Between afternoon periods, Karyn stopped Jon in the hallway, gently taking one of his new braids in one hand, then reaching over to take the other in the other hand, before slowly pulling him in for a deep intense kiss right there in the hallway, holding Jon entirely in place by his braids. He felt his legs get a little weak as Karyn took complete control over the kiss, faintly hearing other students around them wooing and laughing.
Karyn grinned as she slowly let him pull away from the kiss, but holding onto the ends of his braids as she did so. "And THAT'S a different reason why you might come to appreciate your hair for the rest of the month. Come by my house after soccer practice and I'll show you more, too." She gave the braids gentle tugs and then walked away.
Well, Jon thought, that's happening, apparently.
Jon found himself playing with the end of the braids in class, fiddling with the ends and occasionally twirling some of the hair around his finger. Each time he caught himself doing it, he quickly dropped his hand, but then would get bored and would find himself doing it again a few minutes later. Maybe this will all feel more natural in a few days.
After the last class, Jon hurried out to soccer practice. The sweater dress wasn't ideal for running around, but it was as viable as any outfit, and certainly something he could exercise in compared to the suit of armor Ryan had gotten stuck in that day, so Jon simply headed out onto the field and ran basic passing drills with his team, demonstrating skills he hadn't had just a few days earlier.
"Jon! Come over here for a second," Coach Miller bellowed. Jon trotted over, wondering what he'd done wrong.
His coach gestured at his braids. "Your hair - just a word of advice. It certainly won't keep you from playing in the game on Friday, I would hope. It's just hair, and the girls' team plays with it, so I don't see how it would keep you from doing the same, yeah?"
Jon wasn't sure what to say. "I was certainly planning to do whatever is normal, coach." I don't even know what position I play, do I?
Coach Miller grunted. "Good, good. So my advice on your hair - I don't remember you playing with long hair last season, so you might not know the risks. Look, my sister used to play dirty all the time when she played soccer, and would routinely grab another girl's ponytail and yank them to the ground when the ref wasn't looking. It's pretty likely that you'll have some jerk try to do the same to you, if you're not careful. I'm guessing you hadn't even considered that risk. I just wanted to give you a heads-up before the game so you knew what you might be up against." Coach Miller grinned. "Of course, if you keep your hair in braids like that, you can probably whip your head around real fast and 'accidentally' whip the other team in the face. So maybe they'll try to go after you for retaliation. Anyway! Get back out there."
Here, Jon, have a wishing stone, live a normal life and have totally normal conversations, Jon thought as he jogged back onto the field. Thanks, Grandpa.
