It was the day after the Petalburg City contest. May won her fifth ribbon, making her eligible to enter the Grand Festival. It was close, but she got a major victory over Harley with the last 2 minutes with the help of Blaziken and Skitty. Now, May was hard at work, coming up with different combinations with all of her pokemon. At the moment, she had her Glaceon use shadow ball and had Venusaur mix in petal blizzard with it. It collided and made a bunch of sparkly heart fireworks. It was amazing as it caught the eye of Drew, who was training in a different area. He came by and watched May train as he soon breaks the silence with,"Not bad May. Of course, I could come up with something better." It was when May turned around to respond that got him a bit surprised. When he saw May respond to his comment, he noticed that May changed a lot since the Mauville Contest a while back. Although she was as beautiful as ever, one thing shook him. The main change that shook him was with her hair. It's gotten longer, reaching her shoulders. Plus, her bangs have gotten longer too. Seeing this, he wondered if all her hair that's usually stored underneath her signature bandanna has gotten longer too. So, when May finished with her reremark, he darted past her, pulling off her bandanna as her hair flowed down, reaching shoulder length. Drew was in utmost shock as May was blushing furiously, saying,"What are you looking at"? Drew smirked with a bit of laughter and says,"I'm just amazed at the sight that I see. I never expected that your hair can get that long, especially since the last time we've seen each other." May just scoffed and says,"So? It doesn't give you any right to just yank my bandanna off like that. Besides, I've been trying to keep it out of my way, especially with my bangs, which have been more or less annoying these days." Drew grew quite concerned at her words. He knew that she cared about her appearance, but she's never been this protective before, unless there's something related to it that's bugging her.
Wanting to know more, he asks,"I don't mean to sound like I'm nagging or pushing it, but, is something the matter"? May just sat down and says,"Yes...no...ok, I really don't know. Ok, I'll be honest. I'm not ok. If anything, I'm panicked." Drew sat right next to her and asks,"What's gotten you so panicked? I know the Grand Festival is nerve-wracking, but you've been fine in them before." He then remembered how May has been acting weird about her hair today. With this in mind, he then asks,"Does it have to do with your auburn locks"? May just turned away, but had a look in her eyes that told Drew that he was right. He then says,"What about them is bothering you"? May then shouted,"I hate it. The length that it's in. The way that my bangs bug me. Everything. It's driving me crazy!!!! The worse part is that I can't do a thing with it. Even my bandanna is useless"!! Drew then says,"If it's that much of a bother, why not-,"before getting cut off by May saying,"Stop! I know what you're going to say. My parents and even Max have been saying the same exact thing. They've been saying, and I know you're going to say, if it's being a bother, why not get it cut or styled a different way? My answer is simple; no, no, no and no. A thousand times no"! Drew was a little surprised by how she was with her talk about this. He's seen her nervous, emotional and a bit ticked off before, but this is unlike her at all. There had to be a reason to why she was like this. Drew decided to ask the big question, asking,"Why are you so scared about getting your haircut"? May became embarrassed and a bit upset as she says in a quiet tone,"A few years ago, in kindergarten, a bunch of boys who were bullies back then would always terrorize me whenever they had a free chance. They'd push me around, ruin my art projects and just be plain mean. One fateful day, one of them dared their leader to use scissors on me and cut my hair. I didn't even know what they did until the teacher saw me. When I ran to the girl's restroom to see, I was horrified at what it looked like. It was completely uneven and the sides were choppy. It took 6 months for it to grow out and return to normal. Since then, whenever I even hear about someone cutting their hair, I always end up jumpy and nervous. Plus, if they ever brought that topic and related it to me, I become a full blown nervous wreck." After recovering from shock, Drew hugged May as she was shocked of the kind act, returning the act with a hug of her own.
