The Swim-Shave Diaries: Part 3

SANDY

Sandy Ellingson was very excited for the sight that awaited her.

“OK, I think we’re just about finished,” Sandy’s hairdresser Erin said as she finished with the last touches of Sandy’s hair, “I have to say Sandy, this may just be my masterpiece.”

“Well I’m glad you nailed it,” Sandy said with a chuckle, “because there’s a chance… albeit a tiny one… that this may be the last time you ever get to style this hair.”

“Don’t even start to jinx yourself girl,” Erin said as she set down her curler and began to grab handfuls of Sandy’s hair to fluff it up, “if anything happens to this hair, I’m seriously going to cry.”

“We’ll know in two days,” Sandy said, “but you might want to get your last look at it just in case.”

“Oh God Sandy, you’re breaking my heart right now,” Erin said as she continued to add some volume and “oomph” to her hair, “well, in the meantime, are you ready to see the result.”

“You bet your ass I am,” Sandy said as Erin removed the cape. Sandy stood up and walked to a nearby full-size mirror, then felt her jaw drop at the girl looking back at her, “oh… oh WOOOOOOOOW!”

“I know right?” Erin said with a grin that was a mile wide, “I think at this point you’re more curl than human being.”

Sandy was about to make a witty retort, but realized that she may be right. Her long, top-of-the-thigh length strawberry-blond mane had always had a natural, wonderful curl to it that she had loved, but now those curls had been fashioned into huge, gentle ringlets that she could feel bounce playfully with every motion she made. It looked amazing, and went perfectly with her ensemble of a white, poofy silky blouse, skintight shiny black leggings, and calf-length black leather boots.

“This… looks… AMAZING,” Sandy said as she turned and looked at her hair from every angle, “God, I wish I had done before the whole wager.”

“Well, maybe after you win this wager, we can try it again,” Erin said happily, “after all, that IS the plan, right?”

“Of course it is,” Sandy said with a grin, “Stephanie may have pushed herself beyond belief to save her hair, but in the end, I have a feeling that head of hair of hers is living on borrowed time.”

“Well good,” Erin said, “now remember how I showed you to get your hair to look like this. You should still be able to style it pretty easily and get it to look like this for about a week, but after that it will probably start to deflate and go back to how it was… not that your hair wasn’t amazing beforehand.”

“Well, I just need it to look this gorgeous for the next 72 hours, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Sandy said as she continued to admire her new look, reaching up and squeezing the amazing long curls, “OW! Did you just smack me on the head?!?”

“Because you’re talking nonsense!” Erin said indignantly, “you ARE bringing that hair back to me intact, understand?”

Sandy chuckled and went back to running her fingers through her new style.

“I just meant for appearances Erin,” Sandy replied, “I still plan on winning this thing.”

Sandy paid and walked out of the salon, then got into her car and started it up, but before reversing she adjusted her rearview mirror to admire her hair once more.

“Good GOD,” she said as she looked at herself with a big grin, “it DOES look amazing.”

But as she re-adjusted her mirror and began to reverse out of her spot, that smile slowly began to fade. She had been having fun with Erin by toying with the possibility of losing her hair to the wager, but in actuality, Sandy realized there was indeed a chance (albeit small) that her jokes would soon turn to prophecies based on how the last two weeks had gone.

Things had started well enough. Stephanie had taken on a fierce determination to push herself to the absolute limits to keep her hair, and pushed herself harder to overtake Sandy than Sandy would have thought possible. But Sandy was a gifted swimmer, and while Stephanie had slowly been closing the gap between their times, it wasn’t nearly enough to overtake the captain of the team.

But life always throws curveballs when you least expect it. Sandy pulled her hamstring pushing off a wall halfway through their two-week period and had to take two days off to recover. The girls agreed that those two days wouldn’t be counted against her, but when Sandy got back in the pool her leg was still tender, and she could feel her times weren’t up to snuff. Stephanie had taken the opportunity to close the gap faster and faster, and before long she had overtaken Sandy in several events before Sandy could fully recover. The question was: were those final times enough to win the bet and strip Sandy of her beautiful, bouncing curls, or would they fall short and cost Stephanie her own gorgeous, soft, golden brown mane despite all of her hard work to save it?

