Page 3 of Monster Girl

She makes a small humming noise in her throat before saying with a decisive nod, “An A-line bob.”

I grin. “I trust you.”

Still smiling, she slips away to grab her hairdressing stuff which is never far away. Lex returns with her overnight bag in-hand. She mutters under her breath, activating the spell she has placed on it for extra storage before starting to pull out her travel hairdressing kit. As she sets up she says conspiratorially, “Are you going to tell your dads or is it going to be a surprise?”

“A surprise,” I decide, my lips curling up even more as I imagine their shocked faces. Yep, definitely a surprise.

“How are your dads doing? With you leaving for the academy, I mean.” She’s almost finished setting everything up and I grab the book I’m currently reading because I know she’ll zone out the second she picks up the scissors.

I swallow slightly, guilt eating at me, even if it is irrational. “I’m not sure. I’m going to try and come home for the holidays and call them often. I don’t want them to be lonely. I know it really hurt them when they lost Demi.” I don’t mention their daughter, but Lexi already knows what I leave unsaid anyway.

With a sad nod she ushers me to the chair, wrapping one of those barber blankets over me. She gets started immediately and I study her reflection in the mirror. Her skin is grey with beautiful gold scales trailing down her arms. Right now her hair is dyed rainbow, and her eyes are so light blue that they look like jewel tear drops. Lexi is absolutely gorgeous and her soon-to-be bonds are very lucky to have her. She’s an A-class monster and her intended bonds are strong B-classes. There are no rules against different classes mating per say, but it can be frowned upon if a powerful monster such as an A-class mated with a G-class. The only firm rule is you can only mate with those who consent and are aware of the supernatural world. There’s a bunch of other legal stuff, but that’s the gist of it.

Giving myself a mental shake I focus on my book, a laugh bubbling from my lips as I immerse myself in Sinclair Kelly’s Ghost Girl series. The main female character is a little loopy and her ramblings are hilarious.

By the time Lexi taps my shoulder to let me know that she’s done, my ass has long since gone numb and my back is aching. Then again that’s probably just from my shitty form, but I’m going to blame the chair for being uncomfortable.

Suddenly nervous, I scan her face before I can even consider looking in the mirror. Shit, my hair feels so much lighter now. Lexi’s sporting a huge grin and makes a twirling motion with her hand. Sucking in a deep breath, I turn and take in my reflection.Wow, Lexi will definitely be passing her hairdresser course. She did an amazing job. My hair is now cut into a sleek A-line bob and I tilt my head this way and that to get a better look at the back. The new hairstyle has my cheekbones and jaw looking sharper and makes my gold eyes look huge, complimenting my best features, and making happiness bubble up inside me. I turn around and throw my arms around her with a laugh. “Thank you so much, Lexi. It looks fantastic.”

She squeezes me back before moving around me in a circle, admiring her handy work. “It really does look good. The hairstyle definitely suits you. Your fathers are gonna love it when they see it.”

Despite her protests, I help her clean up, chatting as we clean up my mass of hair. The main part that we cut off I ask Lexi to donate to the human realm and she agrees easily. We spend most of the day hanging out in my room, lazing about, packing and watching Netflix.

When the scent of dinner wafts upstairs we both head down to the kitchen. As I was hoping, my dads are surprised by my new haircut and Morrigan walks off muttering under his breath about boys and his throwing knives collection. My brows pull down in confusion but I shake it off with a laugh. Yep, they’re definitely where I got my crazy from. I reassess the room, well, Morrigan and Diarmuid are surprised, Azure isn’t in the kitchen.He’ll see it later.

I hip check Diarmuid as I head to the cutlery drawer, flashing him a smile when he grumbles, and grab a handful of stuff before setting the table. The man is at least 6 foot 5 and built like a human realm linebacker, but is a total teddy-bear on the inside. Lex draws my attention when she sidles up to Morrigan who has returned to the stove and is monitoring the simmering pasta sauce. She leans in, trying to sneak a piece of half cooked pasta only to be blocked and ushered away with a mock stern look. She grins, using her powers to pinch the back of his calf, the spot flaring with white light like a beacon, before he curses and falls back, so the cheeky shit has room to grab the piece she was after, and dances away.

I shake my head and focus on placing the last of the cutlery down. We’ve known each other for so long that she’s more like a sister than a friend, and my fathers are like her second ones. I know her parents as well, but they tend to keep their distance, emotionally, from everyone, even Lex, so I know she really appreciates my fathers. When she was younger and first came into her powers it ended up being a rather traumatic event and she struggled afterwards to come to terms with using them. My fathers helped her through it and tutored her in an array of different techniques, with me there often as moral support.

The smell of dinner has my mouth watering. “Smells amazing,” I praise, and Morrigan sends me a satisfied grin, adjusting his thick rimmed glasses. Despite his nerdy outward appearance, he’d pick a movie over a book any day, which is something I give him shit over on a regular basis.

“It’s almost ready, could you go find Azure for me?”

“Sure.” I duck out of the room, peeking into rooms as I trail down our hallway. When I reach the study a soundless chuckle vibrates in my chest. I should have guessed he’d be here. Azure sits sprawled out in a plush giant bean—a gift that I gave him a few years ago—a book resting on his thighs while his black eyes rove over the words in rapid movements.Must be a good part. I knock on the door frame lightly and his head pops up, focus snapping to me.

“Dinner’s almost ready.”

He sets the book aside and unfolds himself from the chair, absolutely towering over me as he passes me to head to the kitchen, ruffling my hair as he does. “It looks good.”

A sheepish smile curls my lips as I follow him. Diarmuid is dishing the plates up and I plop down into my seat eagerly. Morrigan’s cooking is the best. Once we’re all seated and everyone has their food, I dig in.

After a few minutes, Diarmuid breaks the silence, “Are you all packed?”

I nod, letting out a hum in response because my mouth is full.

“Remember we’re only a call away,” Morrigan adds. His features are pinched as he focuses on me, the usual humour in his expression absent.

Swallowing, I make sure to exude the ultimate confidence as I meet his eyes. “I’ll be fine, I promise. And I’ll call if I need you.”

That seems to appease them somewhat and we finish up dinner with Morrigan detailing this new recipe he wants to try. We help wash up then head back up to my room.

Lexi and I spend the rest of the day relaxing, her and I exchanging our feedback from our latest reads.She also messes around with my hair, showing me some of the new ways I can style it now that it’s a shorter length.

*******

It’s late the next night and we’re watching a movie when the nerves about going to the new school really hit me. Holy shit, I’m going to be at the academy tomorrow. Swallowing audibly I ask Lexi, “What’s the academy like?”

She pauses the movie, a serious expression falling over her features. “Well, as you know it’s very cut off from the world. The professors are mostly polite, with a few assholes.”

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