Dorothy and Toni smiled, while Adam chuckled, as the salon receptionist asked, “Can I help you ladies?”

Adam looked at his Mom, who gave him a Galic shrug and a raised eyebrow, indicating it was up to him. Turning back to face the receptionist, he told her, “Legally, I was declared a boy when I was born. But today, we discovered I’m really a fourteen-year-old girl,” and looking at Toni, continued with, “and I need something done with my hair.”

Sharon looked sideways at Adam, giving him a dubious look. “Are you putting me on? Did someone pay you to say that?” She starts looking around for cameras before saying, “Are we on one of those prank shows?”

Sharon’s voice had increased as she continued asking questions, and it caught the attention of a man near the back of the salon. His curiosity starts him walking toward the front to see what has Sharon so excited. When he reached the receptionist desk, he asked, “Is there a problem, Sharon?” His name is Michael, and he’s the owner and one of the top stylists in the city. He’s six feet two inches, has sandy blonde hair, and is fit without being muscle-bound.

Sharon points to Adam and declares, “This lovely young lady claims she was declared a boy when she was born. That can’t possibly be true, Michael. Someone is trying to prank us.”

Michael looks disappointedly at Sharon, shakes his head, then says, “Don’t you remember what I told you about my brother? How he told my parents something wasn’t right about him, and they only punished him for lying and making up stories to get attention? How he collapsed in the livingroom one night, and when they got him to the hospital, the doctors told my parents that they didn’t have a son but a daughter? And that she has a massive infection because her menstrual discharge had nowhere to go, and had poisoned her body? The doctors said they were giving her massive doses of antibiotics and doing everything they could to save her. But even that might be enough to save her. And that he died three days later?” His voice caught in his throat as he said it. “It happens more than you think, Sharon.” He wiped his eyes, cleared his throat, then asked, “How can we help you, young lady?”

The first words out of Adam’s mouth were, “I’m sorry to hear about your brother. I’m like he was, but have only had what I thought were stomach aches. My Mom has made an appointment with her gynecologist because of what she learned today.” Then, “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Adam, this is my Mom Dorothy, and my girlfriend, Toni,” pointing to them in turn.

Michael smiled, saying, “Thankyou for the kind words. I’m Michael, the owner, and welcome to my salon. So, you’d like something done with your hair. By the way you’re dressed, and the makeup you’re wearing, I’m guessing you met Abigail and Ruth.”

As if on cue, they all heard a sharp, ear-piercing whistle. They looked toward the sound and saw Abigail standing in front of the cosmetic counter, and she and Ruth were waving frantically. Dorothy again had her hand covering her face and slowly shaking her head. Adam had dropped her head to her chest and was slowly shaking it. Toni, ever the adventurous one, dryly commented, “They aren’t too enthusiastic, are they?”

Michael chuckled before replying, “No, they aren’t enthusiastic at all.” They all laughed before turning and waving to the two women. Afterward, Michael put his arm around Adam’s shoulder and told her, “Adam. I have a system that will take your picture, put it on our computer, then allow me to dial through hundreds of hairstyles and place them on the photo of you. That way, we can actually see how each style will look on you before we even sit you in a chair.” He had been slowly walking toward the back of the salon with the group as he spoke. “Now, if you will sit here,” and he pointed to a comfortable chair in front of a black backdrop, “I’ll get several pictures so we can use them to, hopefully, see how each one looks with each hairstyle.” Michael had Adam hold different facial expressions as he took the pictures, explaining that expressions can affect how a hairstyle looks on a woman.”

Each picture was automatically saved to the computer. So when he had the number of pictures he wanted, he had everyone move to some comfortable chairs sitting in front of a large computer monitor. Once they were seated, Michael picked up a remote and brought up one of the pictures of Adam. He already saw that Adam’s hair was almost to her shoulder blades, and asked about hair length. Adam looked at Dorothy, who gave him another Galic shrug and a raised eyebrow, before telling Michael she wanted to keep it long. Using the remote, Michael pulled down a menu and eliminated the short and medium-long hairstyle choices. He then started applying the straight hair styles to the picture, receiving a “I don’t think so” from Adam for each one. Even Toni expressed her opinion on several of the styles on the Adam picture by giving a gaging sound; she was quite good at it. None of the styles with curls of any kind was thought to be good for Adam. It wasn’t until Michael reached the shag styles that he started getting positive responses. When Adam said, “Wait. Go back to that last one,” he knew they’d found the best style for her. Michael brought up the other pictures and applied that shag style to each one. And it was Adam who actually made the choice.

“Mom, I really like how that style looks on my photos.” She looked at Michael and asked him, “Will it look the same on me?”

Michael smiled and answered, “Yes, Adam. It will look the same on you.” He then turned to Dorothy and Toni and asked, “Dorothy, Toni. What do you ladies think?”

