Mikes Birthday Surprise – The aftermath by P.J.

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This story is a request from Gregori for a follow up to Mikes Birthday Surprise. I would strongly suggest you read that story to understand the references in this one.
A couple of warnings: It is a bit long. The flat top, buzz cut, and baldy lovers can skip this one it they want to, there's no short cutting in it.
I would like to hear positive or constructive comments though.

Mikes Birthday Surprise â€" The aftermath

The summer was off to a great start. NOT! The day after the scalping, as it had become known at Mikes house, we rode our bikes to the local park to see if we could get a pick up basket ball or baseball game started. Mike, of course was wearing a ball cap. He never, and I mean never ever, wore ball caps. With the cap, his light hair color, and the brutal shearing he’d gotten the day before, he looked bald. Yikes. It took the guys at the park all of about seven seconds to swipe the ball cap off his head and let loose with the razzing. Was he going to military school? Did he accidentally get run over by the lawnmower? Was he scalped by Indians? I tried to get them to soft pedal it but they only got worse. Mike crumbled after about the third negative comment. He hopped on his bike and high tailed it home. I gave the guys the 2 second version of what happened and that Mikes dad was the asshole. They felt a tiny bit bad but the damage had been done. I high tailed it after Mike. That was the last time Mike went to the park, or anywhere else he might be seen my classmates or other friends for that matter. The only things I could coax him out to do was go fishing, and only if it was just the two of us, or a hike in the nearby state park. We each had a swimming pool at home so that was some salvation. Mike wouldn’t invite anyone but me to swim though. And if I had other friends over at my house to swim, Mike would leave. Summer sucked for him.

Don’t get me wrong here, I loved spending quality alone time with my crush but…he was not the same Mike.
Mike and I continued to have sleep overs throughout the summer. He was definitely into my long dark blonde locks (I was hoping he was into me too). I eventually got used to his short nubbins instead of his plush mane. Gradually it was growing out, but painfully slow. I never saw him very often without a ball cap on either, except when we went to bed. He was so depressed.
The nightmares were the worst part, for me as well as him.

After one particularly bad one, I’d finally gotten him to tell me what they were about.
"I’m being pushed into the barber chair by my dad. I’m told to sit quietly. Dad is laughing and joking with the barber about how nice it’ll be to get rid of all these girly locks. He tells the barber to just peel it all off, no guard on the clippers. I howl in protest but it falls on deaf ears. Dad is grinning ear to ear as the barber slides the clippers under my thick lush bulk on my nape. The barbers cooing to me how nice it feels to divest another long hair of all this thick plush bulk. The skull vibrating racket of the clippers makes me want to puke as they touch down on my nape, under the thick shag, and slowly and deliberately slide up the back of my head, all the way up and out at the crown. The first thick heavy mound of my lush locks slides down into my lap. The asshole barber giggles and says, ‘there now, that’s looking better already.’ I sit, quietly sobbing, saying that I hate my dad, and how could he do this to me, on my birthday, of all days. Dad laughs sadistically and says, this was long overdue. Now you’ll look like a real man, son, just like me. I can feel the bile rising in my throat as handful after handful of my thick locks land in my lap. The barber has a vise like grip on my head, wrenching it around painfully as he strips me down. Pass after agonizingly slow pass up the back of my head. Torrents of my lush mane cascading down into my lap. I feel my head getting lighter. MY stomach starts aching, like the bottom is going to drop out of it. Once he’s finished with the back, he attacks each side. The clippers seem to shriek in protest at the vast amount of hair they are made to slice through. He isn’t even careful as he shears away all the thick heavy locks on the sides. It feels like I can feel each hair being severed. My head hurts from his tight grip. The cape is getting heavy in my lap with all the freshly cut locks. All I can see from under my thick bang shank is the growing pile. I can only hear my dad when he pipes up and says ‘nice, I can start to see his little bald head emerging from under all that hair. Lookin goooooood Mikey’. He snickers. The final injustice is the clippers sliding up under my thick collarbone length bangs. The now warm steel blades rest momentarily just at my hairline. I feel the first bite of the angry clippers at my forehead. The bottom drops out of my stomach finally. The bile rising higher in my throat. The anger and hatred for my father growing as the shrieking clippers start divesting me of my crowning glory, my thick fringe. So much for the girls ever doing anything but laughing at me now I think to myself. I’m squinching my eyes tightly shut, mired in self-pity, while the gorgeous bang shank slides slowly off and down into my lap as the hungry clippers make their way slowly back to my crown. I release a howling sob as he finishes up the last pass. Suddenly all is quiet in the shop. My dad snickers again and says ‘there now, that’s my boy, a nice, cool, Baldy cut for the summer. Doesn’t get much shorter than that now does it sir.’ He nods and smile at the ass hole barber.
There’s some quick work with a tiny pair of clippers around the edges, as if there’s anything left to shave off. My eyes pop open when the sadistic bastard barber gives my freshly shaved head a quick rub and says’ there now, that’s much better than all that long hair, isn’t it boy.’ I glance up into the mirror, and fully realize just how hideous I look, with just a hint of stubble, and my white blond hair, I’m pretty much bald. Dad is nodding and smiling his approval. As the barber unsnaps the cape, he turns the chair around, away from the mirror. There in front of me is the whole 8th grade class, howling with laughter and pointing at me. Shouting ‘hey, baldy!’ Right about then I wake up, gasping and crying.

