The Confused Kid 2 The Prank by Bob

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Note: I decided to redo "The Vampire". I'm really not proud with the way it turned out; it came from an idea that wasn't fully formed and did not work out with me as the author. If there is anyone who would like to remake or improve the story, you can, but please change the character names and remove elements from "The Confused Kid". This will follow the original one as realistic fiction, but it is a little more lighthearted.

I'm Todd Brown, a freshman in high school. I chose to run as my sport while my secret boyfriend, Jeff, decided to pursue football. Jeff and I have been dating for a few months, and it's going great. We share a common fetish: hair, especially hair gel. My hair has grown out a little since the summer. It grew about an inch, and I part it with a glob of gel everyday.

Unfortunately, since we both play a sport, our generally schedules line up only a day or two a week, and even with that, there is only so much we can do in public. Online, I read haircut stories that talk about the 70s and long hair, and I'm sure that pertains to some cities in modern times, but here, it is reverse. Most guys in my grade got shorter haircuts than Jeff and I did over the summer. For example, my closest friends on Cross-country, Patrick, Clint, and Byron, have flattops. Their flattops are longer and spikier than most, but they resemble flattops more than anything else. Clint and Patrick's flattops look slightly more modern and messier. Theirs looks soaking wet gelled. Byron's has the shine of theirs, but his is more traditional, thicker, and neater. All three are stiff and wet though.

One day, I saw those three whispering and eyeing me. None of those three ever thought through their actions and would always end up in trouble. They were reckless, and the story I'm about to tell proves this further. I notice a pair of clippers sticking out of the pocket of Byron's backpack. If it were anyone else's bag, I would be suspicious, but you never know what is in Byron's bag. Since his dad is a barber, clippers aren't the most farfetched thing I've seen.

It was just us four in the locker room, and practice didn't start for another hour. People would show up in 45 minutes, but we just like to be ready. I sit down to put my shoes on, and suddenly, my hands and legs are tied to the chair.

"What the hell?!?!" I say loudly.
Byron remarks, "Quickly tape his mouth."
They tape my mouth.
"Sorry, bro, we just thought this would be hilarious," Clint vaguely states.
Byron pulls out the haircut materials, and hooks them up.
Patrick reads the perplexed look on my face and says, "We noticed your hair getting long, and we wanted to help you out while pranking you at the same time. Relax, Byron knows what he's doing. He's basically a barber-in-training. Consider it some type of flattop club made of us four."
I had seen Byron cutting hair, and he was pretty good at it; he had probably cut their flattops.

Byron pushed down my head with a firm yet slightly shaky grasp. He starts buzzing the side with no guard. The familiar cold metal on my head felt comfortable. It was a good thing I didn't take off my school pants yet or else they would see the boner.
"How should we go about ripping off the tape?" Clint asked. Byron had gotten the gel out of my hair and was currently blow drying it.
"Hmm. Good question. How strong of a tape did you use?" Patrick replied.
"I think it may have been Manly Man," Byron says, cutting my hair with a comb.
"Wait what?!?! If their tape is anything like that gel you gave us, it's going to hurt coming off. I guess we just should rip it off as fast as we can. Sorry, Todd," said Clint.
Again with the not thinking stuff through. At that point, Byron was shoveling hair gel in my hair. It was like mine, but green and stiffer. He showed me a mirror It was messy and flat on top, but it looked short and stylish.
"To keep this, you'll have to use this hair gel," Byron tossed me a container labeled "Manly Man NEW Ultra Shine Super Binding Hold Hair Gel". That was a mouthful.

While I was in the middle of reading the label, I hear a shrill SHWERRRRT.
"YOUCH!!!"
An hour later, I found I was missing $20. I guess that paid back for the haircut. The haircut was nice and I decided to keep it for a while.

The next day (a Saturday afternoon), Jeff's parents were out of town, and I went to his house. I wanted to surprise him, so I wore a hat. Jeff had the haircut that I had before the flattop "prank". He was waiting by the creek when I came.

Jeff said, "Todd, I don't know how to say this-- wait a minute take off your hat while I say this. I want to see you head to toe while saying this." I take off the hat, and he continues, "Your hair!!"
"Do you like it? I got 'pranked' by Byron, Patrick, and Clint."
"Like it? It's amazing, I want that myself."
"I guess we could see if Byron would cut your hair like this."

We went to Byron's house. He had weekends off from the barbershop, and he would probably be home. Byron had actually been promoted from sweeper to sweeper and barber-in-training. The shop is closed on Saturdays, but Byron would probably be able to open it. We knocked on the door, and Byron came.
"What's up? How are you digging your cut?" the kid with the neat flattop asked.
"It's good, and we were wondering if you would cut another one," I reply.
"No, I don't really want to on my day off."
Jeff said, "I'll cash in my favor for this. Just give me a neat, long flattop like yours."
"You don't just want to wait until Monday? If you want I'll cut one now, but this favor is big, so think about it before cashing it."
"I'll cash it in."
I was wondering what the favor was for, but I didn't want to be nosy, so I dropped it.

We went into the barbershop, and Jeff sat in the chair while I watched.
Just like last time, Byron pushed his head down. He buzzed the sides and back to a zero. Then, he used a razor and shaving cream to completely rid him of sides and back. Next, he washed Jeff's hair to get all of the old goop out. He blow dries it, so the brown hair is standing up. Jeff's hair seems to have darkened since the summer. The whole time cutting, Byron's light brown hair glistened in the light of the barbershop. Byron used a comb to cut all the hair at an even and short level, but not exposing scalp. Finally, he spread the gooey gel on his head and got it to stand up. His flattop stood up neat and straight. It wasn't as obviously spiky as mine, but it was pretty hot. Since it was a big favor, the haircut and gel was free.

"I guess that's that. It's about 5:00, so I have to go home. Maybe we could hang out next time." Byron said.

When we got back to the creek, Jeff and I vigorously rubbed each other's stiff hair. Then he stopped before we got sexual.
"Todd, I have to tell you something?"
"What's up?"
"I'm moving to California."
"What? When?"
"Monday. My parents drove to Little Rock to take care of some things before we move. However, they said I could take one friend if his parents let him. We're only moving for a year. What do you say, Todd?"
"Jeff, I don't know. I can't just uproot my life, and my parents, what would they say? Of course, I do love you. Maybe they'd say yes. You'd probably find a new boyfriend, but--"
He kissed me, "Tell me tomorrow. I love you either way."

Our flattops glistened in the sunset by the beautiful creek.

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