A New Young Adult Romance That Sheds Light on Black Hair Care

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When I was in middle school, I got a perm to straighten my hair. Even that sentence may seem strange to some people. I’m very aware that the term perm—sort for “permanent wave”—is distinct from the term relaxer, which is used to relax hair straight. But in my dialect—and in the world of Black hair care—the two words can be synonymous.

While I don’t really remember this first instance specifically, I do remember how the relaxer essentially burns hair straight. And that experience is far from relaxing.

But when I was growing up, I wanted to have long hair that was easy to manage. And I wanted to be able to do what I saw other girls doing—like putting their hair in ponytails. (I also talk about this in this post.) I thought that was the coolest thing. But I couldn’t do it with my tight, thick curls that were usually in braids. And so, I longed for the day when I could do what the other girls with long, straight hair did.

Finally, I got that chance in middle school. I don’t remember exactly how I felt after my first perm, but I do remember getting to enjoy all those things I wanted to enjoy. I got to use all sorts of cool hair accessories, like clips and scrunchies. And I was able to put my hair in a ponytail like I always wanted. It was a dream come true.

Except for when getting a perm was a nightmare. I remember having to sit under an extraordinarily hot hair dryer for a really long time. And I remember at least once (though it probably happened more than once) when the perm didn’t just burn my hair but my scalp, too. And I remember that, after the first few days of getting a new perm or getting my hair washed, my hair just didn’t look the same. It didn’t look fresh or new. Over time, having a perm stopped feeling like a kind of freedom and started feeling more like a burden.

After several years, I had had enough. And so, when I graduated from high school, I removed the perm by cutting my hair. Now I wear my hair natural, and I love it this way.

Portrayals of This Kind of Experience

But the thing is, growing up, I didn’t really see many portrayals of what I had to go through to get my hair looking the way it did. I didn’t read about it in books or see more than the occasional portrayal on TV. Most of the girls I saw presented had hair that was easy to manage and didn’t require hours and hours at a hairdresser’s house to keep it that way.

Nor did they often have to go out of their way to find hairdressers that knew how to manage and maintain permed hair. But I think I visited more home hair salons than store hair salons when I still had my perm.

What I’ve Done to Fix This

I wrote a YA romance that sheds light on what this experience was like. It’s called “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?” Although it is a love story, it includes a lot of detail about what the main character has to go through to keep her perm looking nice. And the topic of her hair comes up often and ends up playing a huge role in the storyline.

In this young adult romance, Chloe is a second-generation Haitian-American who’s in love with a boy at her high school named Mordecai. The love story revolves around a high school love triangle—Chloe has deep feelings for Mordecai while her good friend Simon has a crush on her. But throughout the story, Chloe has to maintain her permed hair. And as she does, she explains and illustrates what it’s like to manage Black hair.

A Sample from the Story

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 4 that shows some of what Chloe has to deal with:

Anyway, once every six weeks—typically on a Friday night—my mom pays a Dominican woman to put white goo in my hair to burn it straight. Usually, she’s very careful, so the goo only burns the new growth like it’s supposed to. But once in a while the goo burns my scalp, too. Scalp burned or not, once the goo has been sitting on my head for longer than about ten minutes, it feels like my head is on fire. But still she keeps working through the roots to make sure every last trace of natural hair has vanished.

Finally, when I feel like I can’t take the burning a moment longer, she washes my hair until the burning and residual stinging are gone. I learn quickly that there’s no point in crying through this process. Beauty is pain, so I just have to put up with it.

But why do I put up with it? There’s only one reason—I want my hair to look like the “good” hair out there—the “beautiful” hair. So, I put myself through this torment once every six weeks. But at least the hour and a half I spend under the dryer gives me ninety minutes of undisturbed study time.

Then it’s extreme-heat blow-drying with a round brush to get all the roller marks out, a little light curling for the ends, and if it’s late—which it usually is by the time we’re done—I get a wrap. That is, the hairdresser—whose name is Antonia—takes a wide brush and wraps my hair around my scalp and then pins it in place with bobby pins. Then I can cover it with a handkerchief when I go home, and in the morning it’ll look good as new.

Not Your Average YA Romance

This isn’t a typical YA romance, though. In this story, I don’t tell you the ending. Instead, I leave it up to you, the reader, to decide the ending. When you reach a certain chapter, you’ll get to decide whether you want Chloe to end up with Simon or Mordecai. And then you can read the rest of the story based on the outcome you choose.

Because this is an atypical high school love story, you’ll need to join the What Happens After You Confess membership to read it. And just so you know, even though the story is the length of a young adult romance novel, it’s presented as a sequence of blog posts—one chapter per post.

If this sounds fun to you, feel free to click here to learn more about the story and the membership.

Final Thoughts

Having to deal with a perm/relaxer is one of those experiences people might not really understand if they don’t or didn’t have to deal with it themselves. But this teen romance will give you a glimpse of what that experience is like. And if you have had to deal with all that comes with maintaining a perm, you’ll be able to relate to what Chloe goes through.

In “What Happens After You Confess Your Feelings to Someone?”, not only will you get to enjoy an intense high school love triangle—you’ll also get an inside look at Black hair care from the perspective of a Haitian-American teenager.

I hope to see you in the What Happens After You Confess membership!

~ Ashley C.

P.S. If you would like to sample more of my story-writing style, feel free to click here to read some short stories that are currently available.

Last updated: April 20, 2025