Sometimes you’re here, with a soft grip around me, soothing me with a quiet calming voice, and I can settle back down. Other times I spend the rest of the night tossing and turning, afraid to go back to sleep, wishing you were here. I have to touch my hair to make sure I still have at least this little bit left and I’m not really totally bald."

I was shocked. That was nothing like what had really happened to him. I did know that dreams were our subconscious minds way of dealing with traumatic events though. And sometimes a manifestation of our fears. The part that drew my attention the most was the 8th grade class, pointing and laughing. I had a sinking feeling that it would in fact be Mikes reality when school started. That day was going to come too fast. There wasn’t much I could do to stop how the class reacted either.

I tried to enjoy the summer. We did do quite a bit of fishing. I missed being able to give him ‘a little help’ on breezy days. I tried to make him feel better by asking him for help as often as I could. Sometimes I think that made him feel even worse though. I felt so bad for him. He didn’t want to hang out with any of our usual friends either. They’d given him so much s**t about his haircut that he’d stopped talking to pretty much everyone else but me (thank God, he still wanted me around).

His dad had offered several times to take us fishing again but Mike wasn’t having any of it. On one occasion I heard his dad say "come on buddy we can still go fishing, can’t we?" Mike tartly reply "Why, so you can surprise stop and have what little hair I have left shaved off too?" I’m not your buddy, sir. I stopped being your buddy the minute you ordered me into that barber chair and told the barber to chop off all my hair. The only buddy I have left is PJ, as long as he still wants to be seen with a half bald dork, sir."

His dad, with a shocked expression, replied" Mike, come on already, it’s just a haircut, it’s already growing out. And what’s with calling me sir all of a sudden, what happened to 'dad'."
"That’s just it sir, it isn’t just a haircut to me, but you don’t care. You never asked, and you never listened when we were in the shop. All I’ll ever be to you is some little kid who you can order around. My ‘dad’ was someone I could have fun with , who listened to me. You’re just a parent now. Thanks to you I can’t go outside my house without a ball cap on, and all my other friends think I look like a raging dork. PJ’s the only one who hasn’t been a total dick to me."
With that Mike stormed out of the room.

Scenes similar to this played out throughout the summer whenever his dad would come home from a long-haul trucking run. No matter what Mikes dad tried to do, Mike never wanted to anything to do with him. Not even with me invited too. We missed out on a few really cool ideas that Mike would normally have jumped at the chance to do.

One day I showed up at Mikes house and his dad was just back from a long hall trip. He stopped me as I was walking to Mikes room. "PJ, I need your help, do you know if there is anything, and I mean anything, that I can offer to do with Mike that won’t piss him off? I miss him, I miss the way it used to be. He’s very prim and proper around me now, all yes sir, no sir. He’s very distant and sullen, he doesn’t even want to interact with me. I’m getting desperate."
"Well sir, I don’t think there’s anything you can offer to do. You could force him to do things with you I suppose, but you can’t force him to feel good around you, or trust you." I was trying to be polite and not tell him how I really felt about him. I was still shocked at how fast he’d turned on Mike, and just how big an asshole he could be. I had to tread lightly here. "He doesn’t trust you…..at all, sir. I know he misses how things were between you but after what you did to him, I have no idea how you could get back to how it used to be."

"Really? Nothing?" his dad replied sighing heavily.
I didn’t have even a tiny bit of sympathy for him, I know how I’d feel if my dad had pulled something like that on me. Maybe he should know what’s really going on with Mike. "Sir, if I tell you something, you can’t let on that you know, O.K.?"
"Yes, of course PJ, what is it" his dad said. His expression had turned to hopeful. "I promise, just between you and I, O.K.?"
"Well, you know we spend a lot of time together, and pretty much are always sleeping over at each other’s houses, right? His dad nodded. This may give you at least an idea of how badly he feels about himself right now.
Here goes nothin I thought. "Well, right after you made him get all his hair chopped off, he started having nightmares. We’re usually camped out in your family room, so I’m sure you guys couldn’t hear him yelling in his sleep and crying. Sometimes the only way he’d calm down is if I held him. Those nightmares had gradually subsided, and I thought he was getting past all this but…. It’s starting again. (I didn’t let on that I was more than willing to hold my guy, as long as he needed me to). The nightmare has changed though. Instead of being about what happened that day, it seems to be about what’s going to happen. And from what little I can get him to tell me, it’s about the first day back to school in the fall. He says he doesn’t remember a lot from the nightmares, but I’m not sure. He doesn’t like to talk about it other than to thank me for being here for him." I didn’t need to give his dad a full description of the nightmares, not yet anyway. It did make me wonder if he had them when he was home here without me. Did his parents hear him?

"PJ, can I ask you something? His dad said. "Yes sir, what?" I replied.

