Work Text:
prologue
1 year earlier
It was amazing. That was the only way Cassie could describe the feeling that rushed through her veins and her bloodstream when she plunged the needle into the crook of her arm. As she fell back on the grimy bed, in the house of someone she barely knew, everything passed in slow motion.
Her hair was suspended in mid-air, flowing out behind her, stars and galaxies braided into the violet dye-mangled locks. Her skin shone like glitter that had been poured over glue-smothered paper in a pre-school classroom. Teeth became diamonds and nails became pure silver, pupils turned into glittering jewels.
It was different every time, but it was always absolutely amazing, and Cassie couldn't get enough of it.
6 months earlier
"Just give me my regular color back, please." Cassie said, staring at herself in the salon mirror. She examined her sunken cheeks and hollow eyes and ratty hair, until she couldn't bare to look at herself any longer.
"Cass, baby are you sure?" Her hairdresser Joey asked, a frown tugging at his full lips, his hands resting on her shoulders. "I don't want purple anymore." She said. "You really wanna be blonde again though? Baby, I think that just isn't you at all." Joey tried one more time.
"Just give me the fucking color, yeah?" Cassie snapped. Joey gave her a sad look and began mixing the dye at his work station. "No more." She whispered to herself, tapping her index finger against her left temple, watching herself move in the mirror. "What was that, love?" Joey called.
"Nothing!" Cassie yelled. "Nothing at all anymore."
3 months earlier
Cassie rushed into the hair salon, shutting the door behind her with a loud smack. She was soaking wet, rain dripping from her clothes and her hair. "Holy shit. I knew you'd be back, babe!" Joey said, holding his arms open for her. Cassie hadn't seen him since she'd made him give her back her natural blonde hair color.
Cassie rushed into his arms. "I couldn't do it." She whispered against his chest. "I can't handle being this person. I'm not some blonde skanky business woman." Joey pulled her off him and held her out from him, his hands on her shoulders, looking her up and down.
"God, Cass I barely recognize you. Sit down I'll get the colors out. I'll get you a towel while I'm at it too, you're soaking up my shop." Joey rambled. Sitting herself down in one of the leather salon chairs, she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was plastered to her face a bright golden color, makeup ran down her face, but she was not hideous. Not how she'd been the last time she'd sat in that very chair. Her face was fuller, her body not as scrawny, her hair longer and thicker. She was healthy, but her eyes were still hollow.
"What color this time, Cass?" Joey asked, carrying a tray of dyes.
"Whatever you want, I don't care." Cassie said, wanting to rip her business skirt and blouse and expensive pumps off and dump them in the river. Joey nodded and began mixing dyes. "What happened to your big fancy city job then? What do you even do again?" Joey called from his work station. "I work for a management agency, Joe. Nothing happened to it anyways, I still got it, but it's still stuck up and annoying as hell."
As Joey washed her hair, she felt relieved, like all the filth of the city wash being washed away and going down the drain. Cassie watched as Joey applied dye to her hair and then covered it up with tin foil. "I thought your big city boss wanted everyone to look professional." Joey stated.
"Too late now." Cassie said, as Joey finished applying the last strips of tin foil. "What will you do then?" Cassie didn't really know. She heard the man sigh and walk to the back of the shop. As Cassie waited for the dye to set in she thought about her job in the city. In a couple days she was supposed to take on some new band and look after them for a while until they found a permanent caretaker to keep them in line. She wondered when she became a full-time babysitter.
Joey came back and placed a box on his workstation and then came back to her. "Ready, Cass?" He asked, grinning at her in the mirror with his Colgate commercial smile. She nodded and closed her eyes as he began unwrapping her hair from the foil. Cassie felt the cool water run over her hair as he set the dye. "Looking great, Cassie." Joey said to her.
The whirring of the hair dryer, buzzed in her ears, mixing with the smell of chemicals gave her a headache. The blowdryer shut off with a click and Cassie looked up. "You seem a bit blue lately, Cass. Figured blue was the best color for you right now." Joey said.
Blue curls hung around her head, a shocking change from the normal blonde hair she'd been sporting for months now."Good? Or do you hate it? I can change it if you hate it, but you'll need an appointment this time." Joey teased. "No, actually. I love it. Thanks Joe." She said, getting off the salon chair, her butt hurting from the time spent there.
"I have something for you." Joey said, picking up the box he'd brought in before. "For work." He explained. Cassie opened the box, setting the lid on the table. For a second, Cassie was startled. Locks of blonde hair sat in the box and after picking it up she realized it was a wig. "Joe, I know I'm a little fake but a wig?" She asked.
"You need this job, Cass. Put the wig on for work and don't fuck it up, yeah?" Joey said, grinning again. "Yeah." She said, and set the wig back in the box. "I'll try not too."