Helloooo all you wonderful readers! It's been a while since I updated, but here's the next chapter!

Today's chapter was loosely based on suggestions from periwinkle and Merro. All right, let's go – happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!

The Haircut

Kindergarten

May (5), Paul (5), Drew (5), Gary (5)

It was the second week of kindergarten, and at this point, May was certain starting school was the greatest decision she had made in her life. The best part, in her opinion, was sitting at a table with her three new friends: Drew, Gary and Paul.

At least, she considered them her friends, since they sat at the same table and always did their work together. They didn't really play with her at recess, though. Drew hung out with her, but he was too concerned with being polite and proper and keeping his clothes tidy, rather than running around like she wanted (she knew he could, though, if he wanted to, judging from how he'd run away with her bandana once). Gary often ran off to play on the playground equipment and never waited for her to catch up. And Paul, he just sat on the bench, sometimes with a book, and seemed entirely uninterested in anything that involved more human interaction than necessary.

Regardless, May saw them as her friends, and nothing would change her mind about that.

She was looking forward to seeing them again today too. She hummed as she skipped into her classroom, said hi to Ms. Kelly, and made her way to her usual table. Gary and Paul were already there, so she sneaked up behind Paul and ruffled his hair – she absolutely adored his pretty purple hair! Paul yanked his head away and put his hands over it defensively, glaring at her as she sat down. She smiled widely back, adjusting her red bandana, which her mother had made for her just last week.

"Hi Gary, hi Paul!" she chirped.

Gary didn't respond, because he was preoccupied with a drawing, and Paul only said, "Don't touch my hair!"

Which were friendly enough greetings in May's eyes.

When Drew arrived, he, on the other hand, replied to May with a polite hello, and went on to say hello to the other two as well.

"Don't bug me. I'm trying to draw," said Gary, eyes glued to whatever he was making. Paul just scowled, and that caused Drew to frown.

"Why are you angry today, Paul?" he asked.

May wasn't sure what Drew meant. Paul wasn't acting any different from usual. Before he could answer (well, it didn't look like he was going to answer, anyways), Ms. Kelly stopped by their table.

"May, Drew, Gary and Paul, all here," she muttered, taking attendance on a clipboard. She smiled down at the four, and her eyes stopped on Paul. "What's wrong, Paul? Not in a good mood today?"

"Can you tell my brother not to take me for a haircut today?" Paul said sulkily. "He won't listen to me."

"Why don't you want to get a haircut?"

"'Cause he's gonna take me at the same time a show's gonna come on TV, and I wanna watch that show."

"Maybe you could ask him to take you at a different time?"

"That's what I keep saying, but he won't listen to me!"

Ms. Kelly tapped her chin with her pen. "I'll see what I can do. How about I talk to him when he comes to pick you up today?"

Paul nodded solemnly, and she went on her way.

"You're going to get a haircut?" Drew asked curiously.

"I don't wanna," Paul muttered.

"They're gonna cut off all your hair," Gary said, grinning widely. "They're gonna give you the worst haircut ever!"

"Not his hair!" May said, horrified. Paul's hair, with that beautiful amethyst colour – all gone? She would hate it if anything bad happened to it!

"No, they're not gonna cut it all off," Paul said, giving Gary an irritated look. "Reggie said only a little bit from the back."

May relaxed. If it was only a little bit, that was okay. But Paul still seemed pretty moody over having to miss a show because of his upcoming haircut….

It was raining heavily that day, so, later, when it was recess time, Ms. Kelly proposed they stay indoors. There were plenty of things to do inside as well, so it didn't mean recess was any less fun. Drew sat at their table and started to colour. Paul sat there too with a few books to look through. Gary went straight for the blocks, on a quest to construct the tallest tower.

May was about to sit down to colour with Drew, but then, she had a thought. Paul didn't want to have a haircut because it would make him miss his show. But… what if he didn't need to get a haircut? Then he wouldn't have to worry about it at all!

Excited, May hurried over to the arts-and-crafts table and picked a pair of scissors. She was a very good cutter, she knew. Her mother had said so, when she'd cut out a picture of a circle. She made her way back to where Paul was, and surveyed the back of his head.