"Why is your long hair so damned important to you guys. It’s outrageously long, and must be a giant pain to maintain, you have to constantly push off your face and out of your eyes. It must be hot in the summer heat too. I honestly thought I’d be doing Mike a favor by having it cut short.

I had to check myself before replying. He was the one responsible for my crush looking like a 50’s schoolboy right now, and the school dork for the foreseeable future. I definitely wasn’t happy with him." Sir, to you it might look ridiculous and uncontrolled. For us, well Mike and I at least, pushing it to the side, having it flop in my face, and hooking it behind my ear, is something I don’t even think about. I guess it’s kind of like blinking. I also know that when it gets really hot, I sweat, whether or not I have long hair or not, so I prefer it long. It’s also nice to fit in at school, everyone has long hair right now. At least for me, I realize it won’t last forever but I like fitting in instead of standing out, especially like the way Mike will. For Mike, well, he’s totally devastated. On top of you turning on him, he‘s going to have to deal with looking like a freak at school for quite a long time. The guys and girls at school all thought he was so cool with his outrageously long fringe and blonde hair color. The girls had started noticing him, I know he was kind of interested in one particular girl too. Now he has no hair, he’s already had a taste of what the first day of school will be like, and the person he once looked up to more than anyone else in the world, is responsible for all of it. So for Mike, it isn’t ‘just a haircut’ sir."

His dad looked defeated. "Oh, crap. First, for the record, he still has a lot of hair, it’s not ALL shaved off. And thanks for sharing what’s going on with him. I thought by now he’d have snapped out of his funk. He’s always been a bit more sensitive than the average kid but I sure didn’t think it would have this bad of an effect on him. I wish I could do a replay of that day. His long hair didn’t bother me enough to cause all this to happen. I guess I ‘m more out of touch with him than I first thought. I’m curious, your hair is pretty much shoulder length now, any chance you’ll be getting it cut short for school?" His dad said, sighing again.

"Well sir," I said, running my hand through my thick dark blonde fringe and tucking it behind my ear. "Look at my hair, sir, then at Mike, and tell me he still has a lot of hair, sir. Mike’s was a fair bit longer than mine is now. As for trimming mine, I’m not sure yet. I suppose it could use a small trim to neaten it up. I’d never get it cut freakishly short like his though. And for the problem you created for Mike, sir, I think the only way he’s going to get over the fear of the first day back to school is to live through it. I AM NOT looking forward to that day, but I’ll be there and help, however and if I can." With that I walked off to Mikes room.

After that little discussion, I thought his dad understood where Mikes head was at, but clearly, he either didn’t get it or didn’t care. I showed up just before dinner on Friday (school started the following Wednesday). I’d been invited to eat over, and walked into the kitchen to loud voices and a distraught Mike. Now what, I asked myself. I looked at Mike. He was red faced and looked like he was going to lose it. I went over and stood closer to him. Instantly feeling protective. The room got quiet.

"Hi, what’s up" I asked innocently.

"What’s up? What’s Up? I’ll tell you what’s up!" Mike exploded. "My FATHER here thinks I need to get a haircut before school starts. Even though I don’t have any hair. That’s what’s up. And it ain’t never going to happen. That’s what’s up." Mike replied. He was almost trembling he was so upset. ( I almost laughed at his double negative but decided not to correct him) I wanted so badly to hug him close and make him stop trembling, but knew I couldn’t in front of his parents.
Mikes mom jumped in, saying" Mike, you are NOT getting a haircut, don’t worry honey. I don’t know what your father was thinking, even suggesting it. The only person that’s going to touch your hair for the foreseeable future is me. O.K.? Calm down, no haircut honey."

"Oh, come on babe" his dad replied. "You have to admit, we’re both getting shaggy and need at least a cleanup. School pictures are done during the first couple of weeks of school, right? Do you want him looking like this, all shaggy, for them?"

Mikes face went white, his eyes popped open wide. "I’m not getting a school picture this year, nuh, uh! NO way, no how! I look like a bald-headed freak! AND… I certainly DO NOT NEED MORE HAIR CUT OFF!" With that he stormed off to his room.
His dad looked exasperated. His mom was super angry at his dad. I thought it would be in my best interest if I just quickly followed Mike. I didn’t want to get tangled up in what was about to take place in the kitchen. The last thing I heard was Mikes mom, "You must like sleeping on the couch. Cause that’s where you’re going to be sleeping again for the foreseeable future if you go getting another super short haircut mister. And you leave Mike alone about his hair, or the lack of it. REALLY! Another haircut! You can be such a jerk sometimes. No wonder he won’t have anything to do with you. If you think you’re getting shaggy, I’ll give you a trim after dinner. That is if you still like sleeping with me." Oh boy, another tense night at Mikes house. Yee hah.

I knocked and then proceeded to enter Mikes room, before he could respond. "It’s just me dude." I said, quickly closing the door.
"PJ!" He moaned, throwing his arms around me tightly me and snuggling his head into the crook of my neck. Burying his hands in my thick locks and moaning "When is this nightmare ever going to end. Help me." Under other circumstances this would have felt heavenly.

