Mikes Birthday Surprise by P.J.

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Mikes Birthday Surprise
This story is mostly a fantasy, however, I did have a friend Mike, He did have an amazing straw blonde mane, and while I knew him he did get subjected to a brutal shearing. This story might run a bit long for some of you, I apologize in advance for the lengthy build up. Let me know what you think.
Hope you enjoy.
I met Mike at the start of 6th grade at our small Catholic Grammar school. He had just moved here from Maryland. His dad was a long haul trucker. His mom a stay at home mom. As you might imagine, the first thing I noticed about Mike was his long straw blonde hair. His mom was the family barber and did a fantastic job. Mike was blessed with straight, thick, straw blonde locks. His mom did a great job , as many moms back in the early 70's did, keeping Mikes hair trimmed to perfection. He wore it side parted, with it trimmed to one length all the way around, chin length on the sides, angling down to below collar in the back. The way it was trimmed, the bangs were trimmed when they were combed over to the side, so when they were combed straight down in front, they were half again longer than the sides. This meant he had a fairly constant job of pushing them off his face in order to see though, unless they were pushed behind his ears. Way Cool, I thought. So did Mike. So also did the girls at school. He was becoming popular with them for his uniquely colored blonde mane and the outrageously long forelock. Girls were attracted to the strangest things.

Mike and I loved fishing in the nearby abandoned quarry when we got the chance. As much for just spending time together as for the fishing experience. We were kindred spirits in many ways . Mike had found out about my hair obsession quite by accident earlier this year. We were fishing in the quarry and he'd lost his hook and lure on some submerged structure in the bottom of the quarry. We were sitting side by side on a large rock. He was trying to get a new swivel tied on his line and it was a breezy day. Neither of us liked wearing hats unless it was going to rain so the breeze was nudging our bangs around a fair amount. Mine were getting quite long too at this point, I could chew on them if I wanted. I kept them tucked behind my ear most of the time. Mike couldn't see what he was doing because his huge forelock kept sliding down in front of his face from the breeze. He needed 2 hands to tie the swivel on . "Hey, a little help here please" I heard him say. Without thinking I reached over and ran my hand through the soft blonde hank of bangs and curled it back behind his ear for him. He could now look me in the eyes. We both froze for a second. The feel of his forelock sliding through my fingers was electric. I'd never touched another guys hair before. Mike was smiling. That relieved my anxiety about what I'd just done and I smiled too. He said " thanks that helps". I said" I'm happy to do it anytime."( I'd gladly do it all day every day I thought. What a feeling.) We lingered looking at each other a moment more before breaking eye contact. His hair was soft and silky, not unlike mine. I "helped" a couple more times that day when he needed it. (I didn't want to push it)

Later that night we were hanging out in his basement family room on the couch watching a movie. Just the 2 of us. I stretched and yawned and accidentally caught the back of his head with my hand. The motion caused his bangs to slide down again. He looked at me and said "A little help please?" I reached over and pushed the heavy forelock back behind his ear again. Wow, that felt crazy. He caught my hand as I finished and held it for a minute. Looking me in the eye he said, "can I Help you too?" We spent the next couple of minutes acquainting each other with the other ones long hair, running fingers through it, tucking it back behind ears, untucking and pulling the long bangs over each other's faces. After laughing at each other's silly expressions for a minute we stopped and stared at each other. We paused quietly for a minute each realizing something extra was going on here, besides just a little hair play. We awkwardly settled back down to the movie, sitting a bit closer to one another though, thighs touching.
Mikes dad was gone a lot being on the road so much. When he was home Mike wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. His dad was pretty cool for a dad too. He looked like an older version of Mike, I could see where Mike got his hair from. HIs dad would sometimes come back from a road trip looking shaggy and having a couple of weeks beard growth too. His dad had the same hair, just cut shorter, kind of like a longish business man's cut, he usually had a bit of a longer forelock too. Sometimes Mikes mom would cut it when he was home, other times if he was going to be away for awhile, he'd head to the local Barber shop for a more severe cut, clipped up short and neat, sometimes with whitewalls even.

