Safe Arms "ON HOLD"

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Liam

"How was your date?" Brett asked as we drove to the place where I was going to get my ear pierced. Jonah had stayed home to write a paper or something that was due Monday. It was okay because I liked to do stuff with just me and Brett too sometimes because he's my big brother and I love him. I didn't want him to think I liked Jonah better either. I mean, I love Jonah, but it's in a different way than I love Brett. Brett was the best brother anyone could ever have. He took care of me since I could remember since Mom was always working. If we didn't have a lot of food, he always made sure I got plenty before he had any...he always bought me what I needed before himself. He still does even though it's a lot easier now since I get money from the State until I'm 18 and he has a good job now.

I kind of want to get a part-time job, even though it seems kind of scary, but Brett and Jonah won't let me yet. I'm not sure if that annoys me or makes me feel relieved, but maybe in a few months after I turn 16, I'll talk to them about it again. I could always work in a quiet book store or a comic book store, yeah, a comic book store would be awesome!

"Li?"

"Hmm? What?"

"I asked how your date was?" Brett asked.

"Oh, sorry," I snickered. I do that a lot sometimes, go off in my head. "Umm, it was really great. It was awesome! The arcade was banging, I beat Jonah in like everything...dinner was really good, I had chocolate chip pancakes and the movie was pretty good too....yeah...it was the perfect first date! How was your night?"

Brett looked away for a minute. 

"Brett? Did you have a good time with your friends?"

When he looked back he didn't really have an expression. "It was fine."

He sounded like he didn't want to talk about it and when Brett didn't want to talk about something, he was pretty stubborn so I just changed the subject as we drove a few more blocks, then found a parking spot not too far from the tattoo/piercing shop.

"Master Pierce Tattoos and Body Piercing. Interesting." I looked over at Brett and he shrugged his shoulders.

"One of my friends recommended it. He said it was really good and they're very clean and safe."

He opened the door for me and I walked in first. The place did look very professional, there were photos of tattoos displayed in frames on the walls and lots of tattoo and piercing magazines on the table where you could sit and wait. There was a girl about Brett's age at the receptionist desk, she had tattoos all up her arms and her nose, eyebrow, lip and ears were pierced. 

"Hi there," she said with a big smile. Brett walked in behind me and she looked up at him with an even bigger smile. "Uh...hi...can I help you?"

I looked back at him and rolled my eyes because she was giving Brett the look that so many girls did even though most of the time he never noticed. Brett always complained about never having dates, but it was only because no one ever caught his eye, he was really handsome, he could have anyone he wanted, he just never wanted anyone. It was only recently that we kind of figured out why.

"Hi, my brother has an appointment to have his ear pierced, Liam Matthews?" 

She looked back at me and I got the 'oh, isn't that so cute' look. I swear, he could be walking around with me or a puppy dog and we turned him into a chick magnet.

"Sure, do you have an earring to put in or do you want to choose one from here?" The girl pointed to a display case with tons of earrings and piercings.