(Look at this for reference as to her new hair length^^)
"I want to go get my hair cut," I tell Alex the next day, after we had gotten up and got dressed.
"Wait, seriously? Right now?" Alex asks me, surprised.
"Yes. Right now. I can't deal with my long hair anymore, and I think I need a change," I say, feeling the ends of my hip length blonde, curly hair.
"Are you sure? This is a very impulsive decision, don't you think you should think about it a little before you do it?" Alex asks, putting his hand on my shoulder.
"My hair has always been a sort of safety blanket for me, Alex. I think it's time to get rid of it and start being confident with myself for once. If I don't do it now when I want to, I probably never will," I tell him.
"If you want to, I'll take you. Just tell me you're absolutely sure about this and I will," Alex says.
"I'm absolutely sure," I say, nodding my head.
"Then let's go," Alex urges me on, walking out of our room and toward the door.
He picks up his keys off the table and I grab my camera, and soon we're out the door.
I had called the hair salon early this morning when I first had the idea to cut my hair, and made sure they had an opening (which they did).
As soon as we get into the car and I give Alec the address to my hair salon, I start vlogging.
"Hey guys, so I'm feeling very impulsive today and I decided to cut my hair. I've had long hair for quite a while now, I don't think I've had hair shorter than boob length since I was in like second grade or so. But today I decided it was time to chop it off and try something new. My long hair has always been a security blanket for me since it covered most of my body and helped me hide, and I think it's time that I step out of my comfort zone and stop acting like I'm confident and instead start actually being confident," I tell the camera.
"I'm proud of you, babe," Alex says and kisses my cheek.
"Thank you, I honestly am too," I say and smile at him.
"But anyways we're off to go get my hair cut now and I'm going to trust Alex with my camera so he can film it and I can have you guys on this scary but thrilling journey with me," I inform the camera.
"You'll do a good job, right?" I ask Alex, turning towards him.
"Yes, I will. I promise," Alex assures me.
"So Alex says he'll do a good job but if he doesn't I'll be really upset because this is a one take thing," I laugh.
"I will do a good job! I swear on my life," Alex tells me.
"Okay, okay," I giggle and grab his hand.
"But anyways, we'll see you guys at the hair salon," I say and put my camera away.
"Are you nervous?" Alex asks me.
"A little," I admit.
"Will you still like me if I have short hair?" I ask, scared of his answer.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Alex answers, squeezing my hand.
"I don't know, maybe I'll be ugly with shorter hair or something and you'll want to break up with me after," I explain, listening to how nervous and stupid I sound.
"You'll look just as beautiful as you do now. Plus, you'll never be ugly to be no matter what you look like, and I'll never break up with you just because of your looks. I love you for who you are, not what you look like," Alex tells me, and I feel my heart jump a little.
"Thank you. I really needed to hear that. I love you so much," I say, looking over at him.
"I love you too, babe. Now let's get your hair cut," Alex smiles, pulling into the hair salon.
I can feel my heart start to race as we park and Alex releases my hand and gets out of the car. I open my door and hop out of the car, my legs feeling a little shaky as I walk beside Alex through the doors and into the salon.
I walk up to the lady at the front desk and take a deep breath before I speak.
"Hey, you said you had an opening so I could get a hair cut today?" I say.
"Oh, yes. You can go on back to Celeste, she's open," the lady tells me and I thank her before walking toward Celeste in the next room.
"Hey, Celeste," I smile as I see her in the next room.
"Dakota! Long time no see. What are we doing today?" Celeste asks.
"I want to cut my hair. Like about 9 inches I think," I tell her, and she looks surprised.
"For real? That's a lot you know. Enough to donate," Celeste tells me.
"Yeah, I know. Can you send it for me to donate?" I ask Celeste and she nods.
"Yeah, if you want to donate to Locks of Love I can send it for you," Celeste nods.
"Alright it's good with me," I say.
"Alright, then. Let's get you started. Come on over with me and let's get your hair washed," Celeste says, walking over to a sink.
I give Alex a thumbs up to start filming as we walk over together. Celeste sits me down in the chair and puts the black cloak over my clothes.
I watch as Alex films while Celeste wets my hair and starts washing it. To be honest, I love for this part of being at a hair salon. I love the way my hair smells afterwards and how soft it is, and I like it when other people wash my hair.
She washes the product out of my hair and turns off the water, and then dries my hair a little with a towel.
