Chapter 1: One Shot

“Okay Anthony, you can do this.” A sixteen year old boy talked to himself as he stood in front of the Spectrum Salon. He had dark chin length hair, and tan yet spotty skin. He wore sweatpants and a baggy hoodie. The building he stood in front of had a large sign out front in the shape of a color wheel. “Spectrum” was written in cursive black lettering that curved across the upper edge while “Salon” had the same font on the bottom. After finishing his pep talk, Anthony approached the glass doors of the establishment and read the white text displaying the hours of operation. Although the business wasn’t usually open past 6:00 PM on a Saturday, the lights were still very much on at 6:30 tonight.

The reason for the abnormality on this day was that the salon was booked for a special appointment. A special full experience gift card was given out as a raffle prize for the Flatsville High School Ski Club’s end of season party. The card was redeemable for a manicure and pedicure, a makeup lesson, and a hair styling in one visit. A mother of one of the students was friends with the salon owner. The parents were expected to bring raffle prizes for the party. Although the club was co-ed, she never had an issue offering this rather feminine gift.

In this particular year, Anthony’s was the lucky ticket that was selected for this prize. After some light heckling he claimed his prize and packed up to drive home with his father. The past season had been like the previous two seasons. Anthony woke up early each Saturday, was driven out to the slopes, and held his tongue as his father would comment conservatively on news stories they listened to on the car rides. This final car ride was uncharacteristically quiet. While Anthony assumed his father was trying to shame him for taking the prize, he didn’t mind the silence. 

When they arrived home in the mid afternoon his father kept the car locked for a moment. He said, “You’ll be giving that card to your sister, right?” Anthony moved to manually unlock his door without answering his father. If Anthony was being honest, although he would love to give his sister a gift, he was considering actually getting the service himself. As Anthony tried to exit, his father put his rather weighty hand on his shoulder and repeated, “Right?”

Anthony just wanted to get out of there and eat some lunch, so he answered, “Right dad.” Anthony didn’t know this was a lie quite yet, but he would continue thinking about it. As he was eating his mind wandered to reasons he might enjoy this experience or how it may be useful. Anthony always liked theatre, perhaps he could use this experience to learn about makeup so he could help out more in the drama club. Anthony did not know that this excuse was also a lie. 

Anthony finally squared up his courage and entered the salon.

Inside the salon was Kimiko. She was a twenty something woman with olive skin and short hair tied in a bun. She had simple makeup. She wore a green blouse, vinyl gloves, black slacks and an apron. She was arranging her mani pedi supplies when she heard the ringing of the bell on top of the door. She did not quite see who the lucky winner was until he entered out of the late afternoon sun glare that was streaming through the glass windows of the salon. She greeted the winner in her best customer service voice saying, “Welcome to Spectrum Salon, my name is Kim and I will be your nail tech today.” Kim’s eyes adjusted and saw Anthony more clearly. She did not expect a boy to be the one she would be working on today, but she didn’t let her surprise show.

Anthony spoke up, “Hey, I’m Anthony, I’ve never really done anything like this so… how does this work?” He looked quizzically at the row of red upholstered massage chairs with foot baths connected to them on his right and the row of white desks with tons of lights and fans with black wheeling chairs in front of them on his left. There were alternating square light panels on the ceiling and white square tiles on the floor. The walls were a pale green color with televisions on the left wall for customers to watch while they got their treatments.

Kimiko decided to take the lead from this confused boy and directed him to the 5th massage chair in the row. Noticing he sat down before taking off his footwear, and more importantly that his footwear was running shoes and socks rather than the flip flops or sandals most customers wore, she told him, “You have to take your shoes and socks off first.” 

Anthony paused and realized his folly before bending over to untie his laces. “Of course she needed to have access to my toenails,” he internally chastised himself. After doffing his socks he tucked them into his shoes and turned toward Kimiko who was now kneeling in front of the chair. Unsure of how to act and feeling very awkward, Anthony let out a sound of exasperation, “Umm…?”

“This boy really doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Kimiko thought to herself. She directed him, “Just put your feet in the tub sweetie.” She turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. “Is that warm enough for you?” She asked.

