Ok, so here's a very short 'story', it's just the one part long.... you'll see why when you've read it!
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I've been thinking about whether to do this for some time now. I almost did it as a teenager, but for various reasons, it never happened. Of course, now I'm an adult, I have to not only make the decisions entirely by myself, I have to pay for it myself too. Not that it stops mum and dad having opinions too! And voicing those opinions. And my friends too: some say "Go for it", others say "Nooo!!!".
So last week, I went in for an 'assessment': my actual appointment is for today, at 2:30pm.
And I'm nervous.
Very nervous.
I've almost cancelled the appointment several times, but have talked myself out of it so far.
I've had my lunch, then brushed my teeth. There's a bus at 1:45... it takes about 10 minutes to get to town, then allow another 10 minutes for walking through town.... and another 10 minutes for the bus to be late, and I'll still be ok. I really don't want to be late today: this will cost me quite a bit of money, and I don't want to waste it.
Sorry, I realise that I'm being rude, I've not introduced myself: my name is Sarah Green, I'm 22 years old, and work in the office at a doctor's surgery. I still live at home with my parents - I'm fairly lucky that I get on reasonably well with my parents. I'm 5ft 5ins tall, a tiny bit overweight, and have 36 inch boobs. My shoe size is 5, and my favourite colour is blue. Probably a bit more than you need to know right now.
Ok, that's good, the bus is on time, which means I get to have a nice gentle walk through town, doing a bit of window shopping on the way. I smile as I look into one shop window that has a picture of a girl about my age smiling: she has a mouth full of braces, glasses, and a rather nice bob haircut... OMG, I'm gonna look a bit like that shortly!
I have enough time, so I pop into Secmark, spending a few minutes looking at what new stuff they have in.... hmm, maybe I'll pop back later, they have a few bits there I fancy.
I continue down the High Street, then turn left into Side Street. Four doors along is where I'm going. There's pictures of good looking models in the window, all smiling of course. I take a big breath, then walk through the door, and go over to the receptionist.
"Hi, I'm Sarah Green, I have an appointment at 2:30" I said.
"Hi Sarah" replied the receptionist typing on her tablet. As she types, she smiles, showing off her mouthful of metal braces, along with a Herbst appliance (yes, I know about those, a friend of mine used to have one). "Ah, yes, there you are, you're with Tina. You're a little early, and I think she's with someone else right now, so please take a seat, and she'll be with you as soon as she's free.
I go and sit in a chair in reception: I'm still a bit nervous about what is about to happen to me. Next to me there's a young girl with her mum: the young girl looks a bit apprehensive too.
"Claire.. and I'm guessing you're Claire's mum, do come with me.." says a girl who just came to collect them.
Sitting alone is amazingly nerve wracking! I'm so close to just walking out when "Sarah, we're ready for you now....". I follow her through. There's five other people sitting in the chairs, with people next to them, 'working on them'. I'm led over to the seat at the end.
"Hi Sarah, I'm Tina... we chatted last week." said Tina, shaking my hand, and smiling, showing off HER metal smile. "I know you're probably a bit nervous - but you're here, so I'm guessing you still want to do it?"
"If I don't do it today, I don't know when I will" I replied, sitting in the faux-leather chair. There was a mirror in front of me: I took one look at myself as I am now: very soon, I'm going to look very different.
Tina puts a cape over me, to protect me, tying it behind my neck, then she leans over, picking up her scissors, and starts to cut my hair.
Yes, I've had my hair trimmed before, but my hair goes below my waist, and I've never had it actually cut. But today I'm going to have it cut into a bob!!!
