BuzzedBabe.xXx.
The two girls had been lying across the bed for almost an hour, talking about absolutely everything and nothing at the same time.
It was one of those nights where neither of them had anywhere else to be. The lights were low, some random show played quietly in the background, and they had settled into the comfortable silence that only really good friends could share.
Maddie was lying on her stomach, her long hair spread across the pillow and trailing almost all the way down her back. It was thick, soft, and easily reached down her back.
Beside her, Riley had been absentmindedly playing with it.
She ran her fingers through the ends, separated a few strands, then gathered the entire length into one hand.
“Your hair is ridiculously long,” Riley said.
Maddie smiled. “You’ve only mentioned that approximately a thousand times.”
“I know.”
Riley let the hair slide slowly through her fingers.
“You know what would look really cute?”
Maddie immediately knew that tone.
“No.”
“I haven’t even said anything.”
“You’re thinking about cutting my hair.”
Riley grinned.
“Maybe.”
Maddie laughed and rolled onto her back, pulling her hair protectively against her chest.
“Absolutely not.”
“But imagine it.”
“No.”
“Like—” Riley held her hands in the air, pretending to measure. “Just a little shorter. Maybe down to your shoulders.”
Maddie stared at her.
“That’s not a little shorter.”
“Okay, fine. A little shorter than that.”
“Riley.”
“I’m just saying!”
Riley reached over and gently pulled a section of Maddie’s hair between her fingers.
“This would be so much fun.”
“For you.”
“Exactly.”
Maddie burst out laughing.
Riley was notorious for loving haircuts. She had cut her own hair more times than either of them could count, had given practically everyone in their friend group at least one haircut, and had an almost unreasonable fascination with watching long hair transform into something short.
“You’ve always wanted to cut my hair,” Maddie said.
“Because you have perfect haircut hair.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
Riley gathered Maddie’s hair into a loose ponytail and held it up.
“Look at this.”
Maddie glanced over.
“What?”
“Imagine if I just chopped it right here.”
She moved her hand to just below Maddie’s shoulders.
Maddie’s eyes widened.
“Riley!”
Riley immediately let go, laughing.
“I’m not doing anything!”
“You’re plotting.”
“I am absolutely plotting.”
Maddie shook her head, but she was smiling.
Riley noticed.
“You’re thinking about it.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“No.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“Because you’re ridiculous.”
Riley scooted closer.
“Okay. What if we compromised?”
Maddie narrowed her eyes.
“How?”
“Nothing crazy. Just a few inches.”
“How many is a few?”
“Three.”
“That’s not terrible.”
Riley’s eyes lit up.
“See?”
“But I’m not saying yes.”
“Yet.”
Maddie laughed again and pushed Riley away with a pillow.
Riley caught it, still grinning.
“One day,” she said confidently.
“One day what?”
“One day you’re going to let me cut it.”
Maddie shook her head.
“Keep dreaming.”
Riley settled back onto the pillow, still playing with the ends of Maddie’s hair.
“Oh, I will.”
And judging by the mischievous look on her face, Maddie suspected that Riley had already started imagining exactly what that haircut would look like.
Riley was still playing with Maddie’s hair.
She’d gathered it into her hands again, letting the heavy length spill through her fingers.
“Okay,” Riley said thoughtfully. “I’m changing my proposal.”
Maddie glanced at her suspiciously.
“Your proposal?”
“Yes. I think I’ve been approaching this all wrong.”
“Because there is no proposal.”
Riley smiled. “Hear me out.”
Maddie sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
Riley ran her fingers through the ends again.
“I’m not asking you to get a short haircut.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to let me give you a new version of your hair.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds exactly like something someone trying to cut my hair would say.”
“Probably because I’m very persuasive.”
“You are.”
Riley smiled proudly.
Maddie shook her head, but she didn’t move away.
Riley noticed.
“See? You haven’t told me to stop playing with it.”
“Because you’re my best friend.”
“Exactly. And your best friend has excellent taste.”
Maddie laughed.
