance to talk to her. I think it’s bugging her, too, but she hasn’t said anything about it.
Athelia comes bolting out of the salon and jumps straight into my arms. She takes me by surprise, so I stumble back as my arms clamp around her.
“Thank you,” she says while giggling. She leaves tiny, happy kisses all over my face. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Behind her, Wes clenches his jaw. Jealousy flashes in his eyes when I set Athelia down and she immediately throws her arms around Kellan’s neck.
“I was thinking about making an appointment over break, but this is so much better.” Athelia kisses Kellan, running her fingers through his hair.
