Mikey felt strange when his chemo treatment made him lose his hair, but he didn't feel…horrible about it. He was a boy; he could deal with being bald okay. Bald was an acceptable hairstyle for men (Mitch even said he looked cool, like Lex Luthor).

But his poor friend Mabel was a girl. It was always harder for the female patients to lose their hair.

Mikey was surprised at how much it stung to see his friend missing patches of hair. She looked just like she did in this first-grade class picture she had shown him when she had to shave gum out of her hair. She told him she was upset about it at the time, but she has since gotten over it and was able to look back fondly on that picture of her and Dipper.

This would be different though; she wouldn't be cutting just a small part of her hair. In the span of only a few minutes, Mabel would be rendered totally bald. It sent chills down his spine.

Like with most things, Mabel tried to look at the issue from a different angle. "It used to take me forever to dry my hair, so think of all the free time I will have now that it's gone!"

Ford's hand was shaking as he held the razor. He couldn't believe what he was about to do.

Mabel noticed the sadness in the room and wanted to make them feel better. "C'mon, guys, get rid of those frowns! No one likes a grumpy-grump! Let's get this party started!"

Mabel decided that this wasn't going to be a sad event, but rather a fun activity. She invited some of her gal pals to come so it would feel more like a real party. Mabel forced them to make a pact that they would not cut their own hair so Mabel would still have other people's hair to play with. "You know me, I like to be an original! No copycats!"

"You won't be that original in this part of the hospital, Mabel!" Mikey said, partially teasing and partially reminding her that she's not alone. "You're one of us now!"

"But I will be the one with the most colorful hats!" Mabel giggled, revealing a whole bag full of hats in every color imaginable.

"Fair enough," Mikey conceded. In truth, Mabel didn't need to look different to be unique; her personality was enough.

"I made one for you too!" she beamed as she began digging through her assortment.

"Ah…geez…you didn't have to," Mikey said blushing. He knew his friend was just trying to be nice, but he didn't know how he felt about wearing some girly knit hat.

When Mabel finally pulled the hat out, however, Mikey was surprised to discover she had knitted him a black knit hat with the Z-Files logo on it.

"Wow…thank you," he managed, not wanting to get emotional. It was by far the nicest gift anyone had given him since his time in the hospital. To think it was being given to him by a girl going through one of the hardest times of her life only touched him more.

Mabel made a fun game she could play with her family while they completed the arduous task. She wanted each person to make a wish as they each shaved a portion of her hair. "You can't say it out loud though, or it won't come true!"

They didn't have to say it out loud anyways; everyone in that room had the exact same wish.

When they had finished with the hair Candy and Grenda began toying around with their make-up to try to maintain that feminine touch.

At that moment Mikey was surprised when a blonde girl with an army of girls who appeared to be almost clones entered the room decked out in cheerleading uniforms. Mikey had never taken Mabel for the type to hang around popular, snobby girls, but he supposed her infectious spirit had even reached that far.

They all looked shocked to see Mabel's new shaven head, but they tried to force smiles. They knew this would happen, but it was still a shock to the system to see her like this. Pacifica even appeared to have tears in her eyes.

"Hey, girls! Come in! Join the party! You can help us give Dipper a makeover!" she said as she held out a red lipstick and gave a playfully evil smile.

Some of the girls looked like they wanted to, but they were frozen in silence. Pacifica finally spoke up. "That's alright, Mabel, we just stopped by to bring you these flowers." She left them on the table and quickly bid Mabel goodbye. She wanted to try to come back later to visit with her. Right now, she was in too much shock, and she refused to let Mabel see her cry.

"Alright, ladies! Let's see how I look!"

Wendy hesitantly held up the hand-held mirror so Mabel could see. Mabel's smile fell upon seeing herself. She had tried to not let losing her hair get to her and told herself that she was beautiful no matter what.

But she didn't even recognize the girl staring back at her: her skin was pale, her cheeks lost all their rosiness, her eyes were dulled and sunken-in. Now with her hair gone, there was no resemblance to the healthy girl she used to be.

Mabel bit her lip and tried to say something to assure her friends and family she was okay, even if it wasn't true. Everyone in the room was trying to think of what to say to make Mabel feel better.

Mikey felt horrible for her. After being so nice to him, she deserved to be paid back. He swallowed his shyness and broke the silence by telling her, "I think you look beautiful."

Mabel blushed and couldn't hide her grin at Mikey's compliment. Wendy, Candy, and Grenda were stifling their giggles seeing Mabel so demure. It wasn't like her to be shy around anyone, especially boys.

"Thanks, Mikey," Mabel said softly. For the first time in a while, she truly felt beautiful.