Riley lifted the ends of her hair and held them against Maddie’s shoulder.
“Look.”
Maddie looked.
“Just imagine this much gone.”
Riley moved her hand a few inches higher.
“That’s it. You’d still have plenty of length. You could still put it in a ponytail. You’d still have long hair.”
Maddie considered it.
“Maybe.”
Riley’s smile widened.
“Maybe?”
“Don’t get excited.”
“I’m already excited.”
She shifted closer.
“And think about how much easier it would be. Less drying. Less brushing. Less hair getting caught underneath you when you’re sleeping.”
Maddie frowned thoughtfully.
“Okay, that’s actually a good argument.”
“I know.”
“But I like my hair.”
“I know.”
Riley’s voice softened.
“That’s why I wouldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want.”
Maddie looked at her.
Riley smiled sweetly.
“But if you wanted to try something different, I’d make sure you looked amazing.”
There was something about the confidence in her voice that made Maddie laugh.
“You really want to cut my hair.”
“I really, really do.”
“Why?”
Riley paused, pretending to think.
“Because I’ve been looking at it for years and thinking about what I’d do with it.”
Maddie stared at her.
“Years?”
“Maybe.”
“Riley!”
“I’m just being honest!”
Riley gathered the hair behind Maddie’s neck and held it loosely in a ponytail.
“What if we did this?”
Maddie looked at the imaginary haircut in the mirror across the room.
Riley continued.
“Nothing extreme. We take off the damaged ends. Give it some shape. Maybe bring it up to here.”
Her hand rested around Maddie’s upper back.
Maddie bit her lip.
“That’s a lot.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah.”
Riley smiled.
“Okay. Then don’t decide tonight.”
Maddie relaxed.
Riley released her hair.
“Just think about it.”
There was a pause.
Then Riley added casually, “Although…”
Maddie groaned.
“Here we go.”
“You’d look so cute.”
“Riley.”
“I’m serious.”
She brushed Maddie’s hair away from her face.
“Your face would show more. Your neck would show. And you’d still have enough length to play with.”
Maddie looked at her reflection again.
“You really think I’d look good?”
“I don’t think you’d look good.”
Riley smiled.
“I think you’d look gorgeous.”
That got her.
Maddie looked away, trying not to smile.
“You’re cheating.”
“How?”
“You’re complimenting me.”
“Is it working?”
“…Maybe.”
Riley’s grin returned.
“Then I’m doing my job.”
Maddie picked up a strand of her hair and looked at it thoughtfully.
“Okay.”
Riley froze.
“Okay?”
“Maybe you can cut a little.”
Riley’s eyes widened.
“How much is ‘a little’?”
Maddie held her fingers a few inches apart.
“This much.”
Riley tried very hard not to look too excited.
“Deal.”
“And that’s it.”
“Of course.”
“No convincing me to go shorter.”
Riley nodded innocently.
“Absolutely.”
Maddie narrowed her eyes.
“You’re smiling.”
“I can’t help it.”
“Riley.”
“Okay, okay.”
Riley leaned back against the pillows, practically glowing.
Maddie shook her head.
“You’ve been planning this entire conversation, haven’t you?”
Riley laughed.
“Maybe.”
“You’re impossible.”
“And yet…”
Riley reached over and gently played with Maddie’s hair again.
“…you’re letting me cut it.”
Maddie smiled.
“Just a little.”
Riley smiled back.
“For now.”
A couple of hours later, they were curled in the living room watching a movie, a Chinese takeout container balanced precariously on Maddie’s lap. While she sat on the floor and Riley sat behind her on the couch.
The movie had been playing for twenty minutes, but neither of them was paying much attention.
Riley had her dark brown hair pulled into its usual ponytail, the long tail resting over one shoulder. Every so often, Maddie caught herself looking at it.
She quickly looked back at the television.
“You’re staring,” Riley said.
“I’m watching the movie.”
“You’re watching me.”
“I’m absolutely not.”
Riley smirked and went back to her food.