We were out of school for the summer, finally going to be going into 8th grade in the fall. Mike usually let his hair grow even longer over the summer, his mom letting him skip a couple of months worth of cuts. His 13th birthday was this coming Saturday. Mikes dad had made arrangements to be home and to take him fishing on one of the nearby finger lakes for the day as a special present. He was renting a boat and everything. To my surprise and delight , I was invited to go too. I'd have to spend the night at Mikes as were getting on the road early to get the boat and be on the lake by sun up.
I spent the night Friday night, Mike and I engaging in another bit of hair play, before settling for the night. Each finding ourselves getting a bit aroused this time so we cut things short, not sure what was happening. We spread sleeping bags on the floor and settled in. Sometime during the night I found Mike spooning me in his sleep. This was a bit awkward, but I found it not unpleasant being in someone else's arms either. I soon went back to sleep, not wishing to disturb Mike. We woke up early in the morning to get ready. Mike was awake before me. He had a strange look on his face, I wondered if he had awoken to find himself still spooning me.

We headed out and had a great day of fishing, I could see why Mike got on so well with his dad. He was a pretty cool guy. The fish weren't biting by mid afternoon so we decided to pack up had head to a local lakeside restaurant for a bite to eat. Mike's dad had gotten in late Friday too and was looking pretty shaggy and had his usual beard too. On the way to the restaurant we stopped in front of an old Barber shop , it was a little after 4:00, things were slow in the shop. Mike asked "what are we doing here"? I could hear a bit of panic in his voice. His dad said "I haven't had a chance to get this mop cut yet, or get a shave in either, your mom likes to have me cleaned up when I'm home you know. I thought it might be cool for you and I to both get our hair cut together for a change, kind of a birthday treat. Your getting older, a teenager now. You can get a more grown up cut. ( Yikes!)" I'll even pay for P.J. to get a cut too if he wants, I don't think his parents would object to him getting cleaned up a bit too" Holy Crap, not me too, I thought. My sun kissed dirty blonde mane was just a bit short of brushing my shoulders, side parted like Mikes, and trimmed by my own hands. No way was some local yokel butcher barber getting his clippers on my locks. The thought of seeing Mike get sheared was at once arousing, and a bit horrifying at the same time. Would there be anything left for our play sessions?
Mikes dad wasn't taking no for an answer, at least not from Mike, he had to try it, just this once and see how it went. Mike was never one to buck his dad, he didn't want to get into a fight on his birthday of all days. I passed on getting a cut, thankfully my decision, without further pressing from Mikes dad.
We entered the shop, Only one barber on duty, passing the time reading a magazine in his chair. He was on the younger side, a bit younger than Mikes dad. He had nicely trimmed mahogany colored locks, well trimmed but quite short, severely tapered on the sides and back with a bit of a thatch on top, combed in place nicely. He got out of the chair asking "what can I do for you gentlemen today?" Mikes dad indicated that to two of them needed a bit of a cleanup and that I was just along for the ride. The barber said he'd be glad to include me in the clean up activity, was I sure I didn't want to join in? I emphatically stated that I was quite happy with my hair the way it was , and thank you but no.
The barber patted the chair and asked who was first? Mike's dad looked at Mike and said well? Mike said "you go first, this was your idea". He then slumped dejectedly into one of the waiting room chairs.
While Mikes dad got a severe cleaning up, quite short on the sides and back, asking for the top to be left on the long side after realizing just how short this barber was cutting it. He'd checked the sides in the mirror and while he didn't quite have white walls it was very short, even for him. His dad explained that it was Mikes birthday today and this was a bit of a father son bonding treat. Mike quietly said to me, that he couldn't believe his dad was doing this to him, he felt betrayed. He thought his dad knew how he felt about short haircuts. He'd never been to a barbershop with him, ever. Didn't he realize how mike felt about short hair? After his dads cut was finished, more hair on the cape then want was left on his head, he asked the barber if he could remove the beard and just leave the stash? He looked our way, winked and said, your mom thinks the stash tickles. Oh, boy, TMI. (to much information) Mike didn't even react. I could clearly see he was dreading what was coming, especially after seeing the severe shearing his dad had just gotten.

The barber finished the shave, unsnapped the cape, dusted him off, and let Mikes dad get up. His dad looked in the mirror, smoothed his hand over the small amount of hair left on the top of his head and declared " wow, I'm a whole new me" smiled at the barber and sat down next to Mike. The barber patted the seat again, looking at Mike, and said "hop on up son, your turn." Mike took one more look at his dad and said, "dad, please no, I don't want this, I love my hair just the way it is. Mom can trim it when we get home if you think it's too long, she does a great job, please!" His dad said, "Look Mike, I saw how you were struggling while we were fishing, trying to keep these huge bangs off you face in the breeze. You'll feel much better, you'll see. Now get on up in the chair" Mike shuffled over to the chair, sitting down dejectedly. I could tell he was close to tears. My gut was churning, I could only imagine how he felt. on one hand I couldn't wait to see all that blonde hair get sheared off, I had to put a hand over my crotch already. On the other , it was my buddy in the chair, I hoped there'd be something left to play with later.

