Playing With My Heartstrings

by Chloe Brewster

  "OK, I think I'll get an ear lobe piercing," I disclosed, slowly saying my words.

  "Yay! So we all get something!" Valerie squealed, clapping her cocoa butter-scented hands in pure excitement. "I'll just go over to Pierre near the counter and he'll pierce you in a moment!"

  As Valerie made the most of chatting up the drop-dead handsome Pierre - a native of lovers' heaven France - I got up and spoke to Piper, whose thick, orange layer of fake tan seemed to have partly faded, revealing a white sheet of skin beneath. I supposed that Piper hadn't fared much better in her ordeal, either.

  Then Valerie came back, hand in hand with Pierre, whose voice was as saintly as an angel. Gosh, I was either going to pass out from the pain (though I'd once endured a lobe piercing when I was eight and the second-long pinch was hardly memorable - a dramatic faint was highly unlikely) or fall flat on my face because of Pierre's attractive presence. I was secretly betting on the latter.

  "You ready?" Pierre asked, purposely emphasizing on his words. "Sit down over there -" a domineeringly tall black chair situated next to a silver-painted table "- and I can pierce your ears."

  I nodded, swiftly swallowing down some vomit, as my nerves quickly got out of hand. It wasn't a big deal, was it? Millions of people have had their ears - and other body parts which I would've preferred to not think about - pierced, so why did my hands have to start sweating uncontrollably and I could sense the blood draining from my washed-out complexion? Ugh, I was totally the drama queen of the family by miles.

  Valerie encouraging me by offering a comforting wink, I strode over to the table and hopped onto the chair, feeling as though I'd grown at least a foot because I was so high up the air. My legs dangling, I glanced around the hustling parlour - one hairy, tattoo-covered middle-aged man was getting inked, this time on his left shoulder, in the design of a gothic, black heart - and anxiously awaited for Pierre to get the piercing gun ready, meanwhile counting up to twenty in French to focus my energies elsewhere.

  Pierre gained my full attention when he unveiled a black felt pen inside a plastic bag from his faded blue Levi jeans, marking the spot where my ears would be once again pierced, then he picked up the piercing gun, which created a thousand butterflies in the very pit of my stomach. No, no, I didn't really want to do this, it was a huge mistake and I'd much rather be shopping with Cassie, bickering over her addiction to teeth-rotten blackcurrant-flavoured lollypops...

  "Un," Pierre whispered, his warm, cheese sandwich breath heating my left ear, "deux, TROIS!"

  I winced, squeezing my eyes shut. Ouch, the thought formed in my mind, just as an ice-cool cotton wool pad numbed all flashes of pain, bringing my panicked breathing back to normal, whilst my other ear was pierced and was cooled within an instant.

  "Not so bad, n'est-ce pas?" Pierre cordially smiled, possibly just relieved that I didn't collapse onto the floor in a spectacular fashion.

  I returned the smile, also relieved that I survived the slight agony, which turned out to be a lot less arduous than I expected it to be.

  "Ready for another?" he impishly asked, his wild grin lighting up the whole building.

  "What?" I gasped. "N-no, no, I'll stick to the ones I ha-"

  Pierre mockingly raised his hands in defeat. "I was only joking, chérie," he laughed. "Your friend did suggest that you were thinking of another piercing, though."

  I turned my head around, locking my petty glare on a beyond-amused Valerie, and smirked. "Sorry, I'm utterly wiped already."

  "Really?" Valerie exclaimed. "I was hoping to see you faint into Pierre's arms!"

  I blushed, a heat rising from the tips of my toes to my cherry tomato-red face. What on earth was it about me fainting? I waved my hand, changing the subject.

  "Anyway, Pierre, we've got to go - some serious shopping is on the call," Valerie said, playfully twisting her strawberry blonde locks around her fingers. All she needed was a lollypop and a bright, 50s outfit which screamed 'POP' to look like she starred in a candy land Katy Perry music video; without a doubt, she was unashamedly flirting with catwalk gorgeous Pierre.