Maddie tried to concentrate.
Then, as she lifted a bite toward her mouth, a piece of food slipped off her fork.
It landed directly in her hair.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”
Maddie dropped the fork and immediately started trying to find it.
Riley burst out laughing.
“Don’t laugh!”
“I’m sorry!”
“You are not sorry.”
Riley was still laughing as she reached over to help.
“Hold still.”
Maddie groaned while Riley carefully separated the strands and removed the offending piece.
“This is exactly what I mean,” Maddie complained. “My hair is everywhere.”
Riley gave her a knowing look.
“Still think cutting it is a bad idea?”
Maddie stared at her.
“…Maybe not.”
Riley’s eyebrows shot up.
“Really?”
Maddie sighed.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Riley practically lit up.
“But,” Maddie added quickly, “I want something in return.”
Riley paused.
“What?”
Maddie looked at her ponytail.
“Your hair.”
Riley touched her ponytail instinctively.
“My hair?”
“You heard me.”
“What are you planning?”
Maddie smiled.
“You know how I’ve always said short hair looks really good on masculine women?”
Riley nodded slowly.
“Yeah.”
“And you know how you’ve been wanting to cut mine?”
“Yes…”
“Then maybe we make it even.”
Riley stared at her.
“You want me to cut mine too?”
Maddie shrugged, pretending the idea wasn’t making her heart race.
“Maybe.”
“How short?”
Maddie smiled.
“Short.”
Riley laughed nervously.
“You’ve been waiting for this.”
“No.”
“Maddie.”
“Okay, maybe.”
Riley pulled her ponytail around to the front and looked at it.
“You’re serious?”
Maddie nodded.
“Completely.”
“Do you think you could do the cut that you want to on me yourself?”
Riley asked
“Ohhh probably not.” Maddie said
“I’ve only ever cut my dogs hair and that was shaving her with clippers. Do you want a clipper cut?” Maddie said as she pretended to have clippers in hand and went over Riley’s head with them. Riley said “Nope. Definitely not. I barely want a shorter cut as is but I’ll do it for you”
What she didn’t tell Riley was that she’d imagined this before.
Not just Riley with slightly shorter hair.
Riley with the kind of haircut Maddie secretly loved—the sharp, confident, masculine look that made Maddie’s stomach flip whenever she saw it on someone.
And now she had a chance to see Riley walk into a salon with all that dark brown hair and walk out looking completely different.
Maddie tried to hide her excitement.
“I think you’d look really hot.”
Riley froze.
Maddie immediately realized what she’d said.
“I mean—”
Riley’s smile slowly appeared.
“Really?”
Maddie looked down at her food.
“Yes.”
Riley laughed softly.
“Okay. Now I definitely want to hear your idea.”
Maddie reached over and gently took Riley’s ponytail in her hand.
“Imagine this being gone.”
She held her fingers around the length just below Riley’s ears.
Riley’s eyes widened.
“That’s…pretty short.”
“Exactly.”
“And you think I’d look good?”
Maddie looked at her for a moment.
“I think you’d look incredible.”
Riley smiled.
“Then I guess we have a deal.”
Maddie grinned.
“You cut mine.”
“And you help me decide mine.”
“Deal.”
Neither girl said anything for a moment.
The movie continued playing in the background.
Maddie looked at Riley’s ponytail again.
For once, she didn’t have to hide how much she liked the idea.
And Riley, completely unaware of the secret reason behind Maddie’s enthusiasm, simply smiled and squeezed her hand.
“Tomorrow?”
Maddie’s heart skipped.
“Tomorrow.”
“Good, because I made an appointment for us while you were in the bathroom” Riley said.
“Riley!!” Maddie said as she slapped Riley on the arm. The two both giggled and went back to their food.
The next afternoon, Riley stood in front of the salon mirror, her dark brown hair hanging down her back in a familiar ponytail.
Maddie sat nearby, trying desperately to act normal.
She wasn’t succeeding.
“You’ve been staring at my hair for five minutes,” Riley said.
