028 - The Curse, part 7

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Julie made her way to drama class as quick as her feet could take her. She made it before any of her other classmates. Good, she sighed in relief; she didn't want to have to explain to anyone why one side of her hair was longer than the other. She found a cap in the wardrobe, and tucked her hair underneath. 

Julie's mother had talked her into drama as a possible solution to her shyness problem. Getting up and performing in front of other people would be good for her, she reasoned. Julie had protested, but eventually gave in, like she always did. She had been pleasantly surprised to find that there was a place for her here. Most of the other kids in her class were there because they dreamed of the spotlight, and didn't like to settle for anything less. Julie, however, was one of the only ones willing to take a backseat to the others, and sought out the silent roles of background extras, ensemble members, and once she even got to be a tree! She liked the behind-the-scenes work best, painting sets and moving props. She had even made a few friends, but everyone knew she was content to sit in the back and watch during class. 

Today seemed to go very long. Julie spent every class period looking repeatedly at the clock, awaiting the end of the day when she would get to hang out with Megan and get to know her. At long last, the final bell for the day rang, and Julie rushed to the south door. Megan joined her soon after, seemingly as eager as Julie was to get on with whatever they had planned. They greeted each other, and Julie started to walk away from the exit to the parking lot.

"Wait," Megan said. "I just thought of something. Could you come with me back to the restroom?"

Julie thought nothing of it. She wasn't anxious to return to the scene of her previous hair disaster, but relented. "Um, sure."

As they entered the restroom, Megan made her way to the sinks, and began to look around. It dawned on Julie what Megan was up to. "Are you...looking for my cut hair?" Julie asked? 

The sink area was completely bare. "Hmm," Megan began. "Not a single hair." Julie thought this was kind of odd, but Megan was right. She hadn't thought about the mess she had left earlier in the day. Obviously someone had cleaned it up. What was Megan up to? 

Megan gestured to the sinks. "These obviously haven't been cleaned by the janitors yet." Megan peered into the wastebasket close by. "And there are still paper towels in here. The garbage hasn't been collected. But there's no hair in here, either. Do you know what happened to it?"

Julie became slightly agitated. Did Megan know something? "No...I--I kind of forgot about it. But someone cleaned it up. W-why does it matter?"

Megan was worried. If Julie's hair did indeed have magic in it, there were forces who would want to get a hold of it. Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? Stupid! 

She turned back to Julie, trying to stay calm. "Oh, no reason. You just never know..."

Julie's brow furrowed. "Know...what?" Megan knew something she wasn't saying. Julie wanted so much to trust this girl, but she didn't want to share what had happened to her just yet. Megan would think she was a nutbag! She didn't even know how she could explain it.

Megan relaxed, and came closer to Julie. She looked a little sheepish. "Don't mind me, it's hard to explain." She gingerly reached over and took a small handful of her own beautiful blonde hair. She then placed it in Julie's hand. Julie's fingers held the lock, sliding her fingers down the length of it. It was like golden silk. She stroked it again, loving the soft feeling. 

"It's...amazing." Julie whispered. She reluctantly let go, and watched the tips of Megan's hair fall to rest around her ankles.

"As you can see, I kind of have a major thing about my hair," Megan said. "It's like a treasure to me. If I had to cut any of it, I don't think I could just leave it lying around. I'm being ridiculous, I know--"

"No," Julie interrupted. "I understand. I feel the same way, it's just everything's been so crazy...I can't even describe it."

Megan looked Julie in the eyes. "I think you do understand. And I know something's happening to you, but I want you to know that you don't have to tell me until you're ready. I just want to be here for you. You just seem like you need a friend right now."

Julie wanted to hug her, but stifled the impulse. "Thanks," she said. She took the cap off her head; thick locks of brown hair spilled down from the right side of her head around her shoulder blade. 

Megan took a small lock in her fingers and gave a playful tug. "Now let's go to my house and see what we can do with this."

Soon enough, Julie found herself at Megan's house. She was so excited to have a friend, and to be in her home! Megan left the room and returned with a towel, comb, and a pair of scissors. "I've done enough work on my split ends over the years to where I think I can fix your hair, Julie." She set down the items and walked over to Julie. "But first, I want my own hair out of the way of those scissors. Want to help me put it up?"

Julie grinned widely. "You know I do!" The next several minutes were spent gathering Megan's ankle-length tresses into a cute updo. It was the most fun Julie had had in longer than she could remember. The feel of the golden strands between her fingers was electrifying. With Megan's hair up, she put the towel around Julie's shoulders, and began brushing Julie's hair in preparation for her cut. 

Megan and Julie talked for minutes on end, getting to know each other as Megan's fingers ran through Julie's locks again and again, the occasional SNIP of the scissors punctuating their conversation. The sound was much less terrifying than it was in the school restroom earlier that morning. Nobody had ever paid this much special attention to Julie in her life, and she joyfully felt her shyness melting away as she and Megan talked and laughed together. 

At last, Megan handed Julie a small mirror. Her hair was chin-length, but still full and shiny, soft and lustrous. "I love it!" she screamed, and Megan thanked her. In the back of Julie's mind, something nagged at her, the consequence of the voice she had heard from the being who gifted her with the purple flower. She quickly dismissed it as she admired Julie's handiwork. 

Megan had been careful to gather up Julie's sheared hair from the floor while Julie was engrossed with the handheld mirror. She surreptitiously folded a small lock into a napkin, and secreted it away in her back pocket. Ms. Featherstone needed to have a look at it.

She placed the rest of Julie's hair in a small sack, and handed it to her. "Your treasure, miss," she smiled. Julie took it, and thanked her again. She had grown so close to Megan in so short a time, it was all so surreal to her. She even felt a kind of tingle surging from her scalp. Well, this was interesting, she thought...

The tingle wasn't just an aftereffect of Megan's skill with scissors. Julie felt the sensation growing, and became uneasy. Something was happening...

Megan had been in the middle of taking her own hair out of its pile on her head. Now that the scissors were put away, she wanted it to be free once more. She stopped. She sensed something was amiss from Julie's expression. She was about to speak, but the scene that began to unfold before her caused her words to catch in her throat...