Chapter Text
The flier advertisement for the current sale going on outside the Piercing Pagoda had naturally caught Jade’s attention as she and Tori had walked by the place in the mall, and before she even knew what was happening, Tori had found herself being dragged into the small shop by her girlfriend.
The pierced and tattooed man behind the counter immediately recognized Jade, offering her a friendly smile despite his slightly intimidating appearance.
“Hey, Jade, you here for the two for one special?” he asked. “Only ten bucks each.”
“You know it, Axl,” Jade replied, before nodding to Tori. “It’s time for this girl to get her first piercing.”
“Jade, I don’t know about this,” Tori immediately piped up, shrinking back a bit from the slightly intimidating look of the man behind the counter as he looked at her.
“Take a look at our piercing menu, maybe it’ll give you an idea,” he said, pushing a laminated piece of paper across the counter towards Tori. She hesitantly took it and looked it over. She slowly scanned the options: nose piercings ($15), eyebrow piercings ($20), belly piercings ($30)...
“Uh, I don’t think that’s how you spell ‘uvula’,” she said, once her eyes had made it near the bottom of the list.
“Tori, that’s not ‘uvula’,” Jade said. Tori blushed upon the realization, and quickly pushed the paper back across the counter without another word.
“I’ve been wanting to get another one of these,” Jade said as a change of subject, pointing to her eyebrow. The man behind the counter nodded.
“That works,” he said, before looking at Tori. “And you?”
“I guess I could pierce my ears,” she reluctantly said, but the man shook his head.
“The special is one hole, the ears are two holes.”
“That’s boring anyway,” Jade said, giving Tori a playful nudge with her elbow. “Why don’t you go for the uvula piercing?”
Tori blushed again as Jade shot her a wink.
“You’d look nice with a lip ring,” the man suggested.
“Are you gonna let him talk to me like that?” Tori asked, smirking at Jade.
“I know,” Jade said, inspiration suddenly striking her. She turned and pointed to Tori’s midsection. “Belly piercing.”
“Navel ring works,” the man agreed, before adding a shrug. “It’s a start.”
“I am not gonna pierce my belly button,” Tori said. “My parents would kill me.”
“Come on, it’d look really cool,” Jade said, and Tori was immediately sold.
“What is that?”
Tori jumped in her spot and looked into the mirror to find Trina standing in the bathroom doorway, watching her. She’d been intently examining her new piercing. She was trying to get used to the sight of it, and trying with all her might to ignore how badly it itched. She’d texted Jade if that was a new piercing side effect, and had quickly gotten confirmation that that meant it was healing and to just leave it alone (but be sure to watch it). Clearly that was easier said than done, but she was trying her best.
“Aw, did you try to make yourself seem a little less boring by getting a fake piercing?” Trina asked, coming to stand by her sister. “I bet this was Jade’s idea, huh?”
“It’s not fake,” Tori said, gently tugging on the piercing. “And it’s none of your business if it was her idea.”
“Wait, it’s real?” Trina asked with a gasp. “Whoa, mom and dad are gonna freak out.”
“You can’t tell them,” Tori said quickly. “Besides, I’m eighteen, I can get a piercing without permission.”
“Whatever, just don’t come crying to me if it gets infected,” Trina said, before turning to leave. Tori waited until she left before reaching down to carefully scratch the area around her piercing again.
“Ugh, you’re cool but you’re so itchy,” she complained. Finally unable to take it anymore, she took the ring out, wrapping it in a bit of toilet paper before leaving the bathroom to get ready for bed.
She was woken up by two texts the next morning from Jade, saying she’d come to pick her up for school and was eager to see how her new piercing was doing. Tori dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom, where the first thing she did was try to put her piercing back in. Her heart sank when she was unable to.
Jade arrived just a few minutes later, and Tori quickly answered the door.
“Hey, you ready to—”
“Jade, it’s gone, I’m not pierced anymore,” Tori cut over Jade’s words, pushing her girlfriend out the door and onto the porch, closing the door behind her. Jade looked at her confusedly.
“What?”
“I’m not pierced anymore. It closed up,” Tori repeated, lifting her shirt a bit.
“You took it out?” Jade asked with a groan. “Tori...”
“I couldn’t stand the itching,” Tori said, dropping her shirt. “I didn’t think it would close up so fast.”
Jade sighed. “Oh, you have a lot to learn.”
“I guess,” Tori said, looking sheepishly at her girlfriend.
“Well, that’s okay. I’ll tell you what,” Jade said. “When you’re ready, we’ll go get you a tattoo. Those last forever.”
“Tori, we want to see your belly button.”
Tori looked up from her book to see her parents (and Trina) standing in front of her.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, putting her book down.
“Come on, show us,” Holly said.
“Okay, but why?” Tori lifted her shirt up to uncover her stomach, still feigning a confused look on her face.
“Trina, what’s the matter with you?” Holly asked, as she and her husband turned away from Tori and towards their older daughter.
“Tori’s belly button isn’t pierced. Why would you scare us like that?” David asked.
Trina was gawking between her sister and her parents. “But it was pierced yesterday! I swear, she had a piercing!”
“Maybe it was a dream?” Tori asked coolly, before giving a fake yawn. “Well, I’m tired. Goodnight, everyone.”
She picked up her book and got off the couch to head upstairs, grinning smugly to herself as she climbed the stairs slowly, still listening to the sounds of Trina trying to make her parents believe what she’d seen.