The following day Martha had woken Natalie up pretty early in the morning, so early that the sun wasn't gonna be up for another few hours. Natalie was obviously confused by this as school didn't start till at least 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning, she wasn't sure.

"Hey, cous why did you wake me up at 4 in the morning? School doesn't start this early does it?" Natalie asked, still a little drowsy.

"Nope, but we're going somewhere that'll allow you to make a mind blowing first impression!" Martha exclaimed, full of energy and clearly fully awake.

With how awake Martha seemed Natalie wondered if she had gone to bed early or if she had woken up this early in the morning before. Questions weren't important right now, as she wondered how Martha was gonna allow her to make a mind blowing first impression in school.

"What do you mean cous? How are you gonna let me make such an impression on everyone in the school?" Natalie asked.

"Oh I've got ideas! We're gonna first get you a new hair do! I know someone who works at a salon this early in the morning as the place is open twenty four seven. After that we're gonna get you a new look! Something that screams, "I'm a badass, so don't mess with me!" Martha explained excitedly like a child on Christmas morning.

"Um... okay?" Natalie said a little disturbed by the amount of energy Martha was displaying right now.

"Alright, so after breakfast I'll drive us up to the salon, then we'll head to a clothing store to get your new look. Once we've gotten everything we'll be heading to school, where we'll meet up with your mom!" Martha explained, listing out the plan for the day.

Natalie just nodded and went into the bathroom to get up and get herself ready for the day. While Natalie was in the bathroom Martha went into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast for the two of them.

Half an hour passed and now the two cousins were in Martha's car driving to the salon. They soon arrived and Natalie saw the salon and it was impressive. The place had a neon sign that said, "Katie's Hair and Nails" and there was a lovely flower garden sitting on the outside under the windows.

"Wow, this place knows how to make a good and warm welcome," Natalie said as she observed the place.

"Yes it does! The owner wanted the place to look nice so the customers can feel relaxed as they get their hair and nails done. Let's go now! I wanna see you in a new look pronto!" Martha exclaimed as she wrapped her arm around Natalie and led her inside.

Once inside Martha brought Natalie over to an open chair close to the entrance and sat her down. After being seated on the chair a man came up to the two of them and introduced himself. "Hello I'm Pat you must be Natalie, your cousin Martha here has told me about you and scheduled the appointment for you," Pat explained.

"N-Nice to meet you, and why am I not surprised she planned ahead. You come up with the craziest things Martha," Natalie commented.

"Hey what can I say, I like to be prepared. Now you go on and have Pat here do whatever you want him to do with your hair! I'll pay for it, I've been saving up a good amount of my allowance and paychecks from my part time job so do whatever. I also spoke with your mom and she said that it was cool for you to go nuts with your hair," Maratha explained before she went to the waiting room to sit down.

"Alright so, what would you like me to do? A trim, shampoo, color, wet roller set?" Pat started asking as he got an apron on.

Natalie thought about what she would like to have for her new life in the city. After a moment an idea came to mind and she knew what she wanted for her hair. "Alright Pat, I know what I want for my hair," Natalie explained.

"Okay, lay it on me kid, what you need I'll do," Pat said with a cheerful smile on his face.

After about an hour and a half Natalie went up to Martha who was on her phone looking through some stuff. "Hey cous I'm done, what do you think?" Martha heard Natalie ask.

She looked up from her phone and saw Natalie sporting a long layered hair cut, and the ends dyed the color purple. When Martha saw her cousin's incredible new look she couldn't help but show a bright smile.

"You look fantastic! I knew Pat wouldn't let me down! He's been doing my hair for years and he's never let me down, so I just knew he'd be the same with you!" Martha exclaimed, happy and very proud.

"Hehe, thanks cous, now let's pay and get me some new clothes for school," Natalie said, wanting to see what she could get from the next shop.

Natalie nodded excitedly and went up to the counter to pay for the cut and color. After she got that done the two cousins went back to Martha's car and drove off to their next location. Now the sun was partly up decorating the sky from a deep black to an orange and purple. Natalie was a little concerned they wouldn't make it to school on time, but Martha reassured her that she planned it all out. She made sure that they would be on time and Natalie would be sporting a cool new look for her new life in the city. After some time of driving the two arrived at the shop and once again Martha led Natalie inside.

"Alright cous, I do all my clothes shopping here! Look around and see what you like, this place even sells some jewelry so if you're interested in any of that I'll pay for that as well," Martha explained.

"Cous you don't need to do any of this for me," Natalie said worried Martha was going a bit overboard which wouldn't be a surprise as she has a bit of a bad habit of doing that.

"You're right, I don't need to, I want to. Now go on and decide what you would like to wear to school," Martha said and gently gave Natalie a push into the women's section of the shop.

Although nervous, Natalie did like the idea of having a new look, plus she did feel like what she was wearing was pretty plain. So she glanced around the displays for the newest clothes she would like to wear on her first day of school. She wanted something that was both nice and was a reflection of her personality.

