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Anna didn’t know what to think, or what to say, as the dozens of people moved around her, giving advice and tips. Two of them, her mom and dad, stood closest to her, and watched the three stylists work with incredible speed to get their little girl ready.

“Don’t be scared baby, we’ll be right back here.” Her mom told her. Her father didn’t say anything, but instead Anna saw his reassuring smile reflecting in the mirror. She only saw it for a split second, when the stylist standing in front of her moved. Anna managed a nod. Her face was pale, and she could not smile, which made the stylist repeat:

“Keep smiling, keep smiling…”

How could she smile though? She was only a little girl… at least that’s what she felt like. Her father was protective of Anna, but even he would think differently and her mother had been telling her for almost a year now that she was old enough for this. Anna trusted her parents more than anyone or anything in this world so why didn’t she feel old enough and ready like they told her countless times that she was? Maybe because fourteen shouldn’t be the year a girl loses her virginity.

When the tattooed female stylist with dreadful ‘beautiful’ bright pink hair walked over to the table a few feet away from Anna’s chair, the entire dressing room was now visible to Anna, reflecting in the large mirror directly in front. She looked at herself and didn’t recognize the girl reflecting back. Her hair had never looked so golden and perfect. The make up around her eyes made her ordinary blue eyes look like an ocean of innocence. Sadly, Anna thought, that innocence was about to be legally taken away. Anna looked at the crowded room behind her. Standing right behind her chair was her mother and father, both now smiling at her.