“Yes, that’s perfect,” Anthony replied. It was the ideal temperature, not hot enough to hurt but just warm enough to open up pores and relax. Starting to enjoy himself, Anthony found the massage chair function and turned it on. The combination of the foot bath and the massage was heavenly. Anthony closed his eyes in bliss and almost forgot about Kimiko, at least until she lifted his right foot onto a toweled foot rest.

The pedicure began with Kimiko clipping all of his toenails. Unlike when he would do it himself, she would use many clips and take only a small piece off each time. It was like a rock carver using a fine hammer and chisel when he had previously swung a sledgehammer at the stone. After the nails were all trimmed they were filed with a white Emory board. Kimiko then squeezed a bottle with some liquid onto each of Anthony’s toenails. If he wasn’t looking at them he wouldn’t have even noticed anything was happening. This was cuticle oil. Kimiko guided his right foot back into the wonderful water and repeated the process with his left foot. 

Before putting the left foot back in, Kimiko pulled out a small metal tool with a flat head, she began scraping around the nails making them a perfect canvas. Anthony definitely noticed that this wasn’t the most pleasant feeling, but everything else was going so well he didn’t feel like making a fuss. He couldn’t hold his composure with what came next though. Kimiko took out a sugar scrub and a pumice stone and started exfoliating Anthony’s feet. He squirmed quite a bit as this was happening which made Kimiko chuckle slightly. She had seen many customers squirm at this part, but seeing Anthony almost try to deny himself that freedom was comical. 

The scrub was followed by a delightful moisturizer that Kimiko applied to Anthony’s feet and legs. While she was wiping it off with a hot towel, Anthony was in a cloud of joy as he thought that he really must make this a regular thing he does. Kimiko took out two yellow foam sandals and green foam toe separators. It was a bit of an awkward operation for Anthony as he had never had his toes separated, but with a gentle push, Kimiko got him ready. Out of habit, Kimiko asked what she usually asked to the girls she so often did pedicures for, “What color would you like?” She paused briefly realizing it’s very likely this boy just wanted a clear coat, however —

“Y’know, why don’t I try red,” Anthony spoke up. He was so relaxed he was pretty open to this new suggestion. Besides, he thought, when is anyone else going to see my toes? Kimiko went over to the shelves of different polishes and found a nice raspberry red polish, OPI I’m not really a waitress. She returned to Anthony and set the polish down before picking up a base coat and beginning the pedicure. 

Much like the cuticle oil, Anthony was surprised at how little sensation there actually was in this. The brush strokes were so light and delicate. After the base coat, Kimiko reached for the raspberry polish. A twinge of doubt flashed through Anthony’s head. “Shouldn’t I not want to do this?” he thought. Once the bottle of polish was unscrewed and the unique aroma of solvents wafted its way to Anthony he realized he probably wouldn’t get another chance to do this, so why not try it.

The color was bold and chic. Anthony definitely felt like it made his toes pop. For some reason he didn’t feel like that was a bad thing. Kimiko finished the pedicure with a nice top coat which really made the toes shine. Anthony definitely caught the reflection of the lights in them before he got up. 

Kimiko ushered him to the manicure station across the room before removing her gloves and putting on a different pair. The manicure was very similar. It went from trimming to filing to oiling. The filing did have a bit more intensity. Several different grains of Emory board were used. Starting rough and ending more fine, it left his nails incredibly smooth. Anthony did find it hard to not clench his teeth a bit during this. Still, the whole process was giving him an aura of serenity. This was emphasized as a dollop of pink moisturizer was squirted onto the back of each of his hands and rubbed in by Kimiko.

Kimiko finished the manicure by giving Anthony a few clear coats. Although they definitely looked much nicer, cleaner, and shinier than they ever looked before, a part of Anthony regretted that they didn’t pop the same way his toenails did. Kimiko brought a small black electric fan across the table and angled it to blow on Anthony’s nails. 

As the nails were drying, Anthony looked around at the other tools on the desk. There was a large white nail lamp. Anthony didn’t quite know what that was so he asked, “Hey, what do you use that thing for?” Anthony had to sort motion with his head as he couldn’t move his hands to point.

After she figured out what he was talking about she explained, “Oh that’s the nail lamp, we use that for gel manicures.” This piqued Anthony’s interest so Kimiko described the process further. “We do a bunch of layers and dry them in succession. That way the manicure can look great for weeks.” She explained.

