Body Defilement

As promised,
a detailed description of my very first (and last!) piercing.

****

It was spontaneous.
Beth and I were eating quesadillas and salad when Shelby texted me.

"We should get piercings tonight!" The text read.

I laughed and did a classic eye-roll. Yeah right.

It was a mistake to read said text to Beth, who has an addiction to having needles stuck in her body. Once word was out, I knew we had to go.

I agreed to tag along but refused to have anything done. They squealed about getting their belly-buttons pierced, and off into the warm spring night we went.

Our destination: Primal Urge Tatooz (classy, yes?)

They practically skipped inside, eager to deflile their bodies (joke) and I followed suit. Once inside, it got interesting. I spotted the nose rings and drooled over the shiny diamond studs.

"Should I get my nose pierced?" I asked my piercing-junkie friends.

"Yes!" They exclaimed.

I made little argument.
I signed a paper, showed some ID, and the three of us followed our piercer to a "back room." (Sketch, right?)

Beth and Shelby got their belly-buttons pierced. My turn -my nose- was last. I'm sure I did this purposefully, but that wasn't in the forefront of my mind. I was in fact thinking,

"my parents are going to shoot me dead."

However, I'm a brave (legal adult) soul, so I hopped up on the table and let her disinfect my freckled nose. She then took a marker and made a little dot on my nose. I examined it in the mirror. "A little lower," I requested, to which she complied.

She then took medal clamps and squeezed my nose. I was starting to get nervous.

"Does it hurt?" I asked her. She gave me a smile. Of comfort or humor I'll never know, but I chose to believe comfort.

"Just close your eyes," were here instructions.

Who was I to disobey a woman holding a needle up to my face?

My eyes fluttered closed and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I felt a sting as the needle intruded my skin.

I think I may have kicked her in the knee. Even so, she encouraged me and said I was doing great, and I cheered myself on inside my head. It was all over very fast and I was surprised at how little it hurt.

I am a really tough girl with a high pain tolerance. I knew I could do this without crying. When I said this in front of the piercer, she said that you can't not shed a tear when you get your nose pierced. I don't know specefics, but something about nerves was said.

So of course we had to get a picture of my tear. (And cute nose ring.)

It was, by far, the most defiant thing I have ever done in my entire life. Why did I do this?
It's college.