He'd said he only needed a little cut from the back, so it shouldn't be too hard. She didn't need to do anything fancy. If she did it quietly and carefully enough, he wouldn't notice, and he'd get a wonderful surprise when she was done!

As sneakily as she could, she snipped a bit of his hair that was sticking out. She worried for a moment that Paul would swat her away, but he seemed too engrossed in a book to notice.

She grinned. This was going to be easy!

Slowly, but surely, she began snipping all the bits that were sticking out. When she had done quite a bit, she stepped back to take a look.

It didn't look much different from how it usually was. Why would he go to the barber in the first place if it wasn't even going to look like he got a haircut? Maybe he was going to make it shorter too.

She snipped a little from the bottom, but it didn't look very straight, and it left the other side too long, so she cut some more to even it out.

And then she cut some more.

And some more.

And some more.

Her frown broadened. It wasn't looking like how she'd imagined. Maybe if she cut a little more from the top…?

Now his hair was jaggedly shortened, with big missing clumps from the back, though it couldn't be too bad, because it wasn't like he had bald patches or anything. Plus, May noticed, his hair was still longer from the sides – the long strands had fallen forward, since he was leaning over his book. She grabbed a large lock from the side and snipped it off, and it was only then that Paul's head snapped up, and he whipped around to see May standing beside him.

"What are you doing?" he said, blinking. His eyes slowly travelled to her scissors.

"Wait, I'm not done," said May. The cut had not been straight at all! Her hairstyling mission was not turning out as well as she'd thought, but she was sure she could fix it if he gave her a little more time.

"Did you just cut my hair?" Paul said, dumbfounded. Some kids nearby looked in their direction. Even Drew looked up from his colouring.

"Wait," May said, dread creeping inside her. She was getting the sinking feeling she'd done something wrong. "Wait, it's not ready yet!"

Paul frantically ran his hands over his head, his eyes widening even more. "You cut my hair," he said loudly.

"Shh!" May said desperately. She could see Ms. Kelly turning towards them. Looking at his hair now, she knew she'd messed up. She'd messed up in a big way, and she was going to get in trouble. "Don't tell on me!"

Paul didn't look angry, but bewildered and shocked, running his hands over his head as if his missing hair would somehow instantly regrow. Around them, some of the other kids were beginning to notice, and, soon, there were whispers and giggles floating around.

"What's going on?" Ms. Kelly said, striding over.

"Nothing! Nothing!" May said, tears filling her eyes. "I didn't do anything!"

"She cut my hair!" Paul said, utterly horrified.

"No!" May shrieked. "Don't tell on me!"

The whole class was watching them now.

"May, what…" Ms. Kelly trailed off, her eyes widening as she took in the scene. "What—"

May threw down the scissors and bolted to a corner, bursting into tears. She knew from one look at Ms. Kelly that she'd done something bad – that she was a bad girl. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, and she was downright humiliated. It had been a mistake. She'd been trying to help her friend, but she had no idea how to explain it.

Meanwhile, Ms. Kelly slowly ran a hand over her face. Looked like Paul was going to have to get that haircut today after all…

The next day, in class, May nervously waited for her friends. She hadn't forgotten what had happened yesterday, and the memory was made worst by how some of the other kids looked at her. She knew they were always going to remember her as the girl who cut someone's hair. When Gary arrived and sat down, he didn't look at her any differently from usual, but when Drew showed up, she didn't miss the hint of wariness in his gaze.

Soon, it was nearly time for class to begin, but Paul still hadn't come, and that made May feel worse. Yesterday, she'd heard Ms. Kelly assure Paul that the barber would be able to do something about the catastrophe on his head (she'd downplayed the horror of it, of course), but if Paul wasn't here… What if that meant the barber hadn't been able to fix it? What if—

Right before Ms. Kelly started class, someone burst through the door: Paul's older brother, Reggie.

"Hey," he said, panting. "Sorry" – he gasped – "for the lateness." He took a moment to catch his breath as Ms. Kelly walked up to him, and, when she was close enough, he laughed nervously and said in a low voice, "He didn't want to come today, so…"

"Paul," said Ms. Kelly, looking at someone outside the door behind Reggie. She smiled. "Glad you could make it. We were about to start."

