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“We should cut our hair.”
Stiles declares in the middle of Scott’s living room. It’s less of a suggestion and more of an already made decision. He starts to ignore the ongoing Mario Kart race glowing from the TV into their blanket fort, letting Theo’s Yoshi breeze past him and putting him in fourth place.
“I was gonna ask my mom to—” Theo starts to say; his eyes are glued to the screen and he rocks the controller back and forth in his hands, cutting a sharp turn.
“No.” Stiles cuts him off. “I mean, we should cut our hair. Now.” Stiles’ character slows to a complete stop and he looks at his two friends. “Like right now.” Scott sputters as he drives straight into a banana peel, and he turns to face his friend, brows furrowed.
“Right now? Like, in my house?” Theo takes the opportunity to speed past both of them and grins as he catches up to first place. Scott hits pause, ignoring Theo’s protests. Stiles looks back at Scott triumphantly, like this was the most groundbreaking idea he’s ever had.
“Right now.” He confirms. He grabs behind him to pull at his long brown hair, tied in a messy pony-tail and lets it fall back down. “I’m sick of this, and I know you guys are sick of that.” He motions to his friends’ hair; long and on the verge of suffocating them all. Scott and Theo don’t respond right away, sharing a regretful ‘Stiles is right’ moment.
“Do you even know how to cut hair?” Theo asks.
“Do you even know how to cut hair? ” Stiles mocks in a high, whiney voice, yelping when Theo slaps his arm. “How hard can it be?” He looks at Scott for support, urging him on to his side. “C’mon, Scotty, we can just grab a pair of scissors and,” he grabs his pony-tail and makes a scissoring motion with his fingers, “Snip-snip! Gone!”
Scott blinks, staring at Stiles and considering the idea.
“He’s thinking. That’s his thinking face.” Stiles comments in Theo’s direction, who rolls his eyes.
“We can do it in the bathroom. In my room.” Scott says finally, and Stiles’ face lights up in a grin— a smile that’s dangerously infectious because now Scott is laughing as he scrambles up to his feet, careful not to ruin the fort. It spreads as Scott grabs Theo’s hands and yanks him up, both of them beginning to laugh. It was the adrenaline of an impulsive decision, hushed giggles as the clock blinked near midnight, footsteps escaping a forgotten video game.
The three of them find themselves in the McCall’s second floor bathroom; the one that’s tucked into Scott’s room, that’s small and cramped, that when Stiles came over for the first time he had exclaimed Woah! You have your own private bathroom? You’re like a little king! They crowd themselves in the small space, staring back at their own reflection in the dirty, spotted mirror. Three pairs of hands twist and tug at long locks of dark hair, watching as pieces flutter to the floor.
Scott sits in a chair that they had dragged in, grinning as his friends stand beside him with cheap scissors they found in a junk drawer downstairs in the kitchen. Stiles takes another section of hair and snips it quickly, throwing the pieces into Scott’s face with another stifled laugh.
“Stiles! ” He pretends to scold, tossing the hair back with a wide grin, adding to the mess of dark brown locks scattered on the floor.
“You’re gonna look so cool.” Theo says, cutting a chunk away from his side and throwing it at Stiles. The other boy makes an over-dramatic gagging sound and points his scissors at him, drawn like a sword.
“Yeah, but not cooler than me.” He flips his own hair over his shoulder, long and brown, cascading down his back. Theo only responds by sticking his tongue out and making a nagging sound. He clicks their scissors together before cutting another section of Scott’s hair, letting it fall to the tile.
“How does it look?” Scott asks, looking into the mirror and turning his head trying to get an all around view. Stiles pushes his head forward, keeping him steady.
“It looks not done. Stay still!”
Scott watches in the mirror as his two friends fiddle around with his hair, grinning as Stiles offhandedly complains about how annoyingly thick his hair is as Theo tells him to shut up only to have hair thrown into his face. He tries not to think about the mess spread across the tile beneath his feet; thick, dark hair finally releasing him from its restraint, focusing on the weight slowly being lifted off his shoulders.
“It feels so light.” He says afterwards, getting up and squinting at himself in the mirror.