Maddie smiled.
“I’m just appreciating the before.”
“The before?“
Riley laughed.
“You make it sound like I’m about to become a completely different person.”
Maddie’s eyes flicked toward the cape hanging beside the chair.
“Maybe a little.”
Riley shook her head, amused, and sat down.
The stylist draped the cape
The stylist fastened the cape around Riley’s neck and gathered her dark brown ponytail over one shoulder.
“So,” she asked, reaching for her comb, “what are we doing with it today?”
Riley opened her mouth to answer.
“Wait!”
Maddie suddenly jumped up from her chair.
She hurried over with her phone already in her hand.
“I have a picture.”
Riley immediately became suspicious.
“A picture of what?”
“Nothing.”
“Maddie.”
“Just trust me.”
Maddie turned the phone toward the stylist, carefully keeping the screen angled away from Riley.
The stylist studied the picture.
Her eyes widened.
“That?”
Maddie nodded enthusiastically.
The stylist looked at Riley, then back at the picture.
“That would look so good on you.”
Riley’s smile disappeared.
“Okay, now I definitely need to see it.”
Maddie giggled and quickly walked back toward her chair.
“Nope.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ll see.”
“Maddie, what did you show her?”
Maddie sat down, crossing her legs and trying to contain her grin.
“It’s going to look so good.”
Riley stared at her.
“How short is it?”
Maddie simply smiled.
“So good.”
The stylist laughed.
“Your girlfriend definitely knows what a cute cut would look like.”
Riley immediately interrupted.
“Oh! She’s my best friend.”
Maddie felt her cheeks warm.
“Best friend,” she echoed, pretending to be completely unfazed.
The stylist smiled.
“Well, your best friend has good taste.”
Riley narrowed her eyes at Maddie.
“Let me see the picture.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll chicken out.”
“I will not.”
“You might.”
Riley looked at the stylist.
“How bad is it?”
The stylist smiled knowingly.
“Let’s just say you’re going to be losing quite a bit of hair.”
Riley’s hand instinctively went to her ponytail.
Maddie’s eyes followed the movement.
She couldn’t help it.
She’d imagined this moment so many times: Riley sitting beneath a salon cape, her beautiful dark hair about to be transformed into exactly the kind of short, confident style Maddie secretly adored.
And now it was actually happening.
Riley sighed.
“Fine.”
Riley looked at her reflection again.
The stylist ran her fingers through Riley’s ponytail.
“Are we ready?”
Riley swallowed.
“Let’s do it.”
Maddie’s heart jumped.
Riley smiled nervously.
Maddie tried hiding her grin behind her hands. She was so excited to see this cut finally come to life on Riley.
The stylist reached for her scissors.
Riley watched in the mirror as the stylist lifted her ponytail and opened the scissors.
“Ready?”
Riley took one breath.
“There’s no turning back once I cut it.” The stylist said. “I’m ready” Riley said.
The scissors closed and opened several times as the sound of hair being chopped off filled the room. Maddie was absolutely speechless and stared at Riley in awe. Riley looked at herself in the mirror almost studying the way the stylist was cutting.
The thick ponytail dropped into the stylist’s hand.
Maddie stared.
For a second, neither girl said anything.
Then Riley laughed.
“Oh my God.”
She reached behind her neck and felt the sudden absence of all that weight.
“That’s…really short.”
Maddie smiled.
“And?”
Riley looked at herself.
A slow smile spread across her face.
“I kind of love it.”
Maddie couldn’t stop smiling.
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“You really do,” Riley teased.
Maddie looked away.
“Maybe a little.”
Riley laughed.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Just wait until you see the finished cut.”
The stylist began working through the remaining length, shortening the sides and shaping the top.
As each section fell away, Riley’s face became more visible. Her neck was exposed. Her jawline looked sharper. The once-familiar ponytail was given to Maddie to hold onto.
Maddie watched every second.
And when the stylist finally spun Riley toward the mirror, Maddie forgot to pretend she wasn’t staring.
