Spring Break Haircut
By August D. Adams
My older sister
Elaine had always been jealous of me ever since we were children. She
was envious of the fact that people always said I was a cuter child.
She was envious of the fact I was more popular among my friends and
peers. She was envious of the fact that I got better grades all
throughout elementary and high school. She was envious of the fact I
grew to be much prettier than her as I got older. And last but
certainly not least, she had always been, ever since we were
children, envious of my long gorgeous dark blond hair. Her own hair,
thin and stringy and a dull brown, just couldn't compare, no matter
how hard she tried Eventually she just gave up and cut it short into
a plain, boring bob.
My hair, on the
other hand, grew longer and longer as I got older. In high school it
got to the length I ended up keeping it at, hanging down in a thick
amazing sheet to the middle of my bum. I always got compliments on my
hair, whether from friends, strangers or family members. I loved my
hair. I considered it my best feature and it was most certainly my
most prized possession, my crowning glory so to speak. I took
immaculate care of it, which showed in it's healthy and wonderful
condition, and whenever I got it cut I always only got a half an inch
trimmed from the ends.
The summer before
I was to leave for college, I was positively beaming because I'd
gotten a full scholarship to an east coast Ivy League school. Since I
didn't have to pay for tuition, my parents agreed to use my college
fund to pay for my own apartment instead of a tiny dorm room. I was
stoked to live on my own, experience college life and get a taste of
independence in a new city.
My sister,
meanwhile, had recently dropped out of community college. I tried my
best not to talk about my scholarship or how excited I was about it
in front of her so she didn't get upset, but I could tell she was
annoyed with how great things were going for me. She ended up going
to beauty school to become a hairdresser and started working at a
local salon right before I left for college.
When I came home
for spring break, I was happy to get a short respite from my studies
and just relax for a change. My sister had moved out only a few weeks
earlier, her salon job paying enough for her to finally afford a
little apartment in the center of town. I was happy that she seemed
to be doing so well. My parents also seemed quite proud of her as
well
Our first dinner
together when I got home was actually pretty peaceful and enjoyable
for once. During dinner my mom asked me what my plans were during my
short break. I rattled off a bunch of things, including the fact that
I needed to get my hair cut. I hadn't gotten it cut since I'd started
college. I didn't have any split ends yet, but it wasn't looking as
neat as it usually did.
"Just drop by
the salon tomorrow. I can cut it for you," my sister offered.
I was a bit taken
aback by her offer. I never even considered letting my sister cut my
hair. It did make sense though, since she was now a hairdresser.
Nevertheless, I was a little uneasy with the idea of her being near
my beloved hair with a pair of scissors. So, being as polite as I
could, I told her I was thankful for the offer, but that I really
wanted to drop in and see my old hairstylist.
"Who, Mary?"
my sister said. "She's off on vacation, I think."
"Oh," I
replied, now feeling like I was between a rock and a hard place.
My mom told me I
should just let Elaine do my hair. Apparently Elaine had been cutting
her hair since I'd been gone. It was still long and looked as good as
ever, which indicated Elaine was a capable stylist. That put me a bit
more at ease, but I still wasn't keen on letting my sister loose on
my hair. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of any reason to not go to
Elaine to get my hair cut that wouldn't hurt her feelings.
"Well, I
guess I could," I said.
My sister beamed.
"Great! I'm free between ten and eleven tomorrow morning."
I meekly smiled,
still a little unsure but figuring I had nothing to really worry
about. "Okay," I replied.
I slept in the
next morning until about ten o'clock, happy to get some solid sleep
for a change. After slipping on jeans a a T-shirt, I brushed my hair
to perfection and headed out to grab some coffee and a danish before
I headed to the salon where my sister worked. I had never been to the
salon before. It wasn't super high end, but it was pretty nice. I got
there a little after ten.
My sister was
already waiting for me, looking anxious to get started. I wasn't in
the salon more than a minute before she ushered me to the wash
station to shampoo my hair. We engaged in some small talk as she
turned on the water and started dampening my beautiful dark blond
hair. The sink was full of my lovely locks as she took her time
lathering my hair before rinsing it out and then applying some
conditioner. She really seemed to know what she was doing and I began
to relax as I sat there and listened to her tell stories of some of
her more interesting customers.
After wrapping a
towel around my hair, she walked me over to her chair, which wasn't
far off. The newer stylists apparently got the chairs closest to the
back. She whipped a black nylon cape over me and buttoned it tightly
around my neck. It was a little too tight for my liking, but I didn't
say anything.
