June.

The Friday school ended was always one of the greatest joys students looked forward to. We had finished our exams and the last three weeks that remained in the school year was spent with us being idle during class, talking, laughing and tuned in to our electronics whilst the teachers graded. It's one of the only times we could do such at school.

    The handful of pupils who did venture into the halls today dispersed as soon as the bell rang at 2:45. Laughing and chatting, Dustin and I left our class and went straight to Carson's debate team quarters so we could all leave together. We waited outside as their teacher hadn't finished going over the dispute they had a few weeks ago and was giving detailed corrections.

   After paying for some refreshments from the canteen, Mandy and Gibbs crossed the street towards us in less than five minutes of our arrival. They were all giddy, warm, and full of grins, and just seeing them made me miss Gob. I couldn't wait to spend as much time as possible with him this summer.

As Carson's class was finally dismissed, we spotted Beth sprinting towards us. We were all now standing outside coming up with a plan on whether to walk or wait for a bus whilst Beth texted her mother. Getting bus when there isn't much students attending school was one of the hardest things ever.

"Where is your mother actually?" Dustin asked, gathering a quick glimpse of her screen.

"Um..." Beth locked her screen "My brother's going to a top sports school in America and she didn't want to leave him by himself so she tagged along but she will be coming back and forth!"

    The others accepted that answer and moved on but I knew it had to be a fib. My mother, sister and I had already discussed this and knew her mother had to know something about Kendricks new trial that could potentially put him in jail and fled because of it. And I support her two hundred percent.

"Ok, let's just walk we might get a bus along the way" Gibbs suggested.

"If we don't, you're carrying me the rest of the way because I really don't wanna walk today!" Mandy replied throwing the right strap of her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Whatever!"

    It was like the recent weeks had been kind to us. Our shared brown eyes sparkled. The sun had kissed our skin, insinuating the melanin into deeper colors.

    My dimples were shown a lot more lately as we giggled and goofed around in the weeks past exams. The petite frame I gained from genetics was still intact, even my eyebrows were thicker than my arms. Most of all, my skin was more radiant and I began to love its dark hue.

    Dustin was tanner and the veins on his arm were becoming more visible as he grew stronger. His voice was getting lower and was a bit hard to maneuver. And he had gotten even taller which made me envious as I aspired to be the tallest of us but was unfortunately in second place.

    Carson was thicker and looking more delectable than earlier this year. His hair was frizzy and his lips were pinker and teeth brighter. And for some reason he was having a bit of a growth spurt and was two inches taller.

    Beth had more inches, her body a masterpiece of fat distribution and some pimples had left slight dark blemishes on her face. She was just happy she wasn't the shortest of us, just barely catching up to Carson. And lately her hormones had been leaving her feeling a lot more flustered.

    Mandy was still the tiniest of us and by the way she talked, you'd think she was Dustin's height. Her body was emerging and she was now getting thicker in her thighs and bottom. It was soothing to see herself grow and adjust.

And as I noticed all of this as we walked it wasn't long until we got a bus and all sat towards the back. Secretly, I pulled out the bag of gummy worms I'd snatched from Beth's bag when she was distracted earlier and shoved them in my mouth. As she turned and looked at me suspiciously I stopped my chewing and smiled.

"Okay. We need to be out and about this summer!" remarked Dustin.

"Okay. But where?" I questioned, getting her eyes off of me.

"Well... this Monday there's a clean up the environmental club's doing on the beach" we sucked our teeth "Don't worry I'll be doing all the cleaning you guys don't have to do anything... Y'all can come after because when we're finished we're gonna stay and relax. Plus food, drinks and snacks will be provided by my grandmother from the hotel so..." Carson continued.

"I heard free food and was IN!" I said laughing.

"Exactly!" Beth said, her face filled with a smile and snorts coming out of her mouth as we high-fived.

"And y'all wonder why we have second thoughts inviting y'all places?!" Dustin joked.

Both Beth and I raised our middle fingers to him.

"I will be coming for sure! But I gotta get my hair done and Gibbs you're definitely getting your hair freshened up!" Mandy said excited.

"Yeah that reminds me... I gotta get a haircut too!" Dustin chimed in.

"I think imma get my hair curled a little more and add some brown highlights!" Carson injected.

"What about you Beth? You gonna get a new hairstyle?" I asked.

"I'm actually not sure. My hair has grown so much..."