“Yeah, your hair was like if a mop and a jungle had a baby.” Stiles brushes hair off of Scott’s shirt, adding to the ever growing pile on the floor— at this point it could be considered carpet.
“That doesn’t even make sense.” Theo pulls at lingering strands stuck at the back of Scott’s neck.
“You don’t make sense.”
“What does that even mean—”
“Just get in the chair!”
“You get in the chair!” Stiles makes a show of rolling his eyes dramatically and makes another mocking noise as he steps forward and trades spots with Scott, presenting him with his pair of scissors gracefully.
“Thank you, sir.” Scott says, matching his best friend’s dramatics and taking the hair-covered scissors. Stiles brushes off the chair of any remaining hair and sits down, chin held high and back straightened. Theo glares at both of them, a smile hidden behind a fighting scowl. He hated both of them. So much.
“Okay, Stiles—”
“That’s King Stiles, to you, Theodore. I’m sitting on the throne, after all.” Theo gawks in embarrassment, pushing Stiles’ head forward and ruffling the top of his head.
“Don’t call me that, Mie- Miec—”
“You can’t pronounce it, can you?”
“It’s your name and you can’t even pronounce it!”
“Guys!” Scott finally interjects. Theo and Stiles both go quiet, their attention on Scott. He holds up his scissors, cutting the air with an audible snip, snip. “Haircutting, remember?” Stiles sticks his tongue out at Theo before turning and settling down.
“Ready?” Scott asks. Stiles looks at himself in the mirror, hands reaching up to undo his pony-tail. His hair swings down, blanketing him across his shoulders and draping down, down, down. He wants it all gone.
“Cut it.”
They all took turns, swapping seats, handing off pairs of scissors, trading complaints about the feeling of hair itching and tickling down their necks. Their temporary barber shop run by three giggling middle schoolers who absolutely had no idea how to cut hair was the only place that existed in that moment. The single fluorescent light bulb showered them in a new, awakened energy, the passing of time slipping away as they kept their voices hushed and hid barks of laughter in their hands.
It takes approximately an hour for the trio to finish cutting all their hair off. The clock in Scott’s room flashes 1:00 AM proudly and it’s by some miracle that Melissa hadn’t woken up from the three of them failing to stay quiet. They stared at themselves in the mirror, hair chopped away and what looked like a crime scene beneath their feet.
“We look so cool.” Scott whispered under his breath as the three of them stood in the bathroom, hair covering their clothes and the floor. None of them cared though, not when Stiles flashed his contagious award-winning smile and swung his arms around Scott and Theo, pulling them into a clumsy hug.
The next morning they sat in the kitchen, talking over mouthfuls of Lucky Charms and kicking each other from underneath the table. Their haircuts glowed in the morning sunrise, the light shining in through the window directly to the small nook they sat at. Objectively, they were terrible haircuts— choppy and uneven, obviously cut with blunt craft scissors. But to them, it was like a breath of fresh air; reaching out from beneath the ocean’s surface and wiping water from their eyes. Staring back at their own reflections and finally seeing themselves for the first time, clear and unwavering.
They still wore last night’s smile, living on a sugar-high with the sweet taste of finding a sense of self and factory produced marshmallows. What they hadn’t thought about was Scott’s mom finding out about their makeshift barber shop set up in Scott’s room. The sound of her walking down the stairs goes unnoticed as they stare at the back of the cereal box, tracing their fingers along crossword puzzles and mazes. They all jump in their seats, Stiles nearly knocking over his bowl of milk, when Melissa appears in the archway of the kitchen, hair tied in a bun and a basket of laundry balanced on her hip. Scott’s laundry basket. That she had to go into his bathroom to get. There’s a moment of silence as she takes in the sight of the three boys sporting haircuts that look like they had been done by a toddler.
“Looks like you guys had fun last night.” Her eyebrows raise slightly and she loses a fight with the smile that spreads across her face. She sets the basket down by the laundry room and makes her way over to the table.
“It was Theo’s idea!” Stiles suddenly blurts, pointing an accusing finger at his friend who immediately looks at him with bewilderment.
“Dude!"
“It was!”
