Chapter Eight

I have to admit that spending time with Jake was the  most enjoyable thing I had done, ever since Tenis left home. I felt comfortable talking to him about myself, my hometown Cleveland, my old school and everything. I felt like breaking my chains around him and letting it all out. I let him know where I lived, gave him my cell number and told him that he could drop by whenever he felt like it. But it seemed this wasn't the case with him. He sure seemed comfortable but yet not comfortable enough. He didn't talk much about himself or anything for that matter. All he did was listen to me, probing at the right places where I might haven't made something clear. It didn't even feel like we had spent more than 5 hours together. By the time, he got a call from home, night had already fallen. So, we parted ways and went in opposite directions. Me towards my place, and he towards his. 

Yet before leaving, there was a suggestion from his part for me that made me feel surprised. He told me to bring about some changes in my appearance which I was willing to try out. He told me to try and change my dressing style if I didn't mind. That it would make me look different.  Maybe I should try it out.  

I had gotten so tired that I myself had no clue how I dragged myself up to my room and crashed in the bed. When I woke up today, I was still dressed in the clothes that I had worn to school yesterday. I washed up, took a couple photos to compare the changes and decided to head to the nearby thrift shop and Dollar store to get a couple stuffs that I would need to look like what I felt might be upto Jacob's liking. I myself hadn't the slightest clue why I was changing my appearance based on a guy's mere suggestions  but at the same time, I was thrilled. I had always preferred to cover up my tattoos that I had gotten after I left home, but now, I decided on showing it out. I decided to dye my hair black. Hopefully I would still look human after all that I had planned out. 

I looked at myself in the mirror. I should say I do look fine. I had naturally brown hair cut very short which I had stuffed into a beanie. I was wearing black lace-up military combat ankle boots with black jeans and black tees. I was wearing my black sweatshirt which I changed into a black and grey striped shirt whose sleeves I rolled up above my elbow along with black ripped jeans.  I stared at myself one last time before I headed out.

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I returned home and got to work.

CHANGE NUMBER 1: DYEING MY HAIR

I had  washed my hair the day before, so I got to work directly. I applied the black dye, kept it in my hair for the time said in the packaging and washed it out using my shampoo and conditioner. Then, I blow-dried it.

CHANGE NUMBER 2: CUTTING MY HAIR

Using the handle of a rat-tail comb I made a part just above my left and right eyebrows. I angled both  the parts so that they met at the back-center of  my head. I gathered the hair between those two parts and clipped it out of the way to keep it long. Then, I cut everything from the parts that I made, downward using a clipper fitted with a #2 guard and removed the hair by sweeping the clippers in an upward motion. Then, I took the guard off of the clipper and set it to the shortest setting possible. Holding it horizontally at my left temple, about 1 inch above my ear, I moved it along the side of my head, towards the back-center of my neck and then repeated it for the right side. Continuing might my clippers with no guard this time,  and keeping them set to the shortest setting, I shaved off the hair that was below the outline. Then, I fit my clipper with a #1 guard and using an upward motion as though I was scooping ice cream, I shaved everything between the outline and the parts I had made in the beginning to create a fade.There was a noticeable difference between the top and bottom sections of my fade. Removing the guard from your clippers and over them I fit the clippers with a #0 guard to blend out the bottom.which I did until the fade was smooth and even. At the very end, I removed the guard and set it to the shortest setting to tidy everything up. Using a razor, I cut a short, horizontal line at my temple and an another one that runs down the side of my head, towards the back. Since I had already set the clippers to the shortest setting, I held the clippers horizontally, and went over the lines to make them as thin as possible. I cut the hair at top of my head at an angle using a pair of hairdressing scissors to about 5 to 6 inches long. After staring at myself in the mirror for a minute straight, I realized that this was fine. I did manage to still look human. 

I went to the shower, washed myself up and decided to call up  a friend of mine who went by name of Freddy. I had met him in the Underground and learned that he owned a photo studio nearby. He had invited me for an album creation of his the last time we met. I was anyway jobless for the day. Why not pose for his album then? I got dressed and checked the kitchen cupboards only to realize that I was literally completely out of stock of food. Deciding to stock up on groceries on the way back, I grabbed whatever cash I had. I had to get some part-time job at the earliest or make my visits to the Underground more regular. Grabbing everything I wanted, I headed out.