Drew held May by the hand and says,"I had no idea that you went through that. It must have been harsh, especially with what they must have been thinking when they did what they did." May just looked down and says,"It was pretty bad back in the day, but, I try not to think about it." Drew says with a smile,"May, I can tell you went through so much and it's understandable for something like this to scar you." May just turned her head away and says,"It was pretty bad and I want to get over this, I really do, but whenever I do, that memory plays in my head and I get worried all over again." Drew, a little worried for his fellow rival, wanted to help anyway he could. He got a great idea that just might be able to work. He got up and asked May,"How about we continue this talk at my place? I know someone there who's been through the same thing." May, a little confused but seeing this as a good idea, got up and followed Drew as he soon led May to his mansion, which was huge. The garden outside was as huge as the gate in the entrance. Inside, the hallway was amazing with all the paintings and vases. Soon, Drew led May into the living room, which had a brilliant counch, a huge TV and beautiful china. May sat on the couch as Drew called his butler, James. He says,"Can you call Ms. Melody? I brought a friend for her to talk to." James immediately phoned up Melody, who was in the living room in an instant. She was tall, had long blonde hair, and resembled a stylist. May flinched a bit, but one smile from Drew and she felt a lot better. Drew got up to introduce Melody and says,"May, this is Melody, my personal stylist. Melody, this is my rival in the contest loop May, otherwise known as the Princess of Hoenn. My friend here is a little nervous about getting her haircut because of an incident that related to yours when you were our age. So I brought her over to talk to you because you've had the same experience she had." Melody sat next to May, saying,"So, you had boy trouble which led to bullying trouble which led to hair trouble as a young one"? May shyly nodded as Melody continued with,"Trust me, I had the same experience. You want to know how I got over it"? May nodded as Melody continued with,"I got over it by doing exactly what we are doing right now, talking to someone who went through the same thing. Once I felt better, I went through with it with someone I trusted and it ended up not being as bad as I thought."
Hearing Melody talk made May feel a lot better. Drew sat on the end of the couch, saying,"Melody is one of the top stylists in all of Hoenn. In fact, many have nicknamed her "The Hairdressing Queen of Hoenn". She as done many styles to the utmost perfection and is great with the quality of her work." This part got May interested and thinking that if she was that well known, then she must be good. With this in mind, she got the courage to ask Melody,"You sound amazing. If it's not much of a bother, do you think you have enough time for a walk in client appointment, meaning me"? The request got Drew smiling, seeing how his rival and secret crush was feeling a lot better about allowing someone to cut her hair. With a encouraging nod, Melody smiled and says,"Of course. I had a feeling that you'd might ask something like that." Pretty soon, in a clear room next to the living room, Melody had her fold up chair and supplies at the ready. May had a nervous feeling in her gut, but took a deep breath to ease the feeling. Once she was prepared, Melody called May to the chair as May shakily sat down. Melody placed a cape around May before grabbing a spray bottle of water and a bright red comb. May glanced at the items with confusion mostly related towards the spray bottle. Melody could see the look on May as she says,"You're probably curious about this spray bottle. I normally use this to spray water on hair so it's easier to cut." As she explained, she used the spray bottle and began spraying May's hair. The water felt cold to May, but in a way, it was also a bit relaxing. Once her hair was damp enough, Melody used the comb as May began to relax. The sensation of the comb was strangely arousing.
Soon, Melody grabbed her scissors and brought them towards May. May grew jumpy at the sound of the scissors snipping. What got her calm was Drew sitting right next to her on a separate chair, holding her hand. May blushed at the kind act and smiled. When Melody made the first cut, May only winced slightly, but wasn't as jumpy as earlier. Melody kept the cutting motion up for a few minutes, often changing position to cut in certain positions or at certain angles. After about half an hour of snipping and cutting, Melody was finally finished. May kept her eyes closed for the duration of the time, but opened them when Melody finished. Drew was amazed by the outcome. May looked like her normal self again. When Melody gave May a mirror to look, May smiled in content, saying,"It's just how I wanted. Melody, thank you so much." Melody grinned as she says,"It was no problem at all. Besides, you should be thanking Drew for his grand idea. All I did was what I was told." May looked over to Drew and smiled with a light crimson blush flowing on her cheeks. A little later, after Melody left, Drew and May were outside of the mansion, chatting. May gave a glance to Drew while saying,"I must thank you again for earlier. If it weren't for you, I don't know what I'd do." Drew just grinned and says,"It was nothing. Just helping a friend is all." When May saw the sunset, she realized she had to go, but Drew decided to give her a parting gift before she left. He got up and this time gave May a rise instead of tossing it like normal. Then suddenly, he kissed May right on the lips before heading back to his mansion, saying,"See you at the grand festival." May was blushing mad red, but had a huge smile while saying,"You too Drew," before walking off to the pokemon center. Today, May faced a childhood fear and was able to get a new style, a style of new feelings.