I ran my hands up into the short locks on the back of his head that had grown out during the summer. I couldn’t wait for them to get long. I missed my happy guy and his long thick mane. At least it isn’t freshly shaved for the start of school. "I think it’ll get better after the first day of school" is all I could offer. S**t…..I should think more before I open my mouth. This comment garnered a muffled sob from Mike.

I did like that he was hugging me tightly. I just wish it wasn’t because he was so upset all the time. I was dying to know if he felt the same about me as I did about him. Then this whole haircut disaster happened.
Just then there was a knock and his mom walked in. S**t, she’d caught us hugging, crap. We broke the embrace, Mike wiping his face on his sleeve.

She chirped "Mike, calm down honey. Come out and sit down for dinner. Your father isn’t going to have you cut your hair again. I would however, like to snip a few stray hairs to even things up on the sides and back. At least then it won’t look so much like a grow out. I’ll do it in the bathroom, in front of the mirror, so you can see exactly what I’m doing. Please, Mike?"

Mike hugged me tighter and howled" what is it with you people and cutting my hair off! You just said no haircut, and here you are telling me you are going to give me a haircut!"

His mom tried to comfort him, rubbing his back. "Honey, it won’t be more than a few snips. I won’t even put the cape on you if you don’t want. That’s how little I’d be trimming. Let’s go eat first. You can think about it, O.K.?" With that she herded us out of the bedroom and down the hall.

We ate in uncomfortable silence. Mike and his dad not even making eye contact. I was sitting across the table from Mike. I started looking closely at him. He didn’t look up much, so I wasn’t worried about getting busted staring. His hair had started growing in. The sides were just breaking over the tops of his ears. Little bits sticking out here and there. When he turned his head just right, I could actually see hair behind his ears too. Unfortunately, that ass hole barber had chopped his fringe so short that it still wasn’t able to be combed completely off to the side yet. I sighed, he was so screwed for school on Wednesday. I did see what his mom meant about a tiny trim though. Hmm. I fingered my plush shoulder length locks too. As much as I was loath to admit it, they could use some attention too, probably. Could I suck it up and have Mikes mom give me a trim too? Maybe that would help him be at least a bit comfortable getting a trim. Could I put my treasured locks on the line for my secret crush. Nobody had touched my treasured locks but me for the last couple of years. Hmm.

Finally, mercifully, dinner was finished. Mikes mom looked at us and said" why don’t you two go and watch a movie while I trim your fathers hair. I’ll call you when I’m ready for you Mike".

Mike moaned," mom, no haircut, no way. Oh my god!" Mike couldn’t disappear to the family room any quicker. I quickly followed and flopped on the couch next to him sighing. "Mike, how about if I have your mom trim my hair too? That way I can be in the room with you and keep an eye on her for you. I looked at him hopefully. Dude, you really need a tiny trim just to make it look deliberate, not like a grown-out scalping." I finished with a hopeful smile.
He just exhaled loudly saying "yeah, sure, whatever" and slumped over onto my shoulder.

Mikes mom and dad had cleared and cleaned up after dinner. Now it was time for his dad’s trim. Low and behold his mom set up shop in the powder room near the family room. If I tried hard, I could make out snippets of their conversation and an occasional clack of the shears too. I was trying so hard to hear what they were saying that I had no clue about the movie I was supposed to be watching with Mike.

I heard his dad say, "Uh, O.K. I guess I see your point with respect to the two of us. As for what happened with Mike and I, well, I guess that was just bad parenting 101. In some respects, I want him to grow up, but I also realize I still treat him like a 10-year-old kid. I really do wish I could hit the rewind button on that day though. Thinking back, that barber was practically drooling to get his clippers into Mikes mop. I was so shocked by the skinning I’d just gotten that I really didn’t think much about Mike till the clippers popped back out up near his crown and that first thick shank of blonde hair sailed down into his lap. It was too late to save him then, so I tried to keep the barber in check as much as possible. You don’t happen to have any new thoughts on how I can fix things with him do you? I’ve tried everything and whatever I try just seems to push him farther away. I even offered to have the 3 of us go camping for a weekend. He told me to just go with you, he’d stay at PJ’s house while we were gone. I really miss doing things with him when I’m home.

His mom replied" well, I do know one thing you are doing with him, you are taking him, and PJ too, if he wants, to school next Wednesday morning. Mike has already informed me that there is no way he will ever get on that school bus. And you need to see firsthand what the guys in his 8th grade class look like. I am willing to bet that Mike will have the shortest hair of any boy in the class, possibly the whole school. You will see it is far from being ‘just a haircut’ for him. You will also, no doubt, suffer his wrath again when you pick him up that afternoon, so you best somehow prepare yourself. Now, as for your hair, I’m just giving you a small trim to neaten you up.

I never heard the clippers click on. I did however hear quite a bit of snipping, and low more intimate noises coming from the powder room after that. Finally, I heard the whine of a high-pitched clipper start. It was only on for a minute or two though, then all was silent.

I heard his mom say "There, that’s all that’s coming off your head mister. Thank God the G.I. Joe look is growing out on you. From now on remember, I HATE that look. You’ve still got a good amount of growing out to do yet so don’t even think about hitting a barbershop anytime soon if you want to keep sleeping with me."

