AB
The final section of this three-part story. Go back to Part 1 to learn about Amy’s unwanted but lifesaving haircut, to Part 2 to learn the fate of the rest of her hair once she was cut free, or just keep reading to find out if there are any other haircuts to discover. (Hint: there are.)
Back home, Amy took a shower to wash the little hairs that were sticking to her face and neck off. She had told Candace she’d be quick, but as the shower water poured over her head, she found she didn’t want to get out yet. It was only when the water started to run cold that Amy got out, toweling herself off. Her hair seemed to dry in a matter of seconds.
Pulling on a bathrobe, Amy opened the door. Candace was still in Amy’s bedroom, scrolling through images of women with super-short hair to try to find makeup inspiration for her friend. She still felt like this was all her fault and she was determined to help Amy out however she could. Candace showed Amy a few ideas she though might work, and Amy chose one—a Sephora ad featuring a model with super short hair—albeit not as short as hers—with dramatic smokey eye makeup and a sprinkling of highlighter across her cheeks and forehead.
It took a little while, but between them, Amy was soon sporting a look similar to the model’s. As they worked, Candace kept stealing glances at her friend. Amy seemed to be relaxing now, and she kept reaching up to touch her head, giving it a little stroke or running a finger along the shaved hard part. The first few times Candace saw her do this she noticed Amy almost blanch at what she felt, but as the day wore on, she shorn blonde seemed to be returning her hand to her head because she liked what she felt. They spent much of the rest of the afternoon going through Amy’s closet, trying to figure out how to style some of her favorite items to work with her new look.
At about 4:30 p.m., Amy decided to send her mother a text: Forgot to tell you: I got a haircut today. It’s a little shorter. Don’t want you to be shocked or anything. Her mom replied with a thumbs-up tapback. She had no idea what she was in for. “Do you want me to stay until she gets here?” Candace asked her friend.
“No,” Amy replied. “I think it’s better if I do this alone so you don’t get trapped in the fallout.” Amy walked Candace to the door. As she passed a mirror in the hall, a flicker of sadness crossed her face. “The makeup helps a lot, and it feels nice to touch, but I really do think it’s going to be a while before I stop missing my long hair.”
Candace gave her friend a hug. “Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went?”
“I will,” Amy promised. “But you may know by then. I wouldn’t be surprised if you can hear my mother yelling all the way from your house.
Having a unisex salon in a strip mall in a relatively commercial neighborhood meant things usually got quiet for Sue before 5. She was open until 6, but always sent Jim home early—there was never enough business to warrant a second barber/stylist on site.
Sue was sweeping up the hair from her last client—a regular of hers, who wanted a one-inch trim for her shoulder-length bob—when she heard the door open. Looking up, the stylist was surprised to see the red-headed teen who had burst into her salon earlier that morning, asking her to cut her friend loose from her car, and who had then stood and held that friend’s hand while Sue first chopped, and then buzzed, the girl’s hair off. Cassidy? Cassandra? Candace. That was it.
“Hey hon,” Sue greeted the teen. “Wasn’t expecting to see you again. Did you leave something here?”
“No,” Candace said sheepishly. “But I’m hoping to.”
“Oh?” Sue asked. Then she understood what the teen meant. “Ohhhhh.”
“Yeah.”
“You sure? It sounded like you just had a pretty major cut.”
“I’m sure. I feel awful for what happened to Amy’s hair. It doesn’t feel fair that she had to practically shave her head and I still have all of this.”
“I’ll do whatever you want me to,” Sue said, “but I want you to ask yourself this question, first. Would Amy want you to cut all your hair off for her?”
“No. I think she’d be kind of furious, actually.”
“So…?”
“So…I still want to do it. For me.”
Sue gestured toward her chair. Amy sat quietly while the stylist draped the girl with her cape. “So what brought this on?” Sue asked.
“I don’t know,” Candace replied. “I think part of it was you talking about all those times you buzzed your hair off. Part of it was seeing how great Amy looked after you finished with her. And, if I’m being honest…I think it’s what I wanted to do anyway, when I chopped my hair last week. I was just too afraid.”
“And you’re not afraid anymore?”
“I’m terrified. But I’m also sure.”
Sue nodded. She understood exactly what Candace meant. “So are you going to tell me what exactly you want me to do, or…”
“I was hoping…you’d decide for me. Like you did with Amy.”
“So, same as her, then?”
“No,” Candace said, surprisingly firmly. “Shorter.”