The barber taped and caped Mike in short order and asked "O.K. what are we doing?" as he started combing Mikes long blonde locks straight down all the way around his head. His dad piped up and said "how about just like mine to start?" Mike yelped "NO!" No way was he getting all his hair buzzed off, you look terrible dad! I don't ever want to look like that". Sitting there, hair all straight down, the tip of his bangs on the part side just missing his collar bone, he looked like a blonde sheep dog. I was in Love.

Mike moaned, "just a trim please, please!" Mike was getting quite upset at this point. His dad got up came over to the chair, and tried to calm him down. Looking at the barber he said "O.K. , how about a longish taper cut, maybe starting at a number 2 or 3 at the nape and going up to a couple of inches at the crown? Leave the bangs down just below his eye then?" The barber shrugged his shoulders and said "he'd look much better with a short back and sides to start but, you're the boss". The clippers roared to life, I became detached as if I was in a dream,.. I watched as the clippers ploughed into the back of Mikes down turned head. The forelock swaying gently with each pass of the clippers on the back of his head.

Mike had started sobbing as the hanks of blonde hair started sliding down into this lap on the cape. He was facing us so I couldn't see the damage yet in the back of his head. He still had his huge forelock combed down over his face, somewhat hiding his tears, and also making him unable to see the huge bulge in my jeans. As the barber worked his way around to the part side of Mikes head, I almost swooned. All the blonde hair on that side was raining down on the cape in huge hanks. Each pass of the clippers brought another blonde cascade. My buddy was getting a brutal shearing, and I was probably going to need a towel before it was over. Yikes! Fortunately Mikes dad by this time was getting a bit concerned over Mikes unabated crying. Mike, he tried "It's only hair, it'll grow back before you know it. You'll look good, nice and short for the rest of the summer, you already look better" That had the opposite effect, Mike moaned that his dad would "never understand, he didn't want or need a haircut. You tricked me into this cut by taking me fishing, and on my birthday of all days", after that statement it got really quiet in the shop, only the sound of the clippers, continuing there brutal march around Mikes head, with Mike sniffling and snuffling as they went. Sheaves of blonde locks piling up in his lap. Finally the barber finished his clipper work, tapering and cleaning up the edges. Mike now looked ridiculous, freshly sheared sides and back brutally tapered from a 1/4" up to a couple of inches at the part and crown, this was also tapered down to blend in with the clipper work. All that remained of his formerly glorious mane was the huge forelock, hanging down, part side now laying on his collar bone with his head still tipped down.

I could see Mike stiffen up as the barber tipped his head up and slid the scissors in just below his right eye. They started their crunching march toward his left eye, slightly angled, almost a foot of blonde locks softly cascading down onto the cape as they crunched their way to just at the top of his left eye. Yikes! the dreaded angled bangs. Wow. Mike and I both moaned at the same time, for different reasons. I was going to have a hard time explaining why the crotch of my jeans was now wet. His dada was to focused on Mike to notice me breathing hard, hands firmly over my crotch. Mike could now see out of the corner of his left eye, the bangs were cut at an angle. The barber had swapped the scissors for the thinning shears and was about to attack the remaining pile of hair on the top of his head. Mike Howled "NO! Please not the thinning shears, NO dad!"