“It was not! ”
“Hey,” Melissa interrupts the two, raising her voice just enough to snap their attention on her. “It doesn’t matter whose idea it was, okay? I’m not mad,” she places a gentle hand at the top of Scott’s head, brushing through the short locks and glancing at the other two.
“But how about this:” Her hand moves to sit on his shoulder, “after breakfast you three go clean the hair explosion you left in your bathroom,” There’s an ashamed grimace from each of them. “And then we can tidy up these haircuts.” The three of them nod their heads with a simultaneous Okay, Mom and Okay, Ms. McCall. She smiles and walks away to start a pot of coffee.
Half an hour later, they’re back to the bathroom taking turns in front of the mirror as Melissa handles a comb and a pair of real hair scissors. She even has a fancy hair-cutting cape, like the ones they have at the salon (Theo nudges Stiles and whispers something about King Scott’s new cape which causes them both to giggle). The floor is covered with a sheet of plastic for easy clean-up. Stiles murmurs something along the lines of Oh, we should’ve thought of that.
She starts with Scott, gently nudging his head left, right, up, down, as she trims and evens out his hair. He looks in the mirror periodically with a Yeah, like that and Melissa continues cutting. He ends up with the sides nice and short with the top left a bit longer. He has bangs that hang over his forehead just short of his eyebrows. When Melissa lets him look in the mirror, his eyes widen and his hand goes straight up to run his fingers through it.
“It’s so short.” Scott says slowly.
“You wanted it short right?” His mother responds, a quick hand on his shoulder. He stares at himself for another second and a smile reaches his face. He turns back with a wide grin.
“I like it, I really, really like it!” Scott meets Stiles and Theo’s gaze and the three of them scramble in excitement. Scotty, you look so cool! It looks so good!
Theo found himself on the stool next, his feet dangling off the chair and toeing at the counter in front of him. Short like Scott’s, he had said. Melissa examined his choppy-cut hair and combed gentle fingers through the uneven pieces before nodding with a smile. She told him to hold still and the sound of scissors returned to the air. Behind him, Theo could hear Stiles and Scott’s excited giggles and fought the urge to turn around to join their conversation.
“You should shave his head.” Stiles jokes, and Theo is lightning fast to shout a panicked No! “I’m kidding.” He reassures, stepping closer to watch Melissa work through last night’s spontaneous decision. “You’re gonna look cool.” Theo beams.
Stiles is next, ruffling his hands through Theo’s hair— like Scott’s: short on the sides but with bangs that swoop across his forehead (“You should gel it up into a mohawk.” “ No! ”)— before taking his seat on his aforementioned King’s Throne. He grins wildly through the mirror at his friends as Melissa takes her place behind him and runs a hand through his hair. It was the most uneven out of the three, the majority of it being snipped short. No amount of trimming was going to save it. She vaguely wonders how terrible her son is with scissors if Stiles’ hair came out like this.
“Okay, Stiles.” She places a firm hand on the young boy’s shoulder. “Your hair is pretty short all over in different places, so it might be easier to just buzz it all off.” There’s a moment of tenseness beneath her fingers. “What do you think?” Stiles looked back with wide, bewildered eyes.
“Buzz it all off?” He repeated, first looking at Melissa, then at Scott and Theo. They shared the same surprised expression.
“A buzzcut?”
“Do it, dude. You’ll look so cool!”
“Really?”
“Yes! ”
“Now who’s the one shaving their head?” Theo quips, which earns an annoyed Shut up from Stiles.
When Melissa brings the electric clippers up against the nape of Stiles’ neck, he lurches with a yelp of laughter.
“That tickles!” He exclaims, turning around and shaking off the feeling.
“It will,” Melissa laughs, “but if you want me to cut your hair you’re gonna need to stay still.” Stiles settles back, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. The buzz of the clippers fills the room and Melissa begins up the back of his head again. Scott and Theo stare in awe, watching clumps of Stiles’ hair fall down his back and clutter to the ground with the rest of their hair. Hair explosion was definitely the right word for it.
Crowded around the sink, Scott, Stiles, and Theo all stared at their reflections in the mirror. A hand brushing back bangs, combing fingers through short locks, a flat palm running back and forth against a buzzed scalp.