A shiver ran down Sandy’s spine at the thought of that word, “save”. The girls had known their hair was most likely living on borrowed time since the second they had made that bet, and while Sandy had always had a bubble of protection around her magnificent mane because of her remarkable swimming abilities, she couldn’t help but feel vulnerable now that Stephanie was trying her damnedest to burst that bubble and make Sandy the newest victim of the clippers to save her own hair.

First had been Heather, who had lost her brilliant red locks to the blades. Then had been Nicole, whose beautiful, glistening chocolate mane had been surrendered. Then… to the surprise of everyone (including Carmen)… Carmen had come next, her seemingly perfect, shining black mane now nothing but a memory.

If Carmen’s gorgeous mane could be lost to the clippers, did that mean Sandy’s could as well? Sandy shuddered at the thought, and forced herself not to think about it.

Sandy’s enormous new hairstyle had all the effect she could have hoped for the next day at school. The girls had Friday off of practice to begin tapering for State, so Sandy had been able to spend nearly an hour in the morning fluffing it and styling it just like Erin had showed her, and it had come out even better than she had expected. While her hair had always been massive even on its flattest days, the curling treatment Erin had done for her made it even more voluminous and fluffy than it had in her entire life.

Sandy smiled at the praise, realizing it might be the last her hair ever received. She decided then and there that she was going to cherish this Friday, what very well may be the last day she went to school with her hair, and judging by the delicate way her springy curls bounced playfully with each and every step, Sandy got the feeling that her hair felt the same way. Sandy tossed her hair with a smile, drawing several whistles, cheers, and commentss from other students who knew what was about to happen as she did so.

For the last few weeks the news of the wager had been spread across the entire campus. As the five girls had diminished down to just Sandy and Stephanie, the students at Loyalty High had split into two groups of support: “Team Save the Curls”, and “Team Save the Silk”, or as they were promoted online, #teamcurls and #teamsilk.

Team Save the Silk (or TSS as it had been nicknamed) were the group that wanted Stephanie to win. The name came from the fact that Stephanie’s hair was straighter, and soft as silk. The same was true for the other name, as Sandy was obviously known for her curls. Signs adorned the entire campus, some of them beauty and yearbook shots of Stephanie with “TSS” or “#teamsilk” plastered all over them, and others with the same shots of Sandy and slathered with “TSC” or “#teamcurls”. Others had excellent quality photoshops of the two of them with bald heads, each one of which made Sandy chuckle and shudder simultaneously.

“Hey stranger,” someone said next to Sandy as they slipped their arm through Sandy’s and began walking next to her. Sandy turned to see it was Stephanie, and smiled at her friend.

“Hey yourself,” Sandy said as she peaked at her friend’s rich, chocolate brown mane, “you sure look cute.”

“Well we’re kinda matching,” Stephanie replied quickly, and Sandy realized that they actually were. Stephanie was wearing a tight, baby blue t-shirt with tiny white shorts, while Sandy was sporting a matching blue satin tank-top over skintight white pants.

“Oh hey, look at that!” Sandy said in cheerful surprise, “but I actually meant your hair, did you do something new to it? It looks GREAT!”

“You should be one to talk,” Stephanie said, motioning towards Sandy’s enormous, bouncing mass of curls, “but yes, I did, do you like?”

“I do actually,” Sandy said, and she meant it. Stephanie’s hair, which she usually let dry freely, had been immaculately straightened and deep-conditioned, the bottoms curled to add even more body and shine. It looked beautiful, thick, more voluminous than Sandy had seen it in… well… ever! It looked like they were both loving their hair in that moment, and for good reason.

“It’s gorgeous Steph,” Sandy said as she reached out and gently squeezed it,” what’s the occasion?”

Stephanie snorted a laugh, then reached into Sandy’s own massive mane of silken curls.

“I think we both know the answer to that,” Stephanie said as she gently played with Sandy’s mane, “God, it’s going to be such a shame to shave off all this hair, I might just cry.”

