I could never imagine going off and leaving my home town. I love it here. I’m in the final year of A-levels at sixth form college, but my plan is to train as a hairdresser once I’ve finished. My boss, Jennifer, has agreed to take me on here full-time and I’m looking forward to it. Put it this way – I have no clue what else I’d do if I weren’t doing this.

One of our stylists, Debbie, beckons me over to wash her client’s hair, a smart-looking brunette woman who I vaguely recognise from college, although she isn’t one of my lecturers. The woman smiles and I lead her over to the basins at the rear of the salon. She puts her handbag on the floor by her feet and sits down in one of the leather chairs.

‘You go to the college, don’t you?’ she asks as I drape a towel over her shoulders.

‘Yes, I’m doing my A-levels.’

‘My name’s Sally Bennet. I run the marketing department there.’ She leans back over the basin.

‘I thought I’d seen you around. Is that comfortable for you?’

‘Yep, fine thanks.’

I switch on the shower head and let the water run for a moment before testing the temperature.

‘What A-levels are you doing?’ she asks.

‘English, Art and History.’ She’s obviously a talker. Some customers just want to relax while they’re having their hair washed. But other customers, like this lady, love to chat. Jennifer says we have to take our lead from them, and only talk if that’s what they want. I start soaking her hair. ‘Does that feel okay? Not too hot?’

‘No, you’re fine. You’d never believe it was May, would you? It’s horrible out there.’

‘I know. I’m not looking forward to walking home later.’

‘I read a piece about the salon in the local paper last week, written by one of the staff here I think. Do you know who that was?’

‘Oh, yes, that was me.’

‘Really?’ She pauses. ‘Well it was very professionally written.’

‘Thank you.’ It’s a good thing she can’t see my face, because I can feel my cheeks turning pink.

‘Did you have any help writing it?’ she asks.

‘Jennifer – she’s the owner –gave me a few bullet points to include. She knows I’m doing an English A-level and that I enjoy writing, so she let me do it.’

‘So the article was all your own work?’

‘Uh, yes.’ I turn off the water and reach behind for a bottle of coconut shampoo.

‘Impressive. The piece in the paper said you also organised a fundraiser recently.’

‘Yes, just after Christmas. The salon was a sponsor. It was in aid of the local cancer hospice.’ I squirt a couple of blobs of shampoo onto her wet hair and start massaging it into a lather.