Chapter 12: Groceries

*At The Facility* “So now that we know 9320 is more than capable of beating the lower opponents, what’s next?” Dr. Aero asked. “We’ll release Experiment 1859 next,” I responded. “What? We’re already going to release her? Doesn’t that seem a bit too early?” I sighed, “Don’t be as naive as the others, Dr. Aero. 9320 is far stronger than you think he is. And he’ll only get stronger. Now, tell the guards to prep 1859 for release.” Dr. Aero nodded and walked off.

“So why do I need my haircut again?” I asked Ms. Clare as she was cutting my hair. “What do you mean why? It’s because you got too much of it.” She said, snipping off hair from my left side. “Poor thing’s almost grown down to your shoulders. But think of it like this, whenever you get into another fight, they won’t be able to pull your hair.” I squinted my eyes in confusion, “They didn’t do that before, but I guess. You seem to know a lot about cutting hair, how did you learn how to do it?” I asked. “Well, my older sister taught me when we were younger. And she learned by finding a book on haircutting at the library.” “Really? That’s cool.” “Yeah, our parents didn’t really care to teach me and my siblings much. I have an older sister and a younger brother, and we kinda looked to each other for advice and how to learn things.” This is the first time Ms. Clare’s ever talked about her family. “It sounds like your parents didn’t like you or your siblings. Why?” I asked. “It’s not that they didn't love us, they just….how do I put this. They were always too busy to really spend time with us.” She told me, “And when they were around, it was usually to tell us what WE were going to do with our lives.” “Is that why you're a lawyer?” She nodded, “Yeah. My parents weren’t very fond of me wanting to be a fairy princess.”

She continued cutting my hair for another hour and a half. Once she finished, she told me to turn around and see how it is. “I….I LOVE IT! My hair is so short, and ouuuuuu, it looks so nice!” I turned back to Ms. Clare, “Thank you!” She smiled, “I’m glad you like it. To be honest, you’re the first person whose hair I’ve cut in a long time.” After that, I took a shower and walked out to watch TV. Ms. Clare was on the phone talking to someone. I turned on the TV to watch my second favorite show next to Mr. Crikey…it’s called Dragon Spheres. And today being Sunday, means today’s a new episode. Once Ms. Clare was finished on the phone, she walked over to me. “So, I just got off the phone and I need to go review some documents with this new client I got. I also need to get some stuff from the grocery store. Now, since you can hide your animalistic features, I’m entrusting you to go out and get them.” I looked down at my hand which had been normally looking since yesterday, and then back at Ms. Clare. “Can I go after my show?” “Well, I’d prefer sooner rather than later please.” My eyes darted from the TV to her. “*sigh* Oh alright.” “Thank you, Ferral. I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t trust you.”

I walked through the different aisles in the store, grabbing each of the items Ms. Clare had on her list. They were written very explicitly so that way I’d get the right brand. At least, that’s what she told me. Once I got everything, I headed over to the cashier and placed all the groceries on the little belt thing they had. Just like Ms. Clare told me to do. Once that finished, I started walking toward the exit, but then I felt something on my right shoulder. I looked at my shoulder to see it was a hand, and when I looked up, a girl was one who stopped me. I smiled, “Hello.” She didn’t respond, she only stared at me with a stern and serious expression. Something wasn’t right, I could feel it.