It was then that the sound of clicking heels entered from a room deeper in the salon. The makeup artist, Trinity, was approaching. She had sepia brown skin and her black hair was in Bantu knots. Her makeup was much more heavily done than Kimiko’s. She wore a purple blouse, black slacks, and an apron with a sizable pocket. She called out, “Hey Kim, are you finished with the client?” 

Kimiko took a final look at Anthony’s nails and made sure they were dry. Once she was sure she replied, “Yep, all finished.” 

Trinity spun the chair Anthony was sitting in out and marveled at his nails. “Great color choice, real fab.” She praised. Anthony smiled at this compliment and couldn’t hide a slight rosy blush growing in his cheeks. Trinity rotated to the back of the chair and started pushing it into her makeup studio. “Just gonna borrow this chair Kim!” She called back.

The studio walls were a deep purple shade, rows of tall chairs lined walls in front of white vanities with big rectangular mirrors with studio lights all around them. The vanities also had an incredible assortment of all kinds of makeup on them. The floors were a dark hardwood. In the middle of the studio was a large island counter that had a dozen drawers on each side. Each drawer was labeled with another type of makeup or product. 

Trinity moved one of the chairs that was already in front of a mirror out of the way and slid Anthony’s in. She opened a palette of several different skin tone foundations and highlighters. She explained, “Before we do the makeup lesson, I wanna make sure I get your colors right. Let’s get to know each other though.” She began rubbing different foundations in a row down his arm. She continued, “Soooo I’m Trinity and what’s your name?”

He responded, “My name is Anthony.”

Trinity paused for a moment as she processed this response. She clarified, “Yeah, but like, what’s your real name?” 

Anthony was confused, just about as confused as Trinity was. He reiterated, “Anthony, I don’t have any other name.”

Satisfied with foundation, Trinity began applying swatches of highlighter to Anthony’s right arm. She seemed to have come to her own conclusion when she said, “Ohhhh, so you haven’t come up with one yet, that’s okay girl, you’ll get there.”

“What -- What are you talking about? I’m not a girl.” Anthony said in shock.

“What?” Trinity answered with an equal level of shock. “You mean you’re not... “ She paused as she figured out her error. She restarted, “Oh, sweetie I’m sorry. I made a mistake.” She put down the brushes after she was satisfied she had the colors she needed. She continued, “You see, I thought you were a trans girl. I didn’t really expect a boy to want to do this, and I have this trans cousin so I just sorta assumed. That’s on me.” 

Anthony wasn’t quite sure how he felt about this. While he did feel a sense of relief, there was an undercurrent of disappointment. He wasn’t sure why he would be disappointed at no longer being thought of as a girl. He needed to know more. He asked, “So your cousin is trans?”

While he was contemplating, Trinity went over to the counter to pick out the products she would be using. She replied, “Yup, sweet girl.” As she came back she asked, “So if you’re not trans, what brought you in here?” 

Anthony was a bit befuddled. He knew what he was going to tell his parents, but he wasn’t expecting to say it here. He stammered, “I uhhh… I wanna learn makeup for theatre.” 

Poorly hidden doubt was plastered on Trinity’s face. She quipped, “Mhmm, so those nails are to help with theatre too?” She leaned in and pressed on the arms of the chair. She said in a more serious tone, “Listen, you know being trans is a thing you can be, right? Like, it’s not a bad thing. If you really think you would like to do this traditionally girly stuff like getting your nails painted and doing makeup, you might want to start considering the possibility that you might be trans. I’m just saying this because I saw what my cousin went through, and she was a lot happier after.”

Anthony was bewildered. He had no idea he would even be thinking about these questions today. It didn’t feel good to question this. His mind was spiraling. He thought to himself, I can’t actually be trans, wouldn’t I have known by now. He knew she was right though, he had loved doing the traditionally girly stuff today, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t think about being a girly girl if he somehow changed sexes. This hurt too much. He needed a distraction. He asked, “I’ll think about this more later, but can we just do the makeover, please?”

Trinity had a small victorious smirk and replied, “You mean the makeup lesson? Sure sweetie.”