The barber paused for a second before attacking the top, looking at Mikes dad, who was by now really concerned about the whole situation. Here was his son, his best bud, whom he couldn't spend enough time with, sobbing in the barber chair with a ridiculously short haircut, all because he wanted to have a bonding experience with him. He shook his head in the negative at the barber. The barber said he didn't know how good he'd be able to make the cut look without using them. Mikes dad said, "leave the top as long as you can, don't thin it out, It'll look O.K." The barber soon finished , after removing copious quantities of hair on the top by layering it instead. The barber gave him a sharp side part, rubbed some sort of gel into the top and combed it tightly over to the side and into a small pomp in front. Mikes face was now fully exposed for the first time since I'd met him. With the chop job haircut, he looked even more like his dad. His blue eyes popped with fury at what was happening to him.
The pile of hair in Mikes lap was epic. I'd played with that mane several times now and didn't remember there being that much. I was sad thinking there'd be no more hair play for awhile, there was pretty much nothing left to play with. Mike slid a hand out from under the cape and ran it through the pile in his lap. Fresh sniffling started . He then moved the hand to the side of his head, the sniffling turned to sobbing again. The barber turned him around so he could see himself in the mirror. Mikes shoulders sagged. I'd never seen him quite like this before. I wasn't sure if he was despondent or murderously furious I couldn't read him. The barber added insult to injury by saying "now, now lad, it isn't as bad as all that, here have a look at the back" with that the barber held up a large mirror so he could see what his dad and I could now also see, a brutally tapered back, because Mike was straw blonde, the lower part of his head, where it was clipped the shortest, looked, from this distance to be bald. The cut accentuated his now exposed long neck too. Mike said, it was "worse than bad, it was horrible, this was one of the worst birthdays he'd ever had " as he glared at this dad.
The barber dusted him, brushed him off, and uncapped him, Mike hopped out of the chair and kept right on walking out of the shop. I looked at his dad who gave me a worried look back. I still couldn't get a read on Mikes feelings, should I follow and try and console him, or just leave him be for a few minutes to calm down?
The barber asked once more if I didn't also want a cut too. I was incredulous, "no thanks sir, not after that" was all I could say.

Mikes dad paid and we walked out of the shop. Mike was standing by the truck door, his dad unlocked it, instead of sliding into the middle to sit next to his dad, he motioned me to get in first. I slid in. Mikes dad looked at me with concern. "O.K. Mike, that didn't go as well as I would have liked. I didn't know you'd get that upset about it, it's only hair, I'm sorry you don't like it, I think it looks great. What do you think P.J.?" I was now speechless, what did I think? "I think this was a very bad idea" was all I could eek out. Mikes dad realized he should stop dwelling on the haircut at this point, the damage was done. Where did Mike want to go for something to eat, birthday treat. Mike teared up again and gave a heavy sigh. I now realized Mike was beyond mad at this point , he was utterly defeated. He mumbled, " not hungry, I don't want to be seen in public looking like this, just go home". Fortunately no one noticed my wet jeans with all the focus being on Mike. I kept my hands in my lap on the long ride home, even though I desperately wanted to run them through Mikes new brutally short cut. I had to admit, If it hadn't been my best buddy getting sheared, it was a good cut at least, not a hack job. Mikes dad, on the other hand, looked like he'd just joined the military.

When we got to Mikes, he hopped out of the truck almost before it had stopped moving and headed in the house. His dad had tried a couple of times for conversation on the way home but got nowhere. Before we could get the truck completely unloaded, Mikes Mom was outside, clearly not happy. She pulled his dad around the corner of the garage. They were out of sight but not out of hearing, I made busy putting the rest of the fishing gear in the garage and listened. "Just what in the world was Mikes dad thinking, forcing him to get all his hair cut off, on his birthday besides. Didn't he realize the kid idolized, or maybe now used to idolize his dad? "A bonding experience, really!" Just what was he going to do to make it up to his kid? And by the way, your own haircut looks absolutely ridiculous. I'm glad the beards gone but the hair too, really?" " Must be you don't like the way I cut it?" (wow, no nookie for Mikes dad tonight!) Mike hair would never grow back in before school started, did he think of that? Mike would be the laughing stock of the 8th grade with that haircut. Wow, I thought, Mikes mom really got it. she actually understood the adolescent male psyche and was sympathetic, hmm. No wonder she gave him great haircuts.

