Winchester Legacy 2.4

RECAP: Tonya reached her LTW, Val and Gai grew up, we learned Val was evil, Neil thinks he’s smooth and the kids were admitted into private school.

So mom thought it was a good idea if we got out of the house for a little while. To go see the sights. Awesome right? ‘Cause I am so tired of not seeing anything around here but land for miles on end. Lame. Oh yeah, it’s me, Val. Mom said that I could do the update. She said she thinks that I need to learn how to talk to people. Whatever! I know how to-

“What are you doing Neil! We’re not driving your crappy car downtown! I thought we were going in mom’s limo!”

“Dude, mom’s limo is for work! You don’t have to ride in my car if you don’t want to…we’ll see you when you walk into town in a few hours.”

I glared at Neil as he laughed at his lame joke. He thinks he’s some kind of Casanova. He’s not really but the girls at school about pee themselves when he comes around and does that whole rose thing. I opened my mouth to snap something out at him but the door to the house open and Gai skipped out.

“I want to ride in the front with Neil,” she said in a excited voice.

“Too bad squirt. I already called shot gun!”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes…I did Neil! I said it in my head.”

“That totally doesn’t count Val. If no one hears you say it than it doesn’t count.”

“Counts to me!”

“Now, you two don’t fight up there. We’re going to have a peaceful day today aren’t we?”

I don’t know why my mom stressed peaceful. I could feel her looking at me from the backseat. I am peaceful. Okay, sometimes I get angry and just want to bust someone in the face but who doesn’t? I figure it’s good for my  blood pressure to let it out instead of holding everything in ya know? And yeah, I’m taking health this semester.

Neil turned the keys a few times in the ignition and the car made this weird clanking sound. “Oh my GOD! This is so lame! At this rate we’re never going to get downtown!”

“Well, how about you get out and push it huh?”

“Why don’t you get out and push?”

“Because I have to drive!”

“Mom or dad can drive!”

“You’re driving me CRAZY!”

Neil angrily twisted the key and the car turned over…and a blast of some death metal music came from the speakers. I quickly reached over and snapped it off.

“My car Val,” Neil growled as he reached over and turned the radio back on. “My rules.”

“There’s other people in the car Neil,” I said as I reached over to turn it back off, “And so that cancels out your rules.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He flicked the radio back on.

My jaw started to hurt as I glared across the space at him as I reached over and turned the radio back off.

We ended up having to stop half way downtown so mom could get in the front with Neil. She said she didn’t feel like hearing us bicker back and forth the entire way. Like it was my fault. No one wanted to hear that crappy stuff that Neil called music. He thought listening to all those rock bands made him even more cool but it didn’t. Look how he’s driving. Like a grandma!

Anyways, when we got downtown I asked mom if I could get my hair done.  I was a teenager now. I couldn’t go around with barrettes in my hair. Then mom got all mushy as she brushed at my hair. She started talking about how all her babies were growing  up and pretty soon we’d all leave the nest…blah, blah, blah! All I wanted to know was if I could get my hair done.

“What do you want done?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Something a little bit older. Something like…”

“THAT!” I pointed at the woman who was standing  behind the chair. Her hair looked fierce and plus she was rocking that outfit. Mom won’t let me get things like that. She said that she doesn’t think that it’s age appropriate. I looked down at my tank top and jeans and sighed. I’d probably never look like that.

“Excuse me ma’am?”

The lady turned with a smile on her face. “How can I help you sweetheart?”

“I was just wondering if you’d be able to do my hair? I mean if you have time and all.” I nervously scratched at my arm as she peered down at me. I took a quick step back when she reached out but she just laughed and lifted a lock of my hair.

“You have a fabulous texture of hair. It’s just your luck one of my regulars canceled today.  I was just standing here wondering what I was going to do until my next appointment. Now, tell me what you want done with your hair.”

Mom came up behind me and gave my hand a squeeze before she said that the rest of the family was going to sight see and they’d meet me back here in a bit.

“Okay.”

I got into the chair and looked over at the lady who was waiting patiently for me to figure out what I wanted done.

“I want something like you have.”

She shook her head. “No, you need something young and fresh. Something fun.” She snapped her fingers as she adjusted the chair. “I think I have something in mind that you’ll love. And it’s low maintenance as well. Should last you for a few weeks. Is this dye in your hair?”

“Nope. Mom won’t let me dye my hair until I’m sixteen.”

“Good, good. We won’t have to worry about roots showing. This should be fun huh? We can even experiment with some makeup!”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what you do! But…,” I said as she reached for her scissors and a powder puff.

“If you jack up my hair I won’t be responsible for my actions. My mom’s a doctor anyways so she can fix you right up.”

The woman laughed but stopped when she realized that I wasn’t laughing along with her. “Oh, you’re serious!”

“Yes, yes I am. Now,” I said, getting comfortable in the chair, ” You can go ahead and work  you magic.”

“Right….right.”

I could barely see what was going on around me as she started to clip and snip and pat at my face with that powder puff. I got kind of nostalgic as I saw my hair fluttering to the ground. And why did it look better on the ground than it did on my head? I started to have second thoughts but I shrugged them away. It was too late to worry about it now and besides what’s in the past is in the past. That’s my motto.