My apologies, but I felt led to write a Joan of arc’esq reply to “Haircut”
Max had cried that night until her stomach hurt. Not for the hair itself. Never for the hair. Hair grew back. But because she had seen something extinguished in Billy’s eyes. Something sacred. Something already wounded and hanging by threads before Neil had reached in with clippers and cruelty and stripped him bare like a punishment display.
Billy had stood there like a boy awaiting execution.
And nobody had stopped it.
The grief hit her again now, sharp enough to bend her in half. Tears slid silently down her cheeks as she picked up the clippers. Not for herself. Not out of fear. But for Billy, who had spent his entire life being carved apart by a man who mistook brutality for fatherhood.
Max stared at herself in the mirror — red hair falling over her shoulders, eyes swollen with fury too old for thirteen years. Something inside her settled with terrible clarity. Neil wanted Billy marked. Humiliated. Singular in his suffering.
Fine. Then she would become the evidence too.
The first pass of the clippers sounded almost holy in the silent bathroom. A brutal mechanical hum followed by the whisper of hair sliding into the sink. Max did not flinch. Did not hesitate. Red strands tumbled around her feet like sacrificial offerings.
She watched herself disappear piece by piece.
Not as punishment. As declaration.
Each strip of exposed scalp felt less like destruction and more like armor being forged. Let Hawkins stare tomorrow. Let teachers whisper. Let neighbors recoil when they saw what she had done to herself. Questions would come, and Max would make certain those questions led straight back to Neil Hargrove.Because Billy would hide what happened to him. Shame had been beaten into him too deep.
Max could become impossible to ignore.
By the time the clippers finally fell silent, her reflection looked almost saintlike in its devastation. Pale scalp. Tearstained face. Eyes burning with something fierce and unshakable. Like a child martyr preparing herself for war.She looked down at the mound of red and blond hair tangled together in the sink.Billy would probably be furious, Maybe horrified, Maybe heartbroken all over again.But for the first time since yesterday, Max felt steady.
Neil had tried to make Billy carry the shame alone. He was going to learn what happened when someone decided to drag the truth into daylight instead.
DON’T APOLOGISE!!? THANK UUUU FOR WRITING THISSS! I CAN’T BELIEVE SME WROTE SMTH FOR MEEEE?? IM HONOURED 🥹❤️🩹
this is so beautifullll! I love the defiance in max but I’m also heartbroken. I absolutely LOVE the idea of her cutting her own hair! I hadn’t thought of going down that route! but I’m trying to imagine the reactions of susan, neil, her friends and ofc billy! the idea of them having matching haircutssss!! I thought I was kinda done with the haircut mini series, but this has inspired a tonnn more ideas!! like even imagining the reactions at school toooo…..I hav half-written smth from steve’s pov about billy going into school acting all cocky and confident whilst people whisper about him in the corridor, but only steve knows the truthhhh! add to him seeing max 😭😭 I think I need a minute to calm down!! maybe I’ll continue that??