After taking the
towel from my hair, she started going about combing it all out, which
always took a little while since my hair was so long. The shampoo and
conditioning had really helped though. The comb slid easily through
my silky soft locks as she separated it all into sections and started
pinning it up. Eventually she had everything pinned up except for the
hair in the back at the bottom which hung down the back of the chair
in a thin veil.
As she ran the
comb down my hair, she titled my head down.
"You're
getting older now, Lucy," she said. "I think it's time you
had a more mature look, don't you?"
I furrowed my
brows. "What do you mean?"
"I mean,
walking around with this fairy tale princess hair isn't helping you
out any," she said. "No one is gonna take you seriously
with hair like this."
I was really
confused with why she was saying this as well as her sudden abrupt
change in attitude from just moments earlier.
She gently
squeezed my shoulder. "But don't you worry, little sis. I'll
give you something much more mature and easy to manage."
I started getting
nervous. "I really, uh, I really just want a trim. A half an
inch off the ends please."
"You're stuck
in a rut, Lucy. Always the same 'ol same 'ol. You're not five years
old anymore. It's time for something new," she said.
Before I could
even respond, I suddenly felt the cold steel of the scissors on my
neck and heard the scissors start slicing through my damp hair.
Elaine cut a straight line across my neck, sending stunningly long
lengths of hair sliding down to the floor at her feet. The whole veil
of hair now lie coiled on the salon floor.
I gasped. "Elaine,
what are you doing?!"
She let down more
of my hair and started combing through it. "Something you'll
thank me for. Trust me. This is gonna look so cute when I'm done. No
one is going to recognize you!"
I felt the
scissors on my neck again, right at my hairline. Elaine didn't
hesitate to start whacking off more of my gorgeous hair, sending long
heavy tendrils of dark blond hair cascading down the slippery nylon
cape. I knew she was cutting off a ton of hair as my heart beat like
a jackhammer in my chest.
"Elaine I
just want a trim!" I cried.
Elaine let out a
little laugh, as if amused by my panic. "Well, it's too late for
that. Just sit tight. This is gonna be awesome. Trust me."
I really didn't
have a choice, since she'd already started cutting my hair. So I sat
there in shock as she continued to cut off all my hair while hoping
it wasn't as bad as I thought. Eye-popping amounts of hair were
falling down the back of the chair as she cut and cut and cut,
showing no mercy or remorse in removing such gorgeous healthy hair
from my head. I was deeply distressed while Elaine seemed to be
having the time of her life.
I had no idea how
short she was cutting it, that all my wonderful length was being cut
off, piling up on the floor behind the chair with every snip of her
scissors. The scissors did feel startlingly close to my head though
and I feared the worst.
Those fears were
realized when she started cutting the hair on the side of my head and
I finally saw with my own eyes the huge lengths of hair she was
cutting off. My eyes widened as I watched more than three feet of
hair slide down the cape. It was so long it took my breath away.
"Elaine!"
I said with mouth agape. "What are you doing?! That's way too
much!"
Elaine smiled as
she just went on cutting without any hesitation. "I've been
wanting to do this for so long," she admitted. "You have
the perfect face for super short hair. You're gonna look so cute!"
My eyes followed a
big hank of hair as she snipped it off the side of my head. It slid
down the cape, stopping in my lap. I couldn't believe how long it
was, that it was really my soft, gorgeous hair I was seeing snake
down the cape.
"How short
are you cutting it?" I asked with alarm, my hands shivering on
the arm rests.
Elaine smiled as
she cut through a big chunk of hair and it plopped audibly down on
the cape. "Really, really short," she said with a smile.
"You remember when Emma Watson cut off all her hair?"
My eyes widened
and my mouth dropped.
She smirked. "It's
gonna be a little shorter than that."
My mouth dropped
even further. "Shorter?! Elaine, her hair was like super short!"
I winced as she
cut off another long length of my hair above my ear.
Elaine just
smiled. "I know. It was a really cute haircut, but yours is
gonna be even cuter and edgier."
"I don't want
short hair. I just wanted a trim," I said, watching my ongoing
haircut in shock.
So much hair was
falling down the cape, I felt completely overwhelmed. This was my
gorgeous long hair that I loved so much and my sister was just
heartlessly chopping it all off as if it were nothing.