His dad relied "O.K., O.K., already. I will admit it’s still a tad too short. Thank you for indulging me with a trim though honey." His dad said. This was followed by mumbles and smooching noises. Then I heard the sound of Velcro being separated, and the rustling of the cape. We would be summoned soon no doubt.

Just then I heard his mom" go tell Mike to come in here please."

Mike heard it too, and popped up off the couch. "NO, mom, you aren’t’ touching my hair! Especially after chopping all of dads off again. He looks awful. I don’t have anything to cut yet and that’s final." I stood too, anticipating trouble.
I took a quick minute to study his dad. Well, the ears were fully exposed again, good thing they look O.K. And I think she might have taken a small amount off the back and layered it a bit. And she’d cleaned up the neck fur. I wish I’d been paying more attention to his dad’s hair before she cut. Oh, well. It was a good cut, just still freakishly short for my taste.

"Michael" his dad said, standing in front of Mike. "Your mom isn’t going to scalp you, she just wants to snip a few stray hairs. Now let’s not keep her waiting shall we" His dad moved to help Mike to the powder room since he wasn’t moving yet. Mike shrank back towards me and howled" don’t you touch me!"

It was now or never for my idea. "Mike" I whispered "Look, I’m going to ask your mom to trim mine too, O.K. You can stand guard and watch out while she trims mine and I’ll do the same for you, pleeease, I said." I had to do something to snap him out of this panic over getting a trim. Yeech!

I’m guessing Mike wasn’t thinking of the consequences in this moment but….he turned to me with a horrified look and plunged both his hands into my mane. "NO!" he shouted. "Nobody’s going to touch this, either. I love your hair man."
His dad looked surprised, and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "O.K., O.K., O.K. I’m not going to touch you as long as you go see your mother. NOW! This a is getting ridiculous." His dad sighed loudly.
Mike started shuffling, and pulled me with him. "I don’t wanna do this, PJ please come in here too!" He was headed for the powder room, dragging me with him. Show time folks! I though t to myself.
His mom gave him a stern look and pointed to the stool. "Sit please" she said. The tone of her voice said it all. She was not taking any more of Mikes nonsense.

Mike flopped onto the stool. I stood behind him. We could see each other, big as life, in the wall-to-wall vanity mirror. Not a word was spoken but we could read each other’s expressions perfectly. I knew he was terrified. His eyes were already getting teary.

She draped the royal blue cape around him, and snapped it tightly.

Mike sighed and tried one last time "Mom, please don’t do this. I don’t want one and I don’t need one either." His eyes were starting to leak. He was getting that same dejected expression he had when he got scalped.
"Just be still Mike. We’ll be done in less than a minute, and I bet you won’t even be able to tell I cut anything." His mom replied in a quiet but stern voice. She started combing his hair down all around his head and he jumped at the feel of the comb sliding through his short locks. ‘Nooooo, please "he said softly.

Mike eyes were leaking now. I suspected as soon as he saw the shears, he was going to lose it. I reached over and touched his shoulder. "Mike, I’m not going to let her cut anything significant, even if she tries. O.K." I bet you won’t even be able to see the hairs on the cape O.K? I hoped I sounded convincing. His mom smiled at me and nodded agreement.

She combed his hair down over his left ear and held the comb there. I could now see what she was after. It was just a tiny bit ragged and uneven. The shears quickly appeared and snip, it was now evened out. I bet not even a quarter of an inch came off. She stopped the cut right at the back of his ear too.

This didn’t stop Mike from Howling "Mom!, PJ, make her stop!

I stepped in front of him and gently shook his shoulders. "Dude, stop it" I barked. Startling Mike.

We looked at each other in the mirror. I brushed the hair where she’d just cut. "You can’t even tell, can you" I crooned.

He turned his head slightly, finally exhaling, and sighed. Well, yeah, I can tell its shorter, and it’s straight now, across my ear.

"Yeah" I said, smiling back at him. "It looks fine. Stop freaking out will ya. Just be quiet and let her finish. Wow."

His mom smiled at me and said "Thank you, PJ." I smiled back nervously.

She quickly did his other ear. Then combed his hair down in the back. She looked at me and said "See this PJ, this is all I’m going to trim. Are you O.K. with that?"
I said, "yup, no problem. Mike, you won’t even know. Promise."

He moaned in protest.

She quickly combed and snipped her way across the back. It did at least look like it had been deliberately cut that way now and not a scruffy grow out of a short cut. I knew he was still going to catch holy hell from our class come Wednesday though. There was no hiding that he’d been scalped at some point. This was still frightfully short by our standards.

His mom fluffed his hair in back and said there, done. And started to uncape Mike. She looked at me and smiled again. I knew it was now or never.
Smiling back, I looked at his mom and said "Um, before you clean up and pick up, could I ask a favor?"

She smiled back, "sure, PJ, anything honey. Ask away."

Mike wheeled around on the stool and barked. "NO PJ! You are NOT cutting any of this" he said, reaching for my hair, running his hands into it pushing my fringe behind my ear. He got a panicked look when he realized that he probably shouldn’t have put his hands through my hair with his parents watching.

