Gl Shay!/C1 From the Beginning
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Gl Shay!/C1 From the Beginning
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C1 From the Beginning

Hi, my name is Grey Lennox. I’m currently 21 years old and am attending college. My major is in psychology. There’s nothing much to know about me other than that. Let me change my introduction for you then since it’s a bit boring so far.

Hey, my name is Shay. I’m a famous hair stylist, makeup artist, and clothing designer. I’ve done styles and makeup for famous musicians, artists, and even actors. It’s been a long way from how I started to where I am now.

Wait wait, let’s back up for a minute here. To tell the story of Now, I need to tell you the story of Then.

From the time I was born, I had always had a sense of style. For others, I mean.

For instance, when I was 5, I picked my mother’s clothes for her interview. When I was 7, I was in charge of the outfit designs for the school play. And when I was 10, my friend asked me if I could give her a haircut.

This was the real start of how I came to be known as Shay. This is also how my legacy started.

My friend’s mother wouldn’t let her get a haircut from a professional, and since she didn’t trust herself, she asked me since she knew that I was good with fashion.

Did I mention that I’m male? Well, I’ve always had steady hands and excelled in math, so I gave it my best shot.

After the deed was done, she looked in the mirror and was full of delight. It shocked me because it was my first time cutting someone’s hair. I thought it was fun because not only could someone’s hair make them look like a completely different person, but they would also be happy in the end.

When I see someone happy after I design clothes, cut their hair, or do anything to help, it makes me feel happy too because I made them feel that way. I made someone’s day better by helping them out, and in this case, it was cutting and styling Annika’s hair.

We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember, and ever since that day, she has always come to me for advice about things.

Jumping to when I was 15. Annika asked me to help her get ready for a date. I agreed of course, because she is my best friend. Her hair had grown from the middle of her back to her lower back in 5 years since I cut it.

Annika has fair skin, green eyes, and long brown hair. She also does sports, so her figure is ‘wow’. She’d definitely qualify for modeling.

“Grey, have fun with it, but I want him to like it.”

“Okay, tell me about him then.”

“Why?”

“Because if I gauge his personality and preferences, I can think of a hairstyle for you.”

“Okay. You know Landon? The one that does soccer.”

“Popular Landon?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, but you know him better than I do. We’re in totally different social groups.”

“He’s gentle, definitely knows how to flirt, does sports, as you know, and is funny. He often compliments how soft my hair is.”

“Got it. Ok, so how about a rope braid tie?”

“What’s that?”

“Ok, so imagine a rope, the ones you use for boxing. The giant ones. Then imagine a braid along with it, spiraling around.”

“Ooh! That sounds pretty! Go for it!”

“As you wish.”

Annika’s scalp was sensitive, so I made sure to be super gentle. I have only ever done her hair, so I knew what to do and what not to do. Since I couldn’t feel her pain, communication was key.

After I finished, she looked in the mirror.

“AHH! IT’S SO PRETTY!!!! G! You should do more with your gift! I don’t want to hog all of your talent by myself.”

“?” I shot her a confused look.

She seemed to have read my mind and replied, “What I mean is, you should get paid to do people’s hair or clothing designs.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, A!”

She turned her face up wore a triumphant expression. “But of course!”

“I’d love to make people happy by doing their hair or designing their clothes, but I don’t want them to know it’s me. You get what I mean?”

“Yeah, so you still want to enjoy your private life if you do get famous.”

“Exactly.”

“Ok, well, Like you said, hair can change a person’s entire look, right?”

“Yes, but..?”

“Ok, so maybe style your one hair for the viewers and wear clothes that you’d never usually wear.”

“I see, but it’s still me.”

“Wear a mask and a hat? Oh, and a wig if you want.”

“I can try.”

“Okay okay. So when I come back, I expect you to be an entirely different person.”

“Wait, A. Your expectations are too high for me. I can’t d--” Before I finished my sentence, she cut me off.

“I challenge you.”

“...”

She knew exactly what to say to coax me into doing something above my abilities.

“When a man gets challenged, it goes against his pride to decline the challenge… what a low blow.”

“I know!” She gave a warm smile as she said this and started laughing as she walked out of my house.

“This girl.. Honestly.” I heaved a sigh of defeat.

I started thinking about the pros and cons of A’s suggestion. First, pros.

I can make people happy.

I need the money to pay for mom’s hospital bills and that poor excuse of a father is off somewhere else with his new family. He can go fuck himself.

Uh, that’s the two I can think about…

Now, the cons.

I can say goodbye to my private life if I become famous.

If my identity is exposed, I potentially risk getting bullied.

I waste my time doing something I don’t know if I’m good at.

People hate my creations and designs, thus breaking my fragile heart.

Getting ripped off, complaints, hate mail, etc.