Stephanie pantomimed running imaginary clippers over Sandy’s luscious locks. Even the mental image of Sandy losing her hair was enough to make her shudder and break out in goosebumps, her shining curls fluttering delicately around her with the movement and shimmering beautifully in the sunlight.

“Don’t get your hopes up beautiful,” Sandy said as she turned towards her friend with a forced grin, “I’m not taking mercy on all this silk, especially after seeing how ruthless you were to Heather, Nicole, and Carmen’s hair.”

“Well, if you win, you have every right to,” Stephanie said with a chuckle as she tossed her hair beautifully around her head, making it dance effortlessly, “IF you win. I’ll see you later babe.”

Stephanie chuckled lightly as she parted with Sandy and trotted off to class, several heads turning to watch her shining chestnut mane bounce playfully with each step and shimmer like melted chocolate in the bright sunlight. Sandy smiled as she walked past the signs towards class, but as the Friday before the final part of the wager went on and eventually came to an end Sandy’s smile faded as she drove away from school and looked in the rearview mirror… suddenly aware that she may never step on the grounds with this hair again.

And that was when her excitement slowly began to turn into fear.

 

 

That Friday and Saturday night the girls decided they wanted to just do their own thing, then meet again Sunday for the final shearing. Sandy tried to do her regular routine, a coffee shop run, a bike ride, but no matter what she did to take her mind off her hair, something kept bringing her thoughts back to it. Her run to the coffee shop was met with no less than 7 compliments on her hair, her bike ride had been hijacked by the wonderful feeling of her long hair flying behind her in the wind, the whole day she tried to enjoy herself, but she found her hands kept being drawn to her hair.

She was always playing with it, running her fingers through it, and just squeezing it reassuringly to remember that it was still attached to her head. Friday and Saturday night she just sat at her vanity for two straight hours as she played with her hair and put it in countless styles, wondering if Stephanie was doing something similar at that time, or if the other girls had done the same to their hair the night before their sheerings. Saturday night in particular had been hard as she sat at her vanity in a pink satin slip, styling her hair endlessly and then redoing it into something new, very much aware that in less than 24 hours it was looking more and more likely that she would never be able to do this again. When she had made this ridiculous bet, she had been secure in the knowledge that the other girls were on another level, and even though she had tried to talk them out of it, she had agreed knowing that her hair would be safe.

But now… now in just 8 short weeks, her hair had gone from safe and secure to being in serious danger of vanishing. If tomorrow night happened the way she way expecting, her hair would meet the same fate as Heather’s hair, Nicole’s hair, Carmen’s hair, and Carmen’s poor dress, a sad casualty in this wager due to Carmen’s superstitious nature. No more ponytails, no more braids, no more elegant tendrils and curls, her magnificent mane and its endless possibilities would be stolen away from her, and the only style she would be able to muster would come in the form of hats and scarves. That strange sensation in her chest that she took to be fear growing within her at the thought of her hair falling to the floor.

Sandy was scared, and as she looked at the clock she saw that somehow, impossibly, it was almost midnight. Somehow, she had been styling and playing with her hair for nearly 3 hours, and now it was only 19 hours away from meeting its ultimate fate, whatever that may be. Sandy tried put her hair in a few more styles, but her hands were shaking so badly that she decided to just call it a night. With a long sigh, she turned off the light and made her way to her bed. As she laid down she pulled her hair over her chest, covering herself in a soft blanket of her own thick, warm curls, and continued to play with them absentmindedly as she stared at the ceiling in the dark.

“What have I done?” she asked nobody in particular, “dear God, what… have I done?”

 

Sunday morning Sandy woke up the sun being filtered through her strawberry blond curls. She simply laid like that for a moment, enjoying the sight and sensation of all that hair piled over her face, because she knew there was a chance she would never experience it again. After nearly 15 minutes, she sat up in bed and made her way to the shower, where she began to get ready for the day.

