The Voice (Luke Hemmings)

56. Friend From The Past

I was laying on my stomach, resting my head on the pillows. My feet were swinging in the air while I was typing away on my laptop. 'Nearby piercing shops LA' Was typed into the Google Searchbar. Jup. I was getting a piercing. I just need something... New. And I've always liked piercings, so... I don't have any idea of what I want yet. I know what I don't want, but I hope the people in the shop can help me with picking something. I opened Google Maps and saw a store nearby. I read the reviews quickly and learned that it was a new shop, only being opened for 6 months. But they had very good reviews. I went to their website and looked at the photos. There were a few piercings and tattoos too. Then there was a photo of a cute guy with black hair and blue eyes. Don't worry, he's not at cute as Luke. 'Enzo Richards, owner and tattooist." Was written below it. I went to the next photo and gasped. It was a red-haired girl who looked badass with a blue bandana over her head and tattoos everywhere. And even though she changed, I recognized her. It was Quinn. "Quinn Wilson, owner and piercer." Was written below the photo. Owner? She opened her own shop? With her... Friend? Boyfriend? I have to go there. Like, now. I quickly made a photo of the address, closed my laptop and ran downstairs. "I'm gonna go to the city for a while. Be back soon!" I yelled. "Kay!" I heard someone yell. I opened the door, walked down the driveway and fast-walked 5 minutes to the nearest bus stop.

Quinn was on my mind the whole bus ride. She was probably doing good, since she had her own shop... I was excited to see her again. She changed so much the last two years. She still has the red hair like before.But now she has tattooed sleeve... Awesome. The bus stopped and I stepped out after asking for directions.

I saw it from a distance already. A small shop which looked quite modern. Not like those typical red velvet with black skulls tattoo shops. It still looked awesome though. I really hope she'll be working today... I opened the door and walked in while holding my breath. What if she was here? How would she react? Would she recognize me? I closed the door behind me and turned around. "Hei! Welcome. What can I do for you?" A man behind the counter said. I recognized him from the photo. His name is Enzo. The guy who owns the shop with Quinn. I nodded. "Yea... Is Quinn working today?" I asked, quite nervously. He frowned. "Yea, she can be here any minute." He said and I nodded. "Is it okay if I wait here for her?" I asked and he nodded. "Sure." He said. I sat down on the couch and he sat down next to me. "You know... You look familiar." He said and I frowned. "Um... Okay?" I said and he looked deep in thought. "Wait here for a minute." He said. He stood up and walked to a room in the back. After a couple seconds he came back with something in his hand. He held it next to my head and compared the two. I turned my head to look at the photo and saw that it was a photo of me. Quinn must've kept it there. "Are you Skyler? Quinn's half sister?" He asked and I nodded with a smile. "Yea. I'm staying nearby and I wanted a piercing. And then I found your website and saw the photo of her." I said and he nodded. "She's going to be so excited, gosh. She told me a bit about you." He said. "Are you her boyfriend?" I asked and he nodded. "Of 3 years now." He said and I smiled. "And you're the tattooist and she's the piercer?" I asked and he nodded. "Jup, that's how it goes. But seriously. She's going to be so happy when she sees you. She can be here any minute." He said and I smiled. "Wait, I have a plan. Come with me." He said. Ehh... Okay? I followed him to another room where the piercing takes place. "Okay, she'll be here in a minute and then it'll be a surprise." He said and I nodded. "Okay." I said. "Great." He said with a bright smile and walked back. I chuckled and sat on one of the seats. How will she react? Will she hate me because I didn't try to contact her? Or was she glad I didn't? But will she be happy if I'm here then...? I heard a door slam. "Hey honey." I heard Enzo say and I heard her mumble something back. "There's a girl who wants a piercing. She's in your room already." He said and I smiled. Smart. "Okay." I heard her say. I stood up from the seat and waited nervously. I heard footsteps coming my way and the door opened a few seconds later. Quinn walked in with a smile on her face. It took her a couple seconds to take in my appearance and recognize me and her face turned into shock. "Skyler?" She asked and I nodded. A bright smile made it's way on her face and she walked towards me with her arms wide open. We stayed like that for a couple of seconds, the both of us not saying anything. "Little rebel. Wanting a piercing huh?" She said and I chuckled. She pulled away and scanned my face. "You haven't changed one bit." She said and I rolled my eyes. "But you... Gosh, I love