"Come on, Paul," Reggie said, still looking out of breath as he nudged his brother inside. He gave Ms. Kelly a quick wave. "Gotta get to class. Later!" He was gone in an instant.

With a little urging, Ms. Kelly finally managed to get Paul to come in and take his seat. He slouched at the table. May immediately took note of a striking difference in his appearance today: he was still wearing his charcoal-coloured rain hat.

"You can take that off," said Ms. Kelly.

"Don't wanna," he mumbled, sinking lower in his seat.

"Is it the haircut?" Ms. Kelly said sympathetically.

Paul didn't answer, and she took that as a yes and left him alone.

"What's it look like?" Gary asked, his eyes glinting. "Take your hat off. I wanna see."

Paul's scowl widened, and May shifted uncomfortably. She could feel his gaze landing on her from the shadow of his hat.

Without warning, Gary reached over and ripped his hat from his head. Paul's eyes widened, and he quickly snatched it back, but not before everyone at their table, as well as some of the surrounding kids, got a good glimpse of what he'd been trying to hide.

The haircut didn't suit him at all! Whatever the barber had tried to do to fix it had evidently not worked – it was too short at the back, and a bit long at the front, and… well, it looked absolutely ridiculous!

Renewed guilt and shame pumped into May's stomach. She'd ruined Paul's pretty purple hair. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling so well…

Gary burst into laughter as Paul desperately pulled his hat down. The others who had seen were giggling, or trying to hide their grins. Drew glowered at Gary as sternly as he could and said, "That wasn't nice," which had no effect in improving the situation.

"What's going on now?" Ms. Kelly said a little exasperatedly, making her way back.

And then, there it was.

May could see it in Paul's eyes when he glared at her: the anger, the fury she had been afraid Paul would be filled with since yesterday.

He stood abruptly, seething, and pointed an accusatory finger at her. "It's all your fault!"

"Paul," said Ms. Kelly. "What—"

"No, it's not!" May sprang to her feet. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. "I wasn't trying to—"

"I don't want to sit here!"

"You're not listening!" May yelled back. She was getting angry now. She hadn't been trying to upset him! She'd just wanted to surprise him, do something nice for her friend. It had backfired in the worst way, but if he only listened to her…!

"You two, sit down," said Ms. Kelly sharply.

"No! I don't want to sit with her!"

That hit hard. Her, he'd said. He was angry at her, and only her. Because it had been her fault.

"Fine!" May said, crossing her arms and trying not to sob out. "Then I don't want to sit with you either!"

"Don't ever come near me again!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Both of you, stop!" Ms. Kelly looked from May to Paul. They were fixed to each other with the most venomous of glares, but it seemed neither had anything else to say. She slowly let out a breath and scanned the room. The class seemed to be holding its breath, entranced by the drama (from the looks of it, it had even caused one little girl to break into silent tears). "Paul, come here."

At first, May thought she was going to take Paul to timeout, and a part of her felt guilty for getting him into trouble, but another part – a stubborn part – wanted him in timeout for making her so upset.

But, no. Instead, Ms. Kelly led him to another table a good distance away, taking his chair with her. "Sit here for now," she told him. To the kids at his new table, she said, "Make some room. It won't be too crowded with the five of you, but we'll see if we need any rearrangements later."

May's stomach sank. Paul had switched to a new table. He'd been at hers since the first day – he'd been her friend since the first day, but now, he was gone. She wasn't sure he even liked being at a table with four new kids, but the fact that he was going to put up with it just to stay away from her meant he really hated her.

"And May…," Ms. Kelly started.

But May didn't want to hear what her teacher was going to say, whether she was going to scold her or not. She'd just lost one of her friends; wasn't that punishment enough?

Without listening to Ms. Kelly, she sat, hiding her head in her arms before she could burst into tears in front of the whole class again.

As the week went on, things didn't get any better.

Paul wouldn't even look at her. Even though May was still angry at him, she tried to catch his eye, but failed miserably. She did catch Reggie's once, though, and he gave her an apologetic smile, which was somewhat comforting, since she'd been afraid he'd hate her too. At one point, he sympathetically said, "It's okay, his hair'll grow back eventually," when he was passing by.

