If You Get a Pixie

It was my first weekend off in a long time. Because of Covid, I haven’t been able to get to my hometown in sometime. I was now in the entrance of a bar, waiting for my friends, whom I haven’t seen in more than two months.

“Where are you? We’re at the entrance.”
“I’m literally right here.״
“Where? All I see are two black guys and a bald dude.”
“I’m the bald dude.”
“WHAT?!”

“So you just shaved your head bald for some girl? And you didn’t even tell me?”
“Well, Becky, it’s not just some girl. It’s Lisa, I think you know her. And it wasn’t really like that.”

So, there are a few crucial details to lay open beforehand. I’d joined the military a couple months ago. After finishing boot camp, I started an advanced training program. Nothing physical, just office work. So it’s mostly girls here, with a minority of dudes.
The men are of course required to get a one length buzz cut. Or be bald, of course. The women, on the other hand, have some freedom with their hair. They have to tie it, or braid it. They can let it out, but it has to be shorter than chin length. We barely get 10 minutes of shower a day, so it’s really hard for some of the girls.

When I was walking by Lisa and Janet (who has a higher rank than we do), I heard them talk about this exact topic.
“Ugh, I barely get enough time to put on any shampoo.” Lisa said. Lisa has this brown-blonde color, and although I’d never seen her with her hair down, it seems to reach just to her lower back with her braid reaching her mid-back.
Janet, who is a lot more experienced in the military than we are, having joined a year before us, sported a very short ponytail that stuck out of her head.
“You can always cut it, you know,” I chimed in.
“Yeah,” Janet added, “it’s much easier to handle.”
“Easy for you two to say. Hell, Max, you’re like four weeks away from being bald. And Janet, you showed me pictures, you never had hair longer than your shoulders.”
“What do you mean I’m four weeks from being bald?” I asked, slightly offended.
“Well, you know, you could shave your head bald and in four weeks you’ll be back to where you are now.”
“That’s not- wait, do you want me to be bald? I think I look just fine with my buzz cut, thank you very much.”
“First of all, men with bald heads are attractive. Especially if it’s out of choice and not necessity. Women with short hair are less attractive.”
“Thanks a lot,” Janet said, combining an angry and slightly sarcastic tone.
“No no, I don’t mean you, Janet. I mean like those ladies with the really short hair. Pixie cuts. I don’t think I’ll ever have the guts to get a haircut like that.”
“And I’ll never be bald,” I added.
“Well, at some point you will be,” Lisa pointed out.
“Ouch. Anyway, I disagree with you. Women with pixie cuts are really attractive to a lot of guys. And I think a pixie would really suit you.”
“Yeah, and you’ll look good bald.” Lisa answered with a sarcastic tone.
“C’mon, every person need to try and open up to new things. You’re still young, your hair will grow out. I will be bald at some point, yet you will never have to cut your hair.”
“Oh, so I’m supposed to cut my hair short but Mr. buzzy over here and keep his buzz cut until his hair falls off? Doesn’t sound fair now does it?”
God, I would love to see her with shorter hair. “You know what? If you get a pixie, I’ll shave my head bald.”
“OK, Mr. grow-it-out-in-a-month. It’ll take me literal years to grow back.”
“You know what? For every time you keep it short, I mean trim it, I’ll stay bald for another month.”
“Sounds like a challenge.”
And then our lunch break ended, and it was back to constant studying and getting screamed at.

Later that week, when we were preparing out bags to go home, Lisa tapped on my shoulder. “Don’t think I forgot our little bet.” “Oh no, I’m so scared of being bald for a month,” I answered sarcastically, thinking she would never dare to cut her hair.
Boy oh boy was I wrong.

The next day, while at home, I got a video from her.
On the video, you can’t see her face, only her back. And her hair.
Her hair is braided and tied. Scissors are approaching it, and the person starts cutting, up in the middle of the neck. A few moments and scissors crunches later, a few soft claps are heard and just as she was about to turn and look, the video ended.
Oh my god. It can’t be real.
“Haha. Video could be anyone, I can’t see your face. I’ll believe it when I see it with my own eyes.” I texted.
“Well, better pack your razors, mister.”

The next evening, last day home, the army notified us to pack for 7 weeks, since we were going to not go back home for at least that long because of Covid.
Contemplating, I packed my electric trimmer, just in case. I used to have a pretty nice beard, but they don’t allow those in the army, so I resorted to shaving it with a classic razor and cream each morning.

The very next day, first thing in the morning, a familiar person whom I can’t quite recognize approached me. “So? What do you think?” It took me a couple seconds. Granted, we were all wearing Covid masks, so recognizing people is as hard as ever.
“Oh my god, Lisa?”
“That’s quite rude of you, Max. But it’s okay, baldy. You won’t have hair for much longer.”
Her hair was short all over, and more than that, it wasn’t really blonde. You could see bits and pieces of blonde, but it looked light brown. The sides were really short, but only scissor-short. The top was a bit longer and drawn backwards. Her ears were barely visible, with the tips of them hidden under the hair from the top and the bottoms completely out and naked. You could see half closed earring holes (earrings aren’t allowed in the army).
She looked stunning with it.
“You’re gorgeous.”
“You think? I actually really liked it. I prefer the browner look, makes people take me more seriously. I think I’ll keep it for some time. Now, it’s time for your end of the deal.”
“Yeah, yeah.”