Elaine brushed off
my concerns. "Oh don't be such a baby. It's just a haircut."
"Just a
haircut? Elaine, you're cutting all my hair off," I whimpered.
"You had long
hair forever. It's time to try something completely different,"
she said, having finished cropping the side of my head. She fingered
it with a satisfied grin, as if pleased my once amazing hair was now
so drastically short.
I turned my head
slightly to assess the damage and I gasped as I saw she had cut it
all to just a few inches.
"You should
see the look on your face," she said as she let down my hair on
the other side. "I should have taken some pictures. I'm sure
everyone would have gotten a kick out of them."
She started
chopping off all the hair on the other side of my head. I sat gaping
as I watched the long locks tumbling down the cape. She could hardly
contain her joy, clearly relishing in every minute of this, while I
sat horrified at what she was doing to my crowning glory. I had had
gorgeous long hair hanging all the way down to my butt when I walked
in and she was cutting it all off with reckless abandon, clearly
taking great pleasure in completely shearing me.
After she'd
finished cropping the side of my head, she took out the clip holding
all the hair atop my head. She gathered all the hair in her fist and
held it up high. And then, to my horror, she sunk her scissors into
the massive ponytail, starting in the front.
I cringed as I
heard the scissors struggling to get through my thick, beautiful
hair. Short locks started flopping down on my forehead as she worked
into the meat of the big clump of hair. After a minute or so, she'd
hacked through the whole thing and was holding an enormous mass of
hair in her hand, a smile glued to her lips.
"Well, that
was fun," she said.
I watched her
simply toss the hair to the floor, my stomach churning.
"What have
you done?" I said as I beheld my hacked up hair in the mirror.
"My hair... it looks horrible."
"It's not
finished yet, silly," she said as she combed my hair so that it
lay flat.
The hair in front,
I guess my new bangs, almost reached my eyes. Some of the top layers
covered the shorter cropped hair on the sides.
"Take a deep
breath, sis," she said as she went to the counter. "Otherwise
you might pass out during this next part."
I was too busy
looking at my hideous reflection, my hair now cut so short and
looking like some sort of uneven bowl cut. My attention was quickly
brought back to my scissor-happy sister when I saw her approach me
holding a pair of hair clippers. My eyes widened and I gasped.
"Elaine, no,"
I said. "No freakin' way!"
"Just hold
still," she said with a smile.
I jerked my head
away, but she quickly grabbed it and held it steady. I cringed,
gritting my teeth as she ran the clippers up the side of my head.
When she pulled the clippers away a clump of hair plopped down on the
cape.
"Oh my god,"
I gasped.
Elaine giggled at
my reaction.
"It's not
funny," I said. "You're buzzing my hair!"
"I told you I
was going super short," she said, as if I should have known she
was going to do this..
"You didn't
say you were gonna buzz it," I said. "Oh my god... my
hair..."
Elaine smiled as
she ran the clippers up my head again.
"Elaine!"
I exclaimed.
She laughed.
"What? I can't stop now. Just sit still and let me finish.
Otherwise you'll make me screw up."
I couldn't believe
what was happening as she worked around the whole of my head, buzzing
the sides and back to a uniform dark blond fuzz. It was such a
strange sensation as the clippers carved paths up my head, almost
onto the top, sending slightly damp clumps of hair rolling down the
cape. Feeling the clipper blades chew through my hair made me want to
throw up. I was so relieved when she finally shut off the clippers.
Nevertheless, my hair was now buzzed close on the sides and back of
my head.
She started
spritzing the hair atop my head. "Almost there, sis. Just gotta
cut the top and then do some shaping and blending. Maybe neaten up
the back a little too."
A chunk of my new
bangs were lifted off my forehead and I watched as Elaine, whose
fingers were flush against my head, snipped off everything above her
knuckles. The hair tumbled down my face and audibly plopped down on
the cape.
"Oh my god,
that's so short," I wailed.
"You'll get
used to it," she said as she continued gathering and lopping off
the hair atop my head. "After a while you won't even remember
having all that long heavy hair. Hanging all the way down to your
butt. I don't know how you could handle it. This'll be much easier to
take care of for my little college student sis."
She chopped off
all the hair atop my head, leaving it maybe an inch long at most. If
it were cut any shorter it wouldn't have even been able to lay flat.
She even went in with the thinning shears and removed a lot of the
thickness, as if only to add insult to injury. Then she spent a good
deal of time blending the sides and top with her scissors and comb.
