Prologue
June stood in front of the bathroom mirror and glared at her girlish body in utter disgust. She was tired of worrying about gaining weight. She hated trying to perfect her makeup and style her hair every single day. She hated the pink blouse she had chosen to wear to the mall this evening to meet up with her boyfriend. It didn't feel like her. Even the purple nail polish on the tips of her fingers felt wrong. She thought it would look nice with the outfit and make her the girl she's supposed to be, but now it was hard to look at without cringing.
The pair of scissors in her hand felt heavy. Her heart pounded and it was hard to breath. Finally, she inhaled a deep breath and sighed. She bunched up one side of her long hair and lifted the scissors, cutting off an uneven chunk right next to her chin. The removed brown locks promptly fell into the sink, useless and ugly without a head to grow on. June looked in the mirror and smiled as she playfully shook her head to see the shorter tresses sway. After that first cut, she continued moving the scissors around her head and cutting off portions of her hair. While the hair kept getting shorter and shorter her smile was widening. At one point she started trying to add layers for fun, but that was soon cut away too.
When it was above her ears, she was more careful about where she cut it and the length of each lock. At last, it lay flat against the nape of her neck and was choppy on the top. It wasn't perfect, but to June it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The sink and floor was covered in dead hair; it tickled her bare feet and a laugh escaped her cherry red lips. She had time to do this. If not now, then when?
She grabbed a bottle of polish remover stashed under the sink and used a rag to wipe the offending color from her finger nails. Then, she stripped and hopped right back into the shower. The loose hair that had fallen onto her shoulders was swept away; the lipstick soon rubbed off as well.
A few minutes passed before she finally wrapped a towel around her slim frame and ran straight for her room. Her dad wasn't home from his job at the local bakery yet, so she didn't have to worry about him peeking in or seeing what she'd done. June opened her closet door; picking a pair of dark skinny jeans and a men's button up shirt that she had bought in secret a while ago. She put them on, still grinning at her newfound confidence. When she was dressed, she went back to the bathroom to scoop up the cut hair in a broom pan. The loss of her hair did not bother her one bit.
When she allowed herself to look in the mirror once again, her heart flipped. She dissolved into laughter, eyes wide and quickly filling with tears. For the first time in her entire life, she felt comfortable in her own body. She put on foundation, but just enough to cover her bumps and teenage acne. For a moment, she allowed herself the time to admire the smiling boy looking back at her.
It was at this point that June Egbert became John Egbert, and he didn't care what anyone thought about it because he was happy.
This story is inspired by "Break Free - Ruby Rose" on Youtube. I love the video so much that I had to do something with it. The rest of the story will be completely original.