She spent an hour sparing no expense at getting ready. If this was truly her hair’s final day on Earth, then by God would she work to make it look as beautiful as possible in its final hours. She put on her makeup, then dried her hair as she worked to put it back into the large barrel curls she had just been gifted with a few days ago. Her hair hadn’t yet lost any of the volume or body of that treatment, and she was able to get her hair just as big and fluffy as it had been over the last few days. She bypassed wearing it down in favor of an elegant style for its final day, half of it spilling down naturally, the other half tied back into twin elaborate braids that were no wider than her pinky, tied together at the crown of her head and flowing down her back. Perfect…. Absolutely perfect.

She pulled out a pair of her favorite yoga pants and a t-shirt, but instead decided to look good today. She instead opted for a form-fitting red dress that fell to her knees, matching red heels, and a cropped black leather jacket. The look was the icing on the cake, and Sandy knew she looked beautiful, she just wondered if she would ever look this beautiful again.

Sandy spent the day shopping and hitting her favorite restaurants to enjoy herself and drown her sorrows in her favorite treats. She was hit on countless times, and complimented even more. As the day went on and the clock got closer and closer to 5 o’clock, her fear and anxiety grew in her chest to the point where she felt her heart would burst out of her like a bomb.

Finally, 4:45 rolled around and Sandy headed back home, the girls were due at her house any moment. She pulled up just as Heather did, and she swallowed down a lump in her throat, the first witness to her hair’s possible end had arrived. Sandy and Heather chatted and laughed as they waited for the others, Sandy complimenting Heather’s shaggy new pixie and Heather complimenting Sandy’s stylish “bad girl” ensemble. Nicole arrived at 4:55, and Carmen just after her, both of them still trying to grow their hair into something respectable, and then finally, Stephanie showed up.

She looked adorable in a multi-colored floral dress underneath a sheer black blouse, her hair still worn like Sandy had seen it on Friday and breathtakingly beautiful, long and loose, shining with the ends curled to make it stack off of her back and give her unbelievable volume and sheen. As much as Sandy was dreading losing her hair, she was the first to admit that Stephanie had worked her ass off to save hers, and if there was a silver lining tonight, it would be that such beautiful hair would be spared from a horrible fate.

“Alright, we ready to do this?” Carmen said as she, Heather, and Nicole went to the far side of my room, “this is for all the marbles.”

Stephanie and Sandy sank down as they tallied the vote, both of them playing with their hair respectively, each trying to enjoy one last feel and sensation of their remarkable manes. Sandy’s own pile of thigh-length curls was plopped into her lap as she sat there contemplating what was in store for them, while Stephanie had brought her own mane over her shoulder and was running her fingers absentmindedly through it. Occasionally they would glance at each other and smile nervously, but they were completely silent during that countdown, the longest 6 minutes of their life.

“OK, results are in,” Carmen said with a sorrowful tone, the dark shadow of stubble on her head more obvious than ever, “and we have a winner.”

Stephanie and Sandy both took a deep breath as they stood up and made their way to the other girls, all of whom were wearing very nervous smiles as they stood next to Carmen. Sandy and Stephanie reached out and wrapped their arms around each other like Miss America candidates waiting to hear who was about to be queened, but instead of being bestowed with a crowning glory, one of them was about to lost theirs.

“It was close, very close,” Nicole said as she looked between the two girls, she flatly ran a hand over her own stubble, which hadn’t grown out that much since her shave, and Sandy shuddered at the raspy sound it made.

“The winner took the lead by 0.2 seconds,” Heather added.

“And the winner is…” Carmen said, pausing for dramatic effect as Stephanie and Sandy tightened their grasps on each other, “Sandy”.

Two loud gasps filled the room, Sandy’s being a gasp of shock and relief, and Stephanie’s being a gasp of horror and anticipation. The girls let go of each other, Sandy running her fingers through her hair with love and a newfound appreciation in the face of what she thought was almost certain doom.

Oh my God! Sandy thought to herself as nervous giggles escaped her, I did it! My hair, I can keep my hair! But… that means…

A steady ticking sound brought Sandy out of her own little world, and she turned to see Carmen set down the dreaded egg timer, the final countdown had begun.

