Life isn’t always a caring mistress. There are the good times like when one gets the highest marks in their class or when their crush finally notices them. On the other hand, life can be a back hand to the face. It could be as harsh as having their crush noticing them before being turned down because they actually like someone different; that person being the same one that is making school life a daily hell but, hey, that’s just life, right?
-§-
Grimacing as he stepped out of the stall, Hunter walked over to the locker room sink. Looking down at the dye on his clothing and hands, he exhaled heavily before staring at his reflection. Grabbing a towel, he went to work at ridding himself of what he could but that did absolutely nothing in terms of fixing his hair.
“Hunter, are ya gonna be lon- Holy shit! What happened to your hair, man?!”
Dark eyes regarded the individual before focusing on the dark blue coloring of his hair. Touching the strands as he heard the other question him on his hair once more, the teen groaned irritably before slamming the towel back onto the sink.
“It’s not so bad, ya know?”
“How on earth did you come to that conclusion? Oh, wait. You’re hair isn’t fucking blue, Michael!”
Aforementioned merely rubbed the back of his head as his friend touched his newly dyed tresses. “Eh…it’s not as bad as you-” Hunter glared at the brunette. “-think… Ya look fine, man.”
“You’re not the one that has to walk around with blue hair during the last year of school!”
“It’s not that bad, honest.” The blue-haired man resumed his scowling. “I mean…it makes you look…um…look-”
“Like an idiot.”
Glancing back at the newcomer, Hunter sucked his teeth before he resumed his previous ministrations.
“Hey, leave him alone, Mitch,” Michael griped. “Ya already put ‘im through enough shit and it ain’t even the end of the first quarter yet!”
“Stop bitching,” came the reply. “It ain’t like I did anything mean. I was just…ya know, helping him out. Ain’t that right, Hunter?”
Scrubbing his hair until he felt a hand slap him across the back, Hunter shrugged off the unwanted contact before glaring at the snickering blonde from under the towel.
Ever since the seventh grade, Hunter had the misfortune of dealing with the guy. He was the equivalent of a stereotypical jock. He played just about every sport at school and he was well-liked amongst the student populous. His grades, however, were a completely different story.
They had always been like that back in middle school but when they had surprisingly gotten better, no one seemed to question it. No one in their right mind would want to cross the blonde yet, Hunter had wound up on the receiving end of Mitch’s wrath when he had simply told him “no”.
It had been during a preliminary test during freshman year. It was supposed to be simple, just to see where everyone stood academically.
“Hey, Hunter, are ya done yet?” Said person glanced over at the teen that was chewing on the end of his pencil. “Lemme see your test,” he had said as he leaned in to get a look.
“No, do your own test.”
The other simply stared at him before going back to his test. “Fine.”
The word itself meant that the conversation was over.
That in itself wouldn’t have been so bad if the blonde didn’t hold a grudge over something so trivial. After the test results came back, it seemed Mitchell had it out for him. He had never disclosed what he had gotten with his peers but, based off the looks he had given him the following day, Hunter was positive that it wasn’t any of his concern.
However, life could be a slap in the face and after the pranks of the past, Hunter was sure that his hair being dyed was supposedly the crème de la crème of the blonde’s pranks against him.
It was only dye.
It would come out…eventually.
“Looks good on ya, Hunter.”
Cringing inwardly at the other’s laughter, Hunter went back to drying his hair as he felt his eye twitch at a snort. Setting the towel down when he was told that he looked great once more, the teen clenched his hand at his side before turning to offer a smile.
“You really think so?” he asked as he combed a hand through his hair. “I would’ve preferred a lighter shade perhaps, but this is still nice.” He then looked in the mirror. “Thank you so much. I’m sure to stand out now.” Dark eyes skittered to Mitch to see him eyeing him warily, making the other smile even more. “I’m sure to be the topic of every conversation. I may be even more popular than you with this new look, huh?”
To that, Mitch rolled his eyes as he headed out, mumbling, “I doubt that highly.”
“You think so?” he asked somewhat dejectedly. “Well, at any rate, thanks again for the new look!” Hunter then tapped a finger against his chin in a contemplative manner. “I suppose my mom would have to warm up to the idea of me with blue hair though…”
Hearing the locker room door close with just a bit of unnecessary force, the blue-haired senior slowly dragged his gaze towards his friend to see him looking in the direction of the exit.
“He didn’t seem too happy when he left,” Mikey muttered before looking towards the only other occupant. “On another note, do you really like your hair?”
“Do you seriously have to ask such a question?” Hunter questioned as he looked at the blue strands once more.
“Well, you sounded rather…happy about it when Mitch was here.”
“Do you honestly think I’d give that smug bastard the time of day to actually feel pleased with what the hell he did to my goddamn hair?” he replied as he started to scrub the towel against his head.
“…whatcha gonna do now?”
“Try to get as much of this out before coming up with hell of a reason to tell my mom why my hair is blue.”
“It’s not so bad…” Hunter glared at his friend in the mirror. “I mean, maybe she’d warm up to it, you know?”
“Or maybe she’d make me shave my head.”
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