Drew, on the other hand, stayed polite, but seemed to have a newfound cautiousness around her. She caught him peeking at her every time she picked up a pair of scissors. Gary was a lot less discreet about the fact that he remembered the incident: he'd smirk, saying, "Who're you gonna give a haircut to next? Not me!" And no matter what she tried to say, it didn't seem to change either of their minds.

Finally, after the weekend, May decided to accept it. Accept that she'd lost one of her friends. Accept that the two she had left might not like her as much anymore.

Well, she would just have to deal with it. Like her mother said, she still had the rest of kindergarten to go, and things could get better. Not everyone would necessarily be her friend, but that didn't mean she couldn't make more. Besides, everyone might forget about the whole thing after a while.

Hopefully.

So, on Monday, May purposely sat in the chair right next to Drew when she came to class. Drew, who'd been colouring, looked up at her a little nervously, but she boldly said, "Can I colour with you?"

Drew hesitated. "Are you gonna cut my hair?"

"Yes!" Gary interrupted before May could answer. He grinned widely. "You're the next person she's gonna give a haircut!"

"No," said May, trying to muster up an intimidating glare. To Drew, she said, "I am never gonna cut anyone's hair. So… can I…?" She nervously reached for one of the colours Drew was using, and, finally, he smiled and nodded.

"Okay, but don't cut my hair."

Drew's acceptance put her in a considerably happier mood. Even the skies seemed happier. After the seemingly endless rain last week, the weather finally permitted an outdoor recess, albeit a wet one, with all the puddles and mud.

When it was time to go outside, May put on her red rain boots and red raincoat and red rain hat, and waited at the door for Drew as he put his outdoor wear on. She rocked back and forth on her feet, looking outside as she waited.

Gary, as usual, was on the playground equipment, engaged in some rowdy game with kindergartners from their class and the other kindergarten section. Ms. Kelly was attending to a kid who had hurt himself. Another teacher – the one for the other kindergarten class – was strolling around, supervising, though May couldn't see her very well from where she was. And Paul, he was sitting on a bench by himself as usual, his rain hat, which he now wore indoors as well, still on his head. His hair, apparently, still hadn't grown back just yet.

But May wasn't going to let the guilt get to her again. She had to hold her head up high, like her mother had told her to, and move on.

She was about to look away when something caught her eye. A boy from her class – Damian, she remembered someone calling him – was sneaking up behind Paul. Suddenly, he grabbed Paul's hat and took off, laughing. Paul whipped around and was on his feet within seconds, locking his eyes on the culprit.

And then, he ran after him. May had never seen him run before, but he could run fast!

But Damian had had a head start. When Paul began to catch up, another boy yelled, "Over here, Damian!" and Damian threw the hat to him, who took off in another direction. And when Paul started to catch up to him, he threw it to yet another boy.

Ms. Kelly was still dealing with the kid who had gotten hurt, so she didn't notice what was going on. But the other kids did.

They were laughing, pointing at Paul's haircut, yelling at the hat-thieves to pass it to them. Paul looked downright furious, red with either anger or embarrassment or both.

May tried to remind herself that she shouldn't feel guilty anymore, that she should move on, but she couldn't. This wasn't fair! They were making fun of Paul for something that wasn't his fault, and sure, she was still upset at him, but she was more upset at his taunters because he was her friend, because she saw him as her friend, even if he didn't see her as his. No one had any right to pick on him!

And all the guilt, shame, humiliation, heartbreak, frustration, everything that had been building up since last week exploded inside of her.

Without seeing if Drew was done or not, she ran. She ran straight to the playground, past other kids, past the bench, past even Paul, who had slowed down to catch his breath.

And she went straight for Damian, who now had the hat again.

"Give that back!" she screamed. No longer was she sweet little May Maple of kindergarten.

She was a red flame, the physical embodiment of outrage.

"That's Paul's hat! Give it back now!"

May, however, didn't have the intimidating factor she would have liked, because rather than yielding, Damian's grin widened and he began running faster, yelling, "Make me!"

"Get back here!" she shrieked, in hot pursuit. She vaguely heard people whooping and yelling, but she didn't care. She didn't care if other people were watching. There was no way she was going to let Damian get away, no way she was—

She slipped on the wet grass and landed face down in a mud puddle.