She squeezed a translucent cream into her hands and rubbed it all over his face while explaining, “So this is a primer, it’ll give us a nice base on your face to work on. Some people think that you don’t need to prime, but I always say, ‘It’s a crime not to prime!’” Anthony grinned a bit at this rhyme. Trinity continued, “It’s especially important to prime you today since you clearly do not have a skin routine, but if you want I could recommend some moisturizers and cleansers for you to use.” 

Anthony never really cared about his face. He never thought it looked right anyway so he didn’t see the point in caring for it. He decided to say, “Maybe later.”

Trinity shrugged and started marking up lines on his face with a thin foundation brush. She explained, “This is the Hourglass Vanishing Foundation in the shade Golden Natural, and while it doesn’t quite match your skin it does match your neck.” She put down the brush and picked up a makeup sponge and a bottle of liquid foundation. She continued, “We’re just gonna blend it in with this Nara liquid foundation in the color Stromboli.” She placed the foundation on the back of her hand and then the sponge before blending the right half of Anthony’s face. She paused and asked, “Would you like to do some blending?”

Anthony looked at the sponge held in front of him. The foundation was still wet and it was staining the hot pink foam. He hesitantly picked it up and began rubbing it across his left cheek. Looking in the mirror he began to find a joy he was not familiar with in completing the coverage on his face. 

While Anthony was blending, Trinity pulled out a concealer. Once Anthony had achieved full face coverage, she carefully applied the concealer all around his eyes. She added, “And you can just blend in that concealer as well.” As he blended far less hesitantly than before, she added, “This’ll really make your eyes pop and get rid of any dark circles.”

Trinity picked up a smaller brush and dipped it in a squat cylinder of light powder saying, “I’m going to use the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Under Eye and Face Powder.” As she began dabbing lightly with her fluffy brush she explained, “This is just going to press it all into your skin and really make it stick and look really smooth.” 

She then handed Anthony a much larger and fluffier brush and a different powder saying, “I want you to take this Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Compact and just put a very small amount of it all over your face.” Anthony quickly took to doing similar patting motions. There are few sensations similar to a fluffy powder brush spreading out as it applies powder. Anthony’s eyes were softly closed and a slight grin came across his face as he experienced this for the first time.

While he was finishing, Trinity was grabbing the Mac Give Me Sun Bronzer and a wide white brush. The bronzer stood out well against the white bristles as Trinity began to fan it above Anthony’s cheeks. As she migrated her strokes to his forehead she said, “This’ll really warm up your face and add some color.” 

“Now we’re gonna contour your nose to kinda thin it out,” she said excitedly. As she was coming back with her products, Anthony had a split second to think about what he would look like with a thin nose. He had to admit he did enjoy the idea. Trinity came back with a very small brush about the size of a toothbrush and a bronzer. As she precisely traced up and down his nose she explained, “This is the Benefit Hoola Bronzer and it is just perfectly suited for your skin tone.” Once she finished and was grabbing more products, Anthony had some time to admire his nose in the mirror. While he did see sort of how the illusion was made, he knew his nose looked better from every angle now.

When Trinity came back she had a beauty sponge with a flat edge and another jar of powder. She explained, “Okay so I’m going to go in with the Beauty Bakery Translucent Setting Powder and we’re gonna bake.” She applied the powder in large swaths under his cheek bone and across his chin. She saw the confused look on Anthony’s face and spelled out, “So baking is good for people with sweaty or oily skin, and basically I’m gonna use a generous amount of this translucent powder and leave it on for a few minutes. While that happens the heat from your face will oxidize and set your foundation and concealer, when we take it off the powder will take away any excess moisture or oils. The end product should give you a flawless matte finish.”

Anthony was stunned. He had no idea this was even a thing. He had to ask, “Where did this even come from?” 

Heat flashed across his caked face as Trinity turned on a hot light setting. She explained, “It actually came from drag queens needing to have some way to deal with excess sweat since you can imagine performing at that level under stage lights can produce a lot of moisture.” She paused as she noticed his face drop with this revelation. Remembering a similar reaction from her cousin she added, “But it’s pretty much used by most women now when they need a great look.” Anthony’s face lifted and Trinity went to open the eye makeup she intended to use. 

You are reading story The Salon at novel35.com

She screwed up a thin stick and went in saying, “While we let that bake we’re gonna do your eye makeup and we’re gonna start by filling in your brows.” Afterwards Anthony saw in the mirror that his eyebrows were much less messy, now seeming like two artistically placed lines, but it was hard to ignore the large patch of white on his chin. 