I slowly made my way into the house, found Mike in the bathroom, running his hands over his shorn head, still sobbing, God wasn't this kid cried out yet? I stood with him for a minute, I had my chance, I rubbed the back of his head slowly. He took a deep breath, "nothing to feel anymore huh" he moaned. I couldn't believe what I was feeling, the back of his head had a shot bristle brush kind of feel, not unpleasant, nut sure different from the long mane he had. I said "come on, looking at it won't make it grow back, Lets watch a movie or something." trying to distract him if I could. We left the bathroom, walked past Mikes dad without a word, and headed down to the family room. His dad started to follow, a sharp call from his mom saying "leave him be, you've done enough for one day" stopped him in his tracks. We flopped on the couch, I put my arm around Mike, auspiciously to console him but mostly so I could continue to feel the soft blonde bristles on the back of his head where almost a foot of thick blonde mane had been earlier today. He surprisingly put his head on my shoulder and sighed. " this would be the worst birthday ever if it wasn't for you being here to go through this with me." Surprised by his candor, I said that I was sorry it had turned out this way, we at least had fun fishing though. " At least it wasn't a buzz cut though" I stated , as I rubbed the back of his head again. " Wow, this was going to take some getting used to. And you still have enough hair on top for me to have some fun playing with it" I said as I ran my hand through the 3" long locks, breaking up the now dried hair gel. I ruffled it further to break up all the gel, his hair kind of flipped back into place where it had been combed because of the gel though, weird. Your dad did save your bangs at least. he moaned again, I won't need any "help for awhile". I ruffled the top again, his bangs slid over his eyes for a minute, then flopped back up on top as they'd been combed and gelled. "He did do a number on you though" Mike said " yeah, so much for the girls loving my hair in school this fall, I'll be the laughing stock instead."

Mike then noticed my still damp jeans for the first time, pointing at the damp spot he said" looks like you might have enjoyed it a little too much I see" "Sorry, I couldn't control myself, it was just too much, when he chopped through that huge forelock there was no stopping it". Mike said," I know, if you don't stop playing with my hair up there now it's going to be too much for me too." as I noticed a rising bulge in his jeans. Can you sleep over again tonight? I said yes, but I had to run home quick to get a change of clothes.

I ran up stairs, told his parents what was going on and headed home quick. When I got back Mike was standing in the kitchen. The birthday cake was on the table, a carton of ice cream next to it. Mike exclaimed the there was no way he was celebrating anything today. He wished he'd stayed home. Mikes dad approached him to try and hug him. Mike bolted down the stairs saying "don't you come near me!" His dad was clearly devastated. What was the big deal, Mike's hair was clearly too long and needed to be cut. It's only hair, it'll grow back.
Mikes mom piped up " only hair, it'll grow back, really? It'll be 2 years before he gets it back to the way it was." "I would have trimmed it up before school started anyway. We let it go during the summer".
He's growing up, now a teenager, he should start looking like a man" his dad said. Mom retorted "What, like you? G.I. Joe? He's turning 13, not 18. I usually love your blonde hair by the way, I can't believe you got it all chopped off." His dad said" I thought you liked it all neat and tidy?" She said "yes, when I cut it, I hate it when you get it all chopped off really short before an away trip. " "Really? you don't like it like this?" "No, not one bit, the business man's cut I usually give you is as short as I like it, I love to run my hands through it and rough it up, there's nothing to rough up now". And the white walls look ridiculous with the blonde hair, you look half bald"

She went on to say "You should stay around for the beginning of school, there generally isn't an earlobe or collar in sight on the guys in his class, except now for him. Yes, he is a teenager, and all he wants is to fit in. You took care of that though." His dad looked at me, gesturing at my hair with his hand, "P.J., you get your hair cut short when school starts right?" I ran my hands self consciously through my own forelock, pushing it behind my ear, I said no, that hadn't happened in a couple of years. This is pretty much how mine always looks now, same as the rest of the guys in our grade." At this point I couldn't resist turning the knife just a bit in defense of my friend. "Mike was kind of getting popular with the girls in our class because of his blonde hair and outrageous bangs. He kind of stood out. The guys though it was pretty cool too. Me included." His dad looked like he'd been punched in the gut. He realized just how much he didn't know his son after all.
I went back down to the family room. Mike was sitting dejectedly on the couch. "I don't ever want to celebrate another birthday again" he moaned. I gave his top locks a tussle again, flopping down next to him, and said "It will grow out, give it time." He just sighed, running his hands over his head. I knew this first hand from years of my own shearing's. He reached over and ran his hands through my long mane , smiling for the first time in awhile. "At least dad didn't insist that you get yours chopped off too. I've still got yours to play with". I loved it when he ran his hands through my hair. I couldn't describe it. I ran mine through his, it was sure different, no more long soft locks sliding through my fingers. I was going to miss that huge forelock. He said he needed a shower to wash the gel out and get the little hairs off, and loose the stupid pomp. I told him I'd hang down here and wait for him. "Bring a comb back and we'll see what we can do with what's left O.K.?" I suspected there might be some spooning in my future tonight too.

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