She could hear laughs around her as she lifted her chin off the ground. Up ahead, Damian had stopped to look at her, and he was buckled over in laughter. Paul's hat was still in his hand.

No…

She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't let herself be humiliated again, not when she was doing something right. She was going to get that hat back. She was going to make Damian regret messing with her friend.

She pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the cold water that had entered her boots, ignoring the mud that had seeped into her raincoat because of her faulty buttoning, ignoring her own rain hat, which had flown off and was lying in a puddle.

With a spurt of speed, she rushed at Damian again. The boy, smirking widely, moved out of her and began running. Suddenly, he turned around and started going the other way. May had not been prepared for his sudden change in direction, and her attempt to follow caused her to slip, and landed her once more in a wet, wet puddle.

More laughs. More whoops.

But she was not going to stay down.

As she got to her feet, she heard a new voice amidst the yells: "Get him, May! Beat him up!"

She blinked, turning to the playground equipment, and, sure enough, Gary – Gary! – was cheering for her. There was a huge grin on his face as he looked down at the scene from a railing. He was surrounded at all sides by other kindergarten spectators – cheering either for or against her, she didn't know – but he was who mattered. Her friend was who mattered.

"I'm gonna get you, Damian!" she screamed. Damian smirked at her, like this was all a game. Like she wasn't serious. "I'm gonna get you, and you hafta give Paul's hat back!"

"Not gonna!"

He darted off, she after him. She was furious, downright enraged, and the adrenaline kept her going, even when her feet became numb with the water that had entered her boots, even when her shirt beneath her badly buttoned coat was soaked, even when her face and hands and pants were smeared with mud. At one point, she felt her bandana coming loose and flying off her head, but she didn't have time to go get it. She recovered every time she slipped, got up every time she fell, and soon, Damian was panting and she was still on his tail.

And then, he was slowing down, his gasps for breath more and more audible, and May was catching up. She thrust out her arm and managed to push him from behind, sending herself falling flat into a thick mud puddle.

But he fell on his face too. The hat went flying from his grasp. A cheer erupted from all around.

For her.

For beating him.

Groaning but triumphant, May began to sit up, but Damian was already on his feet. And he wasn't running anymore.

He was angry.

He stomped right up to May and shoved her back down in the mud with enough force that her face slammed into the dirt. And it hurt.

Slowly, still rattled from the shock of his sudden attack, she sat up. Damian was sneering at her, his expression cruel.

At that point, the fact that she was cold and wet and tired came flooding into her senses. Every part of her ached. She wanted to get up, wanted to shove Damian down, but she no longer had the strength. Instead, she could feel tears prickling her eyes, but she held them back. She would not let him see her cry, even though she was so wet and covered with mud, he probably wouldn't notice anyways. She tried to wipe her face, but only ended up smearing the dirt.

It wasn't fair. He'd been the one who'd done something bad. And she had worked so hard to fight back. She'd caught up to him, she'd won.

So why did he get to be the one who hurt her?

No one was laughing this time. The playground was quiet, until Gary's voice called out.

"That was cheating!" he yelled. "She beat you – you're a cheater, Damian!"

If Gary wanted to come down from the playground equipment at this point, he couldn't, since the kids crowded around him prevented him from leaving his place at the railing. But despite the distance, his indignant voice rang loud and clear.

Damian just stuck his tongue out at him.

"That's not nice."

Another voice – panting, but angry – joined them. Drew jogged up behind May, out of breath from trying to catch up. He was muddy from his efforts, which surprised May because of how much he avoided getting dirty. He had something clutched in each of his hands, which, May realized with a jolt, were her rain hat and her bandana, both grimy and dripping. He'd taken the care to retrieve them for her when she'd dropped them.

"Apologize to May." Drew's eyes locked onto Damian with a glare – a not very effective one, apparently, because Damian stuck his nose in the air and began to walk away.

"Hey," said Drew. "Get back here, and say sorry to—"

He was cut short when something smacked against the front of his coat. Damian had thrown a mud ball at him.