Those were the last words Mandy heard before the rest of her sentence faded into background noise as she observed the picture before her. The bus had stopped at a red signal. Gibbs, who was sitting next to her in the window seat, looked out the window and noticed the group of athletes from our school walking with Gary and some of his new friends from his new school and waved to them. Mandy quickly called onto him, shutting the window.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Don't even think of hanging around those boys or even speaking to them!"

"Well, they're in mostly all my classes so I kind of have to... What's your problem with them anyways? They're really cool!"

"I'm telling you, stay away from them especially Gary!"

"I don't even know who Gary is but whatever!"

With that, Mandy rejoined the conversation.

10:30 a.m
    I flew open the door but couldn't help but to halt in defiance. The air conditioning was blasting giving off the effects of a chilling dungeon. Men of all ages were inside either waiting their turn, watching the television or conversing. The floors were littered with hair of all textures and colors and the sound of the razor blade sent chills down my spine. Now more than ever I've wanted my hair long like all the other girls my age but the red and blue hair slaughter house were about to snatch away my dreams.

"But I don't wanna cut my hair! I wanna grow it out!"

"For what? Didn't you say you're going out with Carson and the others on Monday? Don't you wanna look good? We don't want you looking crazy! Carson can choose to not cut his hair, he has good hair!" My sister replied.

"What do you mean "good hair"? My hair is just fine! What's the big deal?"

"Listen, you're gonna have to cut it for school anyways! I don't know why you're making a big deal of this. We want you to look nice. Cut your hair in a not too high fade for now and when school is about to start you'll cut it in a low fade. Do it or you're not going, simple!"

   I was outraged and felt as if I were being marched through the streets while people removed layers of my cherished porcelain skin. Barbwire wrapped around my throat as I entered the barbershop, sat down, and waited my turn. The sound of the razorblades, combined with the cold metal sensation on my scalp, caused my face and spirit to sink. This system and the people that uphold it were putting a restriction and value to my natural features. Frustrating.

10:56 a.m
Not too far from where I was, Dustin sat in the cracked leather chair of his family friend's barbershop. He was given priority as soon as he arrived, and the barber started putting his low-faded hairstyle together. He gave him a harsh lecture about his dandruff and a stern warning to take better care of his hair as soon as he started blading through it.

After a few minutes, several of the barber's pals entered the room, carrying beers, and started a boisterous conversation. Dustin changed up, attempting to be extremely silent and avoid making any gestures that were too feminine. He went as far as clearing his throat to talk more smoothly in a deeper tone if needed to. But he knew exactly how they were going to start acting as soon as the TV switched to a replay of Lil Nas X's music video for his hit song "Montero".

    The men were agitated as they stood there. They gritted their teeth, made disgusting looks, and their pounding fist could tell him just what kind of brutality they intended to inflict. His pulse began to beat faster, and he felt ashamed of all the current homosexual porn and apps on his phone. He wanted the haircut to be finished right then and there, but it wasn't even halfway done.

"Lil Nas and his faggot ass!" Yelled one of them.

"Mate trying to turn all our black boys gay yo!" Another chimed in.

"Right! And then he trying and say that its natural and how much fucking bullshit!"

"Nah brother man, that shit NOT natural. That's what them white slave masters passed on during slavery! Y'all don't know them niggas used to rape the biggest and buffest black male slaves in-front of everyone?! That's where that gay shit come from! Fuck them gay ting!"

   Hearing this, Dustin couldn't help but feel pressed and disgusted. He nearly puked thinking about how he and Carson had sat up all night on the phone, and the disgusting fact he'd gotten a boner just thinking about him. Why was he created this way?

11:23 a.m
With a baked smile on his pie-shaped face, Carson sat in his luxury Dominican hairstylist's chair. Along with the fact that the women there could do almost any haircut and adored him, he always looked forward to coming with his mother because of the juicy gossip. Everything was mostly pink, down to the blowdryer, and the three hairdressers' helper was raking hair off the floor.

   Considering that Carson had just had his hair washed and detangled, his hair was a bit moist. Her hands felt like a climax on his scalp, so he always looked forward to that portion. He couldn't wait to get his hair dyed as everything she did for him always turned out flawlessly.

The late morning was beautiful. Streets were occupied with dozens of people doing shopping and running errands on this resplendent Saturday. Apart from his mother and himself, there was one other customer getting her hair relaxed in the chair next to him. And boy did she bring the gossip today.

"You know that woman you're friends with that went to America with her son?"

"Yes, Beth's mother right?" His mother said closing her phone.

"Yes girl! Her man that's on trial... What's his name?... KENDRICK! Turns out he has two other women pregnant for him!"

