The rulebreaker ✔

Chapter 15: No tattoos and piercings

"Come in," the tattoo artist shouts, and we both go in. I'm literally shaking as I step inside. We decided to get a matching sun and moon tattoo. Austin's getting the sun and I'm getting the moon.

"Where do you want to get it done?" he asks us. I point to my wrist.

"You sure?" Austin asks me. "It hurts less on the shoulder."

I nod, "Ok then we'll both get it on our left wrist," he said.

"Who's going first?" he asks, and I point at Austin who laughs and sits on the chair. The artist is fat balding man who looks remarkably like Donald duck (the principal not the cartoon).

I sit on the chair to Austin's right and watch as he rolls up Austins sleeve and cleans his wrist and forearm with a wet wipe. Then he brings out a pen and draws the design on his skin. It's mesmerizing; the precision, the beauty of the sun and how he swirls the ink around. After he's done with the design and Austin approves it, he brings out the tattoo gun.

I almost faint at the sight of the needle. He plugs in the gun and brings it close to his skin then begins outlining the design. Austin winces and reaches for my hand and holds tight. Apart from a few sharp intakes of breath and wincing a couple of times he shows no indication that he's in pain. I play the second episode of game of thrones and plug in my earphones. We both wear one each and continue watching our show.

After ten minutes, the artist taps Austin on the shoulder and signals that he's done. I glance at his arm and gasp. It's amazing. The fine lines of the sun join up together to form a beautiful pattern. But his arm is swollen red. The artist comes back with an ice pack and gives it to Austin.

"I love it," he says to the artist, "Thank you," he smiles and the tattoo artist nods.

He gestures for me to sit on the chair.

I feel my legs turn to jelly as I switch places with Austin. While the artist replaces his needle, I lean forward and whisper, "How much did it hurt on a scale of 1-10?"

"four," he whispers. That calms me down somewhat and Austin plays the show again as the artist begins to draw the moon design. It tickles somewhat.

"I'm starting with the needle," he says after a few minutes, "Just relax and take a deep breath,"

My head bursts with pain as he inserts the needle, and the sharp whirring of the gun clouds my hearing. It feels as though someone is driving a knife through my skin and I scream and clutch Austins hand. Hard.

"It's ok, bear cub, relax," he says patting my hair. If I wasn't in agony, I would have slapped his hand away. Is Austin even human? I wonder. I scream again and a tear escapes my eye. Austin wipes it away gently and wraps an arm around me. The butterflies in my stomach distract me somewhat from the pain.

After an eternity of agonizing pain, screaming and crying, the artist stops the gun and swings my arm off the table. I stop crying and look at it. It's beautiful.

My veins are throbbing, but I love the design. I press the ice pack to my skin and rub it. Then I place my hand next to Austin's. Our tattoos look beautiful together.

I smile through my tears.

"How much was it out of 10?" he asks me.

"11," I sigh.

"Who is getting their ears pierced?" the receptionist asks us.

"Me," Austin says, and we walk over to the jewelry shop.

Austin selects a simple silver stud and I take a golden nose ring and a silver bellybutton stud.

Secretly, I've always wanted to get my nose and bellybutton pierced but I've always been too chicken.

We sit down on the chair and a lady walks over to Austin After drawing dot on both his ears, she shows it to him and he nods. Then he grabs my wrist as the lady brings the gun to his ear lobe and inserts the jewelry and presses the trigger.

"Ah," he mutters, and she does the other one.

He examines it in the mirror, "I look hot, don't I?" he asks me.

I ignore his question and focus on my fear instead. The nose piercing is over in a minute and is barely a sting, but it's the bellybutton that I'm super scared about.

The lady tells me to lie down on the table and lifts up my top a bit. Then she cleans my stomach with anti septic and brings out the needle. It's HUGE.

I turn to my side and fold my legs up close. I can't do this. Austin holds my hand and squeezes it gently. I feel a bit self-conscious lying down in front of Austin with my full stomach exposed, but I couldn't bear to get it done alone, "It'll be over before you know it," he says.

I turn back to the front and take a deep breath. Then I straighten my legs. The lady sits down next to me and brings the needle close. I shut my eyes tightly and before I can help it a tear rolls down my eyes.

I feel the sharp pain as the needle enters my skin and another sting as it come out of the other end, "All done my dear," the lady nods encouragingly as she inserts the jewelry and shuts the hook, then rubs some ointment.

I sit up and Austin high fives me. "You were so good, I'm proud of you," he says, and I smile. The piercing looks so good, "It looks so pretty," he says and touches it with his finger. My heart races.

I stand up in front of the mirror and admire the piercing as Austin listens to their instructions.

Then Austin pays for everything. "You can't do that," I tell him. "Why not?" he asks, "I was the fun who forced you,"

Then we head to the car and sit down. "You must hate me so much," Austin says laughing.

"I could never hate you," I whisper, "We got matching tattoos which are permanent. How do we know we are going to remain friends forever?" I asked him.

"You think I'll let you go that easily?" Austin smirks at me and I feel that familiar warmth buzzing through me again.