The Only Girl in the Band

The Only Girl in the Band...[Part 12]

"Nooooo!!!" I cried.

I watched hopelessly as my hair fell to the floor of the salon. I picked up a lock of hair that fell onto the big black apron they put over me and looked at it sadly. The lady had turned me away from the mirror so that I wouldn't be able to see what she was doing to my hair. This was because I refused to get into the salon chair when Mae dragged me to the salon and when I did finally sit down, I would let the lady touch my hair.

"You're being a baby," Mae had said.

Now I was sitting and whimpering as I saw long locks of my dark brown-black hair fall to the ground. I could feel my head get lighter as the hairstylist cut length off my long hair. After about 20 minutes, the lady stood back, smiling.

"There. All finished. It looks great," she said. I glared at her for cutting my beautiful hair off. "Let me style it and then I'll turn you around," she told me. She pulled out a blow dryer and a barrel brush. The warm air from the dryer felt good against my now bare neck. Thinking about this made me frown. Another 10 minutes went by as the stylist styled my hair. Then she stepped back again. "Oh, hun, you're going to love this new look. You look gorgeous!" the lady said. She reached out and tousled my hair a little. I followed her arm as it came at my hair. She had a tattoo sleeve and it kind of freaked me out. She had also been chewing gum very loudly and the entire time I was afraid it would fall out of her mouth and into my hair. But luckily that didn't happen. She went and got Mae.

"Oh, Nessie! You look so pretty!" Mae cried when she saw me. She turned and gestured at the waiting room. I groaned when Caleb, Ian, Liam, and Camron all appeared in front of me.

"Damn, you look hot," Camron said.

"You look like a whole new person," Caleb told me. I frowned.

"Wow, stop being such a big baby, Ness. It looks good. It's just hair. It'll grow back eventually," Ian said, leaning again a post. The stylist was eyeing Ian flirtily. She flipped her hair with her tattooed arm, but he took no notice.

"Ready to see it?" Mae asked me. I shook my head. "Well, too bad!" Mae said, turning my chair around.

I gasped when I saw my reflection. It was so short. I brought a shaky hand up to my hair. It was soft because of the products the stylist used. But, it was so short.

"I hate it!" I yelled. They all sighed in frustration.

"Well it's too late now. You'll have to learn to love it," Mae said.

"I can get you a wig or something," the stylist suggested in her annoying nasaly voice.

"There won't be any need for that. She's just being a baby," Caleb said. The stylist took the drape off of me and I stood up.

"I feel like a boy," I mumbled.

"It's not that short," Liam said. I frowned, still unhappy.

"Come on. Let's get the little baby some ice cream to make her feel better," Ian said.

"Little baby want a lollipop?" Caleb asked, pinched my cheek. I slapped his hand away as Mae laughed. I paid the stylist and we all walked out.

"I hope that stupid Paul likes it. I only cut it for the band," I said, running my hand through my hair again.

"Hey, I had to shave my beard. That was a mark of manliness for me. We all have to make sacrifices," Liam said.

"Yeah, but they didn't have to do anything, did they?" I asked.

"You are being such a drama queen," Mae said. I pouted again. We did go out for ice cream afterwards, which lightened up my mood a bit. But when I got back home and looked in the bathroom mirror, I felt like I couldn't recognize the girl staring back at me. So much had changed in the last few months. It seemed only yesterday that Mae was telling me to get out of my bubble. Now I was in a band and was changing my image. Who was I?

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"Stop playing with it!" Ian said.

We had driven out to Malibu. It had been a nice day, pretty mild for a winter day. We had cancelled band practice because Camron had to deal with some family things. So Ian and I took this opportunity to go out and talk. Right now, we were walking along the boardwalk hand-in-hand.

"It's so short," I muttered.

"You've said that a million times now. It looks good," he replied. He stopped walking and turned me so I was facing him. "To be honest, I think you look even better with short hair than you did with long hair," he said, putting his hands on my neck and caressing my cheeks with his thumbs. I squinted at him in the sunlight. He leaned down and kissed me gently before we started walking again.

"What were you talking to Paul about the other day?" I asked him.

"What day?" he asked.

"The day he told me to cut my hair. You didn't come out with us to celebrate our first real gig. You stayed back to talk to him about something," I recounted.

"Oh, right. That day," he said, looking down at his feet.

"So?" I asked. "What did you guys talk about?"

"I told him that you and I were kind of trying to be in a relationship," he told me.

"What?! Ian!" I cried, stopping. He stopped, too. "What did he say?" I asked. He shrugged and looked off into the ocean.

"He didn't like it and said that he wants us all to be single," he answered. I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I feel like there's more to it than that," I said. He looked me in the eyes. I saw something flash through them quickly and then it disappeared. What was he thinking?

"There is," he paused. "I told him that I was going to ask you out on a real date regardless. I told him I already got the chance and that I can't give it up now," he continued. I stood, slightly speechless.

"You're going to ask me out?" I questioned. He nodded. "And you don't care what the label says?" I asked. He reached out and tucked a strand of my short hair behind my ear.

"Not anymore," he said softly. I smiled up at him and put my arms around his waist. He put his around my shoulders and pulled me close. "So will you go out with me?" he asked.

"What are we doing right now?" I asked playfully against his muscular chest. He chuckled.

"I meant on a real date," he clarified. I pulled away and looked at him.

"Name the time and place and I'm there," I said. He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and smiled at the touch of his lips.

Finally, everything felt right.

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A/N: Yay!!! Ian and Ness are together now!!!

Vanessa's new haircut is in the side-bar. What do you guys think? Do you like her hair better short or long? I personally like the style better short. It gives her an edge.

Anyway, keep reading and voting!

Ciao!

XOXO