“Suddenly, I’m regretting this plan,” I mumbled as the professional piercer let us behind the register and toward dentist office looking chairs. My feet would still be planted outside of the tattoo and piercing shop if it weren’t for Brittney’s hand covering mine.
Our gold medals dangled from our necks; our teammates long gone in the opposite direction in search of churros. I should be with them, hunting for my next fuel of sugar, or with my parents who, without question, had flown from the Northeast to come watch every round of our tournament.
Instead, I’d stupidly agreed to matching nose piercings with Brittney if we took home gold.
And it’s not that I didn’t think we’d win, but more like I couldn’t say no to the annoying girl with adoring eyes. Not when she could say please with eyes wider than I’d imagine possible, or the way she constantly threw her body into me as if she didn’tknow how much muscle mass she packed. With a power so strong she could send someone non-expecting onto the ground.
But not me. I always caught her.
“Nola Young, you absolutely cannot go back on your word.”
“I never said I would,” I muttered, trying to focus on our conversation, or the weight of gold against my body, and not the way Brittney and my palms fit so easily into the other.
“Good. I’ll go first, prove there’s nothing to fret about, and then it’s your turn.”
“Fine.” Our hands parted as Brittney sat in the piercer’s chair, and I watched her breathe calmly through the disinfecting process.
“This is my favorite part,” Brittney whispered as the piercer turned away to take out the jewelry and needle. Of course she liked the anticipation before something happened. I had eight days to study the row of jewelry lining her right ear. Gold studs and hoops sitting in places I didn’t even know could be pierced on one ear. The opposite was just as busy, but there was a bar at the top.
“Do you want me to hold your hand?” I asked out of nowhere, shocked by my own neediness.Who was I? What had this girl done to me?
“Nah, all good.” She winked. “But I’ll be sure to hold yours.” The piercer moved in for the kill, steadily shoving a silver needle into Brittney’s right nostril, and she fucking took it like a champ. The only sign of discomfort is the wince in her eye and the watering that began to spill over—otherwise she was unaffected.
Then it was my turn. Every action the piercer took with Brittney felt like it would last five years to me. From the disinfecting to the unwrapping, every single piece of movement from the piercer seemed to be in slow motion.
“My mom might kill me for this one. But on the other hand, my dad would love this,” I said to break the silence. The piercer was about to lean in when I felt a hand slide into mine again.
“Tell Olivia Young she can see me if she has a problem.”
“Please don’t make me lau—ow, shit!” I yelped as the needle went through my nostril and back out with the jewelry sticking out.
“You did amazing!”
“You don’t have to lie,” I breathed.
“No, I mean it. When my brother Amir got his nose pierced he literally squealed like a child.” The piercer threw away the used supplies and headed to the register, leaving me to sit in shocked pain, and the feeling of Brittney’s hand in mine.
I threw my card down to pay for us even though it was Brittney’s idea, and then we were back out into the world.
“Speaking of family, are you getting dinner with your parents tonight?” Brittney wondered, our bodies sadly not touching as much as I wanted them to be as we walked down the busy street.
“Yeah, and then I’m flying back with them.”
“And then back to the real world we go.”
“Does this not count as the real world?” I inquired.
Brittney shrugged. “We can be friends here. There’s no school rivalry, no top two lists to fight over, no bitchy teammates, it’s actually…pretty nice.”
I internally wilted at the thought because Brittney was right. I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but she had contributed more in the finals game than I had. She was good, and I could already see the next four years: back to back championships, constant prying, and playing into our school rivalry. We were going to be neck-and-neck until someone pulled away to prove they were the best.
There was no world that existed where the two most promising players in the nation played for the same team andended the day with matching nose piercings. No world where we could stay up late talking about our families and eating our favorite candy, covering everything as if we were trying to memorize as many facts about the other.
“The only time we’d run into each other at the vending machine was if we were staying in the same hotel.”
“Hey, we could always make the Olympic team.” I said matter-of-factly.
“Damn from the U19 tournament to the Olympics, you want it all.”