Next to the egg timer stood poor Stephanie, her hands held over her mouth as her body shook with small sobs, her doomed hair billowing softly with the movements and shimmering beautifully with each tiny motion, like it was begging for its life.

“No… no… oh no…” Stephanie sobbed quietly as she slowly sank to her knees, “Oh man, it’s not fair.”

Sandy felt horrible, Stephanie was not taking this as well as the other girls had, so she went over to her and wrapped her arms around her.

“Hey, it’s OK,” she told her reassuringly, “you did better than we ever expected, if you don’t want to go through with it, I’m sure the girls…”

“No,” Stephanie said with a smooth voice as she quickly got her sobs under control, “it’s OK, it’s alright. Really, it is. It’s just… I worked SO DAMN HARD to save my hair, but in the end, it just wasn’t enough. And now… now it’s going… it’s all going… away.”

Stephanie reached up and ran her hand through her remarkable, silky mane to make a point. Sandy watched it glisten as it softly fluttered back into place with a gentle whisper of silk, lamenting the fact that in less than 4 minutes it would never do so again. She reached up and reassuringly ran her own fingers through Stephanie’s mane, marveling at how soft and silky it now was. Had she been deep-conditioning it this whole time? The rest of the girls sure had been (at least while they had it).

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I’m really proud of you,” Sandy said to her teammate, “no offense, but I thought for sure it would come down to me and Carmen.”

Stephanie laughed a quick, short laugh, then looked at Sandy appreciatively.

“It doesn’t,” she said was a smile, “but thanks anyways, that’s nice of you to say.”

“Three minutes,” Carmen said out loud, and Stephanie took a deep breath before making her way to the chair. She sat down and held out her hand silently for a brush, and Heather handed her one. After staring at it for a few moments, Stephanie reached up and began brushing her hair for its final time.

The other girls watched, transfixed, as her hair shimmered beautifully in defiance of its coming destiny, shimmering and dancing in the lights, as if openly taunting the clippers to come for it. Somehow, in the last 6 weeks, Stephanie’s hair had taken on a new life and sheen that rivaled even Sandy’s curls. Heather, Nicole, Carmen, and Sandy had assumed it was the deep conditioning treatments, but Stephanie knew what it really was. Love… her deep, newly rediscovered love for her hair had somehow made it more gorgeous than ever before, and now it was going to be gone… just like that.

Sandy watched as Stephanie lovingly brushed her hair in its final moments, completely lost in the moment as the other girls bustled and hustled around her making the preparations to destroy it. She felt something to her left, and when she looked she saw Heather standing there holding the clippers out to her.

“Me?” Sandy asked, taken aback, “why me?”

“Those are the rules,” Heather said with a hint of confusion, “2nd to last place has to do the shaving. Since you’re the last one standing, that’s you.”

Sandy looked over at poor Stephanie, who was looking down at her hair with a look of utter heartbreak on her face.

“I mean, if you want one of us to do it, I’m sure…”

“No, I’ll do it,” Sandy cut Heather off as she took the clippers, “I just feel bad for her.”

“You didn’t feel bad for us,” Heather said with a sly smile.

“That’s because none of you took it as hard as Stephanie is,” Sandy replied honestly as she watched Stephanie taking deep breaths to control the fear at what was going to happen to her magnificent mane in less than a minute, “poor girl really fought hard to save her hair.”

“She almost managed to do it,” Heather replied, “almost.”

“Yeah, almost,” Sandy replied as she looked down at the shining clippers in her hand, “how much longer?”

Out of the corner of her eye Sandy saw Stephanie take a deep breath as she put the brush down and gather her hair behind her head as Nicole placed the cape around her neck.

“50 seconds,” Heather said as Sandy flicked on the clippers, almost dropping them as they roared to life and immediately turning them back off, “you might want to start getting ready.”

Sandy walked over to where Nicole finished snapping the cape into place, and Stephanie let go of her hair, letting it spill down the back and gently swing softly for a moment before staying in place. Carmen picked up the brush and ran it through Stephanie’s hair to smooth it out one last time, the final strokes that hair would ever experience. When she was done her hair shimmered beautifully as it delicately shimmered with every deep breath Stephanie took, which were getting faster as her heart rate continued to climb.

