Chapter 10

“Yey, you’re finally here. You won’t guess what I have planned for…!” As soon as I arrived at the meeting spot, Paula attacked me with a gush of words. Then she stopped somewhere mid-sentence and fixated my face. “Did something happen? You look kinda happy. Or are you just glad to see me?” She giggled and spun around a few times. I shook my head as I genuinely smiled. Paula pouted. “So you’re not happy to see…” I cut her off. “Someone more or less told me that I’m confident.” Her eyes widened. “Because I talked to an employee at the bookshop”, I added, a little less euphoric. “Don’t say that like it’s nothing. This is a big improvement. Let’s celebrate that!” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me along like she always did.

“Tadaa!” We stood in front of a hair salon. Why exactly did I expect something like cake and soda for a celebration? And I bet it wasn’t even a celebration because she had probably planned it beforehand. I sighed. “You want to cut your hair?” Letting go of my hand she shook her head. “Not cut, dye!” She talked to the hairstylist, who then looked at me. Quickly I raised my hands in front of my chest. “I’m just company.” Paula’s gaze said something else. “Please do something about her. She really needs some color in her life”, she said.

About ten minutes later I was sitting in a chair next to Paula, whose head was already covered in foils. “If you don’t want a complete makeover, you can also choose colored highlights or tips.” I narrowed my brows. Then Paula handed me her phone. “What about that? It’s not too flashy.” I looked at the display, where I saw the back of a woman with dark brown hair and blue highlights underneath. Almost like the hidden rainbow hair you see all over Instagram these days. “But my hair is blonde”, I argued, although the idea wasn’t that bad. Paula swiped. “Here you go.” Same thing with a blonde girl. “I think blue fits you very well.” I looked at the hairstylist, then back at the picture. Wasn’t this a bit too fancy for someone like me? Maybe I couldn’t live up to that image. I glanced at the mirror. I always did that to check my own expression, my appearance, judging myself. Could this person really wear blue hair? I looked at the picture again. Maybe I should just for once do something out of my comfort zone. The longer I thought about it, the more I actually started liking the idea. “I’ll do it”, I said and Paula smiled.

The hot air of the hairdryer brushed my ears and I flinched. I didn’t dare to open my eyes. Had this been a good decision? I felt my hair softly falling down my back. My now half blue hair. I peeked between my lashes but didn’t see much yet. “Come on, open your eyes, it looks good”, Paula said, still getting her hair washed. Unlike me she had brown hair that needed to be bleached before the color. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. I blinked. I turned my head to the left, to the right. I brushed my fingers through the strands. It really was blue underneath. I stared at my reflection. Then I smiled and turned to Paula. “Oh my gosh… it looks amazing!” She giggled at my reaction. “Didn’t I tell you? You ought to believe me at least sometimes.”