Four Friends, Four Haircuts by Shant

---

Living in a very small town, especially during the winter, resulted in not really having a lot of things to do when it was so cold outside. Snow typically started before Halloween and stayed on the ground until around the first of May. For six months of the year people were stuck inside most of the time.

Mark, Wayne, Kenny, and Tommy all lived next door to each other and hung out together a lot. Tommy's dad put up a basketball net for them and they played every day that it was nice out. All four played on the high school teams. Mark and Wayne played varsity and Kenny and Tommy were on the junior varsity team.

Practice began in early fall and ran throughout most of the winter. Practice was right after school ended for the day and was held four days a week. All four guys were good players. Mark was the captain of the varsity team, but Wayne was the star. He scored more points every game than anyone else did. There was a little competitiveness between the two of them but they were still good friends.

The high school basketball coach was a good guy, but he was really strict and did not tolerate anyone that was not serious about playing. Coach told everyone at the very beginning of the season what his rules were if they wanted to play ball. He did not tolerate anyone talking back to him and giving him any grief. There were enough good players that he knew he didn't have to put up with anyone.

After the teams had been selected, on the very first day of practice, the guys sat down on the benches and the coach outlined his goals for the year. Last season, the varsity team was the runner up as state champions and the goal was to win it all this year.

Coach said he wanted his players to stand out from all the other teams. One of his most strict rules was that none of his players could have long hair. Hair was not to cover the ears at all, the back was to be neatly tapered, and the front was not to be touching their eyebrows.

He reached over to a guy named Terry that played on the varsity team and pulled his forelock straight down and it almost reached the tip of his nose. "Your hair is way too long," Coach said. "If you want to play again this year you better get yourself to a barbershop right away or I'll cut it for you!"

He told the team that if they made it to the state finals, he wanted everyone to get really short haircuts to make them stand out from all the other teams. Psychologically he felt that would give them a competitive edge because they stood out from everyone else.

Some guys weren't really thrilled about the idea of that, but the season was just starting and it was a long ways off before the state championship was held and no one could be certain how the season would end.

Last year's state champions had mostly all graduated and most of Coach's team was returning, so they were in a good position to win it all. There was no guarantee that they would be in the finals, so they didn't think all that much about getting short haircuts.

The playoffs were several months away and no one could predict what would happen. The guys figured they would put off getting short haircuts for as long as possible, and if they didn't make the playoffs, at least they had not cut their hair off for nothing.

The coach wore his hair in a flattop, short enough on the sides that you could see a little skin showing with the top about an inch long. His hair was really thick and black and looked great and he was always trying to get his players to get their hair cut like his, but he didn't really have much luck getting them to do that.

There were times when he would just come up to a guy and grab his forelock to see how long it was. If the guy's hair hung below his eyebrows, the coach would take him into his office and cut the front for him. Sometimes guys would try to get by with longer hair on the sides and back, but if Coach noticed it, they would be sitting in his office and getting a much shorter haircut than they wanted.

Mark was a senior and the oldest of the four guys. He had the best hair of the group, sandy blonde, sides three inches swept back, five inches on top combed up and back, and his forelock was six inches long. He had really thick hair and once he combed it, it stayed perfectly in place.

Once the season started, he knew he was going to have to get a shorter haircut. As much as he wanted to win the state championship he definitely didn't want to get a really short haircut. His hair had so much body that he could comb it into place and it never moved so Coach really didn't notice how long his hair really was. Wayne, Kenny, and Tommy were all jealous of his hair. It didn't help any that he was so vain about how great his hair looked.

After practice, he would always be the last one out of the locker room because he spent so much time combing his hair so that it looked perfect. Mark wasn't aware of it, but Coach noticed how much time he spent on his hair. Coach thought that Mark was a real pretty boy. It was great to have such fantastic hair, but there were certainly a lot more important things in life. Coach decided that sometime during the season, he and Mark were going to sit down and have a little conversation.

Wayne was a junior. His hair was sandy blonde like Mark's. It was really thick, and as it got longer it became curly on top. Because of the curls, his hair didn't look as long as it really was.

Kenny was a sophomore. He had dark brown hair, slightly wavy, and had a great shine to it. His hair on top was about five inches long and the sides were about two. He parted his hair on the left and then brushed the top to the right and straight back. He always wanted to keep growing his hair longer but there was no way his father would ever let him.