“15 seconds,” Nicole said quietly, and Carmen set down the brush as Sandy walked up behind Stephanie, admiring her hair for the last time.

It really looked beautiful, and fell in a perfect smooth mass after the brushing. Sandy flicked on the clippers and Stephanie let out a little cry as she jolted in her chair, making her hair jostle with the movement. The cry turned to a nervous laugh mixed with a sob, and she gave Sandy the slightest of nods, finally accepting the inevitable fate of her hair.

“Here we go ladies, final countdown for the final shave,” Heather called out, and Stephanie and Sandy both gulped, “Five… four…”

Sandy took a deep breath of her own, then reached down to pull Stephanie’s hair back from her forehead and placed the clippers at her forehead. As she did so she heard a tiny, barely audible moan of terror in the back of Stephanie’s throat.

“Three…” Heather continued, and Sandy pulled the clippers back closer to Stephanie’s hairline.

“Two…” Sandy slowed her hand as the clippers were mere millimeters from Stephanie’s hair.

“One…” Stephanie tried to push herself further back into her chair, trying to buy her hair ever one microsecond of time, but to no avail, as Sandy’s hand followed her head’s movement.

“ZERO!” Nicole, Heather, and Carmen screamed in unison, and with one final breath, Sandy plunged the clippers into the front hairline of Stephanie’s magnificent mane, severing the first few silken strands and beginning its complete and utter annihilation.

Sandy wanted to stop then and there, to turn off the clippers. apologize to Stephanie, and do whatever she could to fix or hide the small damage to the front, but the feeling passed quickly as she continued to push the clippers deeper and deeper into her lush mane. Stephanie’s hair put up one hell of a fight, forcing Sandy to slow her hand to nearly a standstill, but it was a losing battle, and Sandy peeled away that first strip of silky golden-brown hair despite its best effort to remain on Stephanie’s head.

It took a full fifteen seconds where it had only taken five with the other girls, but the clippers finally made their way to Stephanie’s crown, spilling the first harvest of living, shining silk around Stephanie’s head. Stephanie gasped in terror at the tumbling strands as they hit the floor, and Sandy forced her hand to move to the side just to take her mind off the cataclysmic destruction she had just done to poor Stephanie’s hair.

Sandy plowed through the second strip, widening the strip of angry brown stubble that ran down the middle of Stephanie’s head. The second strip didn’t put up as much of a fight as the first, and the third was even easier, almost like her hair was slowly giving up and surrendering to its inevitable fate of being completely removed from Stephanie’s head.

By the fourth swipe the entire right side of Stephanie’s head was covered in harsh, angry stubble, a harsh contrast to the long, silken treasure that still covered her left side. For her own part Stephanie was taking the shearing extremely well, her face now an impassive display of resignation, knowing that it was far too late to save her hair, despite her very best efforts over the last 6 weeks to do so.

Sandy continued to the other side of Stephanie’s head to finish the job. She ran the clippers down the long hair closest to where the center parting had been just a couple of minutes ago, severing the hair from her head and watching it slowly float down to the floor. Two more swift passes, and her hair was reduced even further in record time. All that was left was a single long strand dangling from her left temple, the faintest shadow of the glorious head of hair that had been there mere moments ago. With a quick flick of the wrist, and a deep pang of sadness, Sandy shaved that final strip, and the last trace of Stephanie’s long, glorious mane was gone.

Sandy flipped off the clippers and they felt silent immediately, then she reached down and brushed the loose strands that were still clinging to Stephanie’s head. The clippers had been so close to the blade that her head looked like it had been shaved with a straight razor! After a while Sandy stepped back and smiled wanly at Stephanie, who smiled wanly back, then turned to look at the mirror.

“What do you think?” Sandy asked as Stephanie moved in and ran her hand over her head.

“It’s… not as awful as I was expecting,” Stephanie said in a tone of pleasant surprise.