Maybe I’m overthinking this.

Possibly. Well, since she challenged me, I’ll see her reaction.

I just decided to focus on her challenge. She bought me some wigs that I could practice on a few years ago, so maybe I could wear one of them.

‘No, no that won’t work.’

‘Style my hair? I’ll try.’

I walked over to a wall mirror and looked at myself.

I was wearing a hoodie and joggers.

I walked into my mother’s room and looked at her makeup. She also used

colored contact lenses for work. She went into a coma a few years ago from a car crash.

There was a drunk driver and he swerved into the other side of the road and totalled the car my mother was in.

When the paramedics and firefighters arrived, she was unconscious and her head was bleeding. They had to do surgery on her head immediately.

After the surgery was complete, they moved her into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Since she has some insurance, the cost for staying there has been covered.

Since she was admitted before the mortgage was paid off, I took it upon myself to work.

I was 170 cm and had black hair and icy blue eyes. My hair was unkempt and messy, so it definitely didn’t make me look attractive.

I put in the colored contacts. They were black, so after I put them in, I had black eyes.

I brushed my bird-nest hair and did a side part. Then I geled it. I also put on glasses with some prescription because the contact lenses made me see like a farsighted person.

I then changed out of my clothes and put on a black dress shirt and black jeans. I unbuttoned the first two buttons of the shirt to reveal my collar bones.

I haven’t really played sports, but I was born athletic. So as I grew up, I began to look muscular, or at least fit. Annika’s dad is a total gym nut, so he always forced me to go with him.

I picked out some black Converse and put my wallet in my pocket. It had a chain attached, so I clipped it onto my belt loop.

I also had a hat and mask on the nightstand.

When she came through my front door a few hours later, I was watching anime on the couch.

I have a simple house. When you walk through the door, you’ll immediately see the living room.

When she walked in, she was extremely happy. Her face was bright red as she locked the door behind her.

I looked at her to see her blushing. I smirked because something good probably happened.

She heard the show I was watching and said while looking for her phone in her bag.

“Grey, you’re watching anime again? Did you even attempt the challenge I gave you?”

“I tried.”

She found her phone and sat down on the couch while I was on the armchair.

Not once did she look up from her phone.

I assume she was texting her date.

“Mmm” she hummed as her attention was solely focused on her phone.

“Well, want to take a look?” I asked.

“Sure” she absentmindedly replied.

After a few minutes of waiting, I asked another question.

“Did you enjoy your date?”

“Sure.”

Oho. I see. She doesn’t even hear what I’m saying. If that's the case…

“Can you give me $500?”

“Sure.”

Having realized what she said, she looked up from her phone and defended herself like her life depended on it.

“NO NO NO WAIT!! I didn't mean to say that!” Her arms were waving like crazy trying to help her case.

“That’s what you get for not paying attention.”

“Grey! You’re so mean..”

“No point in hiding it.” I smirked.

“Wait. Where did Grey go?”

“...?”

“He was here a minute ago.”

“What are you trying to pull?”

“O-” She put both hands over her mouth and raised her eyebrows.

“Grey.. Is that you?”

“I’m me.”

“Yo, you look so different!!! No wonder I didn’t recognize you!!! You’ve actually

combed your hair!!!!!”

“...” I didn’t know what to take that as.

“Do I pass then?”

“YEAH YOU PASS!”

“Oh, A. I also have a hat and a mask.”

“Good, you might need it.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to ask my mom if I can stay over.”

“Okay. Tell her hi from me as well.”

“You idiot, I’ll just hand you the phone.”

I nodded and she dialed her mother’s number.

A few seconds later, it was picked up and a voice came through the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi mom! It’s me.”

“Hello Annika! How was your date?”

“It was amazing! I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Okay, are you still at Grey’s house?”

“Yes, can I sleep over?”

“Did you finish your homework?”

“Yes, mom.”

“Okay, then I’ll allow it.”

“Thank you!! Oh, I almost forgot. Grey wants to speak with you.”

“Okay.”

She walked over to where I was and handed me the phone.

I took it from her hand and spoke.

“Hello Mrs. Foxx.”

“Hello, Dear. How are you?”

“I’m surviving the best I can. Anyways, I wanted to confirm that you know about

Annika sleeping over.”

“Yes, I allowed it. How’s your mother?”

“She’s still the same as yesterday.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I wish I could help you and your mother.”

“It’s okay. No need to feel bad about it. I also wanted to say hi, but your precious daughter didn’t have enough energy for it.”

“Hahaha that’s just like my daughter to make you do it yourself.”

“Sigh, yep. Anyways, I won’t keep you any longer. Thank you.”

“Of course! Whenever you want to spend the night at our house, just give me a call.”

“Yes ma’am. Have a good night.”

