Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Marcus's hair had been a disaster since seventh grade. That unfortunate day when his mom convinced him that the bargain salon at the mall could handle his thick curls. He'd walked out looking like he'd lost a fight with a lawnmower.

Enter the hat.

For two years, Marcus lived in that beat-up Dodgers cap. Hair appointments? Nah. Hair product? Please. His daily routine consisted of: shower, don't even look in the mirror, slap on the hat, survive school.

"Dude, are you ever gonna take that thing off?" Jenna had asked during freshman year biology. They'd been lab partners, dissecting frogs while Marcus's forehead slowly suffocated.

"Maybe when the moon hits retrograde," he'd muttered. Jenna had laughed.

Jenna, with her perfect waves and effortless confidence. Jenna, who'd somehow become his person over shared memes and late-night texts about how much high school sucked.

Now it's junior prom, and Marcus is finally ready. His cousin Tamia, a hair wizard, spent three hours fixing what the mall salon had broken. Marcus stares at himself in the mirror, actually *looks* at himself for the first time in years. The curls are tamed but still him. He looks... okay. Good, even.

He picks up his phone. Jenna's been dropping hints about going as friends for weeks, but Marcus has been dodging. Scared. What if he takes off the hat and everything changes?

His phone buzzes. A text from Tyler, the walking definition of toxic masculinity: 'Heard you're finally capping and gowning with Jenna. Don't think we forgot what's under that hat. Bull's gonna be wild when people see lol.'

Marcus stares at the screen. The rage bubbles up hot and sudden.

He calls Jenna. "Pick you up at seven?"

"Marcus Rodriguez, are you asking me to prom?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. And I'm wearing the hair, Jenna. The whole hair."

Her laugh is the best sound he's heard in years. "It's about damn time."

The hat stays in his drawer. Tyler can say whatever bull he wants. Marcus is done hiding.