Male Curly Hair Help

Basically for ages i had really short hair which i thought was wavy and after a while i realised how dumb it looked so i decided to let it grow and discovered i have very tight curly hair, now being 16 and at school it is a right pain as everytime i change my hair everyone has to say something (positive or negative), now i dont want to get my hair cut but it is getting to a point where im just going to end up with an afro, i am into alternative music i.e. rock and metal so i need hair which fits into that scene but ive tried straightening with irons and hair drying etc. with some help from a more experienced person but it just sticks up too much. i want hair something like this http://forums.livingwithstyle.com/attachment.php?attac hmentid=107770&stc=1 but im ending up with a perm :'(. i dont mind just having it slightly curly like when my hair is wet and pushed down onto my head but as soon as it dries it goes up and out. Is there anyway to keep it how it is when it is wet or maybe make it all 'emoish' like in the picture?

please help, my hair causes soooo much hassle for me