Hair. [YTTD - Joesara]
When classes let out for the day, Sara found it strange that Joe wasn’t waiting for her at the front gates of the school. He didn’t mention having o-soji duties, and none of the clubs he was a part of had meetings that afternoon. The two of them always walked to and from school together - it was their little unspoken agreement, and had been since kindergarten. Things changed when they were older and got more involved with after school activities, but they kept this silent promise on the days they were free. It was really out of character for him to rush home without telling her.
She decided to swing by his place on her way home to make sure he was okay. He could have just forgotten, but just in case...
She approached the familiar front door, one she had known since her toddler days, and was greeted warmly by Joe’s mom soon after she knocked.
“He’s upstairs in his room,” she said in lieu of a proper greeting.
“Is he okay?” Sara asked while slipping off her shoes. “It’s not like him to rush home without telling me…”
His mom pressed her lips together in concern and seemed unwilling to say. Something was definitely not right.
“Why don’t you go talk to him? He’ll certainly appreciate you stopping by. I think he needs a friend.”
Her avoidance worried Sara. Did something happen to Joe?
She didn’t have much time to linger on it. She bounced her way upstairs to his room and firmly knocked on the door.
“You in there, Joe?”
The faint sound of rustling behind it let her know he was.
“Is that you, Sara?!”
He sounded normal enough. That was a relief.
“Yeah. Thanks for leaving without me,” she grumbled, pretending to be irritated.
“AGH! I’m sorry!! I totally forgot!”
Yeah, he sounded like normal Joe. It was bizarre that he was talking to her through the door, though...
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. Totally normal. Not different at all. Same old same old. Why do you ask!!”
That time, he sounded off. Almost like he had a tremor in his voice. Sara turned the knob, but realized the door was locked.
“Can I come in?”
He paused for a few long moments before replying.
“Um… I’d rather you didn’t, if that’s okay…”
“Are you indecent?”
“WHAT!? No!! It’s not like that!” his voice rang through the thick walls, clear as day.
“Then what’s wrong? Please tell me… I’m worried…”
She heard a dramatic sigh from the other side before he finally conceded.
“Ugh… fine… but you have to promise not to laugh, okay?!”
“I promise.”
The door slowly opened, and Sara realized why he’d made such a request. One glance at his hair and she found herself holding back a chuckle. In all honesty, it looked like someone had taken a lawn mower to his head. It was cut unevenly on both sides, some parts in the back sticking up every which way thanks to the hard gel styling his curls. It was already difficult to take Joe seriously before, but this new hairstyle was going to make it impossible.
“...Um…”
He ran his hand through his hair to smooth it down, but it sprung back up in an almost comedic fashion. The poor kid let out another disheartened sigh. He seemed really down; it was unlike him to have such a gloomy expression.
“Pretty bad, right? It’s okay, you can say it. Everyone else made fun of me too.”
Sara gave it a closer look and noticed the hair on his right side was slightly longer than the left. Anger suddenly flashed through her mind; if this had been done as a practical joke, the person responsible had gone too far with it.
“What happened? Who did this?”
“A bunch of people from home room said I should change up my look... at first it was kinda fun to think about, but they all got so pushy… then this one older girl from the drama club showed up. Said she wanted to be a beautician or somethin’. She pulled out all these magazines and everyone poled around us and at that point I couldn’t really say no…”
She didn’t mean to pity him, but hearing this made her feel guilty she hadn’t been there to stand up for him. He was prone to bullying, always had been, but even this was extreme. She cupped his face with one hand and ran her thumb across his skin tenderly.
“Oh, Joe…”
He put his hand on top of hers and leaned into it for a moment or two. Then he gently pushed it away.
“It’s okay… I’m used to being laughed at. How’s this any different from the regular stuff, ya know?”
He was breaking her heart, the way he was frowning like that. She rummaged through her mind, trying to think of ways to make the best of his new hairstyle.
“Hold on. Maybe we can fix it. What if you fluffed it out a bit, like this?”
She reached out both hands and ran them through his hair, combing through the crunchiness of the gel. Her fingers brushed against the sides of his neck, making him squirm ever so slightly. He scrunched his shoulders in defense and let out a breathy laugh.
“Hey… stop! That tickles!”
Feigning ignorance, she fluttered her fingers around his ears and teased him when he giggled.
