my mouth. Glancing at Sam and Gideon, I could see from the identical looks on their faces that they were both shocked by the news that I had had a fiancé. The three of us never talked about our pasts, but I had never given any prior indication that I was formerly engaged. Even though I knew they were curious and wanted to ask me questions, they could tell from the clenching of my jaw and the sudden silence of the room that it was not a topic I welcomed at that moment.
Glancing once again at the clock on the wall, I realized we only had an hour left to shower, dress, and eat before we had to meet the sergeant back in the Common Room. Excusing myself as soon as I was done with Sam's hair, I left them with the task of cleaning up the bathroom on their own. I needed some time alone to collect my thoughts.
Racing to my room, I snagged a clean change of sweat pants, tank top, and underwear from my dresser while toeing off my sneakers and darting into the bathroom to shed my sweat soaked clothing. While I waited for the water to heat up, I stood in front of the sink and inspected my reflection in the mirror, reaching up to remove the hair tie that kept my tresses tightly coiled in a bun on the top of my head. I had a small bag of elastic hair ties and I had already accidently broken six of them. My hair was extremely thick and heavy, and was so dark brown in color that it looked nearly black. My face had a healthy olive complexion that was slightly tanned at the moment due to the hours we spent running in the sun. I've been told numerous times by different people that my eyes were one of my best features. My image gazing back at me showed almond-shaped eyes that were dark and intense, with perfectly arched brows.
Unfortunately, my eyes were also very expressive and at the moment they held a trace of melancholia. Scowling at myself in the mirror, I chastised my reflection, “Suck it up Teagan. There's no use getting upset over the past. What’s done is done so get over it. Be grateful that you didn't marry that cheating son of a bitch!” Mollified by that thought, I stepped into the shower and let the delicious smell of my favorite cherry almond soap wash my troubles away as I vigorously scrubbed every inch of my skin. I had a shampoo of the same scent, and I worked my hair into a rich, foamy lather as I started softly humming to myself.
Just that quickly, my good spirits were restored. Once I was squeaky clean, I stepped out of the shower and toweled myself dry. I brushed my teeth, and quickly slathered some sweet-almond scented lotion on my legs before tackling my hair with the blow dryer. I knew I was running out of time, but my hair was so long and thick, I needed to get it at least partially dry since I didn't enjoy the feeling of having damp hair soaking through the back of my tank top. Content when it was mostly dry, I ran my brush over it a few more times and left it loose. My hair was my pride and joy because it was thick and glossy, and felt like cool silk when it brushed against my bare shoulders. It looked the epitome of healthy hair, and hung nearly to my lower back.
Slipping on some flip flops, I entered the Common Room and saw that Sam and Gideon were both already there, sitting on the couch with clean, dry hair and tentative smiles of greeting. I caught Sam's eye and winked at him to show that all was well. Quickly picking up the jar of styling cream, I stood in front of Gideon and with a few quick swipes of my fingers managed to coax his hair into a spiky style that transformed him into downright sexy.
“Hubba hubba Gideon, you look hot!” I muttered under my breath, as I watched Gideon’s face flame red just like I knew it would. So predictable! Laughing, I moved on to Sam and maneuvered his hair so that the front end was styled in an upsweep that curved back. When I was finally satisfied, I moved to the sink to give my hands a quick wash while the guys moved to the mirror on the wall to check out their
Learning to Kill: Stories