One winter school morning many years ago, I approached my group of friends shortly before the bell rang for the start of the day. One of them stared at me in shock.

What?

Have you looked in the mirror this morning?

Yeah. What?

Did you do your hair?

Yes! Of course!

You can’t have! Your fringe looks ridiculous. Seriously. It’s really bad.

I said it was fine, and who cared anyway? She then pulled me, protesting, into the toilets where there was a mirror so she could prove to me how awful I looked.

It was pretty bad. In the space between home and school, in spite of my attempts to tame its waviness, a combination of being too short in the front and the damp air had caused it to curl into two big cowlicks.

It looked like a large cartoon moustache was perched on top of my large, shining forehead.

I was mortified. Turning up to school looking strange, and not in a cool way, is one of the worst social sins a teenage girl can commit. Read the rest at The Catholic Weekly.

(Pictured above: From my reading pile in March)