Riley looked completely different.
Confident.
Sharp.
And, to Maddie, unbelievably attractive.
Riley caught her expression in the mirror.
“What?”
Maddie smiled.
“I told you.”
Riley raised an eyebrow.
“Told me what?”
Maddie leaned back in her chair.
“That it was going to look really good.”
Riley ran a hand over the short sides of her hair and smiled at her reflection.
“Okay.”
She looked at Maddie through the mirror.
“You were right.”
Maddie smiled.
“Don’t get used to hearing me say that.”
Riley laughed.
“Too late.”
Riley looked in the mirror again and saw her tattoo on the back of her neck. One that she and Maddie got to match on a drunken spring break trip to Cabo for Maddie’s older sister Emily’s 21st birthday.
As the stylist brushed the hair off of Riley and undid the cape. Riley got up, looked at Maddie and said “your turn” in an almost smug way.
Maddie, somewhat hesitantly got up, handed Riley her braid and walked over to the chair. The stylist was sweeping up the brown locks on the floor that once belonged to her best friend. She turned around for a second and saw Riley running her fingers over the freshly shaved parts. Almost in a trance of how it felt.
Maddie sat down and had the cape draped over her and snapped together.
The stylist went to sectioning it for the the shoulder length cut, and Maddie was watching every movement nervously.
“Something’s missing,” Riley said.
Maddie looked at her.
“What?”
Riley walked behind the chair and gently lifted the hair at Maddie’s nape.
“I think the back should be shorter.”
Maddie’s eyes widened.
“Shorter than my shoulders?” Maddie asked
“Much shorter.”
“Riley…”
Riley smiled.
She turned Maddie’s chair slightly so she could see Riley’s reflection beside her own.
Riley’s new haircut was dramatically short around the sides and back, exposing the tattoo on her neck completely. The contrast between the short back and the slightly longer hair on top made the whole style look deliberate and confident.
“Look at mine,” Riley said.
Maddie did.
“Your tattoo is completely showing.”
“Exactly.”
Riley gently moved Maddie’s hair away from her neck.”
“Imagine yours like that.”
Maddie looked at herself.
Then at Riley.
Her hesitation began to fade.
“I don’t know…”
“You do.”
Maddie laughed nervously.
“You make everything sound so easy.”
“Because it is.”
Riley leaned closer to the mirror.
“We got these tattoos to match, didn’t we?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why hide half of them?”
Maddie stared at her reflection.
Riley’s smile softened as she went to sit back down. Maddie looked at herself almost with a look of spite. Her best friend who originally said just a few inches was now saying a lot more than that.
But Maddie got distracted. It was The short hair, the exposed neck, The tattoo, the confidence.
Something about seeing Riley actually do it made the idea suddenly feel much less scary.
Maddie took a breath.
“Okay.”
Riley grinned.
“Okay?”
“Let’s do it.”
She glanced over at Riley who looked like she just saw a ghost.
Riley’s grin became enormous.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“It’s going to look so cute” the stylist said. She asked as she held her freshly sharpened shears in her hand. Maddie looked over at Riley who was holding her hair and held a piece of it up to her lips like a mustache. Maddie giggled and suddenly felt some of her anxiety melt away. “Let’s chop it” Maddie said. Just then Riley looked immediately at a Maddie’s face in the mirror again. “Let’s chop it?” She thought to herself. “This can’t be the same girl who she practically had to beg to cut just a few inches off about 13 hours ago. Who is that sitting in the chair? Not her shy, quiet best friend like she’s used to. Confidence took over Maddie’s body and Riley immediately fell a pull of attraction to her. She’s had it before but it was during the aforementioned Cabo trip and Riley thought maybe it was because she’d been drinking.
Either way, she really enjoyed watching Maddie curl her hair, apply her dark, bold lipstick and then smack her lips as she locked eyes with Riley, pulled up her strapless dress that her boobs we’re almost too large for, and walked past Riley as they’d head out the door to the bar to celebrate Emily’s birthday. The aroma of Maddie’s perfume always caught Riley off guard but in the best way. You’d think after twelve years, the amazing scents that Maddie spritzed on herself wouldn’t phase Riley but it still did. Riley grabbed her jacket and put her braid to the side as she put her hood on.