His mom glanced at Mike and gave him a quizzical look as he quickly removed his hands. Looking at me she said "What were you going to ask now PJ?"

"Um, well, if it’s not too much trouble would you be able to give me a bit of a trim too? If you don’t want to or aren’t comfortable, I understand, but I think I could use one. My parents won’t care. They probably won’t even know I’ve had anything done. I don’t want much trimmed, just a tiny bit." I realized I was rambling and finally shut up. Looking at her expectantly.

She smiled. "Oh, honey, I’d be happy to trim your hair, are you sure though?" She glanced furtively over at Mike. "It’ll be nice to trim long hair again" she quipped, then apologized to Mike. Giving his dad a mean look.
I nodded yes. Somehow Mike knew any more protesting was futile at this point. He silently relinquished his spot on the stool and allowed me to sit. I couldn’t believe it. This was really going to happen. For the first time in 2, or was it 3 years, someone else besides me was going to touch my hair to cut it. Wow. I squirmed nervously as she caped me up. Holy cow, it had been a long time since I’d been under one of these, I thought to myself. I suddenly had a moment’s hesitation, could I really do this? It was only a trim, sure, no big deal, right? I thought.

"O.K." His mom said. Eyeing my mop critically. "What would you like me to trim PJ?"

Suddenly from the doorway I heard his dad." Are you going to ask for a short cut like Mikes so he won’t be the only one with short hair at school? Maybe you two can start a new short hair trend?"
His mom barked" Will you stop! You’re not helping one bit. You’re bucking for a week on the couch again. Really, stop being a jerk. Nobody wants short hair but you. O.K.! Enough already."
"Yeah dad! One scalped dork at school is more than enough" Mike said, indicating himself. "I’d never let PJ get this all chopped off" he reached over and ruffled my mane.

‘His dad sighed, "I was only kidding. I was trying to lighten the mood a little. You’re all so serious. Sorry."

"All right, now PJ, what is it that you want trimmed" she asked.

Mike started to walk out. Clearly, he didn’t want to stay around and watch. I chirped "Mike, no, I need you to stay. Get back in here dude."
He came back in with a sour puss and leaned on the edge of the vanity, arms crossed defiantly. "What?" he sputtered.

I knew he was into his hair as much as I was, and he knew exactly how he wanted it cut and directed his mom where to cut, and how much to cut. We’d talked all about it during one of our late-night play sessions.
"I think my hair is long enough to be able to trim it kind of like how yours was. I mean before the big chop. YOU know, the extra-long fringe. I’d like to try it. Have your mom take off an inch or so on the sides and back, layer it like yours was, and then leave my fringe alone to get longer." I’d never look as good as he did but I figured why not try. My thatch had touched down on my shoulders this summer so it definitely needed a trim up. I didn’t like it to get any longer than just touching my shoulders.

Mike’s mom started combing my hair down all around. The last thing I saw before my fringe covered my face was Mike and his mom looking hard at my mane. For a split second I flashed back to that awful day. I had an inkling of what Mike must have felt like just before the clippers touched down on his neck. It was like a punch in the gut. The only saving grace here was that I wasn’t getting clipper shaved, I hope.
"Hmm" Mike said. "What do you think mom?"

"Well, you’ll have to remind me how to section off the top and fringe. I can cut it the same way I cut yours, but it won’t look quite the same. PJ’s hair texture is different. He has a bit more wave to his. We can certainly try though."
She combed through my hair once more. Wow what a weird feeling. It wasn’t Mike combing it, and it wasn’t some clipper happy wacko barber either.

"Mom, section the top and fringe first. That can’t get cut. Mike said. I could tell from the tone he was getting lost in the process. Good, I wanted him totally lost in the process, I didn’t want any screw ups. This was my treasured mane we were working with now.

His mom said, "Oh, PJ, you have such nice highlights. You boys have spent so much time out in the pool and the sun this summer. The golden blonde against this nice dark chestnut color is striking. This should be interesting to see what it looks like when I’ve finished." She was carefully sectioning a wide deep horse shoe parting. She stopped for a second. "Oh, I’ll be right back, I didn’t bring any clips down here. I didn’t think I would need any. "Stay right here boys" she said as she disappeared.

"PJ" Mike softly said. "I’m going to direct her. If she isn’t doing it right, I’ll stop her. She’s done this a million times on me so she should remember, but…you never know. She hasn’t had any practice in a while" he snuffled quietly. "I just might have to jump in and do it myself." He gave the back of my head a soft caress.

And…… just like that, I was rock hard. Thank God for the cape. I gave a hopefully very quiet moan. I always got hard when I cut my own hair. I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t get aroused with haircuts. It never took long when Mike and I started fooling around and playing with each other’s hair either. Somehow, I had a feeling this would be different though. One glance at Mikes crotch and I knew he was hard too.

I heard footsteps. "O.K. I’m back" his mom said. "I hope I have enough clips. You have at least as much hair as Mike has….errr, I mean, had. Sorry honey" she said. I heard a deep sigh from Mike.