Trinity picked up and showed Anthony a large palette the size of a journal. She said, “I’m going to be using the Jacklyn Hill Volume 2 Palette for your eyeshadow today.” As she opened it she revealed a set of 35 different colors with a fair amount of the powder scattered across the once pristine white palette. While dipping in her brush she began, “So the first shade I’m going to go in with is this shade right here, Perfectionist.” She indicated a matte soft pink that was close to Anthony’s skin color. She began applying it to his left eye while saying, “I’m just gonna put this on the upper outer portion of your crease before I bring it in, but much lighter.” She then held out the brush to Anthony and said, “Now you try.”

With some hesitation again, Anthony took the brush. As he began to brush, he got lost in the sensation. This was calming. When he finished with a perfect gradient going from a darker outside to a lighter inside, Trinity spoke up, “Great job! Now we’re just going to go over that with a slightly bigger brush to make sure there are no harsh lines.” Once again they repeated the process with Trinity doing the left eye and Anthony doing the right. 

Picking up the palette again, Trinity pointed and said, “Now we’re just gonna do the same thing with the color right next to it, Comfort Zone.” She began slightly lower, but explained, “Because this is a bit more mauve, a bit deeper, we’re just going to put this a little bit lower on the eye.” Once again she handed the brush over to Anthony and let him do his right eye which he was getting less hesitant and more comfortable with.

Next Trinity pulled out a pencil brush and dipped it in the Comfort Zone saying, “We’re just going to run this across your lower lash line and then connect it to the top to give a nice halo effect, like so.” She indicated in the mirror and much to her surprise Anthony took the brush and was able to flawlessly recreate the strokes. 

Next she pointed at the top right corner shade saying, “Next we’re going to go with this lovely shade, Thick Skin, it’s sorta a lovely pinkish brick color, kinda rusty.” As she dabbed on the outer corner of the eyelid and handed the brush to Anthony so he could do the same, she elaborated, “The rusty color will really give this like a 3D look which is sooooo nice.” 

Picking up the palette once again she now pointed to the top left corner shade which was a plain white. She continued, “We’re going to finish your eyeshadow with this matte white called Certified. It’ll really give you, like this doe eye look that’ll make your eyes look bigger.” She dabbed on his inner eye and brought it a bit down his nose. Seeing as he once again perfectly replicated the look she complimented, “Good job, you’ve really got a knack for this.” 

Anthony was delighted at hearing this. He very rarely had anything he was praised for. It felt so good to hear this. He thought, just maybe, it might be a good idea to do makeup again sometime.

“Now we’re going to do your eyeliner.” She approached not with a pen or pencil, but with a very thin brush in the eyeshadow palette. She continued, “Instead of using regular eyeliner we’re just going to use a dark brown eyeshadow so it won’t be quite as intense.” After she lined the left eye she warned, “Eyeliner is pretty hard, do you want me to do both eyes?” 

Anthony was still itching for another hit of praise. He answered, “No, I think I want to try it.” He expertly lined his eyes giving them a great finished look. 

“You are a prodigy. I can’t tell you how many q tips I spent in lessons like these, but you have been so accurate.” Trinity praised. She continued, “Now let me just give you falsies to complete the look.” As she already had adhesive on the false eyelashes, there was nothing for Anthony to do besides blink and see his lashes. He did feel a bit upset over not being able to do more, but he did enjoy how his lashes looked. However, he was starting to wonder why this felt so good.

Trinity came back with a large fluffy brush saying, “Alright, you’ve baked long enough.” Once she finished clearing the excess powder  she reacted, “Ah, perfect sheen. You’re almost done sweetie just three more steps.” 

Anthony had gotten lost in the lesson, he forgot it actually had to end eventually. He responded, “Take your time.” 

Trinity smiled at this, even if she wasn’t exactly right, she did find a makeup prodigy who may have otherwise been trapped behind a veil of masculinity. She came back with another product and another brush saying, “So for blush I’m gonna use this Butter Blush, Copper Cabana.” She began to brush it in, explaining, “We’re gonna start on the apples of your cheek and brush towards the outer portion of your eye.” Much to his pleasure, Trinity handed the blush brush to him and allowed him to apply it on his other cheek.

