Ashleigh's New Look

Ashleigh would have liked to have stayed and chatted with her friendly neighbour for longer, but had a thousand things to do and needed to keep moving. She wished she hadn't wasted her morning lazing around in her room doing nothing productive and instead trolling people on message boards. She couldn't begin to understand what she used to enjoy so much about spending her time like that.

Fortunately, most of her urgent tasks could be tended to within yards of each other at the local mall, which was an excellent time saver. First off, she wanted a spray tan. Ashleigh had spent so much time indoors with the curtains closed that her skin was quite pale and not at all the right look for a cheerleader, so she needed to fix that. In time she would be able to develop a nice natural tan, but she was going to have to fake it until she could spend long enough outdoors to make it. Once she reached the salon, Ashleigh eagerly stripped off and jumped into a booth.

"Um you do know most people keep a bikini on when they're getting sprayed?" a pretty and stylishly groomed young female attendant, whom Ashleigh thought she might recognise from college, told her as she stood naked in the open booth while other patrons paused to watch.

"It's okay, I need every single inch of me tanned" the naked woman chirped back without a hint of concern "No pain, no gain!"

"Ashleigh? Is that you?" the assistant asked in disbelief, now able to place her identity "I did not expect to ever see you in here!"

"Oh, so we do know each other!" Ashleigh smiled as she turned to give her rear as much of a covering as her front had already received "I thought I recognised you"

"You should do, you called me a 'wannabe Barbie bimbo bitch' only last week" the young woman instinctively folded her arms and scowled as she recalled the incident.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry that I behaved so poorly to you!" Ashleigh told her with sincerity "When I used to act like that, it was really because I was mad at myself. Though that is no excuse for lashing out at other people. For what it's worth I absolutely adore your look"

"Oh..." Asheligh's classmate was truly perplexed now, but her tone quickly softened "Well, that's okay. I totally accept your apology"

Once her spray tan was complete and she had dressed, Ashleigh made the hair salon her next destination. Her previous strange obsession with all things dark meant she had dyed her hair jet black. She wanted to distance herself from that old persona as much as possible now so, for the first time in her life, she was going to go blonde. They were supposed to have more fun after all.

Once she had her hair styled and coloured, Ashleigh was ready for the most fun part of her day - clothes shopping! She couldn't fathom why she had loathed it so much, and even mocked people who enjoyed it, up until now. She had a great time trying on a variety of outfits, taking mirror selfies wearing the ones that didn't quite make the cut and snapping up the items she loved the most. After a couple of hours and a few hundred dollars, she was well on the way to replacing her gloomy old wardrobe with one bursting with vibrant, cute and colourful clothing.

Ashleigh was finally ready to leave the mall and, once she was back in the sunlight, gleefully snapped a photo of her new look to share on her socials.

She was aware the small group of friends she currently had were still very much rooted in the kind of interests and passtimes she used to enjoy, and may be a little confused and even resistant to the lifestyle improvements she was making. However, she hoped they would understand and still want to hang out with her.

The busy young woman was just about ready to decide what to do next when she looked up to see a now familiar fairy standing in front of her with a wide smile.

"Oh hey, thanks so much for granting my wish. I'm way happier now!" Ashleigh enthused.

"You are very welcome my dear, so few people express gratitude when I grant their wishes" Priscilla told her satisfied customer "And you will be pleased to know you are about to receive another one!"