Helloooo all you wonderful readers!
Alas, it appears my goal of completing this fanfic this year might not be possible after all. I was planning to start updating once a week, which would have definitely let me hit a hundred chapters before December, but considering how I haven't updated in so long, that might not be possible. Oh well. Though the year's not over just yet, so I might still end up making progress, at least.
Anyways, happy reading!
Today's chapter was suggested by 23027!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
At the Hair Salon
Kindergarten
May (5), Drew (5), Gary (5), Paul (5)
When May was little, she used to be afraid of going to the barber. According to her mother, she would cry and resist so much, the hairdresser wouldn't get to even touch her hair. Which was why her mother gave her haircuts at home herself, since May was much more comfortable letting her do it.
But today, while her mother was driving her to school, May boldly said, "Mommy, I wanna get a haircut."
"Sure thing, Sweetie."
"I mean at the barber."
Her mother looked at her in the rearview mirror, surprised. "You want to go to the barber?"
May nodded confidently. "You never take me there. You said I used to cry too much, but I'm a big girl now. I even go to kindergarten."
Her mother smiled. "Of course, Sweetie. I'll see if my hairdresser has an opening."
May smiled widely, swinging her legs. To be honest, getting a haircut from anyone other than her mother still made her a little nervous, but she wanted to try. What was the worse that could happen? After that whole haircut fiasco with Paul a while back, she'd decided that as long as someone like her wasn't going to do it - as long as a professional was - she shouldn't have anything to worry about.
Yup, nothing to worry about at all.
In class, May sat at her usual table with Drew, Gary and Paul. Paul wore his rain hat even though it wasn't raining outside - his hair still hadn't gone back to normal.
What if... what if something like that happened to her? What if she got a haircut she didn't like? May shoved down that uncomfortable feeling in her gut. No, her mother would be there. She'd make sure things went well.
"What?" Paul snapped irritatedly. She'd been staring at his hat for the past minute.
May straightened and looked around her table solemnly. "I'm gonna get a haircut."
"Want me to do it?" said Paul. "I'll make it just like you made mine."
"No!" May threw her hands over her head, but to her surprise, she saw Paul smirk a little. He was joking! She'd never seen him joke before.
Gary, on the other hand, grinned widely. "Yes!" he said. "He'll make it like his dumb hair!"
Paul glared at him, and Drew said, "Don't say 'dumb hair'," but May crossed her arms. "He was joking," she said. "He's not really going to do it. Right?" She gave Paul a hopeful glance, but Paul was still giving Gary an annoyed look.
"Then I'll cut it!" said Gary, and before May could decide whether he was joking or not, he stood, opening and closing his fingers like they were scissors.
"No!" May shrieked, jumping to her feet and bolting away.
"Yes I will!" Gary hollered, running after her.
"Gary! May! Stop this instance!" Ms. Kelly caught them, her eyes bewildered, and pulled them back to their table. "Class is about to start - behave yourselves."
"Yes Ms. Kelly," said May, frowning at Gary, a little embarrassed. What had she gotten so scared about? His fingers weren't real scissors.
Ms. Kelly gave an exasperated sigh. "What is it with this table?" she murmured. But since it didn't look like they were going to cause any more trouble, she decided against suggesting a separation, and, shaking her head, returned to the front of the class.
May leaned towards Gary and said in undertone, "You meanie."
Gary shrugged. "What if the barber is a meanie? What if he makes your hair like Paul's?"
"Hair-cutters aren't like that," Drew quickly assured her. "My hairdressers make my hair very nice."
May was starting to feel better, but then Drew frowned a little.
"Except one time, we got a new hairdresser," he said. "And she was cutting my hair, and then I moved a bit, and then her face got all scared, and she called the other hairdresser and told her there was a little situation, and it didn't sound good. But then the older hairdresser fixed it and said no one would notice, so it didn't look dumb."
May was starting to feel nervous all over again. What if a situation happened with her too? What if they couldn't fix it? Maybe... maybe she shouldn't go to the barber after all. Maybe she should keep letting her mother do her hair.
Yes, she would cancel her haircut. She would continue on like she always did.