Trinity picked up a tube and a pencil saying, “Now we just finish with your lips. I’m gonna use the Jaclyn Hill Lip Liner and Liquid Lipstick in the shades Strawberry Creme, and Cupcake.” She smoothly traced around his lips with the lip liner before handing over the lipstick teasing, “Now just color inside the lines.” 

As he applied, he was surprised that it actually had a light sugary taste to it. Trinity was putting products back in their drawers but spoke up, “This’ll dry really matte and it’s like, my favorite product.” 

Trinity picked up a aerosol can and said, “To finish up we’re just going to use a bit of setting spray.” As the two cool mists floated onto Anthony’s face, it finally set in that it would be a lot harder to find a way back here.

Trinity put her hands on the back of the chair and sighed, “Well, this is it for us. I’ve got to take this back to Kim and you’ve got to go see Steph for hair.” Anthony got up and thanked her. As they were both walking to the separate rooms Trinity shouted back, “I hope you come back some time.” Anthony wasn’t sure if she was teasing or not, but he wanted to believe that she believed there was a chance.

The final room was the hair salon. It was much more brightly colored with orange overhead lights and a peach orange wallpaper. It carried over the hardwood from the previous room. There were several lines of chairs in front of sinks, chairs with drying hoods, and chairs in front of mirrors. In the middle of this all stood the hairdresser and owner of the Spectrum Salon, Stephanie. She wore a black blouse, black slacks. Her makeup wasn’t as heavy as Trinity’s but it was glamorous. She had pale skin and short curly blonde hair, although it only reached chin height it was styled up in artistic curls. 

As she stood there sweeping the floor, Anthony spoke up, “Hello, my name is Anthony, I’m here for the hair…” Anthony paused, he originally planned on saying haircut, but when he got caught up in looking at Stephanie’s unique curls he almost said hair styling. Either way, Stephanie heard him and greeted him saying, “Well, Trinity certainly did a number on you.” remarking at his made up face. “Just sit right there and we'll get you shampooed,” she indicated a chair in front of a sink. 

The sink was black and was positioned behind the chair. It had a large section cut out that would allow Anthony to dip his head so it was parallel to the ground and his hair could be under the faucet. After Stehanie wrapped a cape and towel around his neck he started to dip. This was quite a disorienting move, but Anthony was able to do so with some jerking back up as he descended. The warm water felt phenomenal rushing down Anthony’s scalp. The faucet allowed for smaller but more intense pressure than a shower and Anthony was loving the feeling. His ecstasy skyrocketed when the lovely scents of the shampoos made their way to his nose. 

Anthony had rather thick hair, so after a rinsing he was directed over to one of the drying hoods. After turning it on a low setting, Stephanie sat down at the shampooing chair that would be facing him and crossed her legs. She said, “You’ll be there a while, why don’t we talk a bit? Tell me how your experience was.” 

It had been such an emotional day, it took Anthony a moment to remember how it began. He started, “It was pretty nice. The massage chair for the pedicures was lovely. Kimiko answered all my questions and made me feel at ease. The makeup lesson was nice. Apparently I have some sort of talent for it.” Anthony paused before adding the one part of his trip that still troubled him. He said, “There was a bit of an awkward moment when Trinity thought I was… trans.” 

Stephanie brought her hand up to her nose to stifle a laugh. She responded, “I can’t say I don’t see what she saw. You’re crossing your legs dear.” Somehow Anthony hadn’t noticed he had mimicked Stephanie’s pose. While he recovered from this slight embarrassment, she continued, “I don’t think we’ve ever had a cis boy go this far before.”

Anthony wanted to tilt his head inquisitively, but it bumped against the hood and he had to ask verbally, “‘Cis boy’ What does that mean?” 

Stephanie answered, “It basically means someone who isn’t trans, someone who feels comfortable in the body they were born in.”

Anthony had to protest at this saying, “Wait wait wait, doesn’t everyone feel uncomfortable in their body?”

“Not cis people,” Stephanie replied. Seeing as this was clearly bothering her client she tried something that might close the subject. “How about this, kid, you think of a feminine name you might like to be called, I’ll call you that, and then we’ll see how you feel? Does that sound good?” 

Anthony fidgeted in his chair slightly. He closed his eyes hard and while he wanted to be anywhere but here a name popped up in his mind’s vision.

