Leaning back in the white leather chair, I take a sip from my water. The smell of hairspray and lavender wafts about the all-white salon. Right after AP Calc, Nicole and I headed to La Bella Salon which is right next to the sandwich shop we got our lunch from yesterday.

"What do you think you're going to do?" Nicole asks me, taking a sip from her own water bottle. "I was thinking I'll keep my roots dark, like a shadow root, and go more silver. Oh, and definitely a trim. My ends are so dead from bleaching and straightening."

"That's going to look so good on you!" I praise her vision. Honestly, Nicole is the type of person that could pull off any hair color and style. "I'm not sure what I want to do yet, you did kind of spring this on me last minute."

Nicole's intentions are good, doing what she can to help me in the situation I'm in. Suggesting I change my hair up was a great plan to really commit to being the new person I want to be. It may be superficial, but anything will help at this point.

During lunch, she even got Nate to help me add additional security to my new email. He worked diligently on my phone and confirmed that I shouldn't have any more problems with Carter. I didn't exactly tell Nate everything I had told Nicole, but just enough for him to know that getting rid of Carter is important to me. After informing the school of my changed address, I was all set.

And now here we are, waiting for Nicole's girlfriend to call us to the back of the salon.

"Hey beautiful!" a chirpy voice reaches us. We both look up from our waters and are greeted by a short curvy girl dressed in all black with a white hair dye-stained apron on. Her baby pink hair, a stark contrast to her deep brown skin, is pulled back into a top knot and her winged eyeliner is fierce.

"Hi, Chloe!" Nicole jumps out of her chair and rushes to the pretty stylist, giving her a quick peck on the mouth. "I want you to meet my friend. Chloe, this is Leila. Leila, meet my girlfriend and hair wizard, Chloe!"

"It is so nice to meet you. Nicole has told me so much about you," she says, smiling brightly at me and giving me a hug.

"I'm glad I finally get to meet you, too," I tell her. "Nicole has been talking non-stop how great you are at doing hair."

"She's biased," Chloe says, gesturing for us to follow her to two white stations at the back. "But I am pretty good," she winks at me.

"So, who are you going to work on first?" Nicole asks her girlfriend, plopping down in a chair. I follow suit and sit in the salon chair next to her.

"Actually, I'm going to get Kinsey to do your hair while I work on Leila," Chloe informs her. "I want you guys to be finished at the same time so you're not at just waiting around for each other all day."

"Oh yeah, that's smart," Nicole muses. She then turns to me and says, "You're in great hands. Chloe is going to hook you up."

Kinsey, Chloe's co-worker, has Nicole follow her to the washing station while Chloe talks to me about what I want done.

"Did you have anything particular in mind?" she asks me, making eye contact in the big vanity mirror. She's playing with my hair, running her fingers through the long waves.

"I haven't had anything drastic done to my hair," I admit. "Like ever. Honestly, you can just pick what you want to do to me, as long as I'm not bald at the end of it. I trust you." And I really mean it. If Nicole is with her, Chloe must be trustworthy and passionate about everything she does.

"Oh my God, this is so exciting!" she squeals, dropping the tresses of my hair from her hands. "I was hoping you would say that because the moment I saw you I had an idea. I'm going to keep it a surprise though, okay?" I nod my head in response and take a deep breath when I see her pull out a ginormous pair of scissors. Here we go.

Half an hour later, Nicole and I are sitting side by side with foil in our hair so the color can process. Chloe is keeping us company while eating a salad. We've all be chatting about life, laughing at absolutely nothing, and having a great time overall. I'm just about to ask Chloe how she got into cosmetology when all three of our phones beep with text messages.

"That was weird," I comment, picking my phone off the worktop. I see Nicole and Chloe give each other knowing glances, slight smiles on their faces as they pick up their respective phones. "What's 'The Underground'?" I ask them, skimming the text I received from an unknown number. An image is attached and it looks like a party flyer of some sort.

"I'm so relieved you got the text," Nicole laughs. "I was worried I would have to keep this a secret from you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember how I told you that there are other hidden gems in this town? Like the bagel shop down the street?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, this is the biggest and best one!" Nicole exclaims, Chloe nodding beside her in agreement.

"Okay, but what is it?" I ask, still confused.

"It's a secret club that's literally underground," Chloe explains because Nicole is too busy happy dancing in her chair. "The catch is that it's invite only and the list of people gets more exclusive when there is a theme night. Halloween is the most notorious."

"It's only the end of September, though," I point out. It's way too early for Halloween parties.

"The Underground throws a theme party over the four weekends leading up to Halloween," Nicole continues to wiggle in her chair. "Just like all of the other theme parties, you get the text a day before and have to scramble to find outfits. It can be kind of stressful, but once you're there it's so much fun!" Her happy dance ceases and she stills completely. "Oh, wait. Leila, would you even want to go? You know... because of that thing you told me yesterday?"

"Of course I will go, I still like to party," I reassure her. It wasn't the parties that could lead me to trouble back in California, it was the people and the paraphernalia. "Wait, if we're getting the invite, is there alcohol there?"

"Yes, but not from the bar," Chloe says. "It's BYOB so people can bring their own liquor to mix with the virgin stuff, but everything gets checked at the door. It's definitely not legal considering the majority of the people there are under twenty one, but it's been beating the system for years. I'm pretty sure the cops have no idea it even exists."

I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm okay with alcohol being there. I have always been able to control how much could be in my body before things got even close to getting out of hand. This club actually sounds pretty fun. Maybe Uncle Luke was right, I just had to know where to look.

But one thing was still bothering me. "How did the owner or promoter or whoever get my number? It's not like I signed up to be part of this."

"That I cannot answer," Nicole says. "No one knows who runs the place or how people get selected for invites. The Underground has been around for almost twenty years, I think. It's been running pretty much the same as when it opened, at least that's what I've heard."

"Okay, girlies, enough chatter about a secret club that we shouldn't be talking about in public," Chloe says, whispering the last part and tilting her head towards the other people in the salon. "Let's get you two washed out so we can cut and dry!"

I'm going to have a whole new look for this theme party tomorrow night. Like being reborn again. Now all I need is an outfit.