On a sunny afternoon, Amanda and Rachel were working in the salon. It had been a few weeks since Rachel had shaved her head for the first time, and the black stubble was starting to grow back on her head. She thought that it was time for a trim and was shaving her head with a razor and shaving cream while Amanda was sweeping the floors. She had her long, chocolate brown hair tied up in a ponytail, as usual, since it was so hot out. Over the past few weeks, Rachel had been showing Amanda the ropes and teaching her how to do basic trims. She even taught Amanda how to do more drastic cuts, like bobs and pixies, every once and a while. So Amanda had become fairly experienced in the basics of hairstyling, but she was always being supervised by her older sister.
“I’m going to go get some lunch real quick” Rachel said to Amanda “Can you watch the store for me? I don’t think anyone is going to come in but it’s better to be safe than sorry”. Amanda nodded and Rachel headed out to lunch. Amanda was all alone in the store. A few minutes went by and nobody came into the shop. Amanda had finished sweeping the floors and sat in one of the barber chairs to take a break. She undid her ponytail, and her long chocolate locks fell down over her shoulders. She picked up one of the brushes and started brushing her long hair. She loved the way the brush felt on her long luscious hair. After a few minutes of her brushing her hair, the bell to the shop rang. Amanda lept out of the chair to see who it was that entered the shop. “Hey, Mandy!” Amanda’s friend Megan exclaimed.
“Hey, Megan” Amanda responded “How are you doing?”
“Great” Megan responded “I didn’t realized you worked at a barbershop”
“Yeah, I’ve been working for my older sister for a few weeks now. So are you here to get a haircut? I can help”
“Yes I am actually”
Amanda smiled and ushered Megan over to one of the barber chairs. She draped the black nylon cape over her friend’s chest. Megan had long blonde hair that was naturally curly. However, today her hair was straightened which made it seem even longer. Amanda flipped Megan’s long blonde hair from out of the cape and began brushing through her hair. “So what are we doing today?” Amanda asked.
“I want you to chop it all off” Megan replied
Amanda was a little dumbfounded and shocked at this response. “What do you mean? Like shoulder length?”
“No. I want a pixie cut”
“But you have such lovely beautiful hair, Megan”
“Yeah I know, but it’s just so frustrating and it never cooperates. Also, you know I play lacrosse and long hair just gets in the way”
“Ok, if you are absolutely sure. Do you want me to leave some length?”
“Just make it short enough that it won’t be an annoyance”
“Ok” Amanda knew just what length she had to do. That’s not to say that she wasn’t nervous. They both were. But that was part of the excitement.
Amanda brushed through Megan’s hair and began gathering the bulk of it into her hands. Then she took out an elastic band and wrapped it around Megan’s hair. This was a much more simplistic way of getting rid of the bulk of Megan’s hair. As Amanda cut through Megan’s hair, she looked at Megan’s face in the reflection of the mirror. She looked very distraught. “It’s going to be alright. You will still look beautiful” Amanda reassured her friend. Megan smiled and nodded. The bulk of Megan’s hair was now gone and Amanda had a lot less to work with. Amanda separated the top of Megan’s hair. She then took out the clippers and turned them on, which caused Megan to jump. Amanda forced her friend’s head down gently and began buzzing the nape of her neck. As she moved the clippers up along the nape, strands of hair fell to the floor. She started to continue this process working her way over to the left side of Megan’s head. Once she reached the left side of Megan’s head, she pushed it gently to the right as she moved up along Megan’s left temple. She folded Megan’s ear over so she could buzz off the hair caught behind it. Amanda repeated this process on the right side of Megan’s head and now the base of Megan’s head was buzzed.
Amanda unclipped the top part Megan’s hair and began chopping away at the chin length strands. Soon the strands were only about an inch long, hanging loosely and folding over. Amanda took out some hairspray and sprayed the top strands on Megan’s hair and they stood upright and would stay that way. “Alright all done” Amanda said to her friend “Low maintenance and you still look beautiful. Megan ran hands across her shaved nape. “Oh my god, this feels so weird” she exclaimed “but I absolutely love it” After Amanda was finished brushing off the strands of hair left on Megan’s shoulders, Megan jumped out of the chair and embraced her friend in a hug. “Thank you sooooo much!” she said to Amanda. “No problem, what are friends for. Now come this way”. Amanda led Megan over to the cash register where Megan paid for her haircut. “My Mom is going to freak out when she sees this!” Megan said.
“But it will grow on her” Amanda responded, smiling.
Megan smiled back and then ran out the door “Thanks again!” she called as she left. Not only a few seconds later, Rachel returned from her lunch break. “Did you give Megan that haircut, Amanda?” Rachel said sounding surprised.
“Yes, she wanted a short haircut so I did the best I could”
“That’s amazing! Keep this up and you may have earned a promotion “Rachel said winking to her little sister.
