He hesitated for a moment, swallowing hard before finally pushing the door open. As soon as he stepped inside, the chatter in the room quieted. The classroom was already filled with students, all of them girls.
Jon could feel the stares, and the weight of the silence was almost unbearable. He instinctively smoothed down his skirt, trying to find a place where he could disappear, but it was too late—he was the center of attention.
Before he could even take a seat, the teacher, Mrs. Anderson, called out from the front of the room. “Alright, girls, make sure to tie your hair up before we start. We don’t want any stray hairs in the food.”
Jon’s heart sank as the girls around him began pulling out hair ties and scrunchies, gathering their long locks into neat ponytails or buns. He stood there awkwardly, his short, boyish hair completely out of place among the flowing hair being tied up around him.
It didn’t take long for the class’s queen bee, Sarah McMillan, to notice. Her eyes lit up with malice as she nudged Emma, her loyal sidekick, and pointed in Jon’s direction.
Emma snickered, catching on quickly. “Yeah, Jon, what’s the matter? Didn’t have time to get extensions?”
Jon’s face flushed with embarrassment, and he instinctively ran a hand through his short hair, feeling utterly exposed. The other girls in the room started whispering and giggling.
“Maybe we should help Jon out,” Sarah suggested, her voice dripping with fake concern. “After all, we wouldn’t want him to feel left out.”
Before Jon could react, one of the girls, eager to please Sarah, pulled out a pink ribbon from her bag and approached him. “Here, Jon, let me tie this in your hair. It’s the least we can do.”
Jon wanted to protest, to tell them to leave him alone, but his voice caught in his throat. The humiliation was too overwhelming. He stood there frozen as the girl tried to tie the ribbon in his hair, but with his short locks, it only looked more ridiculous.
Emma laughed, clearly enjoying the spectacle. “Well, that’s just adorable! But you know what would really complete the look, girls? A little bit of makeup. What do you say, Jon? Want to borrow some lip gloss?”
Sarah’s smirk widened, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “Great idea, Emma! We can make Jon look just like one of us. Maybe a bit of blush, some mascara... you’d be the prettiest girl in class, Jon!”
Mrs. Anderson, oblivious to the taunting, finally noticed the commotion. “Girls, settle down. Let’s focus on the lesson.”
The girls reluctantly turned their attention back to their work, but the smirks and giggles continued to ripple through the room. Jon, his face still burning with humiliation, tried to focus on the lesson, but every movement felt clumsy and awkward under their watchful eyes.
As he struggled to knead the dough in front of him, his hands trembling with anxiety, Emma leaned over with a mocking grin. "Careful, Jon, you don’t want to break a nail. Maybe you should get Karyn to come and help you with that—she’s strong enough for the both of you, right?"
Sarah chimed in, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yeah, Jon, why don’t you let Karyn handle the tough stuff? You wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty new ribbon, would you?"
