As Henry returned to school on Monday, moral was at an all-time high. Their football team had not only beat their rivals, but smashed them into oblivion. Everyone was still riding the celebratory high since the game that weekend. No other time in the school's history had a match been so one sided and in their favor.
Henry managed to maneuver through the excited crowds of students and make his way to his locker. He looked over and saw Matt running his fingers through his hair as he examined himself in his own locker's mirror. Henry ignored him as he prepared his things for his first class.
That is, until Matt suddenly closed Henry's locker in his face. Henry glared at his friend. "Hey!"
Matt's expression was serious, contrary to the general mood around them. "Henry. I've got an important question, and I need you to tell me the truth."
Henry stared at his friend for a moment. He'd never seen Matt look quite so intense before. "Um... sure. What's up?"
Matt steeled himself. "Am I going bald?"
"W... What?" Henry hadn't been expecting that.
Matt was still staring intently. "I think I'm losing my hair. Is it noticeable. Am I going bald?" He lifted his bangs to show Henry his hairline.
"What? No! Matt, you're fifteen. You're not going bald. Why would you even think that?" Henry turned back to his locker, spinning in his combination.
Matt sighed. "Whenever I take a shower, I see a lot of hair in the drain. And, lately, when I run my hand through my hair, some of it comes out. Look!"
Henry glanced up to see Matt holding a hand out toward him with several brown hairs caught between his fingers. Henry shrugged. "I don't know, man. Maybe you're just stressed out. If you're really upset talk to a doctor or something. Maybe all that hair in the drain is your dad's."
Matt turned back to his own locker. "My dad's bald, so that's way too much for him to leave. I don't know. Maybe I'm just imagining it."
The pair was distracted by a sudden commotion behind them. They turned to see Justin, the team's quarterback. Many of the students were congratulating him as he walked by. Henry thought it odd he was wearing a baseball cap and a baggy sweatshirt. The school's staff was pretty loose when it came to wearing hats, and they were bound to give him a lot of leeway due to the team's astounding victory. But Henry still found his choice in apparel strange.
As Justin walked by, Henry joined in on congratulating the quarterback. Justin managed to smile at his classmates as he attempted to step through the hall as fast as possible. While he'd never been terribly arrogant, Henry thought it peculiar he wasn't willing to stop and bask in the glory for a little while.
After Justin had walked by, Henry turned to Matt. "What do you think's up with him?"
But Matt was still preoccupied with his own reflection. "What? Up with who?"
"Never mind. Let's just get to class."
-----
Henry hadn't meant to spill chemicals all over the chemistry lab. He'd grabbed the wrong bottle on accident, causing foamy liquid to explode all over a large section of the room. Luckily, the chemicals weren't dangerous and nobody was hurt. Still, Henry had to stay behind and help clean up after class. He'd been feeling clumsy lately, like his limbs weren't the right size anymore.
Henry ran into his next class, gym. The other students already had their gym clothes on, and were warming up. He handed the note the chemistry teacher had given him to the coach. The coach nodded and told him not to take too long to get dressed.
"And, while you're at it, tell Justin to hurry up, will you?"
As Henry hurried into the locker room, he thought it odd that Justin wasn't out, yet. Usually he was one of the first. He stopped as he heard what sound like panicked mumbling. He looked around a row of lockers to see Justin in his underwear looking in a locker room mirror. The more Henry looked, the more shocked he became.
He'd seen Justin in his underwear throughout the semester. However, today he looked very different. He'd had a nicely toned muscular physique, but now it looked flabby and round, looking more like an ex-jock's build than a quarterback's. The hair dusting his chest and stomach was much thicker than Henry had seen it before. As Justin mumbled to himself and poked at his out of shape body, Henry saw what the cap had been covering that morning. His hair had dramatically thinned since the previous week. His frontal hairline had receded several inches, and a small bald patch had formed at the back, with the hair in between thin enough for Henry to see Justin's scalp through it.
Henry stared at the former jock. Instead of an athletic teenager, he looked closer to an out of season man of about 30, if not older. Henry wasn't sure what to do.