the new look. Seriously. It's awesome." I said and she smiled. "Thanks! How are you doing?" She asked while dragging me to the main room again, where Enzo was also. "I've been good. Great actually. You?" I asked and she nodded. "Yea, great also. Started my own store, got a boyfriend, my mom got remarried... I'm doing great." She said and I nodded with a smile. "What have you been up to?" She asked and I shrugged. "I moved to Sydney, Australia." I said. "What the hell are you doing here then?" She asked and I shushed her. "Shhj. I wasn't finished yet." She chuckled and I continued. "I got a job at a bar, as a singer. It's awesome. They're very nice people. And after that a friend of mine signed in for an audition for The Voice of Australia..." I said and she gasped. "No way! What were the results?" She asked and I shrugged. "Don't know yet. The finals are in 2 weeks. I'm here with the contestants and the judges. We're staying at a beach house nearby actually." I said. "Wow, that's great. I'm going to watch all your performances on YouTube later tonight. Seriously. You made it all the way to the finals? That's amazing! Congratulations! You better win though. Else you'll disappoint me." She said and I chuckled. "I'll try." I said and she smiled. "Oh, this is my boyfriend, Enzo. Skyler, Enzo. Enzo, Skyler." She said and I nodded. "Yea, we met." I said. "What? When?" She asked confused. "Like... 3 minutes ago." He said and I chuckled. "Ahh." She said. "Talking about boyfriends... Calum Hood? Are you fucking serious? He better be good for you..." She said and I chuckled. "Yea, he is. He's awesome." I said and she nodded. "If he isn't, give me a ring and I'll send Enzo to torture him okay?" She said and I laughed. "Sure. I will." I said and Enzo chuckled. "But were you really here for a piercing?" She asked and I nodded. "Yea... Don't know what though..." I said and she nodded. "I have a few pictures here somewhere..." She said and rummaged behind the counter. After a while she walked back with a book in her hands. She sat next to me again and opened it. There were pictures of all sorts of piercing in there. "First up... Lip piercings." She said while pointing at different pictures. Lip piercings were really cool, but... What if it gets stuck with Luke's ones when we're kissing? Then I'll have to take it on the left side, like him. But then we'll be one of those annoying couples who have the same everything. No thanks. I shook my head and Quinn nodded while going to another part of the book. "Tongue?" She asked and I shook my head. "I can also do a split tongue if you want?" She asked and I shook my head furiously. "No thanks. I still have to be able to sing in the finals." I said and she chuckled. "Nose?" She asked and I thought for a moment. I guess I like them, but... Isn't all the attention going to your nose? I don't know. They're awesome though. But I'm not sure about it. "Maybe." I said and she nodded. "Okay. Then we only have brow piercings left in this book. There are so much more, but then you'll have to come with something specifically." Quinn said and I thought for a moment. Brow piercing... That sounded awesome. Like Michael's. His is awesome too. She showed me a couple pictures. They're really cute. But not cute at the same time. I don't know. "Yea, that looks awesome." I said while admiring the photos. "Okay. We have the horizontal and vertical brow piercing. And you can choose between a barbell and a ring." She said and I thought for a while. "Then I'm gonna go for..." A horizontal one is more like... For beauty. I don't know why I think that. Maybe it's the photos. But I don't want it to look like I wanted it because It's beautiful. I just want it because they're awesome. I know, the reason is so weird... "I'd like a vertical one with a barbell." I said and she nodded. "You have the perfect face for that. Oehh, so exciting, piercing my sister." She said excited. I chuckled and stood up, following her back into the other room. "Okay, lay down please." She said and went into full work-mode. I laid back onto the dentist-like chair. Getting my first piercing! Woohoo. Well, beside my helix of course... But that's not major. Quinn put black gloves on and grabbed a few things from small boxes on the kitchen-like counter. She disinfected my brow and carefully clamped my brow between the clamp. After that she grabbed a big needle and hovered it above the clamp. "Just relax and don't frown." She said. I hummed and relaxed, closing my eyes. I felt an uncomfortable pinch in my brow and saw that the needle was through already. "Damn." I said and Quinn chuckled. That didn't hurt at all. Quinn got the clamp off my brow, but the needle was still through it. She held the barbell above the needle. She pressed the barbell in at the same time she pulled the needle out. She screwed the end of the barbell on and took a step back. "Gurl, you look per-fect.' She said and I chuckled. I stood up and walked to