I could feel thick sections of my top locks being held up, then a clip sliding in. Eventually I started to see again as she clipped the thick fringe out of the way too. Good god I had a lot of hair.
"O.K. Mike "she said. "I think the sides should be trimmed to about here." I felt the shears touch at the bottom of my jaw.

"NO! Ma" Mike yelped. Lower, that’s cutting way too much hair. He grabbed the thick shank hanging on my left side, captured it between two fingers, and slid them down. "Here, right here" he said. Pointing to the bottom of the fingers.
"Well, If you think so." She took a small snip, just enough to mark the length. Then she moved around to the back. "I’m going to cut down towards the back and take about this much off back here then. O.K.?"

Mike looked at me through the mirror. PJ, she’s going to cut about this much he said holding two fingers up about 3 inches apart.

"Um, no," I said. I only expected to lose about an inch or so in back. I want it just above my shoulders on the sides, longer in back. Mike, yours was about that long right?"

"Yup", He said, cheeks flushing. "Well, at least it was before that asshole barber shaved up the back of my head with those clippers, anyway." I saw him glance toward the family room.

Before I fully knew what was happening, Mike took the shears from his mom and made a small snip in back. He held up about an inch long chunk of my hair and dropped it in my lap. "That’s all that needs to get cut in back PJ."

Mike smiled meekly at me though the reflection in the mirror. "PJ, can I cut across the back? I know just how it should be. Mom can you just watch and make sure I don’t screw up? Please?" I saw him look pleadingly at me through our reflections in the big mirror. His eyes spoke volumes to me.

I gulped. Wow, this wasn’t turning out like I expected at all. I’d fantasized many times about cutting Mikes long thick mane. But never him cutting mine. I looked at Mike, then his mom, I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth," Um, yeah, sure, I guess. Just don’t let him get carried away. "I looked pleadingly at his mom.

Oh, I won’t let that happen honey, don’t worry." She replied, smiling.

And just like that Mike started combing and snipping his was across the back of my head, then around to the left side where his mom had nipped before. Short bits of my precious locks rained down on the cape. That was all it took to deflate little PJ. I was anxious and glad at the same time. I also mused to myself that I thought I might be witnessing the birth of a haircut buddy. Hmm.

His mom measured and marked the length on the right side. Mike took the shears and completed the trim from the back around to the right. More short bits landing in my lap. Now I had quite a sizable pile of short thick locks in my lap now. I studied the new length in the mirror. Hmm, the sides might be just a tad shorter than I wanted, otherwise he’d done a great job.

Mike looked at me anxiously. "Well, how’d I do" he said, patting the back of my head and indicating where he’d cut to.

"Hmm, looks pretty good on the length." I replied. "I hope you aren’t going to leave it blunt cut like that though. It looks like a long dutch boy cut." I was eyeing myself in the mirror critically.

Mikes mom said, "yes, we just cut off all the nice feathering you had. I’ll have to redo it for you honey." If only she knew just how hard it was to do that feathering yourself. Especially in the back. I was looking forward to having someone else do it. Maybe she would show Mike how. I’d love to feel his hands working their way through my thick locks, combing and snipping. And…bam, the thought of Mikes hands in my mane and I was hard as a rock again, wow.
Mike chirped "Mom, just show me, I want to try it. That is if it’s O.K. with PJ I mean?" I could see he was blushing a bit. God he was cute when he got embarrassed.

I squeaked out "Um, well, could you show me on the side so I can see what it’s going to look like? I don’t want it thinned out. Just layer the last inch or so, right?" I looked nervously from Mike to his mom.
"Yes, sure honey." She said, smiling. "Watch Mike, like this." She combed through my mane, pulling a section in front of my ear straight out. Holding it between two fingers, she snipped at an angle, then let it fall. The highlights now stopped about an inch from the bottom edge. It looked really cool.

"Oh, PJ" his mom said, running her hand through the just cut section. I think this is going to look amazing on you honey."

Mike took the shears and comb from her "let me try, mom." He repeated what she had done, on the next section away from the front. Then ruffled it gently.

"See, I can do this mom" he said to her. To me he said "Let me do this, please? I’ll be extra careful dude. Don’t worry. You know how I love this mane."

I sighed as said "well, I don’t really have a choice at this point now, do I." I wiggled my brows at him conspiratorially. Getting s small giggle in response. It warmed my heart to hear that little giggle. It was the first time I’d heard anything close to a happy sound from him in a long time.

"Mike" his mom said, I’m going to go find a broom and dust pan for the clean-up, I’ll be back in a minute. Go slow and be careful. It has to look uniform all the way around. Especially with those highlights."
"Yeah mom, I know, we’ll be fine "he said, winking at me.

As she walked out, I watched Mike concentrate on what he was doing. He murmured" dude, I can’t believe I’m actually cutting your hair. This has been a fantasy of mine forever. I’m so hard, and I think I’m leaking." Wow.

"I know dude", I whispered back. "I was hard as steel until the snipping started. Then nothing. Watching you concentrate so hard, and having your hands in my mop is getting me there again though. Please be careful, O.K. I’m used to having total control. This is weird having you cut it. Nice, but weird."

