RELUCTANT PRESS

by the way. I bought you some white slacks to wear with them. You'll look so cute!"

I protested wearing such an obviously feminine uniform, but to no avail. Mom insisted I wear them and called me ungrateful for the nice things she bought for me.

Cute! That became a very common word in the shop for the next several weeks! It seemed that every customer that came in looked at my new outfit and said "cute" although some actually said "pretty" which really made me blush. Now I was even more nervous about being seen in the shop by anyone that knew me.

My worst fears were realized when I saw Susie Wales come into the shop with her mother one afternoon. Susie was in my class at school and I had a secret crush on her. She was very pretty and popular so I figured that I did not have a chance with her. But she was always very nice to me, especially when we sat beside each other in French class. When others laughed at my difficulties in pronunciation she would smile sympathetically at me and once reached over and patted my arm as if to say, "It's all right". That little gesture drove me wild. But now the girl of my dreams was going to see me in my sissy job as a shampoo boy!

"Hi Danny," she said casually to me as though it was perfectly normal for a boy to be wearing a pink nylon smock and removing pins and rollers from a woman's hair. There was no look of surprise or burst of giggling, which I had experienced with some teenage girls that came to the shop.

I sheepishly smiled back and said "Hi" almost inaudibly. I hoped it was her mother who was getting her hair done since I would be mortified to have to wait on Susie. But on the other hand, I could not help but think how nice it would be to shampoo her beautiful golden hair.

"Danny, when you are finished with Mrs. Robinson, you can get Miss Wales ready," said my mother, maintaining the formality that she insisted on with customers, not knowing that Susie and I knew each other from school.

When I had taken out the last roller from Mrs. Robinson's head, I walked over to where Susie was sitting and asked her to follow me to the shampoo sink. My hands shook as I fitted the cape around her neck and lowered the back of the chair.

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RUFFLES & CURLES

By Kammi Morton

"So, how long have you been working here?" asked Susie. "Ah...well...ah, about a year," I answered. "My Mom really needs the extra help and can't afford to hire another hairdresser yet."

"Are you going to hairdressing school after graduation?" she continued as I wet her hair with the warm spray and began the shampoo.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed, perhaps too quickly. "I'm going to become a doctor," even though I knew that was all but impossible now. But, I was trying to impress Susie.

cal?"

"That's wonderful. Are you going to give me a free physi-

I was not sure if she was mocking me or if she was flirting with me. The latter was something I had very little experience with and did not know how to handle. I worked the lather through her hair and rinsed.

"What brings you over here?" I asked her.

"Well, my mother's best friend raves about how good your mother is and so Mom decided to give her a try and talked me into coming along with her. I'm glad I did now that you are going to do my hair."

Damn! She was flirting with me.

"Ah...well...ah, I just do shampoos and help out, but I don't actually do hair. But I wish I did now," I added, making my best attempt at flirting back.

Sure, I could have set and styled her hair but I was not licensed and Mom could get into trouble letting me work on customers. Before now, I never had any desire to.

I squeezed the water from her hair and wrapped a towel around her head and brought her over to my Mom's station. While Mom set Susie's hair, I washed her mother's hair and put her in the seat next to Susie so Mom could begin on her as soon as she finished Susie. She was still winding rollers in her hair and I stood next to her and handed Mom the rollers and clips. When she was done I tied a hair net around her set and walked her to the dryer. As I lowered the hood, Susie winked at me.

Normally, I would have waited for the timer to shut off the dryer before I went back, but I checked several times to make sure Susie was comfortable and she was not too hot, or needed a magazine, or whatever. I would reach under the

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