  "See you soon, Val-AY-ree," Pierre replied, emphasizing Valerie's name in his heavy French accent, which creating an euphoric radiance in Valerie's cheeks. If nobody else had been enduring a distressing lip piercing or tattoo application, I reckoned that Valerie and Pierre would've leapt into each other’s arms – ala Amélie-style - and embraced until the stars lit up the magical sky. Just imagining it only proved that I was a doomed-to-be-hopeless romantic.

  Valerie waved, beckoning me to get off the chair, and along with an eerily quiet Piper, all of us left the parlour, secretly relieved that no more piercing - excusing the pun - agony was ahead of us. Well, nothing psychical in that sense, anyway.

  "Did you see how much Pierre flirted with me?" Valerie gushed, once we'd pasted several closed down retro clothing shops and the aroma of spicy curries from Indian restaurants filling the breezy air.

  "Yeah, he was utterly mad about you," Piper eagerly interjected. "Gosh, I wish that I could be his crush!"

  Valerie bit her lip, a frown forcibly taking away her bright smile. Uh oh, I realised. A nasty girl-on-girl catfight could've been brewing. "Pierre is mine," she snarled, her curled back lips revealing a spotless set of picture-perfect teeth, before bursting into a fit of giggles.

  Piper joined in, spluttering out in between breaths that she never really developed a crush on Pierre, despite his obvious good looks.

  "What about you, Sadie?" Valerie asked, clearly interested in my response.

  I peered at the ghastly sight of a dirty pile of litter cluttered around the aged green bin near a silverware shop, wanting to disguise my growing blush in the fear of being mocked about my so-called crush on a French man - he definitely couldn't have been called a boy, there was simply a sense about him that only a fully-grown man could have - whom I'd only just met around five minutes ago.

  "Well," I tentatively started, ignoring the slightest hint of a waver in my far-from-steady voice, "Pierre struck me as being blessed with incredible looks, but no way do I have a crush on him at all." Judging by my tone, that was the complete truth. Sure, he may have caused me to blush, but mostly due to Valerie's attempt to embarrass me, which hardly calmed my erratically behaving nerves. Ugh, hormones.

  "You see, Piper? Sadie doesn't have eyes for Pierre - it must be you!" Valerie exclaimed, provoking an outburst of play fighting between her stunned friend.

  I stood next to a streetlight, snickering at Valerie and Piper's poor, rather dull performance of WWE-inspired fighting (as if they could dare to attempt any of the dangerous moves) in front of the babbling tourists walking up and down the streets, creating a small stream of attraction until Piper stumbled onto the ground, a grin outstretched on her ecstatic lips.

  "That proves it for once and for all!" Valerie breathlessly puffed, then pulled Piper back onto her trainer-clad feet.

  Piper wiped away sweat from her forehead and said, "Is anyone up for a milkshake? I would do anything to have one!"

  "Good idea," I agreed.

  "As long as we don't have to walk far - my feet are killing me," Valerie said, gesturing towards her blister-covered feet, which had turned a dark shade of lobster red.

  "Then what was the whole point of getting a car if you aren't going to drive in it?" Piper asked. "Never mind, I need a milkshake now."

  And I couldn't have thought of anything better.

  *********

  An out-of-breath Valerie and sleepy Piper sluggishly trawled behind me as I led the way to the local McDonald's, which every town never failed to have. As I could tell that Valerie and Piper were on the verge of collapsing out of exhaustion (and I partly didn't want to drag them onto their feet, therefore causing yet another unnecessary scene), I went into the music-blaring restaurant alone, where I found Cassie, Mae and Amelie treating themselves to a man-sized order of salty, stick-thin fries and iron-rich cheeseburgers, which caused my stomach to rumble angrily.
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  "Hey guys," I casually said, walking over to their table. "How you're doing?"

  Swallowing an enormous bite of beef, Cassie replied, "Fine, we just went to New Look and got tons of clothes in their summer sale!" gesturing towards two massive bags lying behind her her, stuffed with brightly coloured shorts, quirky t-shirts and dresses which were born to be worn in the glorious sunshine. "So," she said, a sly grin clouding her face, "how did your piercing go?"