"That's not nice…," Drew said, trailing off when Damian continued to walk away. He must have realized he wouldn't be able to get him to apologize, because he didn't call out again. Instead, he squatted next to May and timidly asked, "Are you okay?"

"Mm-hm." May pressed her lips together and hugged herself tightly, trying to keep herself together so she wouldn't cry, she couldn't cry…

Up ahead, someone walked up to the fallen hat she'd worked so hard to chase down and picked it up. Then, slowly, the figure came to stand right before her. She raised her eyes.

Paul was standing in front of her. He didn't look angry, but pensive, his thoughts unreadable. Finally, he dropped his hat on May's head, and simply said, "Hold this."

Then he headed for the direction Damian had gone.

"Hey you!" he yelled.

Damian turned around, and Paul crossed his arms. His stance changed, from the quiet, introverted boy who used to sit at May's table to a powerful warrior, holding his ground. His expression turned furious, but not in the way it had been when he'd directed it at May for cutting his hair. This was colder, piercing, intimidating. Even his haircut no longer looked laughable.

"Get over here, Damian," he shouted. "Get over here now! I'm gonna fight you. I'm gonna fight you and squish your face in the mud."

Damian folded his arms, smirking. "You can't, dumb-hair. I'm stronger than you."

"Yeah?" Paul stepped towards him. "Then fight me."

"Fine. But I'm gonna squish your face in the mud!"

Paul tilted his head, his eyes narrowing challengingly. Damian strutted towards him with bold, confident steps. They stood, glaring at each other for a moment, and then…

And then Paul launched himself at him in full power.

Damian yelped as Paul knocked him over, but his eyes flashed and he retaliated with a powerful shove. Both got back to their feet in an instant, and tackled each other, shoving, kicking. Soon, they were both covered in mud. Paul let out a frustrated growl as his coat got in the way. He took it off and threw it to the side and went on fighting.

May hadn't been expecting an actual fight like this. She'd thought they'd push each other or something, not make an actual effort to bring each other down. She wasn't sure what to make of this. Her mother had told her to never hurt other people – it was wrong! Did that mean Paul was being bad? But… Damian had been being bad too, so…?

Drew also seemed shocked, as did some other kindergartners. But some, like Gary, were watching with wide, exhilarated eyes, drinking in the scene with full approval, even, in some instances, cheering for one side or the other.

The fight was cut short, however, with a furious yell: "Paul! Damian! What are you two doing? Stop that at once!"

Ms. Kelly and the other kindergarten class teacher marched over to them, livid. Ms. Kelly grabbed Paul by the arm, pulling him to his feet and away from his opponent, but at the last second, Paul shoved Damian down so hard, his face hit the mud puddle beneath them with a wet smack.

"Enough of this!" Ms. Kelly exclaimed, thoroughly flabbergasted. "Both of you…!"

She had to drag Paul away from him, and as the other teacher helped Damian up, Paul yelled out, "I squished your face in the mud, Damian! I squished your face in the mud!" until Damian's pride couldn't take it and he burst into tears. It was only then that Paul gave a satisfied smirk and stopped struggling against his teacher.

"That is it! Just look at you! You two are soaked!"

Then Ms. Kelly's eyes fell on May, still sitting on the ground, looking as muddy and wet as the boys, and her perplexed eyes went to the boys, and back to her and Paul's hat still sitting on her head. She shook her head. She'd have to figure out what had happened later. For now, she had three very wet kindergartners to deal with.

The next day, May sat at her usual table, though there was a major difference in her style: she was still wearing Paul's hat.

She hadn't had the chance to return it to him yesterday. Ms. Kelly had done her best to clean the muddy three up, but she hadn't had any spare clothes. In the end, she'd sent them home. Even then, May remained fixated on the fact that Paul had told her to hold his hat; she wasn't going to let it go until he asked for it. Her bandana, on the other hand, was now freshly washed and tied around her wrist like a bracelet.

When Paul and Damian arrived in class, Ms. Kelly took them aside and had a private, sharp word with them. As she did, Reggie snuck over to May and asked in a low voice, "Sooo… what was the fight really about? Damian said Paul made him fight to be mean, and Paul said it was because Damian took his hat, and Ms. Kelly said you looked like you got into a fight too, so…?"