“Do you hate me now?” Sandy asked, half-serious, but Stephanie’s face turned to one of sympathy and sadness.

“Oh honey!” Stephanie said as she turned up and rushed to Sandy to hug her, “I could NEVER hate you, even if you put something on my head to make me bald forever!”

“I’m sorry anyways,” Sandy said very quietly as they continued to hug, then Stephanie pulled back and smiled at her again, the wan smile replaced with a genuine and warm one.

“Jesus Stephanie,” Carmen said, as she began sweeping up the curtain of fallen hair that had fallen to the floor, “you had enough hair for like 3 people!”

“Not anymore,” Stephanie said, apparently already getting over the shock of the shave, and Sandy was flabbergasted at how well all of the girls had handled their shave.

“I can’t believe how good it looks!” Heather said, “like seriously, you pull it off so WELL!”

“As well as possible I suppose,” Stephanie said, and all of us laughed lightheartedly at her joke.

All joking aside though, Stephanie really DID look good shaved. Her effortlessly bubbly personality, gorgeous facial features, and carefree attitude all seemed to be magnified by the cut. Her hair had been breathtakingly beautiful, but without it, her real internal beauty was able to more properly shine.

“So Sandy,” Stephanie said as she walked over to me and extended a hand, “congratulations. You certainly earned the right to keep your hair. Be sure to enjoy it for both of us.”

“Oh I plan on it,” Sandy said as she shook her hand with a smile. She had done it, she had won…

But then why was she still feeling that strange sensation in her stomach?

Sandy flopped down backwards onto her bed, landing in a sea of strawberry blond curls. After the girls had left, she had changed into a pair of silky booty shorts and a white tank-top to get comfortable. She had thought about putting her hair up in a bun, but decided to instead leave it down and enjoy the fact that against all odds, she had managed to keep her hair, and it was hers to keep forever.

Her gorgeous mane formed a sea of living silk around her as she laid on her bed, and she turned her head to the side to feel the impossible and reassuring softness of her locks against her face, to take in the sight of her remarkable hair glistening in the lights, to take in the sweet smell of her berry-scented shampoo. She pulled her hair over her chest and fiddled with the ends as she admired it lovingly, it was perfection… in every possible way, and she had come so close to losing it all.

Just the thought of it entering her mind again made her shudder, and she took a moment to reflect on that mental picture. The clippers sliding over her head, the rich curls falling to the floor, the expanding bare scalp spreading over her entire head. As she pictured it, she could feel that strange sensation welling up in her chest, but why? She had won, so why was this strange fearing still growing in her chest at the thought of it all coming off.

Suddenly her eyes flew open and she sat straight up at a horrifying realization, her hair flying around her in a tsunami of silk. It wasn’t fear she had been feeling every time she had pictured her head being shaved.

It had been excitement.

“No,” Sandy whispered as she stood up and walked to her bedroom mirror, running her hands through her luscious, soft curls frantically, “no, this can’t be right… not my hair! Not my… hair?”

The second time had ended more in a question, because somehow, in that moment and without her knowledge, Sandy had opened a drawer in her vanity that contained something she had hoped she would never have to see… a brand new set of electric Wahl clippers… still in the box.

“Whoa!” Sandy said as she slammed the drawer shut, wondering what she had been thinking, “why would I ever want to do something like that?”

To be a good teammate, to be a good friend, to feel what the other girls felt, a voice in her head called out, but Sandy shook her head, her long curls shimmering in the light with the movement.

“No way,” she said, shocked at the lack of conviction she heard in her own words, “nuh uh. I LOVE my hair.”

And she truly did, but a strange part of her felt like her own resolve was deflating, weakening, losing its strength, and it terrified her.

It was a standstill… half of her mind was screaming for her to do it, to push the clippers into her thick, curly hair and banish it to the floor forever, the other half telling her to treasure her perfect mane, and to keep it as is… maybe even grow it out longer if she could.

So Sandy sat there, too scared to move, as the two parts of her mind fought with each other, seemingly in perfect balance, and waited to discover which part of her would end up winning.

The End…

 

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