  I beamed, relief flooding through me as I realised that I wouldn't have to cover up or produce fantastically poor lies about getting a bold, parent-hating piercing. "Oh, only just a second ear piercing, no big deal," I stated, waving my hand as though I didn't have a care in the world.

  Cassie grimaced. "I asked Mum for another piercing a few months ago and she said no! How is that fair?"

  Actually, I'd never asked Mum about the possibility of my getting a second ear piercing, but I assumed that it was okay because a) I was almost three years older than my whiny little sister, b) I was wise enough to be able to take care of the piercing myself, unlike Cassie who obtained an infection when she got her first pair at the age of nine, and c) Mum had two piercings herself, so she wasn't in the slightest position to give me a door-slamming 'no'.

  "C'est la vie," I said, cheekily picking up one of her many fries. "Mmm," I murmured, as the delicious flavour hit my tongue, "I've got to have some of those."

  "Where is Valerie?" Mae asked, her eyes flashing around me, looking for the slumped, I-don't-care form of Valerie.

  "Val and her friend, Piper, are sitting on the benches outside as the short walk was way too exhausting for them." I rolled my eyes. "So I was given the job of buying the milkshakes and food, which was too exciting to decline. Who knew that becoming an owner of a car would turn you into a lazy ghost of yourself within a week?"

  Cassie and Mae roared with laughter, whilst cool queen Amelie discreetly took a sip of her orange juice, giving the proud impression that she so wasn't amused. As if she ever was.

  I left the three, hopefully as Cassie tried to knock some sense into Amelie's boorish behaviour, and joined the long, boring line of customers awaiting to be served or receive their orders. A tall, lanky boy not much older was standing in front of me, blocking my view of the menu screen above the counter, which brought aromatic smells of finger-licking fries, divine chocolate milkshakes and frying burgers, and I leapt into the air once or twice, still unable to read the menu.

  "Sorry, I didn't know that I was in your way," a deep, smooth voice said, clearly apologetic. The boy in front of me in achingly bored queue turned around, revealing a stunning pair of heart-warming chocolate eyes and large, kissable lips, his skin displaying a soft golden tan.

  "No, no, it's fine, honestly," I replied, waving his un-needed apology away. "I was only looking at the menu because there was nothing else to stare at - it looks as though I'm going to be stuck in this queue for a while."

  The boy nodded. "Yeah, I've already been here for at least five minutes and the time is dragging - it hasn't been so busy here for ages!"

  "You come here all the time?"

  "Sure, it's one of the only fast-food chains that I like!" he warmly chuckled, then introduced himself, "Hey, I'm Luke."

  "I'm Sadie," I replied, and without the thought flashing through my dumbstruck mind, I shook hands with Luke, whose lack of reluctance amazed me.

  The last time I'd attempted to shake hands with a boy ended up with a sarcastic comment and threatening smirk, leaving me as embarrassed and red-faced when my seven year old self accidently dropped my Care Bear toy down the toilet and Mum had to spend nearly two hours restoring it to its former clean state.

  An out-of-breath Valerie and sleepy Piper sluggishly trawled behind me as I led the way to the local McDonald's, which every town never failed to have. As I could tell that Valerie and Piper were on the verge of collapsing out of exhaustion (and I partly didn't want to drag them onto their feet, therefore causing yet another unnecessary scene), I went into the music-blaring restaurant alone, where I found Cassie, Mae and Amelie treating themselves to a man-sized order of salty, stick-thin fries and iron-rich cheeseburgers, which caused my stomach to rumble angrily.

  "Hey guys," I casually said, walking over to their table. "How you're doing?"

  Swallowing an enormous bite of beef, Cassie replied, "Fine, we just went to New Look and got tons of clothes in their summer sale!" gesturing towards two massive bags lying behind her, stuffed with brightly coloured shorts, quirky t-shirts and dresses which were born to be worn in the glorious sunshine. "So," she said, a sly grin clouding her face, "how did your piercing go?"