After that we go back to the chair in front of the mirror and Celeste sits me down.
"Okay so we're going to separate your hair into four sections and tie them where they're going to be cut so that they're all set to donate. Then we just have to put them in a bag and ship them off when it's all done," Celeste says and I nod.
I feel as Celeste brushes my hair and parts it in my natural part to the left side, then uses a comb to separate my hair.
She uses a ruler to measure the 9 inches I'm getting cut off and puts a clear elastic band around my hair there.
"Holy shit that's a lot," Alex says in disbelief as he zooms in on my hair.
"Where does it end?" I ask.
"It's going to end up being a little bit longer than your collarbone," Celeste answers, and I take in a sharp breath.
That's a lot of hair, but I'm going to be donating it to make wigs for kids with cancer, so it's all going to be worth it. I'll be fine, right?
"Alright, Dakota. We're going to start cutting now," Celeste says, and I reach over and grab Alex's hand.
Alex squeezes my hand as we watch Celeste grab the scissors and bring them to my hair. Alex aims the camera right at the section of hair that's getting cut, and I listen as I hear the snips of the scissors. I squeeze Alex's hand as tight as I can as she cuts my hair, and close my eyes.
Once the snipping is done, I open my eyes and Celeste holds up a long ponytail of my hair and shows it to me.
"A quarter of the way done!" She exclaims, putting the piece of hair on her table.
She starts cutting the next section and puts it on the table text to the other. She does the same thing with the last two, until all my hair is cut off.
"Ready to see it?" Celeste asks me, and I let go of Alex's hand so he can get a good shot of my seeing it for he first time.
I nod my head, and Celeste throws my wet hair over my shoulders.
I gasp as I see my now short hair for the first time. Surprisingly, it was really cute. I shake my head side to side a little and reach my hand out from under the cloak to feel it.
"You like it?" Celeste asks.
"I love it," I say, smiling.
"Great! Now we just have to blow dry it and you're all done," she tells me, plugging in the blow dryer.
She takes a brush and begins to dry my hair, my curls coming back as she does it. I watch as my hair turns back to its bright blonde curls as she dries it, and I smile.
This really was a good decision, because I'm in love with my new haircut. I was so nervous I'd end up hating it, but I really love it. I can tell from Alex's smile and shimmering eyes that he likes it too.
Soon enough Celeste has dried my hair and taken the cloak off and I get out of the chair.
"Do you want me to take some pictures of you with the cut off hair?" Celeste asks.
"Yes, please," I nod, handing her my phone.
I get the hair off of the table and pose in front of a wall filled with nail polish, holding two ponytails of hair in each hand. I smile and pose as Celeste takes a few pictures.
"Thank you," I tell her, trading her my hair for my phone.
"No problem, come back soon!" She waves as Alex turns off my camera and we go back to the front desk to pay.
I pay and we're soon back in Alex's car, me filming.
"So, what do you think, Alex?" I ask him as we sit in the parking lot filming.
"I love it. I think it makes you look older and very hot," he says and leans over to kiss my cheek.
I giggle at this and then turn my attention back to my camera.
"Okay so now we're going back to the apartment and all of our friends are over right now so we're going to surprise them with my haircut," I explain, as Alex pulls out of the parking lot and starts driving.
"I'll get back to you guys as soon as we get home," I tell the camera, and shut it off and put it on my lap.
"Do you really like my hair?" I ask, still skeptical.
"Yes, babe. Absolutely. It's very sexy," Alex says, looking at me and smirking. This makes me giggle and lean over to kiss his cheek.
"I like it too," I say, twirling the ends of my hair with my fingers.
We quickly reach the house and before I know it, Alex is filming me on my camera as I unlock the apartment door and walk in.
"Dakota! Alex! In here," David calls from the living room, and I look at Alex as we start walking there.
As soon as I step into the light of the living room, everyone gasps and then walks over to me.
"Kota! Oh my god I love your hair!" Kristen shrieks, coming over to me to feel it.
"Girl! You pulled a me! I love it!" Liza exclaims, laughing, from her seat of the couch.
"Love the short hair, Dakota," Todd says, his mouth agape in shock.
Everyone continues to chatter about my hair as I stand in a pure state of happiness and excitement. I was really nervous about cutting my hair, but my friends and Alex really helped me come to see myself through their eyes. It doesn't matter to them whether I have long or short hair, because it doesn't change anything about me besides the way my hair looks. I am perfect just by being me.