At evening, I hear a knock on my door. Upon opening it, I see the same short-haired female from beforehand.
“C’mon, it’s shaving time. You promised.”
Without speaking a word, I pulled out my electric trimmer, and put it to my forehead head.
“Oh my god Max, the room.”
“Fuck the room, I’m not gonna do it out it public,” I said while pushing the machine up my head. “Care to help?”
“Sit down, baldy.”
She started shaving my head with the trimmer. From the top, to the back, to the sides. I could feel the cold trimmer head on my scalp, gently brushing it, with short hairs coming down. The floor was a mess. It didn’t really hurt, and she finished in a few minutes.
“Okay, that wasn’t so bad. I’ll just go look in the mirror.”
“Woah, slow down, baldass. You didn’t even shave it. Where’s your razor?”
“Razor? Isn’t the trimmer enough?”
“No. We agreed on bald, not ‘very close buzz’.”
“It in the bath bag.”
She pulled it out, along with my shaving cream. She slowly applied the cream to my head, and started to shave with the razor.
“Ouch!” was my initial reaction to the razor
“It’s okay, I read online that it only hurts for the first few times. After that, your skin gets used to it, and even less hair grows.”
“What do you mean ‘first few times’? This is the one and only time, you’re not gonna get any trims for the next seven weeks.”
“Umm, first off all, we don’t know what lies ahead in the future. Second, you said you were gonna *keep it* bald for a month. You know that means daily shaves, right?”
“Like my BEARD?”
“Yes. And I will be here every day. Now… look!”
She handed me her phone as a mirror.
“Oh my god. I look like a penis. This is terrible.”
“Oh come on, grow a pair. You finally look like a man. I literally cut off years of hair, you just shaved a month.”

For the next few days, I tried getting used to it. Lisa didn’t give up a single shave, and I preferred to shave my head in the evenings, and my beard in the mornings. So she was always there. It got cold when it was windy, and I had to explain the whole story every time I saw someone for the first time as a bald man. The annoying thing is, Lisa got the entire credit! And people told her how brave she was to get her hair cut as a woman. I was the one to come up with the idea, and now I’m the one being shaved every day!

Me and Lisa grew closer together over our shaving sessions. After a couple weeks, we really opened up to one another.
“You know what is still weird to me? The fact that you, a guy, just casually suggested I’d get a haircut,” Lisa said using a genuine tone.
“What’s so weird about it?”
“Well, you know, men tend to be conservative when it comes to women’s hair. You’re the first guy I’d seen who isn’t strongly opposed to the idea of a younger woman with shorter hair.”
“Oh, well, from a young age I found myself more attracted to women with shorter hair. The older I got, the shorter it got.”
“That’s interesting,” Lisa continued in a curious tone. “Any idea why?”
“Umm, well, the first thing that comes to mind is that in 6th grade, I had a crush. She was this gorgeous girl with her hair all the way down to her butt. One day, she came to school with her hair ending a bit above her lips. That… did something to me.”
“Huh. So it’s really a fixation. But even lips length could be long by some standards.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. I actually now like it much shorter. I feel like I’m over-sharing. What makes you like bald men?”
“Haha,” she laughed. “I guess it’s my turn. My dad has always been the strict type. And my older sister didn’t help my case either. So I was always distant with him. Other than him, my experience with men wasn’t great either. That was until I met Andrew, and he was my boyfriend of two years in high-school. About 6 months into our relationship, he got diagnosed with cancer. I was with him through it all, chemo and stuff. He’s fine now, we broke up before college. He is the only men I was ever really close to. So, I guess I find bald men comforting. And attractive. Now back to you. What did you mean by ‘shorter’?”
“Oh, umm. Also a high-school thing. In high-school, I convinced my girlfriend to get a buzz cut. Her hair wasn’t that long before, it was boobs length. But then she bleached it and it looked awful, so I got her to buzz it. She kinda hated me for it, but she kept it for the two years we were together. She looked stunning with it. We also broke up before college, and she actually got married last month. I’m happy for her, we just weren’t a great fit.”
“Huh. I guess we’re kinda similar. A buzz cut you say…”
“Yup.”

Another two weeks had passed by rather quickly. And I hate to say it, but it really “grew” on me. I liked the bald look, the bald feel. Lisa’s company. We actually became really close over that time.
But a month is a month, and Lisa’s hair had grown out.

