Sam’s hair was getting shaggy. It had been how long since his last good cut? At least a couple months. Delia Colt stood at her refrigerator, glancing back and forth between a sheet of paper attached to the cool metal surface and her son. The paper that was pinned up on the fridge was an reminded that school pictures were coming up. Those dreaded school pictures that most kids hated getting because their parents fussed over their appearance for what seemed like forever and a day. Pictures just had to be perfect, great memories to look back upon. Delia Colt was no different then other parents. She wanted a new picture of Sam for the family album, a picture where he was well kempt and looked more like a child then a shaggy dog.

There was only one thing to do: get him a haircut.

“Sam,” Delia called out to her boy, who was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying his cereal, “how do you feel about getting a cut?”

“Hmmm?” followed by a incomprehensible grumble was all he replied with. His left hand ran through the tips of his dark hair. Okay, it was a little bit long. Bits were covering up his vision.

“A hair cut. For school pictures. I’d like you to look like a human being instead of an animal.” Delia’s statement was followed by another bit of a grumble. Getting his hair cut was never much of a fun experience for Sam. He always had to go to the places that his mom normally went, and then she always got to pick how his hair looked. Eternally boyish was how he always ended up looking.

Sam’s lacks of response to her inquiry prompted Delia to do something that she really wanted to put off. Everyone had to grow up sometime and mothers had to left them. “You can pick your cut?” Delia smiled and nodded hopefully; looking at Sam she had just given him the best bargain of the century.

Sam had been crunching his cereal, reading her newspaper comics. His mother’s offer got his attention though. He peered up from his reading material and searched her face to see if there was a trick or some kind of catch. “Anything I want?”

There was the tiny usual parental catch. “No shaving weird shapes in or dying it green.”

“Deal.”

That was how Sam ended up in a stylist’s chair. A young late 20s woman was messing up his hair, figuring out what she wanted to do with it. All Sam said was that he wanted to look more adult. After all he was almost 12, he should look grown up! He was practically a teenager already. The stylist flipped through one of her style books, showing Sam a few different options. Sam pointed out a shorter cut, one that was a styled up a bit and bedhead-ish.

“Cool. So we’ll just..” The stylist started to ramble as she worked on Sam’s hair. When she finished, she showed Sam the mirror.

Staring at his reflection, Sam smiled. It certainly did look more teenager! But his smile faded when another stylist approached to compliment the other’s job. “Oh! How cute! Love it! Looks just like Justin Bieber’s latest cut. Really good job Chrissy!”

Justin….. Bieber.....!? That was the last person that Sam really wanted to look like. As far as he was concerned Justin Bieber was just a hacky teen idol. Ew.

The stylist Chrissy saw the dismay on Sam’s face. She laughed lightly, thinking it was cute how Sam reacted. “Don’t worry hunny, all the chicks in your class will really go for it. You’ll be the most popular kid with all the ladies.”

Which just made Sam’s face turn to an expression of mild discomfort at the suggestion. Yet… there was something sort of reassuring to being told his hair cut would be a chick magnet.


((650))