Thankfully it didn't take her too long as she found an outfit displayed on a mannequin that was just screaming her name. So she asked an employee to give it to her and once she had the clothes she went into the changing room. Martha meanwhile was in the jewelry section looking through the necklaces. She was looking for an awesome ninja themed necklace to go with her ear rings.

"Hey Martha, are you looking for a ninja themed necklace?" Martha heard a voice ask. She looked up and saw one of the employees she's seen around whenever she came here.

"Hey Taylor, how have you been?" Martha asked.

"Not too bad, my parents are coming around to my identity," Taylor explained as they restocked some watches on the shelves.

Taylor was one of the employees who knew Martha pretty well as she was a regular at that store and they'd always help her out with whatever she needed. They also identified as non binary and she was the first person who they had told this info. She accepted them immediately and used neutral terms whenever referring to them.

"That's awesome, anyway you have any ninja themed necklaces?" Martha asked as she couldn't spot any.

"Well we did just have a new shipment come in, I'll show you," Taylor said and got out a box. They went up to the counter and showed what was inside to Martha, whose eyes lit up when she saw it.

"OMG! It's perfect! I'll take it!" Martha exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright I'll ring you up and it's all yours," Taylor said as they went up to the cash register.

Before Martha could go up there she felt someone tapping her lightly on the arm. She turned around and saw Natalie in the new outfit she had chosen and damn did she make it work. The outfit was a jean skirt, a purple sleeveless hoodie, net leggings, purple heel shoes with spikes on the straps, a pair of gray and black fingerless gloves that went up to her bicep, and to finish it off, some awesome looking spiked loose belts that were hanging off the skirt to her thighs.

"Wow, alright girl! I love it!" Martha exclaimed.

"Hehe, thanks cous, it's not too much is it?" Natalie asked as she looked at herself.

"Na, no way, it's perfect! You look amazing! There's just one thing missing. Some jewelry! Thankfully I know just the person who can help with that!" Martha exclaimed.

"Who's that?" Natalie asked curious as to who this person is.

"Hey! Taylor! I'll be taking something else for my cousin!" Martha called out.

Taylor looked up from what they were doing and saw Natalie standing next to Martha. If Martha hadn't told them about Natalie they would've thought the two were sisters as they looked like each other. Except Martha had blond hair and was taller than Natalie by her head and shoulders.

"Hey you must be Natalie, I'm Taylor, and you want something from here?" Taylor asked as they walked up to the two cousins.

"Um, I'm not sure, Martha already paid for my hair so I'm not sure if she should also pay for some jewelry as well," Natalie explained, worrying creeping up on her again.

"Hey don't sweat it, in fact I have something I think you'll like," Taylor said before they walked up to a pile of boxes that was under a table.

They dug around in one for a moment till they found what they were searching for. Once in hand they walked back up to the counter and showed Natalie what it was. When she saw it she couldn't believe her eyes, as it was a ring that was made of a black metal with a purple gem. It looked just like the one her dad had, but had seemingly lost on the day he was murdered. Tears started to form in Natalies eyes as she looked at the ring as it brought back memories of her father.

"H-Hey, you alright?! I-I didn't do anything did I?" Taylor asked in a panic as they saw Natalie start to cry.

"N-No, i-it's just that, that ring looked just like the one my dad had... I-I'll take it. I think having something similar to what he had could bring me closer to him," Natalie explained.

"Oh, w-well go on and take it, on the house, by me," Taylor explained as they gave the ring to Natalie.

"W-What, b-but wont you get into trouble?" Natalie asked.

"Not at all, those boxes are full of things my boss said could be just given away. Most of them are just old junk that was given to the store for free or was found. My boss found this washed up on the side of a river bank when he went out camping a few weeks ago. Since the owner never turned up to collect it he just said we could give it away but to keep a record in case the owner does eventually come back," Taylor explained.

"O-Oh, okay then, I guess if your boss said that it was alright," Natalie said as she took the ring and placed it on her right ring finger. As soon as she put it on she felt a strange feeling of warmth and strength flow through her.

"Wow, that was strange," Natalie commented as she examined the ring.

"Hehe, must be the excitement that comes with the new look, hey Taylor I'll be paying for my necklace now, after that I'll pay for Natalie's clothes. We'll then be bouncing to school, after stopping by Starbucks for some coffee," Martha explained.

"Alright, and um hey Martha before you go I um... I wanna ask you something," Taylor said nervously while sweating a little.

"Okay whats up? Lay the question on me hard and fast!" Martha requested as she put her hands on the table and waited for what Taylor had to ask.

"W-We'll if you're free this Friday, wanna um... g-go see a movie?" Taylor asked as if they were ripping off a bandaid.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Martha asked slyly.

"Um... well hehe, um... yes." Taylor answered all flustered up.