By the time she got home, May had forgotten all about asking her mother to reconsider her haircut proposal. And by the next day, her friends had forgotten about it too.
So when the weekend came around, and her mother said they were going to the hair salon, it came as a rather nasty surprise.
"I don't wanna go to the barber!" May cried.
Her mother blinked. "But you brought it up yourself earlier this week. Remember?"
May thought about it, and the memory did come, but she couldn't recall what had possessed her into thinking it was a good idea. All she could remember was Gary declaring it would turn out as bad as Paul's, and Drew gravely informing her about a "situation", and the dread of a hair disaster building in her stomach.
Her mother sighed. "I guess it's up to you, May. But I did book an appointment just for you, and I think being brave and trying new things makes you an even bigger girl."
May frowned. She didn't want her mother to feel down about it, and she definitely did want to be a brave, big girl.
So, after a minute of serious deliberation, May gulped and nodded her head and got ready to go out.
The drive to the hair salon felt longer than it should have, and with the passing minutes, May's anxiety grew. But when they arrived, it felt like they'd arrived way too soon.
May did her best not to back out, but walking into the salon with her mother was nerve-racking. She looked around while her mother spoke with the person at the front desk.
There were mirrors lining the walls and spinning chairs - some occupied, some not - standing before them. Hairdressers used combs and scissors to snip, snip, snip hair away. Some used electric razors, and May shivered, hoping no one would bring something like that near her head. Thick locks of hairs littered the floor, and a woman with hair tied back swept them away. When she paid more attention to the customers, she noted that not all of them were getting their hair cut; some were leaning back over a sink, getting their hair shampooed; others had huge cylinder things lowered over their heads while they read magazines.
"All right, May," said her mother, snapping her out of her stare. She walked to the not-spinny normal chairs near the front door. "We're going to have to wait for a few minutes before the hairdresser is ready. Why don't you tell me what style you want?"
A new hairstyle? May sat down beside her mother and peered into the magazine her mother was flipping through. There were all sorts of strange styles, and they brought back the nervous, fluttery feeling in her stomach.
"I don't want any of those. I like my hair."
Her mother frowned. "But don't you think it'll be fun to try something new?" She stopped at a page. "What about this one? Doesn't it look cute?"
May gave it a good look. The model's hair was shorter than hers, and rather than sticking out at the sides like May's did, her hair was smooth and round and curled inwards.
May shook her head. "I don't want it."
"Are you sure?"
May put both her hands over her head. "No."
Her mother sighed. "All right, May. You just want a trim then? Just a little cut like I do it at home?"
May bobbed her head up and down. "Yes. Just like you do it."
"Your choice."
May relaxed a little bit. If the hairdresser was going to do it like Mommy did, it wouldn't be too bad, right?
She sat, swinging her legs, starting to get tired from sitting around doing nothing. She picked a random magazine from the table beside her. It was filled with models with hairstyles of all kinds, and some of them were nice, yes, but what seemed odd to her were the faces the models were making. A lot of them weren't smiling, had their lips (thickly coated with lipstick) slightly parted, and their eyes (eyelids covered in glittery eyeshadow) half-closed. May cocked her head, not sure what to make of them. She leaned over to her mother and saw she was looking at similar models as well, but they didn't seem to bother her. Maybe this was something grownups liked. It seemed kind of weird to her, though.
"May Maple?"
May blinked. The woman at the desk was calling her. Her mother stood, smiling, and led May over. May gulped.
It was time.
A man was waiting by the desk, smiling. He had turquoise hair and wore a stylish white suit.
"Hello, Caroline," he said when he saw her mother. He looked down at May. "And who do we have here?"
"I'm May," May said shyly.
"Nice to meet you, May. My name is Wallace."
"Wallace is an expert hairstylist," her mother said. "He's going to be doing your hair today."
May nodded, and followed him to one of the seats in front of the mirrors. Her mother helped her on and took off her bandanna, and Wallace wrapped a large sheet around her neck like a bib, explaining, "This is so hair doesn't get on you" when she asked.
"Now," said Wallace, clapping his hands together. "What kind of style are we looking for?"
