Enzo
It was a hot summer, and Belinda, like all of her friends, wore her long hair tied back into a ponytail. It was at the town pool where she spotted a girl who had long hair with the sides buzzed short. Her best friends Maria and Rose also spotted the girl and commented on how cool she looked, as when she tied her hair back, the buzzed area was exposed, but when her hair was untied, it was a hidden undercut.
Later that night, while the girls were watching tv at Maria’s house, Rose got up and went to the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later with her ponytail moved from the back of her head to the top of her head. Belinda looked at her and asked, “What are you doing?” Rose replied, “I started thinking, if I pull my hair up, and cut off a section at a time, I could have an undercut like the girl at the pool”. Maria replied, “I think that’ll work!” Belinda hesitated and said, “The only problem is, we only have kitchen shears.” Maria corrected her by saying, “We can used my Dad’s beard trimmer.” Suddenly the idea seemed feasible.
Belinda and Rose returned to the bathroom, followed by Maria with kitchen shears in hand. Rose was the first to get cut, and determined to part her hair even with her temple, and just behind her ear, creating an area to cut off.
With shears in hand, Maria started cutting off the hair on the side of Rose’s head. With the bulk removed, she then began using the beard trimmer with its longest attachment to fine tune the cut. When she was finished, Rose took down her hair. They had successfully hidden the undercut.
Maria was proud of her work and Belinda was eager to go next. She stood patiently as Rose sectioned her hair like hers. Maria then used the shears to begin cutting Belinda’s hair. Belinda beamed with happiness as the beard trimmer buzzed the side of her head.
But as Maria was buzzing the other side, a voice filled the room. Maria’s mother had come home, heard a commotion in the bathroom. She found hair strewn about the bathroom floor, and her daughter buzzing the side of Belinda’s head.
“WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!” She screamed. Maria continued to finish buzzing the side of Belinda’s head and giggled, saying “It’s OK Mom, We’re giving each other undercuts.” Her mother replied, “OH NO YOU’RE NOT, CLEAN UP THIS MESS NOW. Not seeing Rose’s undercut, she looked at Belinda and asked, “Does your mother know you’re doing this? Fearing to get caught in a lie, she responded “No”. Maria’s mother then left the bathroom saying, “I think you girls should go home.”
When Belinda arrived home, her mother told her Maria’s mother had called her and told her of what the girls did. When she saw Belinda’s hair, she was very upset. She looked at her daughter and said ”Go to your room, we’ll deal with this tomorrow.”
The following day, Belinda began going through her daily routine, looking to join her friends later. But her mother informed her that she would not be joining them, because she would be going to the salon to see what they could do about her hair.
When they arrived at the salon, Belinda and her mother met with the stylist first and explained the situation. The stylist wasn’t sure what she could do, but vowed to somehow fix it. She then sent Belinda off to get her hair washed. While she was gone, the stylist discussed some options with her mother. While the options were limited, they agreed on a plan for when she returned.
Belinda returned with a towel wrapped around her head and sat in the chair. The stylist removed the towel and began to comb and section Belinda’s hair. She sectioned off the sides of her head to where it was buzzed, then sectioned the back of her head to match the sides.
Not a word was spoken as the stylist grabbed her scissors and comb and began cutting the bulk of Belinda’s hair off at the back. Although she was looking in the mirror, she couldn’t tell exactly what was going on. The stylist then put down her comb and scissors and began fiddling with her hair in the back. Belinda was not sure of what the stylist was doing, but her actions became more clear when the stylist picked up her hair clippers and brought them to life. Her heart began to race as she felt the vibration of the clippers running up the back of her head, and and as she gasped as watched the clippers move to the sides, reducing her hair to 1/4 inch all the way around.
The stylist then let down all of Belinda’s hair. She looked at her reflection and noticed her hair was a bit shorter, due to the lower levels between cut off, but it still hid the undercut. She smiled for a moment, thinking the stylist had cut her hair all the same length underneath, so it would grow out evenly and the top would now cover the buzzed area. But her smile quickly disappeared when the stylist once again picked up her scissors. She watched in horror as the stylist began grabbing the hair in between her two fingers and began cutting her hair roughly 2 inches long. Tuft of hair fell to the cape as Belinda watched helplessly while her long hair was being haphazardly shorn off. When it was over, the stylist applied some pomade to her hair and spiked it up.
With her new buzzed and spiked style completed, the stylist removed the cape and spun her chair around. Adding insult to injury, the stylist held up a mirror, displaying the long braided “rat tail “ the stylist left her. A constant reminder of how one her hair was.
Later that day, Belinda joined her friends who were shocked to see her new cactus like hairstyle. They tried to console her, saying it would be easy and cool for the summer. But after seeing Belinda’s new haircut, Maria was thankful she didn’t cut her hair. Rose was still hiding her undercut from her mother, regretting the decision she made.