Toni’s response of “wowzer” caused him to laugh. But Dorothy’s reply touched him in ways he couldn’t explain. “For fourteen years, her father and I thought we had a son. But today, I discovered we actually had a hidden daughter all along.” She looked at Adam, telling her, “I think that’s a gorgeous style for you. And it’s going to knock the socks off your father, among other things.”

“Then it’s settled, and now we can get to the real work.” he pulled down another menu with the remote, clicked on print, and a high-end printer took a few moments printing out the image on the screen.

When Michael pulled the paper off the printer, and he showed it to Adam, she exclaimed, “That’s a photo of me. A real photo.”

Smiling, Michael said, “It sure is. That printer is used to print out photos people take with their cameras. By printing out a client’s photo, I can make sure the hairstyle they chose is what they really want. It also helps me, so I have a reference while I work on their hair. Now, if you’ll have a seat in my chair,” and he pointed to one of the styling chairs, “we’ll begin your transformation.” He then gestured to a side room and told Dorothy and Toni, “Ladies, if you want, please help yourselves to something to drink and snack on while I transform this lovely young lady’s hair. Or if you are so inclined, you’ll have time for more shopping.” He was standing out of Adam’s view as he used his head to indicate that the shopping would be for Adam.

His meaning wasn’t lost on Dorothy or Toni, as they gave him feral grins in return. “Sweetheart,” Dorothy started, “Toni and I know how long this is going to take, and sitting here for that long can be tiring. So Toni and I are going to browse the store for a while and be back shortly. Okay?”

Oblivious to their real intentions, Adam replied, “Okay, Mom.” Adam never saw the huge smile on Michael’s face.

Dorothy and Toni returned an hour later, Cheshire-cat grins on their faces. When Dorothy saw Michael lift a questioning eyebrow, she nodded her head in return. After getting something to drink and snack on from an adjoining room, they sat down in the comfortable guest chairs. It was another forty-five minutes before Michael declared, “Done,” and spun the chair around so Adam could see herself in the mirror.”

Dorothy and Toni stood up and walked over to stand behind Adam, who had a shocked expression on her face. “Wow, I can’t believe it. That’s really me sitting in this chair and looking like that,” and he pointed at the mirror.

Dorothy stepped up close to the chair, put her arms around Adam, leaned in on her left side, and told her, “Yes, sweetheart, that’s really you. That’s the real you that should have been around for the last fourteen years. And if I have anything to say about it, will be the young lady who will be around for the rest of her life.”

Dorothy stepped back so Michael could turn the chair back around and help Adam out of the chair. Toni was still in shock after seeing the completed transformation. “Oh, my gawd, sprout. Oh, my gawd, you look gorgeous. When the guys see you, they’re going to trip over their tongues. But they'd better keep their hands to themselves, or they’ll be singing soprano for a long time. Because, you’re all MINE!”

Michael had put a hand over his mouth to cover a smile. Dorothy had once again put a hand over her face and was slowly shaking her head. But what shocked all of them was the shrieking that came from the entrance to the salon. As they all looked that way, they saw Ruth and Abigail acting like two teenage girls who were seeing their favorite rock star. “We had to come see,” Ruth said.

“We couldn’t wait, so we took our breaks,” Abigail added. With Adam leading, the four walked toward the reception desk. “Oh, sweetheart, you are absolutely stunning,” Abigail said, a Grand Canyon smile on her face.

Ruth almost ran up to Adam, taking her hands and telling her, “Honeychild, you look so beautifully delicious.”

Having people gush over her was brand new to her. Adam opened her mouth, and…

zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

A sleepy hand flew to the bedside table and finally found the snooze button on the clock radio before slapping it hard. Adam hated getting up so early. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he sat bolt upright in his bed; he looked as though he was sitting at attention. Dorothy’s voice entered his bedroom before she did. “Adam, sweetheart. You need to get up, or you’ll be late for school.” Three more steps let her turn from the second-floor hallway and step into his bedroom, again saying, “Adam, honey, you…” She froze in the doorway as she saw her son sitting ramrod straight up in his bed. “Sweetheart, is something wrong? Do you feel alright? Do you have a test or something today?”

He ignored her questions and asked, “Mom? What’s today?”

Dorothy had walked over to her son and ruffled his hair as she said, “Today is Friday. Why do you ask?”

Again ignoring her question, he asked, “Will you be home when I get home from school?”

Dorothy gave Adam a strange look before telling him, “Silly, of course I’ll be home when you get home from school. Don’t you remember? I work from home on Fridays. Now, come on. Get up, or you’ll be late for school.”

Dorothy had reached the doorway when Adam told her, “Oh, and Mom? I’m going to bring Toni home with me after school.”

She turned, looked at Adam, and asked, “Why are you bringing her home after school?”

Adam turned his head to look at his mom and replied, “So we don’t have to stop and pick her up.”