Closing the front door, I let a tired sigh heave out from my neck. Coffee with Dana had cascaded into drinks with Dana, and by now I was just tired and only wanted something something to eat. I unlooped myself from my neck, and hung up my "head" on the peg my keys. From there I could see the whole living room. Headless, I walked into the bathroom. Just like at the clinic, I was easily able to walk around without seeing, and my spacial memory of my apartment was close to perfect. It sure would be difficult without that.

I finished and came back. I was hesitant about ordering delivery, but I really didn't want to cook. I took out my iPod and called up a pizza delivery online. So that was going to happen. I'd have to come to to door headless.

I'm not normally a self-conscious person. But here's the thing I've learned about not having a head. People assume you can't see them. And so they stare. And stare. And stare a little more. Hell, I get it, I'd stare at me too. I don't blame them. But just going out in public now, I've realized, it's like putting on a performance. Everyone is watching you, everywhere you go. Of course, if you wave at them they suddenly look at their shoes.

Then there's the other thing. People also assume you can't hear them. So it's not like they're discreet about saying stuff like, "Yo, come check out this headless girl."

Still, I was generally impressed with how well everyone was taking this, myself included. I didn't see anyone panic. Okay, not true. Only one lady panicked.

I could see the whole room, then went and lay down on the couch. On the table was the literature they'd given me at Dr. Svenson's office. I picked up the "Technical Manual" and zoomed in on it. I started to "read" it, but as I opened each page, I was reminded somehow that I already knew everything in there.

Very handy having one of these heads. I popped off my neck just so I could smile.

I went to get my laptop. A lot of the manual talked about how you could interface with your computer, and I was eager to try this out. I went online and giving my email, I was able to download the software off their website. I double clicked.

Suddenly everything changed. I was watching myself from two angles. One from where my "normal" (that's not the right word is it?) head was hanging, and also from the webcam on my macbook. On the computer screen, in a little window, was my virtual "head." It was, actually, a rendering of my own head. While it was nice to see myself, I switched to a retro-style robot head with red glowing eyes. It better suited my mood.

Another window popped up. It was the thought-feed I'd seen right after waking up.

"I'm watching myself think, how cool is this? Man I'm so hungry. Pizza pizza pizzaa! Oh man, I have two heads now. Hey other head! How many heads can I have?"

I closed the window. Seeing my thoughts fly by like that was still a bit strange to take in.

But there was something else I knew I wanted to do. Mentally, I went to the preferences and selected

"Enable Voice."

Again, I found there was a number of options to choose from, including my own original voice. Keeping with my theme, I picked the clunky robot voice.

"DES-TROY THE HU-MANS!" came out of my laptop speakers. I started laughing almost uncontrollably. "HA-HA-HA-HA!" in a halting robotic voice, and it only fueled the hilarity.

There was a knock. The pizza must have gotten here.

Well this would be interesting. I took my laptop in one hand and set it on the table by the door, then I unlocked and opened it. Through my webcam eye, in spectacularly grainy glory, was a pizza guy reflexively stepping back in shock.

I waved.

"Um… You ordered a pizza?"

"THAT IS AFFIRMATIVE!" came my response.

"It's … sixteen dollars." He had a cringing look on his face.

"YOU MAY KEEP THE CHANGE!"

"Thanks. Okay. I gotta ask. What the fuck?"

"MY HEAD WAS REMOVED IN AN EXPERIMENT TO SEE WHAT BEING HEADLESS IS LIKE!" Hey it was true.

"I guess that makes as much sense as anything."

"HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!"

I shut the door, leaving him standing there rubbing his eyes for some strange reason. I was just too hungry to keep talking. I sat down at the kitchen table, where I couldn't even see myself, but easily found a plate and took a slice back over to the dining room.

I played around with the virtual head options for a bit. For social situations, you could have the head appear fullscreen. There were lots of possibilities, from only a face, to a guys head, to a cartoon head. There was even a few other "joke" ones like the robot — a dog that turned everything you tried to say into a bark, a cat that could only meow or purr, a goldfish in a bowl that would only swim around. Soon enough I found I'd exhausted the options, all 53 of them, and being unable to decide on one, I shut the computer instead.
I ate the slice of pizza slowly, glad I'd been left with my sense of taste intact. My thoughts drifted to the next day, the approaching date with Tom, my neighbor. I tried to remember something more about him — there was this uneasy feeling I had, like there was something I'd forgotten…

—One Day Later—

He knocked. Next door the terrier started going crazy. What an adorably stupid dog, at least it wasn't mine. I opened the door, there he was looking purposefully across the parking lot before he turned to me and, looking over where my head should've been he said:

"Hello."

—Hi.

"Can I come in?"

—Yes.

He just stood there. Oh yea. I un-muted the TV where I'd plugged in my computer. On screen was a supersized animation of a french girl's head with teddy bear ears. Didn't look a thing like me.

"Please do!" said my TV head.

"Nice place," he said, glancing around. "I have the strangest sense of Deja Vu."

I laughed. An obnoxious giggling came from the TV.

"Ah, ziz laugh won't do!" I muttered. I flipped virtual heads, choosing a line-drawing cartoon of a girl with green hair.

"What do you think?" I asked. My matching voice sounded like every girl from every 90s after-school special ever.

"What do I think?" With a mischievous look, Tom picked up the remote and flicked off the TV.

I put my hands on my hips and tapped my foot. I was getting better at being expressive with my body.

"I'm just kidding," he said, turning it back on.

Slowly the image came back, a TV head sticking out her tongue.

"Are you bringing the TV to dinner then?"

I picked up the iPod and dropped my real head around my neck. Wait. Real head? Sure. Guess the way I think about this thing is starting to change.

—So let me be frank. Do you think this is weird?

"No, not really."