“Hold still! I can’t fix it if you’re moving around like that.”
“Ehehehe! Doooooon’t!!”
When he was least expecting it, she playfully poked his ribs and laughed when he squealed. He lost his balance and fell backwards onto his bed, giving her the upper hand. She launched an all-out attack and continued to poke all of his worst spots, jumping from his sides to his underarms and once in a while scribbling against his neck, just to throw him off. He thrashed around, giggling wildly with a huge smile plastered across his face.
Eventually, he fought her off, grabbing her wrists and holding them with both hands.
“You’re so cold, Sara! Tickling a man when he’s down…”
Sara giggled back, happy to see him smiling once more. She looked at his hair again, the choppy bits strewn all over his comforter, and suddenly got an idea.
She stood up abruptly and seized a pair of scissors she saw laying on his nightstand. Her eyes focused on her reflection in the mirror as she held thick clumps of hair in her grasp.
“Hey, what are you do- wait, Sara! No!”
It was too late. Long locks of mousy brown hair fell to the ground. Joe watched in abject horror as his best friend gave herself the most atrocious haircut, on purpose. When she was finished, she turned around to face him.
“See? Now we’re matching.”
Sara now had bangs… uneven bangs, but bangs nonetheless. It would’ve been a cute look, had she finished cutting the rest of them instead of keeping the length on her far left side. To Joe, it looked absolutely ridiculous, so much that he burst into laughter once again. This time voluntarily.
“AHAHAHAAHAHA! You look so funny!!”
Not the reaction she was expecting. Annoyed that her act of solidarity was being mocked, she set the scissors on the table once more before pouncing on him. She began tickling his ribs again, this time much more sadistically. His laughter increased in pitch and sounded much more panicked.
“So that’s what you’re gonna do? Laugh at me when I try to make you feel better? Huh? Huh?”
Joe tried to spit out apologies in between fits of laughter, but was only able to babble as her tickle attack continued. At one point he even snorted, which prompted her to tickle him even harder. His squirming became more desperate, yet his efforts to fight her off were pretty halfhearted. By the time she stopped, his cheeks were flushed bright pink and his hair was even more disheveled than before.
She laid down at his side and spent the next few seconds just admiring him. Taking in his form in all its glory. Even if his hair looked ridiculous, his smile was still sunny and bright and wonderful. Just like him. She reached out and ran her hand through his hair again, holding some of it up to the sunlight coming through his window. It shined in reddish-auburn hues and was soft to touch, almost like silk.
“Hey, it doesn’t look so bad now! I kinda like it with one side styled like this.”
Joe’s laughter had finally died down. Once again, he looked quite sullen, giving her a weak half smile to mask the feelings his heart.
“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better, you know…”
“I’m not lying! Seriously. I think it looks cool.”
Joe suddenly sat up with an intense look in his eye.
“Say that again!!”
“Say… what?”
“What you just said right now!!”
“Uh, I think it looks cool?”
Before she could finish, she found both arms pinned to her sides as Joe wrapped her into a strong embrace. He pulled her back down onto his bed and buried his face in her shoulder.
“No one’s ever said I looked cool before!! Not one single soul! But hearing you say that makes me feel like the coolest guy EVER! I could die of happiness, Sara!!”
He rocked her from side to side as he gushed and gushed and gushed over his unsuspecting best friend. She didn’t mind it, really, and she loved being in his arms like this, but after a while it got to be too much even for her.
“Alright, alright! Enough of the sap.”
He released her and used the back of his shirt sleeve to wipe his eyes. She hadn’t noticed he was crying until then, but fortunately it seemed like it was the last of his tears.
“Do you feel better now?” she asked, sneakily worming her hand into his.
“Yeah, loads!! But uh, you really didn’t have to cut your own hair, you know…”
“I know. I kinda dig it though. Maybe we’ll start a new trend.”
For a second, Joe looked like he was about to cry again, but his typical joyful expression soon returned. He squeezed Sara’s hand a little harder.
“You’re… really awesome. You know that?”
She smiled back at him
“Duh. Now enough moping around. Let’s go get takoyaki. I dunno if I’m up for another night of your mom’s cooking.”
He flashed her a toothy grin and bounded off the bed, ready to lead the way.
“You don’t have to ask me twice!!”