Babysitter Dylan

Dylan was the No. 1 babysitter for Family Johnson, and their daughter Kimberly loved him like a big sister. A big part must have been Dylan’s waist-length golden hair that Kimberly loved to brush, make ponytails, or braiding it. Dylan didn’t mind that Kimberly thought of him as a girl or even her big sister; he enjoyed the time with her regardless. One day, as he babysat Kimberly, their parents asked if Dylan could take Kimberly to the salon for a haircut. Dylan saw no problem and agreed happily. A few hours went by, and Kimberly had braided Dylan’s hair into two pigtails, and Dylan had given Kimberly many small ponytails over her head. Dylan looked at the clock and remembered the time for the haircut appointment. “Please, I worked so hard to make them look right,”, pleaded Kimberly as Dylan tried to open one of the braids. Dylan looked into Kimberly’s pleading Eyes and sighed heavily. “Only for you.”, he replied, and he let the braid swing back over his shoulder. Dylan felt a bit embarrassed as he guided Kimberly through the city; he could feel the gazes on him. At the salon, the hairdresser greeted both of them and, after a short conversation, seated Kimberly in one of the chairs. Her brown-haired head poked out of a light pink Cape. The hairdresser undid all the small ponytails and brushed her hair until she was satisfied. Kimberly’s mother had decided that Kimberly would get her hair cut a bit shorter this year in preparation for the summer holidays. The hairdresser lifted a pair of scissors, positioned them at Kimberly’s jaw, and made her first cut. Five inches of brown hair rained down with each cut. Dylan followed the falling hair with his eyes and imagined how happy Kimberly would be with her new haircut. About thirty minutes later, Kimberly’s haircut complete, the hairdresser shook out the cape and helped Kimberly out of the chair. Her hair was cut now to her little jawline; all around, only her bangs were shorter, ending one inch above her eyebrows. Kimberly twirled and couldn’t keep her hands from her freshly cut hair. “Look at my hair. It’s so light.”, she exclaimed, excited. Dylan ruffled her hair a bit and smiled at her. “It looks good on you,”, he simply added. “You should get yours cut as well, big sis. It will be fun,”, suggested Kimberly. “What about you, then? Want a haircut too? I have the time,”, asked the hairdresser as she heard the little girl. “No, thanks; besides, I only had the money for her haircut with me.”, Dylan explained sheepishly. “No problem. We run a special two-for-one deal at the moment. Two haircuts, one price,”, explained the hairdresser happily, and she turned the chair inviting towards Dylan. “Please,”, whined Kimberly. “Ok, you got me,”, said Dylan, and he gave in. Within the blink of an eye, Dylan was in the chair and got the same light pink Cape around his shoulders as Kimberly. “You’ve got a lot of hair,” said the surprised hairdresser as she pulled his Braids out under the Cape. “Thanks; I let it grow for some time now,”, replied Dylan, flushed slightly red. The hairdresser used his distracted state to sink her pair of scissors into the braided pigtail on the left and squeezed them shut. It took Dylan a moment to realize what was happening, but it was already too late. The crossed strands of the braid unraveled themselves as the hairdresser dropped the severed braid into his lap. Dylan couldn’t comprehend what just happened, his breath quickened and then the second braid got dropped into his lap only a moment later. For, what felt like an eternity, he could only stare at the severed twenty-inch braids in his lap until Kimberly’s tiny hand snatched them and held them tight. The hairdresser turned his chair with his back to the mirror and lifted his chin up until his head was level. The scissors struck again, this time sending smaller strands of only one to two inches long to the ground. Dylan could feel the cold metal of the scissors at his neck and the freshly cut hairs at his Jaw. Every time he tried to move, the hairdresser simply turned his head back into the optimal position for the next cut. Comb and cut, over and over, and strand by strand, his new haircut took shape. The hairdresser went in front of him and combed a section off that reached from one side of his forehead to the other. She combed it straight down and slipped the scissors right underneath his eyes into the hanging hair. “Bangs.”, was the only word Dylan could think of as the scissors closed. Five inches of golden hair glided down as the scissors made their way across his face. “I think we should go shorter,”, announced the hairdresser after she examined the initial cut and raised the scissors up more. Three more inches glided down, letting the remaining hair end right above his eyebrows. “That’s much cuter and suits your face even better,”, explained the satisfied hairdresser. “Chin down and head forward, please. You have so much hair that this is the best option.”, she explained, tilting his head down and pushing something up the back of his head. Only as Dylan felt the cold breeze of air did he realized, what she was doing. Her hand held him firmly in place as she moved the quietest set of clippers he had ever heard up his head. Large clumps of golden hair tumbled down onto the ground, leaving only short bristles like stubble behind. “Don’t worry, I won’t change anything extra for the next part,”, the hairdresser assured Dylan as she noticed his uneasy squirming in the chair, clearly misinterpreting his behavior. The hairdresser then moved the clippers from left to right, followed by another left to right only a bit lower, and a third and fourth time until she was at the base of his neck. Dylan got turned back towards the mirror and, at first, couldn’t recognize the person staring back at him, but as he lifted his hand to touch his hair, the mirror image did the same. He touched the back of his head and felt very short hair and some lines, and then the hairdresser held up a hand mirror to show him the backside. “Normally the two for one special are for two identical haircuts, but I opted to change yours up a bit because your older and a little girl’s bob wouldn’t fit you very well. The undercut and the hair tattoo are my little extras for you,”, explained the hairdresser, smiling. Dylan couldn’t process what had happened and wanted to protest, but as he saw Kimberly’s bright eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He put on a fake Smile and tried to keep calm. “Do you like it?”, asked the hairdresser eagerly. “Yeah, I like it,”, he forced himself to say. The hairdresser shook out the Cape, sending the remaining golden hair onto the floor, and smiled brightly as she saw Kimberly and Dylan stand beside each other, looking like different-aged Twins. Dylan paid and walked back to Johnson’s home. All the way, he couldn’t keep his hands from the back of his head. Miss Johnson couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw Dylan with the same haircut as Kimberly, and as he explained the situation, she burst out in laughter. Dylan let Kimberly keep his Braids as a present and as a token of their Friendship.

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