Mike was a quick study. He’d worked his way around and was just finishing when his mom returned.

"Oh, honey," she said. "This looks fantastic." She ruffled the sides and back, letting them flop back. Now we just have to trim his fringe and do any blending of the top locks into the back and sides.
On hearing that little PJ shriveled immediately. Yikes, my fringe!

She took the clips out and my thick mop flopped down across my face again. Taking the comb, she did a fresh part on the left, like I always have it, and combed the top and fringe over to the right. Nothing was longer than the fresh trimmed side and back as far as I could tell. It looked amazing. Next she combed the fringe down again. I stopped breathing.

"Lets just give this a look and see if we need to even anything up." She murmured.

"PJ, dude," Mike said. "It’s starting to look like what I have…er, had. The fringe is a couple of inches longer than the side over where it’s parted. Mom, stop for a minute. PJ, let me show you a cool trick to know where to part it." He walked behind me, coming in close.

"Look down at the edge of your fringe dude. See where the length changes? Right here." He tugged on the longer fringe lock. "Pull this to the right, and slide your hand up while you look up. Then flip the fringe over to the right." He went through the motions he’d just described. My fringe flipped up and over, laying perfectly off my face. Mike and I smiled at each other warmly. "It doesn’t need any trimming mom, really, it’s perfect." He gave me a quick little hug. "You try it, PJ."

I studied myself in the mirror. I didn’t look very much like Mike, my fringe was woefully short compared to what his was. But I did look good. I really liked it a lot. My hands came out from under the cape. I looked straight down. The thick fringe slid over my face. I found the longer fringe lock and followed Mikes instructions, duplicating the flipped back style. Mike was watching closely, I heard him groan.

"Dude" Mike groaned. "You look hot" he whispered.

"I kinda do, don’t I" I said back quietly. I could feel my face getting hot so I knew I was turning red. "It needs to grow out more, but I like it. Especially the way the highlights stop short of the bottom edge."

"Alright you two" his mom quipped. Are we done here then.

"Yes mam," I said, grinning at her. "Thank you soooo much, this looks perfect."

"You are most welcome honey. You’ll be a hit on the first day of school, I’m sure." She said, then realized that Mike would also be the center of attention, and not in a good way. Looking painfully at Mike she said quietly "maybe the kids will be drawn to your mane instead of razzing Mike about his. I can only hope."

Mikes dad was leaning on the door frame. "Mike, son, I want you to know I take full responsibility for what happened to you. I know I can’t fix it, but when they give you s**t, I’m the one you blame, got it? You can also tell them how sorry I am, and that it isn’t going to happen again, ever. That’s a promise I’m going to keep. Is there anything, and I do mean anything, that you guys would like to do on the last weekend before school starts? Fishing, camping, hiking, the movies, anything, please? I know it’s going to be a couple of years before its grown out again Mike. But I’d like to do things with you again if you’ll let me, please?"

"Well, sir" Mike said. There is a new movie out that PJ and I have talked about seeing.

"O.K., that’s sounds good, sure." his dad replied starting to sound eager. "I’ll buy popcorn and drinks for us too."

"Err, O.K. I guess" Mike quietly said. "But an evening show, not the matinee. The later the better."

"His dad said "O.K. yes. But can I ask why not the matinee?"

"2 reasons. First, all the barber shops will be closed by then. You can’t force me in for another ‘bonding experience’. Second, because hopefully there won’t be anyone at the later show that will recognize me. I just don’t need any more humiliation. Wednesday will be way more than enough" Mike said. His expression changed and he started looking bummed out again. "Well, now that I think about it, I’d rather skip it sir. Never mind."

His dad gave a thoroughly exasperated sigh." Mike, look, no one cares how your hair is cut O.K. really. Besides, it’s grown out enough that they’ll hardly notice."

I glanced at Mike. S**t, I thought. I saw Mikes face start to turn red. His expression flipped like a switch from one of dejection to white hot anger instantaneously. Yikes. Teen age adrenalin surge!

He sidled over next to me, put his arm around my shoulders and leaned his head in close to mine. I could feel his arm trembling.

"Really dad, no one will notice that I practically have no hair anymore." He slid his hand into my plush mane. "Look at PJ! When I left school in June, I had hair longer than PJ’s. The girls thought it was so cool. I was finally getting their attention. You don’t think they’ll notice, REALLY! Your thoughtless act of authority turned me into the school dork for the next year and a half, probably two years! You have no idea what’s coming my way on Wednesday thanks to you! Your senseless act of ‘you’ll feel much better, you’ll see’ has totally screwed me for the next two years! It’s not like you accidentally backed over my bike and you’re buying me a new one. This was no accident. You deliberately had all my hair chopped off. It can’t be put back on a minute later either. There’s barely any hair down here, almost 3 months later. You can’t fix this!" Mike was tugging on the short locks hanging from his nape.

Mike started snuffling, he tenderly put my thick bang shank back behind my ear, then he pushed past his dad and headed upstairs.

The next 4 days were going to be really bad, then all hell was going to break loose.

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