Tommy was the freshman of the group. His hair was a reddish blonde and was almost six inches long on top. His hair on the sides covered about half of his ears. His hair was very fine though, and did not have a lot of body. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get his hair to stay in place. When he was running down the court, his hair was flying everywhere. He knew he was lucky that Coach hadn't taken him into his office yet and cut it, but he knew if he didn't get it cut soon that he would take care of it for him.

It was during Christmas vacation and the guys were all playing cards at Tommy's house. There was over four feet of snow on the ground and the temperature was about 20 degrees. There wasn't much you could do but stay inside and come up with things to do.

Wayne asked Mark if he could borrow his comb? He knew that Mark never went anywhere without a comb in his back pocket. "Sure," Mark said. "Your hair has gotten really long and I bet it's hard to keep it staying in place now. You know that Coach will have a blast when we go back to school and he sees all that hair you have. If I were you, I'd get it cut before school starts again."

"Actually," Wayne said. "What I really would like to do is comb your hair. Your hair is always so terrific looking." Mark had a big smile on his face when Wayne said that. "You'd like to comb my hair, would you?" Mark said. "Why do you want to comb my hair?"

"I'd really like to try combing it and see how you get it to look the way it does," Wayne said. "I wish I could get my hair to look like yours. I can get the sides and the back to look like yours, but I can't get the top to look the way I would like, especially if it starts getting longer and the curls begin showing. I figured if I combed your hair that maybe I could learn how to get mine to look like yours. Would you mind if I did that? I really wish I could get the top to look a lot better."

"Sure, why not?" Mark said. "After you've combed my hair for a while, we'll then have you comb your hair to see if you can get it to look more like mine. If you still can't get the top to look the way you want, how about letting me have a go at combing your hair? I bet I can get your hair on top to look almost like mine."

"That would be great," Wayne said. "I'm tired of playing cards and monopoly all the time. Seeing that we'll probably all need to get haircuts in the next two weeks before basketball starts up again, why don't the four of us have some fun tonight and comb each other's hair? I think it would be a blast seeing how we could get each other's hair to look!"

Mark was sitting in a chair and before anyone said anything, Wayne walked up to him and started running his hands through his awesome mane. He then began combing his hair, wanting to see how different he could get it to look. Mark was really enjoying this. He loved his hair being the center of so much attention.

"Man, your hair really is fantastic!" Wayne said. "It's really a lot of fun seeing how different I can get it to look!" After Wayne finished combing Mark's hair, he asked him, "What do you think? Do you like it combed this way? I think it really looks sharp!"

"I really like how you've combed it," Mark said. "I'd have to wait for basketball season to end before I combed it like this though. You know that Coach would definitely say it's too long and make me cut it, but I think it looks great."

Wayne then tried to comb his hair the way Mark combed his. It really didn't look all that much different than before. Mark took the comb from Wayne and said, "Okay guy, let's see if I can get that hair of yours to look more like mine. You've really got nice hair and I bet that I can get the top to look more under control and look more like mine does."

Wayne was enjoying having Mark comb his hair, just as much as Mark was enjoying combing Wayne's hair. What Mark really wanted to do was cut some of Wayne's hair off the top and get it to look a little more under control, but he knew he had to be patient. He was still having a great time running his hands through his hair and combing it different from how it usually looked.

Mark finished combing Wayne's hair. It looked almost exactly like his. "I really like how you've combed the top!" Wayne said. "You're going to have to show me how you do it. I hope that I can get it to look the way it does now all the time."

"Whenever you need a little assistance, just let me know," Mark said. "It was a lot of fun combing it for you and if you'd like, I'd be glad to keep it looking that way all throughout the rest of the school year. It really does look great."

No one other than a barber had ever combed Mark's hair, but this was turning out to be a lot of fun. He figured that since he got Wayne's hair to look better on top that he might get a chance to comb Kenny's and Tommy's hair too. He figured that he would have to let them each comb his hair, but he was okay with that.

Mark knew that all three guys wished they had hair that looked like his. He knew they would like getting to comb his hair and then have him comb their hair too. Mark definitely had the best looking hair of the group and they were all eager to see what he could do with their hair.

"Alright, who's next?" Mark said. "Come on, Kenny and Tommy, one of you sit yourself down like Wayne and I did and let's see what we can do with your hair. Wouldn't you like to see how different we could get it to look?"

"Count me in," Kenny said. "I really wish that I could comb my hair a different way, but I don't know what to do. Do I get to comb your hair first like Wayne did? I'd like to get my hands in your hair and play with it. How about letting me try to give you a different looking hairstyle too?"

