Friends and hair advice

First off, don't predispose yourself so much towards hating it! Try to be optimistic instead, or at least open-minded. Most of the time nothing is as bad as gossip makes it seem. You might actually like it, if you give it a fair chance.
If you don't like it, don't lie and say you do, but definitely don't freak out about it, either. Just find a nice, amusing adjective and go with that, like if it's punky you can say it's "pointy" or "sticky-outty" or something. Just remember to say it in a cute, upbeat way rather than sounding critical, and it should work fine.