May shrugged. "I don't know," she said in a small voice. "Damian took his hat, so I took it back, and then he squished my face in the mud, and then Paul squished his face in the mud." She pointed to the hat on her head. "He told me to hold this," she explained.

Reggie's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "Ah, I see." He grinned. "I guess everything's okay then."

May frowned. "It's not okay to fight."

"It is if you're fighting for a friend. Just, ah" – he grinned sheepishly – "don't tell anyone I said that. You're not supposed to fight in school."

May wasn't sure what exactly Reggie was saying, but she caught him sending Paul a secret thumbs up as he left.

"Before we start class," said Ms. Kelly, "we have a little something we'd like to get out of the way first. Paul? Damian?"

The two boys stood in front of the class, Damian looking thoroughly irked and embarrassed, and Paul looking oddly relaxed and even a little proud.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" Ms. Kelly prompted sternly when neither said anything.

At May's table, Gary quietly snickered. He nudged May and pointed at Damian. "He's so embarrassed because you and Paul beat him up," he said. "I would've too, but it was funner to watch when you did it."

May gave him a confused look. "I didn't beat him up."

To Gary, though, chasing him down and knocking him over was good enough.

"I'm sorry," Damian said grumpily in a voice of someone who had rehearsed the words, "for taking your hat and making everyone see your dumb hair."

Ms. Kelly frowned, and seemed to be about to say something, but Paul spoke up first.

"And I'm sorry," he said calmly in a voice that everyone knew meant he wasn't sorry at all, "for squishing your face in the mud. I will not squish your face in the mud again." There was a slight emphasis on "squishing your face in the mud", as if Paul was reminding Damian of his victory rather than apologizing for it.

Damian glared at him, but didn't say anything, and Ms. Kelly looked between the two boys and decided that as long as they were going to behave, she shouldn't force sincerity.

"All right," she said, nodding. "Now go back to your seats."

Damian did as he was told, but Paul took his chair and dragged it all the way back to his original table and sat down opposite of May. For a moment, May was confused, then overjoyed that her friend had returned, and then… angry. Memories of how Paul had refused to listen to her revisited her mind, and she wanted justice.

"I never said you could sit with me," said May, folding her arms and sticking her nose in the air.

"It's not your table," Paul retaliated coolly. "You don't get to choose who sits here."

"But you said you didn't want to sit with me when you were mad at me, and I'm still mad at you, and I don't want to sit with you."

"You're the one who cut my hair." It didn't sound accusatory this time, more like he was simply stating a fact.

"I did it because you wanted to watch your show, but you had to have a haircut, so I wanted to cut it for you so you wouldn't hafta go to the barber."

"You still cut it really bad."

"Well, sorry."

"Sorry too. And that's mine." He reached across the table and took back his hat, placing it on his own head.

May regarded him for a moment, wondering if she should accept his apology, but decided it was too much of a pain holding a grudge. Besides, she was glad her friend was back. She relaxed and smiled widely. "Don't leave this table again, okay?"

"And never give me a haircut again. It was a really bad haircut."

"Promise!"

Drew let out a slow, tense breath beside her, and gave the two of them an approving nod. She even glimpsed Ms. Kelly letting out a slow sigh of relief. Gary turned to Paul, his eyes glinting.

"You beat up people really good," he said.

"I know," said Paul.

"Wanna be friends?"

"No."

But, it appeared, Gary took that as a yes, because he grinned, his eyes bright as if he'd just acquired an accomplice for whatever shenanigans he planned to get into.

And that was that.

The four never split up again. Better yet, whereas May had always considered the other three her friends, now, she knew they considered her their friend too. They even started doing things together a lot more at recess.

All because of that haircut.

And there you go!

I've wanted to do a chapter like this for a while now, an explanation as to how the original four really because friends. Kindergarten May and Drew, I imagined as being open to it, but I didn't think kindergarten Gary and Paul would have been unless something happened to make them respect the others, since Gary's so full of himself, and Paul's a bit of a grouchy introvert. Also, it's a bit of an explanation as to how Paul got his tough/intimidating reputation.

Aw, didn't get any feedback for last chapter, but feel free to offer feedback and critique for this one!

Thanks for reading!

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)