The stylist nodded and picked up her clippers, affixing them with a #2 guard. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.” Positioning herself behind Amy, Sue flicked her clippers on and placed them at the girl’s forehead, drawing them backward and leaving a wide landing strip of quarter-inch red fuzz in their wake.
Candace drew in her breath sharply. This was noticeably shorter than what Amy had on the top of her head. It was exactly what she wanted. She stared at herself in the mirror as Sue continued to run her clippers across the top of her head, widening the strip of stubble until it consumed her whole head. Then, Sue tipped Amy’s head toward her left shoulder, beginning the work of denuding the right side of Candace’s head, followed shortly thereafter by a tilt to the right and a buzzing of the left. Still, the redhead watched, riveted. She felt a tightness in her stomach and a spreading warmth down her limbs.
“I’m sorry to say you can’t watch this part,” Sue told Candace, tipping her chin toward her chest. “So you should just close your eyes and enjoy. Candace did as recommended and the stylist pushed her clippers up the center of the girl’s nape and over her crown
The redhead saw stars behind her closed eyelids. Beneath the cape, she was gripping the chair’s armrests tightly.
“You can look up again,” she heard Sue say, right behind her but also a thousand miles away. She had finished up the back of Candace’s head and turned her clippers off.
Candace looked at her reflection and saw, beaming back at her, a beautiful young woman with pale, freckled skin, green eyes, and a short buzz cut. It was, she realized, the person she had actually wanted to see staring back at her in her parents’ bathroom mirror the week before, when she chopped that first foot and a half off of her hair. She brought a tentative hand out from under the cape and touched her hair—what remained of it—letting out a satisfied sigh.
“Do you want me to fade it?” Sue asked, watching the teen watch herself.
“Yes please,” Candace replied. Sue changed the guard on the clippers. Unlike with Amy, she knew this girl would not be afraid.
Twenty minutes later, Candace emerged from Sue’s Unisex Salon, her red hair tapering to only the faintest hint of stubble at her ears and neck.
“So…” Candace said, answering her phone the next morning when she saw Amy’s name flash across the screen. “How did it go?”
“Mom screamed when she saw it but calmed down pretty quickly and then spent a lot of the rest of the evening petting my head. When Dad got home, he rolled his eyes at me and mumbled something about teenagers. And I guess my brother will see it when he’s home from camp.”
“And how do you feel?”
“Still sad, but okay. I’m getting used to it. Slowly. How was your night?”
Candace raised a hand to her shorn head. “I think it’s better if I show you instead of telling you. Want to meet at my house in an hour?”
The closely cropped redhead walked into her bathroom and scrutinized herself in the mirror. She knew it would be a while before Amy stopped missing her long hair. But, Candace thought as she traced a finger along the smooth skin over her ear, she wasn’t sure she’d ever miss hers.
The end.
Return to Part 1 | Return to Part 2
I absolutely loved every part of this, but especially the second and third. The brief rehash of how Candace wound up with her bob and bangs, and then the gradual convincing of Amy to go shorter and shorter despite her reluctance to go short at all. And I love the style she wound up with, too. it’d be interesting to see whether she followed through with the threatened grow-out, though I’d imagine Candace will be short-haired for quite a while, if not life.
Yeah, I suspect Amy, much like Rebecca in your latest story, is going to try to grow it out and give up—although I doubt she’d go quite this short again. Candace I can see letting it grow out enough that when she cuts it short it feels significant. I don’t know that she’ll be satisfied just getting maintenance cuts every few weeks to keep the same style.
I like those possibilities!
I know this says conclusion but a follow up would be great. I’m curious of Amy’s reaction to Candace’s new look. Plus I want to know if she does go back to visit Sue in a few weeks & how that encounter goes. Of course, there’s also prom. If Amy was really determined she probably could have gotten her hair long enough for extensions or a wig if she really wanted to, but I feel like she was planning a giant up-do anyway, which maybe makes it not worth it, & it seems like Amy & Candace stay short. I think having Candace join her really turns Amy, & they both become Pixie Queens. Amy still misses her long hair on occasion but also really starts to enjoy the short hair & does like experimenting. They both become hair chameleons & inspire others.
Also, minor point, but when the story started they were both headed to the beach. I was curious if there was any thought to what they were wearing? No mention is ever made, but I’m wondering if what I picture in my own head is close to what you had in mind?
Anyway, great job, hope there is a follow up of some kind at some point. I love follow up & aftermath just as much as the actual process.