“You know this is the last time you’re gonna do this, right?” I asked Lisa, as she was applying the cream to my head.
“What do you mean?”
“Tomorrow it’s exactly a month since you cut your hair, meaning I’ll finally be able to grow mine.”
“Oh, right. But that’s not fair, there isn’t a way for me to get my hair trimmed here.”
“Haven’t you heard Spielberg? Life finds a way. And I’ll… find some hair. So sorry, that was bad. Anyway, if you don’t somehow cut your hair tomorrow, this is the last time we’re doing it.”
“We’ll see about that. So? How did you like it?”
“It took some time to get used to it. It’s also very cold. But not gonna lie, it kinda grew on me. It looks the same every day, it saves some time in the shower. I look older, so no one ID’s me anymore. Heck, I’m 22 and still got ID’d when going to 18+ areas. The upper-ups also take me more seriously. Less screaming. But damn, I just can’t come to terms with the look. I miss my hair. I’m not yet ready to grow up so abruptly. I have at least 10 years of being young, even if I’m a soldier. I’m really looking forward to growing it back. How about you?”
“Well, I kinda get what you’re saying. I, too, feel much older. But I wanted that. Before I joined the army, nobody took me seriously back home. Not my parents, not my perfect older sister, not my so-called friends. They always treated me like a little girl and I always acted like one in response.
“I partially joined the army because I wanted a way out. I wanted them to treat me like their equal, but as soon as we finished boot camp, I realized I was never the problem. I’m not a little girl, I haven’t been one in a long time. They just decided to view me a certain way, and that’s beyond my control. I love me, but I hate whoever it is they think I am. For a long time, I needed a change in my appearance. I felt like I looked just how they’d expect me to look, and I wanted that look gone, but I just never had the guts. That’s when you came in. You just straight up suggested it, saying it could look good on me. I was shook. Now people around here actually view me as an adult, as a person. You gave me the strength I needed to move forward with it. You made me feel like I wasn’t alone. I was so scared after cutting it, my parents actually haven’t seen it yet.”
“Haha, I haven’t told anyone outside of here that I shaved it. Figured it’ll grow back by the time I’m home.”
“Well, it might. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I just had a lot of mixed feeling walking out of that salon. The hairdresser complemented me, even tough she didn’t like the idea beforehand, saying my hair was ‘too good to ruin’. But now, after seeing everyone’s reactions, I realize how much it fits me. I seriously don’t think I’ll ever grow my hair long. I feel now the best I felt in years.”
“Oh boy, would I have to be bald?”
“Haha. This isn’t about you anymore. As you said, this is the last time I’m shaving you. It’s not like I have a salon anywhere near here, and I’d hate annoying you any longer.”
“That’s a relief. I think I will be bald again sometime in the future, my dad lost his hair at 30. But, just not right now.”
“And, we’re done. Good night, Max. I had a really great time with you.”
“You too, Lisa. I’m glad we got to know each other. For you,” I switched to a sarcastic tone, “it was worth it losing my hair!”
“Haha. I sure won’t miss sweating my ass off moving that razor across that bald head.”
“Anyway, would you like to… I dunno, meet up on some weekend?”
“Are you asking me out?”
“Well I’m-”
“Yes, I would love to go out with you. Goodnight, Max.”
“G’night.”
And she closed my door.

Over the next few days, I realized something. My hair wasn’t growing right. The back and the sides were alright, but the front just barely showed anything.
“Oh, hi Max,” Janet said. “What’s up with your hair?”
“Hi Janet. What do you mean?”
“Well, why didn’t you shave it? It looked good shaved.”
“Oh, uh, my ‘arrangement’ with Lisa came to an end.”
“Well, you should shave it. You’re balding, it doesn’t look good.”
“Uhh… thanks?”
What was that? What does she mean by that? Am I really balding? No, that can’t be true. I had a head full of hair just a month and a half ago.

Back in my room, I looked closely in the mirror. The sides seem fine, the hair is growing. The top. Oh god. There barely is anything there. What the fuck, seriously. I can’t be balding. I look again, this time at my entire face. I look ten years older than I did a week ago. Apparently balding is a much worse look than being actually bald. That’s it, huh? Guess I had a good run.
Shaking, I go to my bag to get my electric trimmer, but it’s no there. Where did I put it? Well, guess I’ll go straight for the cream and razor. As I finished applying the cream and was about to start shaving, I heard a knock on my door.
I went and opened it. The she was, Lisa again. With my trimmer in hair hand. And a clean, short buzz cut on her head.
“Oh my god, Lisa.”
“Well, you’re to blame again with your ideas. I just wanted to give you this back. What are you doing? I thought you were growing your hair out.”
“Well, apparently I’m balding. Care to help?”
“It’d be a pleasure.”

She ended up spending the night in my dorm, after shaving my head. We also head sex. In the morning, one of the sergeants caught us, and as a punishment we stayed in base for two extra weeks.

“And that’s pretty much it,” I finished telling the story to my somewhat shocked friends.
“So, you guys are together now?”
“Umm, I guess we are.”
“Cool. When can we meet her?”

Thanks for reading. I’d really appreciate some feedback, good and bad.

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