"I'm not even shocked!"

   Carson's mother went outdoors to answer the phone at that precise moment. At the time, Carson started to radiate as he thumbed through his phone to review his texts with Dustin. After catching a glance of his phone, the inquisitive hairstylist couldn't resist bringing it up.

"Which boy is that?!"

    Startled, Carson locked his screen. "Boy?..."

"Boy, stop! We ALL know!"

"We all?" He scanned the room and the other hairdressers shook their head at him. "Oh!"

"So, who is he?!"

"A guy at school. But I'm not really sure if he's serious about me the way I am about him!"

"Ohhhh. Don't spare one detail! Tell us everything!"

11:30 a.m
   Beth had never been at her father's for so long. Even though she felt serene, she missed the high-pitched sound that both of her brothers' voices would have when they laughed. With her phone out and them both on a video conversation, she was sitting on her stool with the 'Renaissance' painting knitted onto it with her twin staring back at her from the mirror.

Everything was all giggles until the conversation steered to Gary.

"Oh shit! I gotta go! Gary is calling" her eldest brother said.

"Gary? I thought I told you stop speaking to him and that he's a sexual assaulter?!"

"Not this again! I spoke to him and he said those girls lied on him! I believe him! I don't put it past women! I don't put anything past them especially after what Sarah did to me!"

"Seriously? You know-"

Unfortunately, he had left the call.

"Anyways, goodnight Beth! I gotta go take my medicine!" her other brother said.

"Yeah, yeah! Bye, love you!"

And as soon as she set her phone down next to her basket of hair bubbles, Mrs. Rainyman let a knock onto the door.

"Come in!"

"Hey! What are you doing?" She said grinning whilst sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Oh, I just got off a call with my brothers. Now I'm just thinking of what to do with my hair!"

"Can I style it for you?"

"Um... you know what... sure!"

The two spent two hours with Mrs. Rainyman standing working her magic and Beth flipping through her playlist as they chatted. It was a "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" type of night. They discussed Beth's father's hilarious character traits, huge tummy and laughed at silly videos on Beth's TikTok. And once her hair was done Beth stared at herself in the mirror in awe. She had given her two picturesque donuts on her left and right with two curly strands of hair resting on her face down to her shoulder.

"Woah! This is so cute! Thank you!"

"You're welcome! Put these on with this and trust you'll look so cute!" She answered, handing her some huge hoop earrings.

"Um... I don't think my parents, especially my father would want me wearing this!"

"So? They don't have to know! Just keep it in your bag till you get to the beach and I'll keep it to myself that I ever gave them to you! And plus, your mother isn't here is she?"

The two smiled at each other deviously as they stared into the mirror.

12:10 p.m
Mandy had just returned from the beauty supply store. She'd purchased goddess locs, styling gel, grease, and an interlock pin to work her magic on her hair. She sat on the couch in the living room, staring at a YouTube tutorial as she followed it to the tea.

At that moment, her stepfather entered the room, his phone playing one of his favorite television programs, and he sat on the couch across from her, gazing at her. Mandy tried not to look him in the eye, but she couldn't hold back the look on her face that told him that she was uncomfortable and disgusted. He soon began asking her questions, such as what she was doing with her hair, still digging his sight into her pores.

After the scene had been playing for five minutes, her mother entered, looking at it with skepticism and discomfort. After closely observing him, something clicked. However, it isn't possible, is it? She pulled away, wanting to shut it out, and returned to her room.

He skedaddled once her brother emerged from his room where he was packing his suitcase to go on an athlete's summer retreat. They already had bad blood between each other and he was looking for any reason to fight him. And as Mandy shuffled through her hair, he began looking through her stuff and messing up her room and wouldn't leave no matter how much she protested. He then began throwing punches at her pretending he was knocking her around like a Mortal Kombat character. This didn't end till he felt satisfied with how deeply he annoyed her and locked himself in his room with her brush.

12:30 p.m
I went home early from town because I was still upset. In addition, I would have time to myself while I styled my afro wig into two cloudy ponytails. I practiced on the little hair I did have yesterday, so I was well-prepared. I had asked Mandy all about how to style and slick it back beforehand and the tutorial video she sent was amazingly detailed.

A folded red piece of paper dropped in front of me as soon as I opened the door. I looked at it and took a huge step back, my heart pounding blood. I looked about to see if the person who had left it was still there, but they had long vanished.

The note had read "I see you. The REAL you. Stop hiding or I might have to seek."