Free The Evil Hairdo by Oisin McGann Page B

lovely, but very thin, and very, very pale. She had white skin, light blonde hair and pale green eyes. The leather trousers, the black silk shirt with very big cuffs and the fabulously pointy shoes (also black) made her look even paler and thinner. I fingered the coins in my pocket and looked around me, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.
    ‘And what can I do for you, young miss?’ she asked, gazing right into my eyes.
    ‘I … I’d like the, y’know … the …’ I couldn’t seem to get the words out.
    ‘You’d like the WitchCraft hair,’ she finished forme.
    ‘Yes,’ I hung my head, feeling a bit silly about being shy. I’m not normally a shy person.
    ‘Take a seat.’ The pale lady waved towards the chair. ‘My name is Gail …and I am your stylist.’
    A shiver ran down my back as she said that. I’d never had a stylist before. Mum always took me to the hairdressers. And now I was in an Official WitchCraft Salon! This was just so cool! I climbed up on the chair and Gail tied up that smock they use to keep the hair off your clothes. She raised the chair so I could see myself in the mirror.
    ‘Let us begin,’ she cried, as she spun the chair around and gently tilted my head back over the sink.
    I closed my eyes while she washed my hair, but it didn’t feel like a normal hair wash. First it fizzed, then it itched, then she rinsed it off and washed it again. This time it felt a bit like there were worms in my hair and I was starting to get a bit scared. But just before I started to cry, she rubbed my hair in a towel and moved me so I faced the mirror. My hairwas a tangled mess, but even though it was wet, I could see that instead of my usual brown, it was black with a green tinge to it. My heart gave a little flutter.

    ‘I shouldn’t really tell you this,’ Gail whispered, as she leaned close to my ear. ‘But before they became big and famous, WitchCraft were just cool, good-looking girls like you. They were smart though. They knew that when you’ve got all theright gear, and you’ve got the right look, you’re already on your way to being a superstar! So let’s see if we can make a star out of you !’
    I giggled like a little kid and nodded excitedly.
    She carefully combed my hair out and parted it. Then she took her scissors from a plastic jar on the counter. Once the scissors started moving, they did not stop. Even when she held them away from my head, they kept clicking as if they had a life of their own. Then they would swoop back in again like an attacking bird and I would hear them close to my ears, nipping hair and tapping against the comb. This went on for some time before the clicking suddenly stopped. She washed my hair again and then she picked up the hairdryer. When she had finished drying and had brushed away the stray hairs, Gail stepped back.
    ‘Well, what do you think?’ she said, holding up a mirror and showing me the back.
    ‘Wow,’ was all I could manage.
    She had done it. I had WitchCraft hair.
    ‘Wow,’ I said again. I touched it just to be sure itwas mine. It was.

    ‘Your hair was perfect for the style,’ she smiled. ‘I was really able to give some life to this one. I think you look gorgeous. You should be on MTV.’
    I grinned giddily. Handing her the money, I thanked her and ran out of the salon. I was just dying to show my friends.
    As I hurried away, I glanced back once and saw Gail watching me. She had a funny look on her face – as if she had won a game or something. And she was staring at me. I didn’t give it much thought atthe time. I was too happy to notice anything was wrong.
    ***
    After the salon, I went straight to Kelly’s house, smiling like a complete ninny the whole way. Kelly was my best friend. We’d known each other since we were babies. We were always around at each other’s houses, talking about our favourite bands, like WitchCraft , or what we were going to be when we were older, or having a good moan about the boys in our class. She was