Riley went back to reality and looked at Maddie again.
As Riley was reminiscing, she heard the clippers turn on and looked over to see the stylist had pinned Maddie’s hair up and had a rather large section hanging from the bottom. “Whoa, what are those for?” Riley asked. “We’re going to take some of the bulk off from underneath since she has such thick hair. You won’t be able to tell her naked is shaved unless you lift her hair up. Maddie smiled at Riley.
The stylist then took the clippers as long locks of red fell to the floor. As she finished with the clippers and brushed the tiny hairs from Maddie’s neck.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
She turned Maddie’s chair away from the main mirror and handed her a small handheld mirror.
“Take a look.”
As the stylist lifted the bob up, Maddie’s freshly shaved nape was exposed. She felt a cool breeze.
“Oh, wow.” She said. “I feel so edgy and sexy” Maddie replied. Riley grinned at Maddie. “That’s because you are, Mads”
Riley seen Maddie’s tattoo. Maddie lifted her hand up to feel it. “I’ve never had clippers used on me before. I love the way it feels” she said. “It definitely catches people off guard but they tend to love the feeling. So much so that they come back frequently to have it touched up.
Just then Riley walked over to get a closer look.
Riley reached out almost without thinking.
Her fingertips brushed over the tattoo.
Maddie reached up at the same time.
Their fingers touched.
Both girls froze.
Riley immediately pulled her hand away.
“Sorry.”
Maddie didn’t answer right away.
She was still looking at herself in the mirror.
The haircut was incredible.
But suddenly, that wasn’t the only thing making her heart beat faster.
She hadn’t felt butterflies like this since Cabo.
Maddie swallowed.
Am I attracted to my best friend?
She glanced toward Riley.
Riley was already talking with the stylist, completely unaware of the little crisis happening in Maddie’s head.
Maddie watched her for a moment.
That haircut.
God.
It really was driving her crazy.
Riley suddenly looked back.
“I have another idea.”
Maddie’s eyes widened.
“Oh, great.”
Riley grinned.
“But this one is going to be a surprise.”
The stylist laughed.
“Don’t worry. It’s going to look amazing.”
She turned Maddie back toward the main mirror.
Maddie immediately shook her head.
“Actually, I don’t want to see it happening.”
Riley raised an eyebrow.
“Really?”
“Can we turn me back around?”
The stylist and Riley exchanged a quick look.
The stylist smiled.
“You’ve got it.”
She turned Maddie away from the mirror again. “I’m going to clean up a bit of stragglers and do the finer details really quick before we move to the surprise” she said to Riley.
Riley watched as the stylist studied Maddie’s hair from several angles, checking the shape of the bob and running her fingers through the thick ends.
She snipped tiny uneven pieces here and there, carefully refining the line.
“She’s got so much hair,” Riley commented.
“I know,” the stylist replied. “But that’s what makes this cut work. I want it to have movement without losing that full shape.”
She combed through the bob again.
Snip.
Snip.
A tiny piece fell.
She stepped back.
“Perfect.”
Just then, the bell above the salon door chimed.
A woman walked inside.
The stylist looked over and smiled.
“Hey, babe. I’m just finishing up this cut and then I’ll be done.”
“No problem, my love.”
The woman smiled back.
“My mom said there’s about a forty-five-minute wait at the restaurant.”
She walked closer and looked down at the floor.
“That’s a lot of hair.”
The stylist laughed.
“Yes, it is. They’ve both chopped off quite a lot today.”
The woman leaned in and kissed her.
“This is my wife, Ronni.”
Ronni smiled at the girls.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” Maddie replied.
Ronni looked around at the two dramatic transformations.
“Ohhh. Couple bonding by cutting your hair off together. Exciting.”
“Oh, we—” Riley started.
