Jen picked up the phone, "h-hello?" she says.
A sinister, cocky voice came from the other end, "Well well well, enjoying the curse? I see you left school early. Did things get out of hand? The last time I saw you, your hair was down to your knees!"
"Kyle?! What the heck do you want? Come to rub it in? I've had the worst day thanks to you!" she replied angrily.
Kyle continued, "Oh I'm just calling to check up on you, maybe find out if you've learnt anything from your lesson today, see if you've come to appreciate this gift I've bestowed upon you." he said snidely. His nerve and tone managed to push just the right buttons on Jennifer. It took all of her willpower not to lose it right then and there.
"Gift?! Are you freaking kidding me?! I can barely move through my house right now with this jungle of hair, You Lit—Oh No! Not this time!" Jen screamed.
"Uh....", Kyle stammered. "How fast is your hair..."
"Look, I'm sorry", Jen shouted as her locks continued to pile around her. "Is that what you want to hear? I'm sorry for embarrassing you like that. Just please, PLEASE stop this nightmare!" Tears were now streaming down Jen's face just like her hair was streaming out of her scalp.
Kyle was at a loss of words. He didn't think the curse would end up being this bad for Jen. He figured she'd have more self-control after noticing the hair growth. But he could hear the terror and sadness in her voice. It was clear now that insulting people was her natural habit at this point. It wasn't going to be so easy to break. Plus, the consequence was irreversible on her end, so it never gets better.
"I can't... live like this", Jen's voice choked through the phone.
Kyle took a deep sigh. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't realize it'd get this bad. I'm going to—"
Jen shrieked on the other end. "No, no, no!"
"What? What is it?"
"I... I called you a... something bad in my head. The curse counts thoughts too!"
"Oh crap.", Kyle muttered. No wonder things were so bad. Going through life without negative thoughts about anyone wasn't humanly possible. "Okay, I need you to calm down. Listen carefully. I'm about to use the curse on you again to try and fix this. We're short on time, so you'll need to pick both right after I ask the question. If you only pick one option, it won't end well. Got it?"
Jen sounded like she was struggling before she said, "Okay, I'll pick both."
"Transform or Dare", he asked.
"I choose both!", she pleaded.
Back at her house, Jen had just struggled her way out of her hair again, which had been piling around her body and trapping her. With little choice, she used the fabric scissors to cut free. Her scalp was on fire as the hair doubled in thickness wherever she cut.
"Alright", began Kyle on the phone. "For your transformation, your hair will go back to normal growth speed and cutting it won't make it thicker. BUT, the curse will now work on a three-strike basis. If you insult or embarrass someone 3 times out loud, and only out loud, your hair will grow as fast as it was before this phone call for about... 15 minutes. It will also double in thickness if you cut it during that time. Again, thinking insults don't count."
Jen sighed with relief as the tingling and burning in her scalp finally stopped. She could feel her hair slowing down to a normal growth rate.
"It's working.", she gasped. "Thank you..."
"One more thing about the transformation", Kyle added. "You said you're in a jungle of hair? Then any hair that you've cut off up till now will disappear as soon as this call ends. Okay, now I dare you to say 'Transform or Dare' back to me and dare me to hang up the phone."
"Transform or Dare", Jen said, the words leaving her mouth before she could finish catching her breath.
"Dare", Kyle replied.
"I... Dare you to... hang up the phone", Jen said between breaths. She heard the beep as the phone call ended. Immediately, she felt her body being freed as all the hair that had spread throughout her house vanished from existence. "... Thank you... Kyle."
The only hairs left were the ones still attached to her head. Even then, it was a lot. Despite cutting herself free from the tangled masses, her hair was now a total length of 6-feet long. Its volume was now twice the width of her shoulders. She could lose her hand and half her arm in the strands before her fingers came out the other side and brushing was going to take a lot more time than usual. There was 3-inch bump of volume on the top-back part of her head. Her bangs trailed across one side of her face and reached past her breasts.
After a moment, Jen tentatively brought the fabric scissors to her bangs, just above the chin and snipped it. Much to her relief, the hair did not double in thickness after she cut it. For a moment, she thought about cutting it back to her shoulders, like it had been originally. But then she realized that with its current thickness, she’d probably look like she had an afro. It needed the weight of being long to hold it down. So she decided to just cut to just above her ankles instead.
Besides, she thought with a smile, there’s not too many girls with hair as beautiful as mine, and even less who can sit on it.