  I beamed, relief flooding through me as I realised that I wouldn't have to cover up or produce fantastically poor lies about getting a bold, parent-hating piercing. "Oh, only just a second ear piercing, no big deal," I stated, waving my hand as though I didn't have a care in the world.

  Cassie grimaced. "I asked Mum for another piercing a few months ago and she said no! How is that fair?"

  Actually, I'd never asked Mum about the possibility of my getting a second ear piercing, but I assumed that it was okay because a) I was almost three years older than my whiny little sister, b) I was wise enough to be able to take care of the piercing myself, unlike Cassie who obtained an infection when she got her first pair at the age of nine, and c) Mum had two piercings herself, so she wasn't in the slightest position to give me a door-slamming 'no'.

  "C'est la vie," I said, cheekily picking up one of her many fries. "Mmm," I murmured, as the delicious flavour hit my tongue, "I've got to have some of those."

  "Where is Valerie?" Mae asked, her eyes flashing around me, looking for the slumped, I-don't-care form of Valerie.

  "Val and her friend, Piper, are sitting on the benches outside as the short walk was way too exhausting for them." I rolled my eyes. "So I was given the job of buying the milkshakes and food, which was too exciting to decline. Who knew that becoming an owner of a car would turn you into a lazy ghost of yourself within a week?"

  Cassie and Mae roared with laughter, whilst cool queen Amelie discreetly took a sip of her orange juice, giving the proud impression that she so wasn't amused. As if she ever was.

  I left the three, hopefully as Cassie tried to knock some sense into Amelie's boorish behaviour, and joined the long, boring line of customers awaiting to be served or receive their orders. A tall, lanky boy not much older was standing in front of me, blocking my view of the menu screen above the counter, which brought aromatic smells of finger-licking fries, divine chocolate milkshakes and frying burgers, and I leapt into the air once or twice, still unable to read the menu.

  "Sorry, I didn't know that I was in your way," a deep, smooth voice said, clearly apologetic. The boy in front of me in achingly bored queue turned around, revealing a stunning pair of heart-warming chocolate eyes and large, kissable lips, his skin displaying a soft golden tan.

  "No, no, it's fine, honestly," I replied, waving his un-needed apology away. "I was only looking at the menu because there was nothing else to stare at - it looks as though I'm going to be stuck in this queue for a while."

  The boy nodded. "Yeah, I've already been here for at least five minutes and the time is dragging - it hasn't been so busy here for ages!"

  "You come here all the time?"

  "Sure, it's one of the only fast-food chains that I like!" he warmly chuckled, then introduced himself, "Hey, I'm Luke Avery."

  "I'm Sadie Thompson," I replied, and without the thought flashing through my dumbstruck mind, I shook hands with Luke, whose lack of reluctance amazed me.

  The last time I'd attempted to shake hands with a boy ended up with a sarcastic comment and threatening smirk, leaving me as embarrassed and red-faced when my seven year old self accidently dropped a Care Bear toy down the toilet and Mum had to spend nearly two hours restoring it to its former clean state.

  Yeah, so far, this conversation happened to be normal, which was a miracle regarding the fact
that my last chat with a teenage boy ended with an Oscar-winning argument in front of half-deaf pensioners inside a cake-scented cafe.

  "So, do you live around here, Sadie?" Luke asked. "I don't remember seeing you before."

  I shook my head. "No, I live in Applebury."

  "Ah, I could sense that there was a new-girl-about-town way about you - for instance, unlike the local girls, you don't wear a banging pair of gold hoops which dangle all the way to your waist."

  I giggled. "Well, I do wear gold hoops from time to time, but obviously not the pairs which literally pull my ears off."

  "Thought so," Luke remarked, a wistful expression planted on his lightly freckled face. "Shame that you don't live here, Sadie" - his saying my name sent a rush of ecstasy through my enlivened veins - "because I'd love to have somebody like you around." Lowering his voice to a whisper, Luke moved his head closer to mine and murmured, "None of girls in Millingbourne are, well, my type."