My hair is messy.
Very messy.
So I aggressively oil my hair, tie them up in braids with little red ribbons and what not, so they don't resemble a bird's nest.

But braids don't suit all occasions, you see, and when you're wearing a traditional Indian dress and are bedecked in more jewels than those in a treasure chest, two cute braids don't really sell the look.

My school had a special assembly for Raksha Bandhan eleven days before the actual festival because their organisation skills suck. They suck so bad that they informed me, the anchor, about the assembly thirty minutes before my bus was to arrive on THAT VERY DAY.

So there I go, rummaging through my mother's oversized clothes because I don't own any traditionals and randomly selecting a red dress with some jewellery to go along with it. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to style my already braided hair... but I figured it wasn't a big deal, and bolted.

It was a big deal.

The second I entered the classroom, one of the boys laughed playfully, "You look like a teacher!"

That was the worst insult I've ever heard in my life.
Me... looking like a teacher... of *my* school where all teachers collectively forget the concept of fashion sense?!

"Is it the braids?" I asked.
"Definitely." He replied.

That's it!
Off with the braids!

I rushed into the washroom, undid my hair, loosened it up and suddenly realised...

I don't know how to style my hair.

Coincidentally, the fashion diva of my class just so happened to stroll in. Though, perhaps it isn't as grand of a coincidence, considering she spends half the school time there, experimenting different make-up combinations and hairstyles on herself like a mad scientist.

Perfect.

"Hey, could you help me style my hair?" I was a bit nervous, asking her for a favour.
But, I suppose she was excited to have a new lab rat to test her hairstyles on, so within the next few minutes, she'd tied my hair.

My hair was completely let loose, but my curls weren't scattered all over the place. The messy parts were tied in a little knot, so they wouldn't flare up like a hissing cat, but instead coil around my neck like waves on a seashore.

When I went back to my class, the girls immediately started fawning over me. This was the first time they saw me with my hair let down, after all! They called me beautiful, cute, one of them said I finally looked like a real South Indian, which-
Did I not look like a South Indian before :0 ?

Of course, I dismissed it as flattery. Anyone would look pretty in a dress other than the school uniform, cause God knows those are an insult to the fashion industry. After all, I know I look ugly.

The school bell rang.

I am fat, my skin tone is disgustingly muddy...

Time for the show.

I am short, my body is covered in scars of all sorts...

As I jostle clumsily through the students to get to the assembly area, I hear a girl say to someone next to her...

My hair's too messy, my eyes resemble those of a Minecraft pig...

"Ego looks like a model, doesn't she?"

Ah.
See, compliments, when they're given behind your back...
You know they're true.

When I have heard, all my life, how hideous I am, this is... strange.
But I like it.

All because I let my hair loose, haha!

But when I tied my hair back after the assembly, for some inexplicable reason, I found myself just as beautiful as I was with my hair down.
How odd.

I gave the fashion diva a chocolate later.

© Alter Ego