The Reunion - Part One by myboyfriendisbald

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All throughout high school I wore my hair the same way as all my friends and teammates. I was on the baseball team, and all the guys had long hair that they swept straight back from their face creating a "flow" as they call it. I did the same, though I had to fight my parents to keep it long. They insisted it would look better shorter, but I knew that would make me even more unpopular than I already was.
I never had much luck with girls, and I really only had two friends who weren’t on the team. There was one girl I really had a crush on from third grade until graduation, Nelly, but she never paid a bit of attention to me. She wasn’t vastly popular either, but she was beautiful. She was on the girls' soccer team and it always made my heart skip a beat watching her run with her long red hair tied back in a ponytail or braid.
It wasn’t that she was mean to me or anything, but we didn’t run in the same circles, and she never went out of her way to say hi to me or anything. So I was just forced to watch from afar.

By twelfth grade, most of the guys on my team had cut their long hair off in preparation for college and a "fresh start". A few of the incoming freshmen had long hair, and most of the sophomores, but it was only me and two other guys in the upper classes that still wore our hair over our shoulders. I didn’t care, I liked it long, and I figured college was going to be a shock enough without cutting my signature locks.

I was right. I ended up being even less popular in college than I was in high school. I was from a small town where I knew everyone and my college campus was over triple the size. I felt like a fish out of water. The good thing was that my long hair was sometimes a bit of a conversation starter, so I did make a few buddies over our shared affinity for our hair. I never did have a serious girlfriend though, and I graduated single.

When I got the invite for our five-year high school reunion I almost just tossed it, but then I remembered there was a possibility Nelly might be there. I hadn’t seen her since graduation, and she was one of those people who had escaped the pull of social media so she had no online footprint for snooping.
I decided to roll the dice and RSVP with the hope she would be there. I made sure to get a fresh trim the night before so I would look my best, and I wore a brand new outfit too. When I walked in I couldn’t believe it, she was there and handing out nametags! She smiled at me and said, "Oh good, you did come! Hi Will, do you remember me, Nelly Kemper?"
I nodded, returning the smile, "Hey, yes, of course! How are you?"
Why was she happy I came, was she hoping I’d be here like I was hoping she’d be here?!
"Doing well," she handed me a sticker, "You?"
"Doing fine, thanks."
"Hey once everyone is checked in I’ll come find you, ok?" she gave me another smile and I nodded before wandering inside.

I waited nervously by the punch bowl, occasionally saying hi to a guy from my team, but mostly just hoping Nelly would actually come talk to me.
I spotted her walking over and started to sweat a little. She looked stunning in a simple black dress with some strappy silver shoes, and her long hair pulled to one side and loose over her shoulder.
"There you are!" she smiled, taking the glass of punch I offered.
"In the flesh," I said lamely.
"I can’t believe you never cut your hair," she laughed. I felt my face turn bright red. I had noticed I was now the only guy from our grade who hadn’t cut their hair.
"I can’t believe you even remember me," I laughed.
There was an air of wistfulness in her eyes and she sipped her drink, then softly she said, "I used to have the biggest crush on you. Of course I remember you."
"You-you did?!"
Nelly nodded, "Yeah, I did. But the baseball kids were always so much more popular… I was just way too shy. I wish I hadn’t been. Sorry to spill that on you, I’m sure you have a wife or something by now."
"I don’t," I blurted, "Nel, I wish I had known you felt like that. I… I always had a crush on you too."
She smiles, "Guess we were both just too shy for our own good."

We stood and chatted for a while after that and then ended up going outside to get some fresh air. We were both a little tipsy by that point and she looked at me and said, "Can I tell you something weird Will?"
"Yeah, of course, anything."
"Promise you won’t freak out?"
"I promise." What could she possibly have to say that would be THAT weird?
"You know how the guys' swim team used to do a fundraiser, and all their girlfriends would buzz their hair off?"
I gulped, "Um, yeah?"
"I always… I always wished that could have been us…" she blushes deeply and bites her lip.
"Which part?" I asked stupidly, "Me being on the swim team?"
"No," she swatted my arm, "I wanted to be the one to buzz off all your hair… God that sounds so weird to say out loud."
"What? Why? I thought you said you had a crush on me-"
"Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I like your hair," she said, "It does nothing for you. I’m sorry, that sounds rude, but it's true. It’s so long and it just takes away from your overall looks."
"My overall looks?"
She rolls her eyes, "You’re like a 10 underneath all that. I remember one day we were practicing on the field across from you, and you tied your hair back as a joke or something, and we all sat there and oood and aahhd over how hot you looked."
"I didn’t think anyone ever looked at me like that," I said sheepishly.
"Well I definitely did," she says.
We stood there in awkward silence for a moment, then I squeaked out, "Let me get this straight: you wanted to date me, and you wanted to cut all my hair off? And I was just totally oblivious…"
"Pretty much sums it up," she shrugged, "Honestly, I still think you’re pretty attractive, but I’d never date you unless you got rid of that awful mop."
"Are you serious?!"
"Oh definitely," she smiled wickedly, "Wanna get s**t-faced together and make up for five years of lost time?"
I felt a wave of panic hit me. What was happening? The girl I’d been madly in love with had just admitted to having a crush on me too. But she also wanted to buzz all my hair off, my pride and joy! I’d never even considered buzzing my hair. At most I’d contemplated cutting it to my chin or something for a change, but never SHORT short. What if I’d been wrong about her and she was actually just really nasty and making fun of me, and she was just going to leave me high and dry and hairless if I agreed to this??
"Nelly, I don’t… I don’t think that’s a good idea. And I actually like my hair, thank you very much."
"Suit yourself," she shrugged and turned on her heel to walk away, but then turned back, "Here, take my business card, for if you change your mind."

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