Maya had listened while holding her braid in both hands.
The next morning, without telling us, she took the large kitchen scissors from the junk drawer and hid them in her backpack.
At lunchtime, after Liam had been mocked until he cried, she went into a bathroom stall. She divided her hair into two thick ponytails and secured them with elastic bands.
The scissors were old and dull. Cutting through the first ponytail took much longer than she expected. Her hand ached before she finished. The second ponytail shifted while she was cutting, leaving one side noticeably shorter. She tried to repair the damage by reaching behind her head and trimming the remaining pieces, but each attempt only made the haircut more uneven.
When she finally looked in the mirror, panic replaced determination.
She wrapped the two long ponytails in paper towels, hid them inside her backpack, and pulled up her hood. She returned to class without telling a teacher.