"Why not?" Mark said. "I like the way I comb my hair, but it's looked like this for a long time. Let's see what you can do!" Kenny picked up the comb and eliminated Mark's part on the side. Instead of combing the front forward and then back, he decided to just comb it all up and back and then figure out what he was going to do.

No one would have guessed that Mark's hair was so long on top. When Kenny combed it all back, it stood up really high and you could see that he definitely had a lot of hair. His hair was so beautiful and Kenny was having a blast playing with it.

Once he had combed Mark's hair all up and back, he decided he was going to part his hair on the right side, instead of the left, and then comb it all up and back towards the left. Combing his hair in the opposite direction really caused it to stand up even more.

Instead of combing his forelock to the front and then sweeping it up and back, Kenny just brushed it all up and back. It stood up so high and showed off the beautiful waves that he had. Kenny couldn't get enough of running his hands over and over again through his gorgeous hair.

When he finished combing Mark's hair, Mark got up and said, "Okay fellah, you did a great job. I like how it looks even longer and fuller. Now, let's see what I can do with that pretty hair of yours. How would you like me to try and get it to look?"

"I really wish my hair stood up fuller, instead of just all laying down. I guess I would need to have the sides shortened to make it look blended together. What do you think?"

"I think that would be easy to do and would look great. Your father would really love it and I think it will make you look really sharp. Want to go for it?" Mark said.

"Go ahead and do it man! I've always thought your hair looks so awesome. I'm really eager to see how you can get mine to look." Mark first started running his hands all through Kenny's hair. It really was a great color and being so long on top you could really see all his beautiful waves. After he got it to stand up as high as he could, he then took his comb and combed his hair so that it looked perfectly in place. The sides looked great being brushed up and back into the top.

"I can't believe how much better my hair looks just by the way you combed it!" Kenny said.

"Okay, Tommy," Mark said. "You're the last person left. Do you want to comb my hair too?"

"You know I do," Tommy said. "I wish my hair had more body so that it would stand up better and stay in place, but it's so fine that it's always falling all over the place. I'm so envious of how your hair always looks so awesome. Every hair is in place and it always looks so incredible. Do you think you can do anything with mine?"

"I have an idea how to get your hair to look better, but first, why don't you go ahead and comb my hair?" Mark said.

Tommy decided that he was going to comb Mark's hair all straight back and then part it down the middle. He would then brush each side straight back. The top of his ears would be covered. Because his hair was so thick, Tommy was able to comb each side back and have it slightly fall in great looking waves. It really did make Mark look a lot different. Tommy thought it looked great.

"Okay, Tommy, how about if I comb your hair the way you just combed mine? If I used a little pomade, I bet I could get your hair on top to look higher and fuller and stay in place better. You won't believe how much better it will look," Mark said. When Mark finished combing Tommy's hair, Tommy couldn't believe that by using just a small amount of pomade he could make his hair look like it had so much more body and stay in place so much better.

After they finished combing each other's hair, they went back to playing cards. They had really had a good time working on each other's hair. "I think we should start trimming each other's hair just a little bit every month," Mark said. "I'm talking about no more than half an inch and I bet that way we wouldn't have to worry about Coach thinking our hair was getting too long. What would you think about the four of us doing that?"

"I'm certainly not looking forward to Coach getting his scissors in my hair ever again," Wayne said. "I agree, let's trim each other's hair for the rest of the season. I think if we used only scissors we could all do a pretty good job and not have to get really short haircuts and still keep Coach happy."

"You know he's right," Kenny said. "I had Coach cut my hair just one time because the front was too long and he cut off a lot more than was necessary. I vowed right then and there that I was not going to let him cut my hair ever again. If we really messed up cutting our hair, we can always just go to the barber shop and have the barber even it up for us. I can't believe we would do that bad a job if we're only taking off about half an inch."

They talked about this some more and they all agreed that it was a good idea. They then started playing cards again. They were all happy that they had figured out a way to keep their hair as long as possible and not attract any attention from Coach.

Two weeks passed and school started again. The team was having a really successful year and they felt they had a good chance to make the state playoffs. There was only one other school that they considered serious competition. Their school had never won a state championship before and the entire school was really psyched.

It finally came down to the final game. Whichever team won, would win the state championship! The weekend before the final game, the four of them got together at Tommy's house like they usually did and played cards. They were all really excited about next week's game.

