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She hated the way she looked. In one moment of self-loathing she had allowed herself to cut off all her hair. Tresses of blond and black hair curled around the decorated legs of the chair she sat on. Horrified, she put down the scissors and observed the havoc she had wreaked on herself. As she gazed at her bald head, she decided she quite liked it. Decorum dictated that she have long hair, but who was she to follow the norm? She often felt like an outsider, like she didn't belong. What better way to assert her individuality than to differentiate from all the other “barbie girls” of this world? She gazed at her new reflection, and began to laugh.

The next morning she got up and looked in the mirror. Yep, her shaved head stared back at her. She had really done it. She smiled as she thought of the reactions of her peers and teachers. The last girl that had done anything out of the ordinary had been taken out of school and never seen again. She loved the idea of anyone trying to tell her what to do. Her mother had tried, but never succeeded. She took one last look at her new alien head, and headed downstairs to face her mother for breakfast.

Her mother didn't see her right away, seeing as she was tending to breakfast over the stove. She was bent over the frying pan, focused on the bacon and eggs that she made every morning. It was one of the only things she knew how to cook.
“Riley, are you ready for school? By the time breakfast is done you won't have a lot of time to spare.” She never did. Her mother took forever to put breakfast on the table.
“Yes mother. I always have everything ready to go. Are you going to drive me today?”
“I can't this morning. I have to take the dog in to the vet. You'll have to walk.” She picked up the frying pan to put the eggs and bacon on a plate. As she crossed the kitchen, she glanced at her daughter. When she saw the shaved head, she dropped the frying pan and shrieked. Riley's smile grew bigger as she observed her mother's reaction.
“Oh Riley!” her mother said, as she sank into a chair. “Whatever have you done to yourself?”
“I didn't like my hair anymore. So I gave myself a haircut.” she shrugged, playing it off as though she didn't know it would be a big deal.
Her mother sighed. “You know what will happen as soon as you get to school. You'll be expelled and taken away.”
“What's so bad about expressing individuality? I don't want to be “just another girl”. I want to be myself.”
“That's not the way things are done here dear.”
“And why not? What is so wrong with expressing yourself?”
“It's just not the way it's done! I don't want to hear another word about it. Now go to school and accept the consequences for your actions.”
Riley grumbled under her breath as she headed out the door. Of course her mother would still send her daughter to school, even if this was her last chance to see her. It's just “the way things are done”. She was surprised she hadn't been taken away earlier. She had always been the one to push the rules. In grade three, she had worn a bow in her hair. Doesn't sound like a big deal right? Well it was enough to get her a trip to the principals and a stern talk on resembling everyone else. Since that day, she had always scoffed at the rules, and bent them as far as she could without breaking them.
She reached the school in record time. Whenever she was preoccupied with her thoughts, she paid little attention to what the rest of her body was doing. So when she finally looked up, she was at school. She could feel all the stares of the other students, whispering and pointing at her shaved head. She grinned, and walked with her head held high into the school.