That s all

I was 16 years old and had been thinking about getting my eyebrow pierced for a long time. Earlier that year i had met a guy who had a bunch of piercings (including his eyebrow) and i liked how it looked. Also, i hated the stereotype that was being given to people with piercings... the way people think "nice girls don't get piercings" and "oh they're just looking or attention". Now, i'm a very "nice" girl and i knew that having metal shoved through my skin wouldn't change who i was inside, so with my descision to get this done came the hope that the people i loved would understand the same. Plus, it was what I wanted and i'm pretty selfish in that i do what i want despite what anyone else may think.

So on August 24, 3 of my friends came and picked me up and we drove 45 mins to the closest town that would do piercings on 16 year olds (all the other places don't do them untill you're 18). There were a lot of detours but finally we made it. as soon as we knew we were getting close, we all lit up cigarettes cuz we were scared shitless. none of us had ever had anything pierced before and we were all so terrified. we pulled up in front of the place, parked, and walked inside. i was getting my eyebrow, one of my friends (jessica) was getting her tounge and another of my friends (amanda) was getting her bely button. my other friend (robyn) was just along for the ride. we filled out all the paper work, showed our id's and paid the $50 it cost us each to have the procedure done. When i was filling out my paper work, i was shaking so bad that as my friend looked over my shoulder, she pointed to the top line on the page and inquired "what does that say?" i looked at it and didn't know myself.. but i think it was probably my name.

We were still really nervous because all these people were hanging out in the studio, all filled with holes and covered in ink and here we were, bare and fully intact skin. Finally, a large and semi-mean looking lady came out of a room towards the back and called out "eyebrow!" I actually screamed. My friends grabbed my arms and tried dragging me back there but i refused to budge. I was neraly in tears i was so terrified. I was begging my friends to go first but no one wanted to. the lady laughed and said "shit, it seems like you guys think i'll kill ya or somethin!" Finally, Amanda (bellybutton) agreed to go first. The lady seemed annoyed at this and made a comment about having everything for the eyebrow all set up but she let amanda go first. she sat in the chair and i held her hand, watching the whole thing. the lady cleaned the skin, marked it, clamped it, and then pierced it. I squirmed more than amanda did because it looked like it hurt like hell, but she sw ore it didn't.

then it was my turn. i got up in the chair and i was sooooo scared... i was hyperventilating and almost in tears. I told the lady i was going to cry and she warned me that i had better not because if i did, she would take a picture of me crying, frame it and hang it up on the wall in the lobby for every customer to see because i would have been the first person in 8 years to cry. naturally, with a threat like that, i shut my mouth. Robyn was holding my hand and jessica and amanda were sitting accross the room, watching. as the lady was getting my skin ready to be pierced, robyn was talking to me about how school was gonna start in a few days and how we were all gonna graduate soon and stuff. finally, the lady said take a deep breath and then exhale. i did and i felt a slight pressure on the skin and a pop.

the lady turned away. it hadn't hurt AT ALL... i actually laughed and said "that's it?" the lady laughed and told me that that was it. she put the ring in and i hopped down off the chair. after a few minutes though, i felt pretty nauseous. That didn't really surprise me because it runs in my family for people to have that sort of reaction to needles. usually when i get blood drawn or a shot, i either throw up or pass out. i had a glass of cold water and tried to rest my head but i was NOT feeling well. it was time for jessica to get her tounge done and she didn't want anyone in the room with her except robyn so amanda and i went back out in to the lobby area. the lady had given me a garbage can and i ended up throwing up once in the can. one of the tattoo artists came out of the tattooing side of the place and saw me sitting there with my head between my knees. he patted me on the head and asked if i was okay. i told him i would be in a few minutes.

jessica and robyn came out, the tattoo man handed me a plastic bag and we left. on the way home, we stopped at dairy queen and i bought jessica ice cream for her tounge. we got lost and had to stop for directions, but the only person who could remember the directions was jessica and with her tounge pierced, we couldn't understand what she was saying so it really didn't help much.

It's December now and i've had my eyebrow done for 4 months and 2 days. exactly a month and 2 days ago, i went back to the same place with 3 different friends and got my labret done. my family has adjusted well to how i look... i must admit, they weren't crazy about them at first but i think they realize it hasn't changed me at all.