Wayne got up to go to the bathroom and when he came back, he stood behind Mark and carefully lifted up a pretty lock of his hair on top and cut off over three inches! His hair instead of being five inches long was now only two!

"What the hell!" Mark said. "Why did you do that? You know I don't want that short a haircut! You're going to pay for that! I'm going to sit you down and cut off about three inches of your hair too!"

"When I was in the bathroom and started combing my hair it got me thinking about what Coach had said at the beginning of the season," Wayne said. "I thought to myself, why not really make us stand out from the other teams. It could be really wild and I'd like to make Coach happy too. He's been a great guy to us all the time."

"I figure if combing each other's hair is such a great time, just think about what it will be like cutting each other's hair! That will really be wild! Think about how much attention we would attract! Seeing that you're the captain of the varsity team, I think you should be the one to lead by example. Come on and let's do it!" Wayne said.

"How do we decide who gets to be the barber?" Tommy said. "We've all been trimming each other's hair for the past two months and we've all done a great job."

"We've got cards right in front of us," Wayne said. "How about if we draw cards and the two guys with the highest cards get to cut each other's hair and the two with the lowest cards do the same?"

Both Kenny and Tommy said they were up for that, but Mark said, "I'm not sure about doing that. I really love my hair and I want to keep it for as long as I can."

"Oh come on, Mark! You're the team captain! You have to look the same as everyone else!" all three guys said. They started ragging on him because they really wanted to see so much of his pretty hair get cut off. "Oh, all right!" Mark said. "We'll all have to do this if we want to impress everyone."

The guys drew cards. Mark and Wayne drew the high cards so they would get to cut each other's hair. Kenny and Tommy drew the lower cards and they would cut each other's hair.

"Okay, so who's going first?" Wayne said. "I will," Kenny replied. "My dad will be thrilled if I get so much hair cut off. I think I might have Tommy take three inches off the top and one inch off the sides. I said that I would like to try a different looking haircut, so why not go for it?"

"Oh, man, this is going to be freaking awesome!" Tommy said. "Your hair will then be only two inches long on top and only an inch long on the sides. I bet it will make your hair look even thicker and stand up even more! I think it will really look fantastic! Sit yourself down buddy, and let's get this party started."

Tommy combed Kenny's hair back on the sides and then combed the top up and back. Kenny did have great hair. It had a slight wave to it which made it look really good when he brushed it all back. "Okay, Kenny, get ready for a new looking haircut!" Tommy said. He took his comb and lifted up Kenny's five inch forelock and cut off three inches. Seeing his thick, dark brown hair fall to the cape was a real turn on. Tommy then continued working his way to the back, leaving the top just two inches long.

Tommy then combed the sides all back and took off an inch, leaving him with just an inch of hair. Because his hair was so thick, Tommy was able to comb the sides all into the back. He then slightly wet Kenny's hair and brushed the two inches on top so that they stood almost straight up. His hair looked better standing up higher instead of just laying flat on his head. It was really a smart looking haircut and Kenny loved it.

After Tommy finished Kenny's haircut, they all agreed that it looked great. "Okay, Tommy, it's my turn to play barber," Kenny said. "What are we going to do with all this hair of yours? You know when you're playing ball that it's flying all over the place. I bet if you saw a video of how your hair looked while playing that you would not like how it looked."

"You're right! I'm going to be like Kenny and get an even shorter haircut," Tommy said. "I know that when I'm playing my hair is all over the place. It's six inches long on top. How about taking four inches off? I bet that would keep it from looking so messy."

"I agree with you," Kenny said. "This is going to be awesome taking off so much of your long hair. Sit yourself down and let's get started."

Just like Tommy had done, Kenny combed his hair on the top and the sides all straight back. He also started in the front and lifted up his six inch forelock and chopped off four inches! "Oh man," said Kenny. "Look at all that hair that is coming off! He cut the entire top down from six inches to just two. Talk about looking different!

With his hair now being so much shorter it was no longer flopping around all over the place. Kenny then cut two of his three inches off the sides. His hair was so much shorter. It really was a big change. Kenny then took the pomade that Mark had used and ran it through Tommy's hair. Being as short as it now was, the pomade really made his hair stand up. It looked really good.

"Two down and two to go," Mark said. "Your hair, Wayne, is the longest of any of us. When I was combing your hair and trying to get it to look more like mine, I wanted to take the top down in order to get those curls of yours under control. How about tapering up the sides and back and then taking about half the length off the top? You would still have your curls but with the sides shorter and still having the curls on top, I think it will look awesome."

