“Okay, take a deep breath in and exhale on the count of three. One… two… three.” My eyes widened in shock and my jaw dropped slightly. I did not expect to actually hear my flesh ripping as the needle passed through my ear lobe.

As soon as the bell rang, I rushed to the spot my friend and I decided to meet at the night before. We were finally going to get our ears pierced. All of my other friends had already gotten their ears pierced when they were very young, but now, after 15 years, it was finally my turn. I had never pierced my ears before because my mom did not believe that young children should be subjected to piercings, and I was always afraid that my ears would get infected, but one day I realized go big or go home. I had already cut my hair super short – boy short – so my ears were completely exposed, and thus I thought why not add a little bling to my appearance. Besides, with active acne and horrible style, I needed all the help I could get to look presentable.

I had done a lot of research the week before, watching YouTube videos on aftercare and googling a plethora of different piercing shops in the Houston area. I learned that minors needed ID and their parents present and that it is much safer to get pierced by a needle rather than a gun. After going back and forth and obsessively reading reviews, I finally settled on Electric Chair Tattoo & Piercing. I texted my friend the good news, and we anticipated for the day both of our parents would be free to take us to the piercing shop.

That day was Dec. 18. We rushed to the shop with our parents as soon as school was over. Since they accepted walk-ins, we did not need to make an appointment. When we got there, someone else was already getting their ears pierced as well. We sat in the waiting area, and I looked around the tattoo/piercing shop in awe. The brightly colored walls were covered in artwork of examples of tattoos. Each wall was also a different color, and the counter was actually a display case filled with jewelry.

After a couple of minutes, the piercer finished up with the other client, and I was coaxed by my friend to go first. The piercer showed us the jewelry that came with a lobe piercing. There were four, and all of them were studs. Two out of the four were simply bigger versions of the other two which were a ball stud and a crystal stud. I probably stared at the jewelry for a full minute trying to decide when the piercer interjected and suggested I go with the bigger crystal stud because apparently my ear lobes are huge.

I excitedly waited for the piercer to sterilize all of the equipment, and after around ten minutes, I was called into the room. He was extremely friendly and we chatted about school as he cleaned my ear lobe and marked the placement for the piercing. When I was happy with the placement, we moved on to the final phase – the moment of truth. As he unpackaged the needle, I began feeling nervous, but the piercer assured me that it was going to be okay. I forced a smile and nodded. I followed his directions and took a deep breath and exhaled. Stab. The entire needle passed through my ear when I exhaled and the piercer quickly put the jewelry in. I was stunned by the pain and even instinctively said that it hurt out loud. The piercer laughed but applauded me for not flinching. My right ear felt like it was on fire, but I shook it off and prepared for my other ear which ended up being not so bad. The piercer handed me a mirror and I felt a smile spread on my face as I looked at the earrings. I finally got my ears pierced, and who knows, maybe I will come back to get a tattoo when I turn 18.