All the while I
sat there feeling defeated. All my gorgeous long hair, my most
defining and best feature, was gone. For the first time in my life I
actually felt unattractive, which I couldn't help but think pleased
my sister. She looked so proud of herself as she snipped away at my
newly short hair.
I sighed my
despair as she grabbed the clippers again and started tapering the
sides even shorter. Though I still had a little hair on my head, I
really felt bald. The last step of the haircut from hell was her
using a little set of trimming clippers to clean up around my ears
and my neck. I hated the feeling of the clippers tickling my neck,
sending little snippets of hair flying everywhere.
She wiped her hand
across my neck, cleaning away the little hairs and finally shut off
the clippers. "There we go, little sis. You're all done."
I slowly rose my
head and beheld my new reflection. I was horrified by what I saw. My
hair was cut so brutally short. She'd shown no mercy, buzzing the
sides so that my scalp was peeking through a little. I never realized
how big my ears were until now. They seemed to stick out from my head
with nothing to hide them. Long story short, I didn't think I suited
short hair at all. Compared to my long hair, this was a major
downgrade. I felt like I'd gone from a ten to a two, which I
guess was what my
sister was aiming for. She had certainly succeeded.
I desperately
wanted my long hair back, but it was all on the floor. Too late I
realized I'd made a horrible mistake letting Elaine cut my hair. She
had always been envious of my beautiful hair. I should have listened
to my first instinct and said no, regardless of hurting her feelings.
Now I was sporting a super short, buzzed haircut. I felt so stupid.
"What do you
think?" she said, standing behind me with the widest and
proudest of smiles.
I curled my lip in
disgust. "I look like a boy."
"No you
don't," she said. "You look super cute."
She tousled my
hair a bit, at least what was left of it, which wasn't very much. I
was typically beaming with confidence, sure of myself in most
situations. Now I felt so incredibly self-conscious and meek. Elaine
could clearly tell and seemed delighted by my change of attitude.
She'd stolen my
hair, my crowning glory and turned the tables on me. She finally had
something better than me. Her hair, while short, was now nicer,
shinier and most definitely longer than mine. Meanwhile my hair
looked like it had just been cut at the local barbershop. I'd be
lucky if people didn't think I was a lesbian or something.
Elaine pulled the
cape off me, sending long clumps of hair crashing to the floor.
"You'll get used to it," she said with a smile. "And
I'm sure everyone is gonna love it. You're just so adorable with
short hair."
I slowly rose from
the chair, my legs feeling weak. I was stunned by how much hair was
on the floor. When I finally felt my new haircut, I cringed,
especially when I felt the back.
"Don't worry
about paying. It's on the house," my sister said, giving me a
wink.
I was
shell-shocked. It hadn't really sunk in yet what had happened.
"You should
get going," she said. "Go enjoy the rest of your spring
break. I need to clean up this mess. You had so much hair!"
I felt a pang of
sadness at the mention of my once glorious mane.
Elaine just stared
at me with a smile, looking as if she were expecting something.
"Well? Aren't you going to thank me for the free haircut?"
she said.
Feeling small and
defeated, I meekly replied, "Thanks."
"No problem,
sis. Next time you're home from college I'll neaten it up again,"
she said.
I forced a tiny
smile and then turned away, self-consciously fingering my super short
hair. Elaine probably loved the sight of the back of my buzzed head.
For so many years she'd seen a gorgeous blanket of dark blond hair
swaying behind my back. She probably took great pleasure in now
seeing my shorn head and neck.
I walked out onto
the street like a zombie, my head being assaulted by strange new
sensations, like the feeling of the soft breeze on my neck and buzzed
back and sides. On the way home I walked by my old salon and lo and
behold there was my old stylist Mary working inside. She wasn't on
vacation like my sister had said. I
It was clear
Elaine had planned this from the start and I'd been dumb enough to
fall for it hook, line and sinker. Now there was nothing I could do
but mourn the loss of my long hair while Elaine celebrated my drastic
shearing.
© 2016 August D. Adams
- Please do not repost, reprint or reproduce this story without my driect permission
Just stumbled upon your blog and love this sort of story. Keep writing - I look forward to reading your e-books. Have you advertised or contributed on places like hairsnip.com, hvids.net, LTAH Forums, or the various hair fetish groups on Facebook?
ReplyDeleteThese stories turn me on, but i find them almost too harrowing to read :(
ReplyDelete