—I don't have a head, Tom. That's not a bit strange?

"Okay, it is. I just don't want to seem ah… like it's too weird for me. But it is kinda, yea."

—Okay, cause you know, I think it's a bit weird. By the way, when you look where my head would be, it just seems like you're staring off into space. You can look down if you want.

"Yea, I just didn't wanna…"

—You're quite a gentleman.

He smiled and glanced from the iPod screen to my camera. And winked. I felt my body silently sigh happily. I was enjoying this. Tom had a casual manner that was relaxing. I'm not the type to stress out, but recently I seem to be drawing a lot of attention and the extra eyes kind of set things on edge.

I took another sip of my drink, leaning way over so the straw went in right. From somewhere else in the dining room, I heard a too-loud whisper: "What if she can hear you?"

"Can I ask you something?"

—Yea.

"If you'd know from the get-go that they'd do this, would you still have gone through with it?"

—I don't know. Twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money. And it's only a week.

"But that doesn't answer the question. If someone, let's say a scientist in a lab coat had just flat-out asked you 'Hey, I'll pay you twenty grand and cut off your head for a week,' you'd have thought—"

—That he was crazy.

"But would you say yes or no?"

I took a moment.

—Yes.

"Ah," he grinned. "You know what, can I confide something to you?"

—Go ahead.

"I don't mean this to be taken the wrong way, but I like you better without a head. I'm not sure I would have asked you out if you had one, actually."

—Why is that?

"I couldn't say. Part of it, I find it easier to talk to you for some strange reason. But the other part, I've always ahh— Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I think the idea of a headless girl is sexy as hell."

—Woah. I wasn't ready for that.

"Sorry."

—For what? If that's what you really think, it's a complement. Now, can I ask why?

"Hard to say."

—Do you think of me as an object?

I removed the pendant and set it down on the table in front of him, so I was looking up right at him.

"Uh… A little. But more as a person who just … happens not to have a head."

—Wrong. I'm a doohickey on a string. This is me. Right here. This tiny black thing.

"Okay, fine. You're a necklace."

He picked me up, looking down at me or maybe at his own reflection in my black plastic shell.

"And quite a fine looking necklace." His eyes shot to my body, specifically my chest.

—I'm down here. Hey. Look at me! Me!

After a moment he looked down and laughed.

"Oh sorry."

—Yea, I bet you're sorry. I get it. You like me cause I don't have a head. You know this is temporary?

"You mentioned that. When do you get your head back?"

—Six days.

"Well that leaves a while then doesn't it?"

Our date progressed quite nicely. We got off the topic of my headlessness and onto other things — travel, movies, music. I was actually starting to like him a lot, but a thought was stirring in the back of my mind.

—So let me ask you something.

What's that?"

—This is my turn to be forward. I think I like you. But are you going to lose interest in me when they put my head back on?

"That would be incredibly foolish of me. I remember you from before, I always thought you were pretty. Then I saw you sans-head and I just thought, 'You know, I'm never going to get a chance like this again.'"

—Good answer. Just wanted to clear things up I guess.

"Well, let me ask you this. How much do you like being headless? If they somehow gave you the choice, after trying both, what would you do?"

—Interesting. I'm not sure, but I like having this little doohickey for a head. And I kind of like just not having one, just because its so different. But maybe it's too different, just because everyone is always staring at me. On the other hand, if this was a standing offer, and I mean the money here, twenty grand for a week, well I doubt I'd ever have a head again for a very long time.

"Yea, I can understand that. But just so you know, I don't mind if you want your head back. It's a pretty reasonable request."

—Lol.

He laughed. "Hey do you want to go dancing? I don't normally dance, but I want to with you."

—That'd be great. There's a club a couple blocks away we can walk there.

"Can I ask you a weird favor? Just an idea, you can take it however you want. But what do you think of leaving your head behind?"

—I'm not sure, I haven't known you for that long.

"No, no forget it," he got flustered. "Nevermind, I didn't think of how that could seem sketchy, sorry."

—Well, I just said I wasn't sure. But I think I can trust you, right?

"Absolutely. I just want to take you dancing and show you a good time. I promise."

We stashed my head in the car with my purse and iPod, leaving me truly headless for the first time. I took his arm and we walked away — I knew the way and he kept me on the sidewalk. Just as before, I found moving without being able to see surprisingly easy. Whatever had happened when my head was removed, I'd gained a great sense of spacial navigation. But Tom still had to make sure I didn't walk into traffic or hit any telephone polls.

We got to the club. I could feel the music through the floor, although I couldn't hear anything. Once we were out on the dance floor, I just let instinct take over, dancing to Tom's movements and to the surging bass I could feel in my ribs.

I'd wondered if being totally headless would cause any type of anxiety, but it was actually a very serene experience. I couldn't see or hear, but I could still dance. I was sure people were watching but I didn't care. I couldn't see them so it was as if Tom and I were the only two people that existed to me. And the throbbing bass.

I was really starting to like him too. Asking to leave my head in the car had surprised me, but he'd already admitted to me that he thought the idea of a headless woman was a turn-on. And even though I might look headless, I was still carrying around a fully-featured artificial head that was even better than a regular head in a lot of ways.

We danced for a couple hours, taking odd breaks to sit on one of the couches. I mostly just held his hand, or leaned against him. Tom seemed to be talking to someone because I could feel his voice in his chest. I asked about that later and he mentioned that he had to reassure a lot of people that I was real and alive.

We headed back to the car after a while. I was relieved at the thought of getting my head back. Is it strange that I'm calling it my head now? I mean it's just a black pendant on a string. But it's not just that, it's also my head.

But as he started to open the car door, I reached out and grabbed his hand. I pulled him into an embrace and with one hand popped off the fake neck that covered up my mouth. I licked my lips.

We kissed.