Okay, I admit, I'm biased.

    But it's true.

    I flipped through to the end of Claudia's magazine. I was just about ready to shut it, when this picture caught my eye.

    You know how you see models with these gorgeous haircuts, and you know you'd look terrible in them, but then all of a sudden, one just hits you? A cut you'd never have dreamed of getting, but when you see it on the page, you know it's just right for you?

    It was in the back of Seventeen. It was pretty short, sort of a bowl cut in front, but really close-cropped at the neck. Very twenties (well, that's what the caption said).

    Here's what I thought: All my life, I've had this long, mousy brown hair that just sort of hangs. The idea of feeling air on my neck was really exciting. Here's what else I thought: My New Year's resolution was to be "the best person in all possible ways" - and didn't that mean looking my best? Sure it did.

    "I wonder how I'd look with this cut," I said. I was talking to myself, but Claudia was looking over my shoulder.

    "Aaaaaugh!" Claudia screamed, putting her hands on her cheeks like that kid in Home Alone. "Not our Mary Anne!" Dawn laughed and shook her head. "Please!" Stacey took a peek, looked at me, and giggled.

    "What?" I said. "What's so funny?" "Well, it's . . . it's not you, Mary Anne," Stacey said. I know she didn't mean it, but she sounded as if she were trying to explain something to a child.

    Even Jessi and Mal had these impish smiles on their faces.

    With a shrug, I closed the magazine. "Well, I guess not ..." Maybe I was even less fashion-conscious than I had thought. But my friends' reactions made me feel strange. I felt as if they were laughing at me. What was wrong with wanting to try something new? Lots of people do it.

    I told myself it wasn't a big deal, but for the rest of the meeting I said maybe two words.