"Hehe, you're cute when you're flustered, sure, I'd love to go out with you," Martha answered.

Taylor smiled at that and finished up with Martha's necklace. After scanning and bagging it, they gave it to her and she paid for the necklace, giving Taylor a 20% tip. While she and Natalie were leaving the jewelry section to pay for Natalie's new outfit, she gave Taylor a cute little wink, which had made their face turn red like a tomato.

Once Natalie's outfit had been paid for, the two cousins drove down to the nearest Starbucks to grab some quick coffee. They still had an hour before school so they decided to go through the drive thru. Once in the drive thru Martha ordered a strawberry frappuccino and Natalie ordered a triple chocolate mochaccino. After ordering Martha drove up to the drive thru window and paid for the two drinks before finally heading to school.

"Hey, are you ready to show everyone what you're made of?" Martha asked as she drank her coffee.

"Yeah I am! After this morning I'm just feeling awake and alive right now!" Natalie exclaimed.

"Hehe I bet, that outfit your rocking must be helping, right?" Martha asked.

"Yeah it actually is, thanks for all of this cous, I hope there's some way I'll be able to repay you," Natalie said as she looked at her cousin.

"Na. Don't thank me. You being happy and making new friends here is all I need. As long as I know what I did to help someone out, that's all that matters to me," Martha explained.

"Hehe, it's good to know you've still got that attitude. You haven't changed at all," Natalie commented with a smile on her face.

"No, no I haven't, now let's go! I almost forgot but our school is going on a field trip today and I don't want to miss it," Martha stated as she pressed on the gas pedal more and started driving a little faster.

The two cousins soon arrived at the school and Martha parked her car in her parking spot. Once parked the two both got out of the car and headed up to the front gate. Natalie was very nervous as she was in a new environment and she wasn't sure how everyone would see her; however, Martha kept on reassuring her that things would be alright. So Natalie took a deep breath and relaxed as she entered the school with her cousin.

The two opened the doors and looked out at the other students who had already arrived before them. Some students looked over to them when they heard the doors open, others just continued on with what they were doing. The students who looked at them were surprised to see Martha with someone new, as she normally arrived at school by herself so to see her with a new student is surprising.

"Make way people! My cousin and I are coming through the school and we don't want to bump into anyone!" Martha called out in a confident voice as she walked in with Natalie right behind her. The other students all stood aside and made room for the two cousins. Natalie was impressed that they were actually listening to Martha as in her old school no student had ever done that to any one.

"Hey Cous why is everyone making room for you like that?" Natalie asked.

"Well that's because they all respect me. I've helped a lot of them out at times, others I've earned their respect by showing them my determination and willingness to do what I put my mind to," Martha explained.

"Wow, I hope they'll respect me like that someday, and not just because you're my cousin," Natalie said.

"I know they will, you're awesome in your own way cous, you just gotta reach into your inner cool and let it out!" Martha exclaimed.

Natalie smiled at her words and was determined to have friends and be cool in her own way. After all she knew that Martha wouldn't want her to be like her, she'd want her to be herself. Just then Natalie was bumped into by another student who wasn't paying attention to where they were going.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" the student timidly said as the two started picking up the items that were dropped.

"Hey, it's alright, here let me help you," Natalie said as she got down and started picking up the items.

"T-Thanks, you new here?" The student asked.

"Yup, my name is Na-" Natalie was saying till she looked up and saw the student.

When she saw them she started blushing, as it was a cute boy with raven black hair, deep blue eyes, and he had black eyeliner that was done perfectly well. He was also wearing a purple jacket, a black shirt with a goth skull on it, long black pants, and black shoes with white goth skulls on them.

"Oh um, I-I'm Natalie!" Natalie blurted out after she composed herself from seeing the cute goth boy.

"Hehe, nice to meet you Natalie, I'm David... I'll um, I'll see you around I gotta get going," David explained, seeming a little nervous. He then got up and walked away with all his items in hand, leaving Natalie both flustered and puzzled.

"Hey Cous looks like you met David. Nice guy isn't he?" Martha asked.

"Um yeah, he is, but why did he seem nervous?" Natalie asked.

"Well he doesn't have that many friends around here and he can be a little shy. It doesn't help that most of the students here think he's a weirdo and he's often bullied by some of the seniors," Martha explained.

"Oh poor guy," Natalie said, feeling pretty bad for the guy.

"He's cute isn't he?" Martha asked, teasing Natalie as she knew what kind of guys her younger cousin was into.

"W-What?! What are you talking about?!" Natalie asked flustered by Martha's question.

"HA! Got cha! Come on, let's go to the principal's office and find your locker. By that time we should be able to see some of the school before the field trip," Martha explained as she took Natalie by the hand and led her to the principal's office.

As the two walked to the office, Natalie couldn't help but think more about David and how cute he was. She hoped that he'd like to be her friend and that she would also like it here at this new school, as she had a feeling something epic was about to happen.