“Try the name, Jessica.”

Stephanie picked up a magazine from a side table and walked over to the drying chair. She spoke very clearly, “Would you like some reading material, Jessica?”

Elation washed across Jessica’s face. She took the magazine to look for what style she might want her hair to look like when she realized what she had just done. She had been let into the party.

Jessica dropped the magazine on her lap as her hands rushed to her cheeks in surprise. She exclaimed, “OH MY GOD!” 

Stephanie stood smugly to the side. She said, “Well I think that answers that question.” She saw as Jessica’s grin faded to a frown. Concerned, she asked, “Well now what’s wrong?”

Jessica had made a very grim realization. She responded, “My dad is gonna kill me when he finds out.” 

Stephanie sat down at the chair next to Jessica in solidarity. She spoke knowingly, “Ah, he’s one of those.” She thought back on her own experience with disapproving family members and replied, “Listen Jessica, I’ve been there. Not with my gender, but with my sexuality. When I found out I was a lesbian, I was terrified of how my folks would react.” 

“What did you do?” Jessica spoke up. She was desperate to find any way out of this predicament. 

Stephanie had started seeing parts of herself in this girl. She decided to impart the advice she wished she heard all those years ago. She began, “Back then I did all I could to hide it, I’d lock up love poems I wrote about girls in my classes, I’d find boys who I could say were my boyfriend, but never have to actually date. After high school, I moved away for beauty school and I found my wife. When I knew we were going to get married I realized I had to tell my parents. I was more worried about how my mom would react so I called my dad first. Turns out both of them were more than accepting. Mom did take more time, but in the end, they loved me, and that was worth more than any ignorance they had.” She put her hands on Jessica’s shoulders and finished, “Don’t do what I did. I missed out on years of high school not being myself. In the end, you know who you are, your parents can either accept their daughter or fail as parents.”

This calmed Jessica immensely. “Thank you.” She said. She resolved, “I’ll tell my mom first and go from there.” 

Stephanie turned off the dryer, and lifted the hood. When Jessica stood up, she just instinctively hugged the hairdresser. The joy she felt had overflowed from her and she needed to share it with the person who made her feel it. Stephanie guided her to the hair styling chair and grabbed a fresh cape. Jessica saw that it was a pink cape which just an hour or so ago she would’ve pretended to hate. Now she finally felt free to express her emotions.

Stephanie clapped her hands together and said, “Okay, coming out to your parents is a big thing. How do you wanna look for them?”

Jessica looked at the mirror. She responded, “Well, I guess I sorta want to look like, unmistakably girl. If that makes any sense.” She ran her fingers sadly through her curls saying, “I always wished I had like, long hair. I guess I know why now. I just wish there was a way I could make it longer.”

“I think I might be able to do something about that,” said Stephanie. 

Jessica’s face lit up, “Really!?!? Is there some sorta like, instant hair growth cream?” 

Stephanie shook her head at this ridiculous notion. “No sweetie,” she replied, “I’m gonna give you sew in extensions.” 

She began by parting Jessica’s hair from the top of her left ear across her head to the top of her right ear. She secured the parted hair on top of Jessica’s head with a hair clip she had in her apron. She parted the hair again just below the thin line she had created. This one she secured with a ponytail holder. She began braiding the short hair in many small braids all the way down this line forming a cornrow. After she braided from both ends she secured the braids in the middle. 

 Next she pulled out a kit for extensions. She started by threading the needle and cutting the extension thread. She took out a few weft samples until she found one that would match Jessica’s hair color and natural curls. When she found which ones she wanted she began sewing. The needle was threaded through the weft and as it weaved in and out of the cornrow, the weft attached to Jessica’s natural hair. When she finished with that weft she went back through and secured it to the hair. She had to repeat the process with 2 additional wefts. This took some time, but Jessica was more than willing to wait.

When she was finally done Jessica admired the woman she had become. Between the makeup and the hair, there was no touch of masculinity in her. She was finally comfortable.

She showed off her new look to Trinity and Kimoko, thanking them both immensely and promising to come back when she can.

As she approached the door she pulled out her phone and made a call. “Hey Mom, I’m at the Spectrum Salon. Can you pick me up? We have a lot to talk about.”

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