…
BELLA:
I am walking down Forks' Main Street hugging myself with glee. Wait until Edward finds out what I'm about to do, he's going to flip. I am getting my own back in a slightly childish way I admit to myself but I have wanted to do it for so long and he has always told me "no". I don't usually obey everything he says but he was so insistent and at that point even I wasn't 100% sure, but after what happened in Portland, I decide now is the time to do it.
I nervously look around before I walk down the side street towards the piercing shop. I haven't ever been in there before and the fear of the unknown is starting to prick at me. Maybe I should have bought Alice? She would have probably agreed with Edward that it was a bad idea and told him though I'm not sure. Rosalie would have definitely loved the idea and dragged me along even if I changed my mind. But I hardly see them these days and I don't want to be influenced by anyone, so I decide to be the brave and independent woman I always hoped to be and go by myself.
A small bell rings as I step over the threshold, making the assistant look up from behind the till and smile warmly. I instantly relax. As I make my way towards him I look at the glass cabinets containing some of the strangest looking jewelry I have ever seen. Some of the metal designs are large and intimidating and I can't decipher some of the descriptions. I have no idea what a 'labret' is and I blush as I find myself staring at some genital jewelry. Hmm, I don't think I'll ever be up for that.
Finally I get to the assistant and smile. "I'm thinking about getting my lip pierced?" I ask it as if it is a question, realizing it's not and hoping he will pick up the thread and answer me. I relax when he smiles again. "Sure, okay, well, its $50. You get pierced with a 15mm bar then you will have to come back in ten days to get a smaller bar put in".
"Okay," I nod, "I'm going to get something to eat and think about it. Can I get it done today?"
"Yes, just come back when you're ready." He hands me the shop's business card and I walk out and merge onto Main Street. I need to raise my blood sugar; just thinking about getting pierced is making me feel a bit woozy. I had my ears pierced when I was 14 but that was with a gun, not by a hand-threaded needle and my Mom was holding my hand the entire time. I purchase some Reese's Pieces and eat them quickly, thinking if I don't do it now I'm going to chicken out forever. I finish them quickly and make sure I don't have any candy stuck in my teeth or gums, then head back to the shop.
"Back so soon? You're eager."
I grin and pass him the $50 and he hands me a sheet to complete. I answer no to all of the medical questions (Are you HIV positive? Are you pregnant? etc) and fill in my age and contact details. I hand it back to him and look around the room, making sure I avoid eye contact with the scary large glass cabinet.
"Great, take a seat and I'll let Jacob know."
The assistant goes to a back room and a boy follows him out. He's sorta beautiful, with glowing tanned skin. He's buff and has long, dark, almost bistre hair. He is wearing a black t-shirt and brown cut-off shorts. He has a black flesh tunnel in each ear and what looks like tribal tattoos on his arms. I've always found flesh tunnels weird; the idea that you can stick your finger through someone's ear freaks me out.
"You next? You got anyone you want to come in with you?" He looks around the empty shop.
"No, just me," I reply and follow him into the back room expecting to meet the actual piercer because this kid looks…young. The room is very minimalist, with tattoo artwork on the walls, a bench in one corner and a table and sink opposite it.
He double taps the blue padded bench, which is covered in paper, and I scoot up on to it.
"Have you ever been pierced before?" He looks at me with deep chocolate eyes and I catch my breath.
"No," I squeak, as I look at the intimidating scissors, forceps and needles.
"So what do you want?" He moves closer to me and gently takes my head in his hands. Wow, he actually smells pretty good.
"I'd like my lip pierced, down off to the right hand side."
"Show me."
I point where I want it and taking a pen, he makes a small dot.
"Are you sure that is where you want it?" He points to the mirror behind me and I look at my mouth in the mirror.
"I eventually want a ring, is that an okay place to put it?"
"Yeah, it's just below your lip line, so it's perfect for a ring. You'll have to come back a third time though. I'd prefer it if you came back after six weeks for a ring so we can put the smaller bar in about ten days from now and make sure it's healed properly."
I double check the position then look at myself properly; I'm going to have a piercing there in the next few minutes. It's so exciting and I think of Edward's face when he sees it. I do hope he loves it, even if the control freak in him flips at first.
I look again at Jacob, as he is taking instruments out of the autoclave. "How long have you been piercing?" I ask, because you look about fourteen, I silently add.
"Since I was fifteen; this is my father's shop." He raises an eyebrow at me and doesn't look too impressed that I have asked, but I have to continue. "And how old are you now?" I gulp.
"Nineteen," he replies, deadpan. "I look younger, huh?"
I nod and feel bad. He must get this a lot.
"Are you ready?" He comes and stands in front of me and I part my legs so he can get close up. "Close your mouth, you don't want to taste this."
Not realizing I still have my mouth gaping open after he told me his age, I slam it shut and he wipes an alcohol swab over the area.
"Don't worry," he says, reading my mind. "I don't need to do the inside. Your mouth is self-cleaning."
He takes a plastic tube off the table and snaps it open in front of me, "Just so you know that the stud is sterile".
I am too nervous to reply as I watch him pick up the clamp. "Open up". His eyes darken and narrow and I take a deep breath. He puts the clamp around my lip and squeezes it tight. I want to cry out, not in pain, but shock and discomfort, but I manage to control myself.
"Okay, now close your eyes." I willingly shut my eyes before I see him pick up the needle and feel him push it slowly through the layers of skin from my lip through to my mouth. Ouch, this hurts! It feels like it is taking an age to pierce my lip and again I want to cry out but I refuse to. I just grip tightly onto the bench. I feel him move around and pick something up.
"I'm just going to thread the ball on now," he says gently, "Nearly over."
