"I'm just gonna run to the store, okay sweetie?" Her mother announced to the little girl who sat quietly playing with her legos.
The little girl nodded, watching as her mom grabbed her car keys and her purse that was sitting on the counter. Then she left, without uttering another word.
"Don't go!" Elaena screamed as she bolted upright. She glanced around, realizing that she was in her apartment, safe and sound. She breathed a sigh of relief.
You're not there. She told herself, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Little did Elaena know, her mother would never come back from that "trip to the store". It was by choice that Elaena's mother had walked out and started a new life, and to be honest Elaena resented her for it.
As her cluttered thoughts began to disappear, she remembered that today was the family reunion, something she'd been dreading ever since she got the invitation. She said no at first, but then her Aunt Brielle had called her. After a long, long debate and a lot of complaining (mostly from Elaena's end), she finally decided to go.
After she had groaned and silently kicked herself for saying yes, she thought back to the dream she had been woken up from. She'd had that dream before, she was sure of it. She couldn't remember when, however, and dismissed it, blaming it on lack of sleep and her cluttered thoughts.
With a groan, she lugged herself out of bed, taking a look at herself in the long mirror she had hanging on her closet door. Wow, did you take a trip through the blender this morning? She snorted to herself as she took in her appearance. She looked a mess. The messy bun that she had gone to bed with now looked like it could house a family of rats, and her makeup had all but come off. Bags hung under her electric blue eyes, and she now noticed exactly three eyebrow hairs that needed to be plucked.
Nothing makeup and coffee won't fix. She thought as she carefully began to undo her rat's nest of a bun. Once all of the bobby pins were out, all of her dark brown hair fell, reaching to about her shoulders.
She tromped into the bathroom, plugging in the flat iron. While she was waiting for it to heat up, she grabbed a pair of tweezers, plucking the few hairs that sat just above her eyebrow. They weren't that noticeable, but Elaena could notice every little detail about her face. Sometimes that was a curse, but she always made sure she looked somewhat presentable at all times. Except for when-
The door to her apartment swung open, revealing a red haired girl in her early twenties.
-Cassie was over. Then she didn't care much about her appearance.
"You in here Lae?" She called out.
"In the bathroom." Elaena replied.
Cassie shut the door and rounded the corner to see Elaena applying some mascara to her already dark eyelashes. "Gosh chick, you don't even need that crap. You're already drop dead gorgeous." She scooted past Elaena and sat down on the top of the toilet.
"Ha." Elaena countered rolling her eyes. "I wish."
Cassie rolled her eyes in response.
"So..." Elaena trailed off. "What's up?"
Cassie sighed. "Well I figured I'd pop in since...well...today is a big day for you."
Elaena eyed herself before closing the bottle of mascara. She grabbed some lipstick next. "It's just my family. It's nothing I can't handle."
Cassie nodded, an awkward silence coming over the two of them before Cassie spoke. "Is your mom supposed to be there?"
Elaena's heart sank at the question. She hoped not. "I don't know. I should've asked."
Cassie bit her lip. "If she is going, how are you gonna handle it?"
She sighed, thinking the question over for a brief moment. "Well I'm not gonna be happy, that's for sure."
"I bet she's a lot different now." Cassie rambled. "Her personality is probably different, she probably changed her hair..."
"Yeah she has a pixie cut now." Elaena blurted out.
Cassie's eyes widened. "Wait, you saw her?"
Elaena shook her head in confusion. "No of course not. If I had you would know about it."
Cassie furrowed her eyebrows. "Then how do you know? Did you Instagram stalk her?"
"What? No." Elaena shook her head. "She doesn't even have Instagram." Then she thought for a moment, trying to remember how she knew, but she couldn't remember exactly how she knew that her mom had a pixie cut. "I have no idea how I know, actually. I just...know."
Cassie burst out laughing. "What, did you use the force Obi Wan?"
Elaena couldn't help but smirk at her friend's Star Wars reference. "Dork. I just...I know she cut her hair. I don't know how I know, but I know."
Elaena hadn't seen her mom since she'd walked out, so why all of a sudden did she feel this urge that her mom got a pixie cut? Lack of sleep. She told herself.
Grabbing her flat iron, she saw the green light was on, indicating that it was ready. She began running it through her hair, making her slightly wavy hair straight.
As she brought the flat iron up to a piece of hair, she noticed a bruise that she had on her arm. Not knowing where it came from, she put her straightener down and ran a finger over it.
"What happened?" Cassie asked, noticing the bruise as well.
Elaena, however, had no memory of it. "I have no idea."
"That's a pretty big bruise." Cassie exclaimed, concern filling her voice.
"Yeah I know." Elaena acknowledged, beginning to pick up her straightener. Then she continued to style her hair, making sure she didn't miss any pieces as she did so.
"Strange bruises, creepy feelings about someone getting a haircut..." Cassie giggled, trailing off.
"It's gonna be a long day." Elaena thought out loud as she unplugged the straightener.