The Story of a Scrunchie

Of all the mistakes and pranks he could’ve gotten caught and punished for, Peter’s luck just had to run out on him when it came to Mindy Meyers. The prettiest girl in the entire 2nd grade.

Don’t get him wrong, he’s in no way infatuated with her. And no, he doesn’t think she’s adorable and kind and sweet and pretty. On the contrary he finds her annoying and whiny. She’s always asking him to clean up his table after lunch, and always tells him to put away his crayons in the right order. 

She’s always so full of herself and Peter really doesn’t like her all that much.

Still, he’s not a bad guy, so he does kinda feels bad about sticking gum in Mindy’s hair just to win a bet with Paul Handerson. After all, her knee-length, curly hair is the only thing he actually likes about Mindy.  Her hair reminds him of his grandma’s long curls that he’d always wondered why his Mom never inherited.

Peter stares at the pink and purple and green and yellow hair bands on display in the tiny convenience shop and confusion befuddles him. He's never even seen most of these colours in his life, let alone had to make a decision on which to buy for a girl!

It sucks that he landed himself in this mess but he’s gonna have to push through and buy that gift for Mindy.

He owes her that much, after all.

Now, staring at the confusing arrays of innumerable hues, and patterns, he’s at a loss for what to buy. He sends a pout towards his sister but she continues giving him the stink eye. And his father is no help either. 

If only Mom were here, he thinks to himself, cursing the day he let her leave for his grandparents’ house alone.

“It’s your punishment for pulling that prank on poor Mindy, Peter!” She had said to him before leaving for the weekend.

He bites his lips and moves away from the hairbands display, strolling towards the clips and clutches section. He’s seen her wear those. They look kinda okay on her too.

Butterflies and ladybugs and icecream cones and, oddly enough, little trees. So many colours and so many shapes. He’s far more overwhelmed by the variety of clips and clutches than he was by the hairbands! 

Girls, are so weird! He thinks to himself. Grimacing at the visual shock. How can they even choose from all this?!

Peter walks away from the clips and clutches display and races towards the rubber bands isle. Another variety of thin bands and thick bands and bands for curly hair and non-elastic bands and WOW! He’s so not interested in this!

“Tired already buddy?” His father crouches down beside him. Patting him on his back in faux understanding. 

“Why can’t Rachel just choose something for Mindy, Pappa?!” He sighs dramatically and falls back into his father’s embrace. “I don’t understand what to buy! Nothing looks nice!”

His father laughs heartily and ruffles his hair, pulling him towards another section of the small store. “That’s the idea, kiddo. You need to understand that you did wrong and make up for it by getting something of your choice for Mindy.”

Peter pouts, nodding his head, and continues to searching for the perfect “Apology Gift”. 

They head over towards the inner section of the store and there’s an isle filled with just scrunchie of different sizes and shapes and material. There are even some with glitter on them and some that have frills at the ends. 

But the one that catches Peter’s eye is a plain, pink, black polka-dotted scrunchie. It’s a little bit bigger than most but Mindy has long hair, he tells himself. It doesn’t have annoying glitters on it and the material is soft to touch.

He likes the scrunchie and imagines that Mindy would like it too. “I like this!” He excitedly tells his father who chuckles warmly and promptly buys it.

*

The next time Peter meets Mindy, it’s in their classroom two days later. She’s back to being her annoying self again, all bossy and strict and pretty. But Peter is distressed. Because he had NOT prepared for this!

No no no! NO NO NO! Oh my gawd! No!

“Peter!” He’s roused by that shrill voice that he hates so much and jerks up sharply at Mindy’s blooming voice. She looks angry and Peter would imagine she’d be livid because he can’t believe this! 

Her long, curly, beautiful locks are no more. Instead, her small face is now framed with a small bob of curly, baby-brown hair. It’s too short to be tied with a scrunchie now.

And he feels SO bad. For Mindy because she had to cut her hair off because of his stupid prank!

And for the scrunchie sitting in his backpack because it’ll never be the “Perfect Apology Gift” he had hope for it to be.

“Well?” Mindy asks him again because he’s been so busy feeling bad about that stupid prank of his! “Peter you need to sit down! The teacher will he here soon!”

Peter stares at her and the apology is at the tip of his tongue but he’s unable to form words. So, in a feat of embarrassment, he pulls out the scrunchie from his backpack that he had painstakingly wrapped in gift paper the night before.

His cheeks red and his eyes downcast, he pushes the gift into Mindy’s hands, whispering, “I’m sorry, Mindy”.

Mindy quietly thanks him. Touched by the gesture and by the mere idea that Peter actually bought her a gift, she shyly ducks away towards her seat. 

He watches her from his seat behind hers. She’s unwrapping the gift and pulling out the scrunchie from it and prepares himself for the disappointment in her face but it never comes.

Instead he watches her quietly squeal and promptly wear the scrunchie on her wrist instead of her hair. 

She turns around with a broad smile on her face, and flashes her new scrunchie-bracelet to Peter. “It looks nice right, Peter?” She asks him and for the first time since 2nd grade started, she looks really, really pretty.

Peter shyly nods his head, suddenly aware of all his classmates’ eyes on him and Mindy. He can almost hear their whispers of:

“OMG! Mindy is talking to Peter! Peter gave her a gift! Are they boyfriend and girlfriend now!? Is Mindy gonna marry Peter now?!”

His cheeks feel hot at the attention but he’s not exactly bothered by it. After all, he likes the scrunchie and Mindy seems to like it too. 

And maaaaybe he doesn't hate Mindy after all?

*

(A few years later)

Peter glares at the boy his best friend is talking to and tries not to burn him into the ground. His blood boils at the mere sight of Mindy and “the other guy” talking but it’s not like he can tell her how much he hates the guy. Because he has no reason for hating him other than the fact that she’s dating him.

He huffs a sigh of relief when Mindy swiftly turns and walks back towards him, the sour look on her face mirroring her boyfriend’s. 

“Trouble in paradise?” Peter asks, trying his hardest not to let his excitement speak for him. 

Mindy, aloof as she always is to his feelings, rolls her eyes and growls back at him in pent up angst, “urgh! I hate him! I can’t believe he was cheating on me with Kimmy!”

Hiding a sly smile behind a very believable facade, Peter clears his throat as he shrugs, “good riddance, I always say. Jerks like him don’t deserve you anyway.”

“You’re right they don’t!” She exclaims, flipping her long, curly hair away from her face. 

The wind picks up as they continue walking towards the bus stop and Peter doesn’t speak because he knows that his silence is what Mindy needs now. He simply watches over the heartbroken girl and almost wishes she didn’t have to break up with that jerk. He hates seeing her so dejected, especially for another guy!

Soon they’re at the bus stop and Mindy sighs one last time before shaking her head and wiping away tears that Peter pretends he never saw. She reaches into her back pocket and produces a scrunchie to tie her hair as she says, “let’s go bowling tonight. I feel like hitting a few balls that look like his face.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Peter grins back.

His eyes then land on the pink and black polka dotted scrunchie around her wrist. It’s loose now and has faded and it’s fraying at the ends but he’s seen her stitch it up several times trying to save it. A smile travels up his face when the memory of it resurfaces.

He still has hope, he concludes.

And falls in love all over again.