Author's note: This was inspired by "Frienemies." There are no spoilers, just a little literary license.

15 minutes
337 words


Haircut

The rumor mill was running rampant on the Cal Sci campus. Amita Ramanujan halfway expected the dean to call an emergency campus-wide meeting. She walked across the campus, convinced that students were whispering behind her back. Especially the girls.

She checked her watch. Well, all the rumors would be confirmed in a mere five minutes when a certain blue Prius pulled into its assigned parking spot. Determined to let the furor run its course, she avoided making eye contact with any of the curious students and faculty she came across.

The parking lot was not on her way to her first class of the day, but she had a sneaking suspicion that nobody would be in the lecture hall anyway. For some odd reason, everyone would find an excuse to be somewhere between the parking lot and Charlie’s office. She detoured from her normal route and walked through the lot, watching for Charlie’s Prius.

Professor Charles Edward Eppes was something of a celebrity at Cal Sci, not only for his brilliance, his youth and his animated lectures. Rather like Einstein, his distinctive unruly curls had achieved mythical status among his students and fellow faculty members. This day would go down in history.

She heard the sound of a Prius pulling into the lot behind her, and she imagined she heard a collective intake of breath. She glanced around and waved, grinning. Charlie sat in his car for an inordinately long time, and she could see his Yankees baseball cap through the windshield. He always had a flair for the dramatic.

He must have determined that the time was right and his audience was prepared for his Moment. He opened the car door and stood, grinning at the assembled crowd. Then with a flash of bravado, he whipped the cap from his head. A female student standing next to Amita swayed, and Amita grabbed the girl’s arm, steadying her. “Are you all right?”

“I didn’t believe it, but it’s true,” the girl whispered. “Professor Eppes got a haircut.”

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