“Thanks,” Maddie interrupted brightly.
She smiled at Ronni and then shot Riley a quick look.
Riley understood immediately.
She doesn’t want to correct her.
That was probably all.
Probably.
The stylist picked up a large section of hair at the front of Maddie’s head as Ronni walked away to go raise the candy bowl at the register.
She held it between her fingers and looked toward Riley.
“Like this?”
Riley studied it.
“Maybe a little shorter.”
She thought for a second.
“Think Sabrina Carpenter.”
Maddie’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
Sabrina Carpenter?
She had mentioned to Riley before how much she loved Sabrina’s hair, especially the bangs, but she’d always been too nervous to actually get them.
Apparently Riley remembered.
Maddie didn’t say anything.
She trusted the stylist.
The stylist repositioned the section between her fingers.
The shears closed.
A surprisingly large amount of red hair tumbled onto the cape.
Maddie stared.
Ronni laughed.
“Dang, girl. Now is that you, espresso?”
Everyone laughed.
Maddie couldn’t help smiling.
Bangs.
She’d actually done it.
The stylist carefully blended the new front pieces, shaping them into soft, full bangs that framed Maddie’s face.
“How does that look?”
Maddie looked toward Riley.
“Yeah, babe?” she teased. “How does it look?” Maddie said jokingly.
Riley was standing nearby with a sucker in her mouth.
She pulled it out and smiled.
“It looks amazing.”
Something about the way Riley said it made Maddie’s stomach flip again.
The stylist finished the last few details, brushed the fallen hair from Maddie’s shoulders, and finally unclipped the cape.
She brushed the remaining loose hairs from Maddie’s back and shoulders before walking toward the register.
Maddie remained facing away from the mirror.
Riley noticed.
“You’re not going to look?”
Maddie shook her head.
“No.”
She smiled.
“I trust you both.”
The stylist rang everything up.
“Okay. Your total is eighty dollars.”
Maddie immediately pointed toward Riley.
“All right, Riley. You heard her.”
Riley looked at her in disbelief.
“Me? Why do I have to pay?”
Maddie giggled.
“You’re the one who wanted it!”
Riley laughed.
“That’s not how this works!”
Maddie smiled innocently.
“Apparently it is today.”
Riley shook her head, laughing as she reached for her wallet.
And Maddie sat there with her new bob, hidden bangs, exposed tattoos, and a secret she was beginning to realize she couldn’t keep from herself much longer. The stylist handed Maddie her ponytail and said “here’s your trophy, my dear”
Riley held hers carefully in one hand as they walked out, the thick dark-brown bundle tied neatly at both ends. Maddie’s was shorter, but there was still an impressive amount of hair attached to the little elastic band. Riley stopped and pulled her phone up. She then held her braid up and smiled big, Maddie caught on and did the same. She snapped a few photos and then went to take another one. Maddie then kissed her on the cheek. Shocked, Riley asked her what that was for as she put her phone down. “Since we’re a couple, I figured I’d get a smooch in” she said jokingly. “Take the picture, Ri”
Just then Riley got her phone and looked at maddie who was also looking at her. Maddie kissed her on the cheek again as Riley snapped the photo.
Neither had actually thought about how strange it would feel to carry the physical evidence of their old hairstyles out the door. Riley went to the passenger side of her car and opened the door for Maddie. Maddie immediately felt a bit of butterflies as she could sense her attraction coming into full force. She grinned at Riley and buckled up as Riley shut the door and walked to the drivers side. Just then, the wind picked up and blew Riley’s hair back a little. Riley ran her fingers through the hair as she watched for cars and then opened her door. “Ooo it’s windy now” she said to Maddie as she turned on the car. Maddie just sat there looking over at Riley almost in a daze. Riley turned the radio on and looked at Maddie as she smiled back to her. “Ready to rock and roll she said. She then drove the car away back to her place with the windows down, the music loud and the two friends singing to the radio. Except this time, it didn’t feel like it has in the past. There was definitely something more