I mumble something incoherent, as my mouth is still ajar, and I open my eyes to watch him. We stare at each other before he tightens the ball up and releases the clamp. He looks at me, worried, as he takes a q-tip and removes a tiny spot of blood from underneath the bar.
"All over. Are you okay?" He throws the needle in the sharps bucket.
I nod and instantly look in the mirror.
"I know the bar looks huge, but it needs to be that big because your lip is going to swell up."
"Uh huh," is all I can mumble, as I try not to open my mouth.
"You want to get some wound wash, and using a q-tip, gently clean around the area twice a day. You'll be given an aftercare sheet on your way out." He pauses and looks at me. "You sure you feel alright?" He's making me feel paranoid now but I feel fine.
"I'm great. Thanks!" I yell and smile the best I can, and walk out of the back room, picking up the aftercare instructions from the assistant who waves goodbye to me.
…
JACOB:
Sundays are pretty whack at the shop. I only work five hours but I'm lucky if I pierce more than a handful of people. Also, I have to put up with my assistant Embry's incessant chatter about girls and cars. Forks isn't really the most edgy of places and I have probably pierced all the alternative kids between the ages of 16 and 21 in the six months the shop had been open. We used to have a shop in La Push on the coast but ran out of clientele after a few years. I guess the same thing will happen here eventually.
I hear the shop door's bell jingle and double check for the hundredth time that the autoclave is switched on and everything is ready. I pray that whoever it is actually wants something done and go back to reading American Iron Magazine. I'm trying to fix up an old bike but with custom fittings. It's the only reason why I do this part-time job. I hear Embry and a girl chatting and a few moments later the bell jingles again. Dammit! I throw the magazine down. I'm so bored!
Embry pops his head around, "She said she'd be back in a bit, Jake."
"Sure, sure," I agree and scoop my flayed magazine off the floor, wrapping the front cover back around it. I eat my lunch in the shop with Embry and chat about him getting some buffalo horn ear jewelry now that he's started stretching his ears like me. A few minutes later I get lost in thought about my bike and head back into the side room for more research just as the bell jingles again.
I hope she's made up her mind, I fume. As a professional I don't mind if people take the time to come to a decision but I would really prefer that they stick to it afterwards. There's nothing more frustrating than having to clean and reapply little dots all over someone's face because they didn't taken the courtesy of thinking through what they want before they turn up.
Embry comes into the room with the girl's medical and contact details. "She's ready when you are, Jake."
That's more like it! I follow him back out and am surprised when I see the girl in front of me. She isn't much older than me but she seems younger; the way she looks at me with her head slightly tilted down and to one side. She has similar coloring to me; brunette hair, burnt sienna eyes but her skin is very pale and she's very petite.
"You next? You got anyone you want to come in with you?"
Her lips form a pout whilst I look for a boyfriend or at least a female friend. The shop is empty; she's quite brave coming in here on her own. Most girls bring someone with them for moral support, most guys too, come to think about it.
"No, just me," she replies as I beckon her to follow me into the back room. I double tap the bench and she jumps up on to it.
"Have you ever been pierced before?" I ask as I mentally try to concentrate on what I'm doing and not stare at her soft face and full, red, succulent lips.
"No." I can tell she's trying to sound brave but there is a slight quiver in her voice. I ask her exactly what she wants and it gives me the excuse to move up close to her and get a better look. She is fiddling nervously with her hands as she points to where she wants the stud.
I take my pen and make a small dot and ask her to double-check it in the mirror. I watch as she turns around, her hair gently whipping over her shoulders. She smells like long summers and hot rain and freshly cut grass. I catch myself just before I lean in to smell her again. She's looking at her lip excitedly, with a secret smirk on her face. I feel my dick stirring so I concentrate on taking the sterile instruments out of the autoclave.
"How long have you been piercing?"
Damn. Just when I was starting to like her. I get asked questions like this all the time and I know exactly where she is going with her next question. I tell her and patiently wait for her to ask, "And how old are you now?"
I reply and hide my annoyance. No one ever asks me my qualifications or how many people I've actually pierced, they only care how old I am and how young I look. I try to curtail my anger but I have a terrible temper and I am getting fired up now.
"Are you ready?" I say, gritting my teeth as I move closer to her, making her part her legs so I can stand between them. I clean the skin below her lip. Her skin is very soft, her sweet breath smells of peanut butter.
"Open up," I order. A voice in my head tells me to calm down, but I push it deep down inside me. I clamp down onto her lip, so I can see exactly where to push the needle in, and keep her mouth still.
I instruct her to close her eyes and taking the curved needle I slowly push through the skin. Normally I'd put it in much quicker but I am annoyed at her asking me my age in that tone, and I am slightly enjoying inflicting pain on her.
I look at her closed eyes, as I am almost through to the other side. Why isn't she flinching? This must be quite painful, especially if she's never had a piercing before and doesn't know what to expect. I start to feel bad as I see her eyes screw up a little bit tighter and I know she does feel it but she doesn't want to make a sound. I screw the ball onto the stud as her eyes open warily and she watches me. Her soft pink tongue sticks slightly out of her mouth and I feel my dick twitch again and start to harden.
"All over. Are you okay?" I turn my back to her to throw the needle in the sharps bin and quickly rearrange myself but she is too busy looking in the mirror and smiling through a wince. I feel guilty again as she touches the stud tenderly with her finger. She is beginning to look a little faint, "You sure you feel alright?" Maybe I should walk her home, close the shop up early and make sure she's okay? Why doesn't she have anyone with her? I can't believe a girl that beautiful is single.
She jumps up from the bench. "I'm great," she says. She flounces out the door before turning her head to me over her shoulder. "Thanks!"
"See you in ten days," I yell at her. Gee, she didn't even ask my name, and as I hear the bell jingle for a final time I feel quite pleased that I will get to see her again, but not soon enough.
…
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