"I'm okay with that," Wayne said. "Seeing that both Kenny and Tommy got shorter haircuts than we had planned, I'm willing to do the same."

Mark knew that he was going to have a blast cutting Wayne's hair. He started with the scissors and tapered up the sides and the back all the way up to the top. At the base of his neck and around his ears you could barely grasp his hair. Mark then combed his curls straight up and chopped about half of them off. He then just ran his hands through the top, getting the curls to fall wherever they did. It looked good keeping his curls shorter and cutting the sides and back down really short. It was an awesome looking haircut.

When Mark finished cutting Wayne's hair, he was really pleased with how it looked. He was so glad that Wayne had gone along with Kenny and Tommy and had gotten a shorter haircut.

All that was left to do was cut Mark's hair. He had said he didn't want a short haircut, but Wayne had decided that since the three of them had gotten short haircuts that Mark was going to get one too.

"This is going to be awesome," Wayne said. "We've definitely saved the guy with the best hair for last! So, how do you want me to cut that mane of yours?"

"How about if you take an inch off all over?" Mark said. "That should be short enough to make Coach happy."

"No problem," Wayne said. "Sit yourself down and I'll cape you up. After Mark was caped up, Wayne started to comb his hair and get his hands in it. He really did have awesome hair. The sides were three inches, the top was five, and his forelock was six. There was absolutely no way that he was only going to get an inch of his beautiful hair cut off!

Wayne was really psyched that he was going to cut Mark's hair. He had always been so envious of his hair and had always wanted to get his hands in it. Seeing that he had already cut off a three inch lock of his awesome hair, he was really excited that he was now going to cut almost all of it off. He knew that he was going to cut Mark's hair a lot shorter than they had discussed. He really wanted to give him a flattop, but he knew that he couldn't use clippers, but he would still have an unbelievable time!

Wayne took his scissors and started Mark's haircut by first cutting the back. He grabbed a three inch lock of his pretty hair and cut it almost all off! He made certain that Mark did not see how much hair was being cut. Lock by lock, Wayne ever so gently took almost three inches off the entire back.

The next part of the haircut would be cutting down the sides. They were over three inches long and were swept back. Starting at Mark's temple, he combed out the first lock in front and took off two inches. Mark didn't seem to notice how much hair he was losing.

Wayne really got off combing his pretty hair and then cutting so much of it off! When Wayne finished the sides, Mark no longer had hair that covered his ears.

The final part of the haircut was tackling the top. Mark's hair on top was five inches and his forelock was six. Wayne was looking forward to cutting this the most. Wayne combed Mark's hair all straight back and started from the back and cut his hair to the front.

He was having an incredible time doing this. He knew that Mark was still not aware about what was going on. He knew he was going to freak out when Wayne finished the haircut.

He began lifting the lock nearest his crown and sliced off over three inches. Wayne thought he was going to explode as he watched the first lock on top come off. Lift and snip, lift and snip. It was incredible seeing each five inch lock of hair get cut down to two inches as he worked his way to the front.

When he reached Mark's forelock, he lifted up his six inch locks of hair and cut three inches off. He then wet Mark's hair and took a brush and vigorously brushed his hair all back. There was no longer a part and his hair in front was brushed all up and back. Wayne then lifted up each lock again, making certain that the ends were all even.

He kept evening up the ends over and over again as he shortened down the top. When he had finished, Mark's hair was flat as a board on top with the front just being a little longer so he could brush it back. It really was a sharp looking haircut. Mark was going to flip out when he saw it, but once he got used to it, Wayne was sure that he would like it.

Once he finished the haircut, he turned Mark around to face the mirror. Mark was in shock! He couldn't believe that Wayne had cut so much of his hair off! He hated his hair being so short but he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Why did you cut off so much of my hair when I told you to only take off an inch?" Mark said.

"I figured that since you're the team captain that you should set the best example and cut your hair just like everyone else. I think your hair looks great! When we get back to school on Monday we'll have the rest of the week to convince everyone else to get their hair cut."

"I bet that now we've cut our hair short that Coach will be really happy," Mark said. "I think that the rest of the guys will now go along and get their hair cut short too. Hopefully when they discover that we cut each other's hair, they'll let us cut their hair for them. There are a couple of guys that I would really love to see get their hair chopped off! I would love it even more if we are the ones that actually get to cut their hair for them!"

---