“You too, bye.”

I hung up the phone and handed it back to Annika.

“So, now we’ll look up what you should do to get your career off the ground. Oh,

I know! What about YouTube?”

“YouTube? I guess.”

We went into my room and went on my computer. I am not in the master bedroom because it’s my mother’s and I want it to be ready for her once she is awake and better.

“Ok, we need your email, good. Next is your name. Since you don’t want people to know who you are, then let’s not put your real name. Have any ideas?”

“Hm… Ralph?”

“No. We’re not going to wreck-it.”

“Then Michael?”

“Nope. We’re not going to beat it either.”

My mouth twitched at her retorts. They were just-- I have nothing to say about them.

“How about this.” She had a light bulb go off in her head. “What about we do a random letter generator and whatever letter it gives us, we pick a name starting with that letter.”

“Okay, but we both need to agree on it.”

“Deal. Let’s do it.”

We went on the generator and spun the thing. After rolling so fast that the computer started making noises, it slowed down and landed on the letter S.

“S.. Let’s see… what about Sal?” she asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Just no.”

20 minutes later, we still haven’t agreed on anything yet.

“Wait, what about a unisex name? Since I don’t want people to find out who I am. Set it so people will have a hard time guessing my gender maybe? Or at least confusing them.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea, G. Then what about Shay?”

“Ooh, I actually like that.. A lot. Do you like it?”

“Yeah.”

The next thing we had to do is create a channel name.

“Since you’ll be called Shay, then how about putting it in the channel name?”

“Good idea.”

“Remember, G. No numbers or something confusing as the name. It needs to be

simple but also represent you.”

“Then what about Shay?”

“That’s your name, dummy.”

“No, as the channel name too.”

“Ok, we can try. It might already be taken.”

“Just try it, A.”

“Aaaaaaaaand….. What?”

“What happened?”

“It’s not taken! Wow! Just your luck.”

“Okay, since we’ve done this, what about the content?”

“Fashion, because you can also design clothes.”

“True, but I’ve never done it seriously.”

“But all the times you haven’t done it seriously were awesome!”

“You’re making my ego skyrocket right now, I hope you’re aware.”

“You need a confidence booster.”

“There’s a fine line between having confidence and being overconfident.”

“Let’s hope we don’t cross that line then.”

‘Seriously…’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

After we set up the YouTube channel, she suggested we make a video and she be the model.

“We can, but it’ll be for tomorrow morning.”

“No, you’ve got your hair combed and all now. Tomorrow it’ll be back to how it usually is.”

“And also. Since school starts next week, I think you should change something.”

“What do you want me to change?”

“Your eyes are so gorgeous, especially with your hair color, so I think you shouldn’t wear contacts and glasses when you do videos, but wear them in school. Don’t worry, I promise to keep your secret!” She said with a bright smile. It was quite adorable.

“Thank you for the compliment, but why?”

“Makes you stand out less. Even though your hair is a bird’s nest normally, your eyes are really attractive and stand out a LOT, so you’d be less likely to draw attention if you wear them during school.”

“Makes sense. We’ll do the video in a few minutes, wash your face before then. I’m only going to do your hair.”

“Okay. Meanwhile, you look for a hairstyle that you want to do.”

“Mhm.”

As Annika went to the bathroom, I sat down on my bed and scrolled through hairstyles I could do. Since it was my first video, I had to make it look good, right?

I decided on a rose braid hairstyle. When Annika came back from washing her face, I showed her the photo I found and she agreed.

There’s something called perfect pitch, where a musician can hear anything and play it perfectly. I have something like that, but with styling hair. So if I look at a photo, I’ll know how to do the hairstyle. Yes, it takes time to perfect it, but I have the wigs that Annika bought me to hone my skills.

She sat in my chair and I put the GoPro I was using to record on my head. Why, you may ask? I think people would learn better if I did it in a first person POV.

First, I braided her hair into pigtails, then I brought the right one to the center of her head and swirled it. I set it in place with a bobby pin. Then I brought the left braid to the right side and swirled it around the first braid. Using a bobby pin to set it in place, I then used hairspray to keep loose hairs in place.

Annika stayed silent throughout the video, as did I.

I took out the memory card from the GoPro and put the adapter in my computer.

Since my computer was from Apple, I had iMovie on it.

I took a non copyrighted song from YouTube and turned it into an mp3 so I could put it as sound in the video. I also set the original video to mute.

It didn’t take that long, but I needed a 6 minute song to do the hairstyle.

After I finished editing the video, I uploaded it with Annika. The title was called

‘Rose Braid POV How-To

Shay’.

It was a boring name, but it was straight to the point.

It was pretty late, so Annika and I decided to call it a night.

I changed out of my clothes and took my contacts and glasses off.

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