I managed to get through my class without breaking down again. I got a couple of curious looks from classmates I’d shared notes with a time or two before, but nobody really seemed to be too interested in my hair, at all. And most importantly, Keith hadn’t freaked out and dodged me.

I still hadn’t seen exactly how bad it was. I’d glanced at it a little when I got dressed, but I’d been in tears and the reflection was blurry. All my lovely hair -- my veil, my sanctuary, was gone. It wasn’t that I was vain about it, not at all. It was that I’d really felt like...