the mirror in the corner of the room. My brow was a bit red, but the glinstering piercing stood out. It looked awesome. I smiled brightly and turned around. "Thank you so much! It's awesome!" I said and hugged her. "No problem. It's my job." She said and I chucked. She threw the gloves away, along with the needle and some other things she used. We walked back to the main room, where Enzo was lying on the couch. "Looks great!" He said and shot me a thumbs-up. "Thanks." I said with a smile and sat on the couch opposite of him since he took the whole couch. "So... How much will it be?" I asked while grabbing my wallet out of my pocket. "Phsj, silly." Quinn said while sitting down on Enzo's hip, since there wasn't another place to sit. "I'm serious. I don't want you to do this for free." I said and she shook her head. "Nonono. Wait... Just see it as a present for.... Your birthday?" She said and I chuckled. "That isn't for another 2 months." I said. "Well, I won't be able to be there. So this will be your present." She said and left no space for discussion. I nodded slowly. "Okay... Well thanks." I said and she nodded. "Anytime." She said and smiled. "I can't believe you're actually in front of me. It's so weird after these years." She said and I nodded. At that moment my phone started to buzz and play Cold Heart Bitch by Jet. I looked who it was and saw that it was Hayley. "Sorry, I need to take this." I said and Quinn nodded. "Yoo." I said into the phone. "Hey, we're going to dinner in the city in half an hour... I was just wondering where you were. And if you'll be there." Hayley said. "Where is it? I'm in the city right now, so that won't be a problem I think... I can meet you all there?" I asked. "Yea, that's fine. It's called Craft Los Angeles." She said. "Okay, wait a minute." I cut her off and I turned to Quinn. "Do you know where Craft Los Angeles is? The restaurant?" I asked and she nodded. "Yea, it's nearby. You can be there in 10 minutes." She said and I nodded, turning back to the phone. "I'm nearby. I'll see you guys there?" I asked. "Yea, see you there. Laters." Hayley said before hanging up. I put my phone back into my pocket again and looked at Quinn who was looking at me. "Who was that?" She asked, being her nosey self. I grinned. I'm going to make her so jealous. "Hayley." I said and she nodded. "Your friend or something?" She asked. "Yea." I said and nodded. "Hayley Williams." I said and she was silent for a moment. "What the actual fuck. Are you fucking kidding me?" She said and I laughed. "Nope, the one and only." Her eyes grew wide. "You fucker, give me her number!" She said and I chuckled. "No way!" She thought for a while. "Is she from the show? The Voice?" She asked and I nodded. "Yea, she's my mentor." I said. "Who are the other mentors?" She asked. "Luke Hemmings, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran." I said. "Seriously? That's fucking awesome. So you know them personally?" Enzo asked. He was still lying down on the couch with quinn sitting on him. I nodded. "Pretty much." I said and he shook his head. "Lucky bastard." he said and I chuckled. "You need someone to bring you to Craft? Where they'll be?" Quinn asked. I nodded my head hesitantly. "I can bring you! And you can introduce me to all of them!" She said and I chuckled. "Sure." I said and she began to have a fangirl moment. "When do you need to be there?" She asked and I looked at the time. "In half an hour." I said. It was 6.42pm now. "Great. I'll get ready and Enzo will tell you how to take care of your piercing!" She said and disappeared into a back room. Enzo stood up and I followed him to the counter. "Okay. Firstly, don't touch the piercing with dirty hands. Wash them before touching it. If you take care of it, you have to put some water on a cotton ball and place it on the piercing." Enzo said and I nodded. He grabbed a bottle from behind him and set it in front of him. "This is a mixture of soap and sea salt. Put some on your washed fingertips and apply it to the skin and the piercing. After that rinse it off and dry it with a clean paper towel." He said and I nodded. Kinda easy. If I don't forget to do it. "Don't use any hair removers like plucking, shaving, waxing... All of those things girls tend to do." I scoffed and he smiled at me with a cheeky grin. "You can change the piercing after 6 weeks if there aren't any problems. It won't be fully healed until 3 months, so you have to be careful if you change it after 6 weeks. And if there are any problems come back as soon as possible. Or go to a piercing shop back in Sydney." He said and gave me the bottle. I nodded and took it from him. "Okay, thanks." I said and put it in my bag. "Okay... Ready?" Quinn asked and I nodded. "Okay lego." She said. She kissed Enzo quickly before walking out of the shop. "Bye! It was nice to meet you!" I said to Enzo. "Same! I'll see you some other time!" He said and I nodded before walking out after Quinn.