"She said she just wants a trim for today," her mother said.
"Don't make it weird like the people in the magazine," May said nervously.
Wallace chuckled. "I'll do my best." He picked up a comb and a spray bottle.
May tilted her head. "What's the bottle for?"
"It's just water. I'm just going to spray your hair a bit to make it easier to trim."
May giggle as he sprayed around her head. He combed her damp hair straight and picked up a pair of scissors.
"Now make sure you hold still, all right? If you move around, it might be harder for me to cut it the way you want. I might make a mistake."
May nodded sagely. "I know. Once I was cutting my friend Paul's hair, and one time, he moved and it wasn't straight at all."
Wallace blinked. "Oh..." In the mirror's reflection, May saw him give her mother a strange look, and her mother gave him an uncomfortable smile, mouthing, Don't ask.
Wallace ran a comb through her hair, stopping right at the edge, and brought his scissors to the hair tips.
But May found that, even though a chill went through her spine, she wasn't as nervous anymore. Besides the fact that her mother was supervising nearby, she found that she liked Wallace. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and he often said stuff like "perfect", "excellent", "beautiful" after every snip. May did her best to sit statue-still, even tried not to move much when she breathed.
"You know you can blink, right?" Wallace said with a chuckle at one point.
But May hadn't forgotten about the "situation" Drew had told her about; she kept even blinking to a minimum to avoid a potential catastrophe like that.
After what felt like a long while, Wallace finally stepped back. "All done!" He turned her swivel chair so she could face the mirror directly. "This look okay to you?"
"It looks perfect," said her mother. "Isn't that right, May?"
May stared at herself in the mirror. Slowly, the corners of her mouth lifted. Her hair still looked the same, except it was a little shorter, and the edges were neat and straight. She nodded.
"Yes," she said, smiling widely at Wallace. "You're the bestest hair-cutter."
Wallace laughed lightly. "Why thank you." He started brushing away bits of hair with what looked like a large paintbrush and removed the sheet from around her neck. Her mother helped her off the chair.
"Thank you," May said to Wallace, remembering her manners.
"You are very welcome. Be sure to stop by if you ever need another trim."
"Okay, I will," said May. And she meant it.
On Monday, May arrived at school proudly. She'd wrapped her bandanna around her wrist for today so she could show off her newly cut hair.
"Ms. Kelly," she said eagerly. "I got a haircut!"
"Oh did you?" said her teacher. "It looks wonderful."
"Thank you," said May.
She skipped over to her table where are three of her friends had arrived. Drew looked up first.
"Hello, May," he said.
"Hi Drew! See anything different?" She stood in what she felt was a very stylish pose.
But Drew only looked confused. "What?"
May frowned. How could he not notice? She turned to Gary and Paul instead. "You guys notice anything different about my hair?"
"Nope," said Paul without looking up.
"Nope," Gary mimicked, though he did look up to smirk at her.
"Oh," said Drew. "You're not wearing your bandanna."
"I got a haircut!" May said, a little annoyed. "See? My hair looks wonderful! Ms. Kelly said so."
"No you didn't," said Gary. "Your hair looks the same."
May crossed her arms as she sat in her seat. "That's 'cause I wanted it to be only a little trim, so he didn't cut too much, but just right."
Paul glanced up. "That was what my barber was gonna do," he muttered, glaring at her. "But then you—"
"I think your hair looks pretty," Drew said quickly because he could sense bad memories being brought up.
"No," said Gary. "You didn't notice her haircut either!"
"Did to," said Drew defensively.
"Didn't!"
As Gary and Drew started bickering, May decided she wasn't going to let it bother her. Even if her friends didn't notice, she really loved her haircut. It hadn't turned out nearly as bad as she'd thought it could.
Maybe getting her hair cut by someone like Wallace wasn't so bad after all.
And done!
My finals are finally over, so I'm hoping to get a chapter done for next week too. My spring term classes will start at the beginning of May, so my updates might become infrequent again, but hopefully I can get a couple of chapters done before it gets busy!
Reviews are appreciated, and thanks for reading!
Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)