“Holy…” Scott leaned closer, turning his head left and right to get a clear look at himself.
“Crap.” Theo finished quietly, eyes bright and wide— the same expression copy and pasted on each of their faces. The same radiance from last night beamed from their crooked, wide-toothed grins; the realization of breaching the surface after being buried by someone fake, someone who carried their name with the wrong identity.
“I’m never letting you guys cut my hair ever again.” Stiles said straight faced, almost frowning.
“You love us.” Scott saw right through his act, grinning and leaning into his space.
“You? Definitely. Theo? Hm…”
“Hey!” Scott ignored their banter; it was a part of them that was never going to change, but he was more than okay with that.
“Shut up, you two.” He broke them up, throwing his arms around both of their shoulders and pulling them close. Stiles and Theo quickly returned the hug, the three of them finding comfort through clumsy, awkward limbs and warm, sweaty hands.
“I love you guys.”
“You’re so sappy, c’mon I wanna go beat you at Mario Kart.”
They find themselves back inside their blanket fort, their new haircuts worn like gleaming crowns as they shout and clamor over each other, staring up at the TV screen. Gone were the overwhelming layers of the expectations that came with long hair and pigtail braids, blurring the barrier between a distant past self and someone they could call Me, Myself and I. A late night adventure taking its hand and wiping away the fog with a pair of blunt scissors as never ending smiles shine clear and spotless through the mist.
“Scott!” Stiles nearly screams in distress, his Baby Bowser getting struck with a green shell and spinning to a stop. He shoves his friend, swatting at his hands to distract him all while trying to play with one hand.
“Hey— stop, stop!” He’s laughing, trying to pull away from Stiles’ attacks causing his own Shy Guy to veer off the track. “It’s not my fault you were right in front of me!” Scott pushes him back, dominoing him into elbowing Theo who sits straighter and grips onto his controller with determination.
“Stiles, get your bald head out of my face!” The noise that escapes Stiles’ mouth is near a squawk as he whips his head to gape at Theo, who’s biting back a grin. Stiles looks back at Scott for defense, but is ultimately betrayed when he sees him hiding his own smile. He turns to face Theo again, dropping his controller and grabbing at Theo’s, trying to take it out of his hands.
“Take it back!”
“Scott was laughing too!”
“Nuh-uh!”
It's a scramble of arms and legs as the three of them push and shove at each other, their race once again turns into abandoned controllers and stand-still screens as AI players lap them. Their voices clash together over the Coconut Mall soundtrack; lighthearted demands of Say sorry, take it back! and protests of I thought it was funny! are forced through fits of giggles, filling the room with the honey-sweet feeling of These are my best friends and I never want to let them go.
They barely notice the quick knock at the door over their fighting; it’s become less of a fight for an apology and more of an excuse to annoy each other, shoving hands turned into jabbing fingers into sides and suddenly remembering the terrifying weakness of being ticklish. They barely notice Melissa opening the front door and allowing the incoming visitor inside, barely notice her calling for them several times.
“Stiles!” Melissa calls out for what could be the third time. The fort goes silent. The cheery tune from the TV continues.
“Yes?” He calls back, in the middle of trying to shove Scott’s hands away from his sides.
“Your dad is here! Are you and Theo packed up?”
“Oh, thank God.” He breathes in relief as Scott retracts his hands and starts to stand up. “Coming!” Stiles and Theo crawl back into the fort, gathering their things and packing them into their bags, disregarding any form of neatness. A quick once-over and they swung their backpacks on, the bittersweet feeling of their sleepover coming to an end filling the air. Scott finishes up shutting down their unfinished Mario Kart tournament, making them promise to at least finish one game next time they hang out. The three of them link pinkies.
Sheriff Stilinski is standing in the entryway, hands clasped together in front of him, in the middle of a friendly conversation with Melissa.
“Did you want to stay for a cup of coffee?”
“Oh no, I’d love to but we should really get going— “ There’s a halt in conversation when he sees Stiles, hair completely buzzed down, then Theo, then Scott. His mouth opens, surprised and lost for words. He raises his hand, gesturing at the three and waving it with the silent question.
“It was Theo’s idea!”
“Stiles! ”