Shutter University

Chapter 3

After class, Hannah offers to show me around campus. We drop our things off at my dorm room seeing as mine is closer and then walk over to what she calls the best place to hang, which is in the east end of the campus.

"So, this is the old editing building." She says, pointing to the structure with a chipped brick exterior and a rusty grey door. "It's not used as the editing room now obviously. A few of us gathered some old furniture together and made it into kind of a loft."

"It doesn't seem very inviting" I say, tracing my fingers across a damaged brick.

"Just wait until you see inside" Hannah says, pulling open the door with a loud creak.

When I walk in, the first thing I see is a large round table surrounded by many moon chairs. Sitting on the table are a variety of different board games, cards, and magazines. In the corner of the room, there are two pantries and a refrigerator, which I am told are stocked with food. There is a love seat against the wall with a bookshelf on either side.

Hannah points to the center of the longest wall which is covered in photographs. "This is where everyone puts their favorite photo, there used to be a lot more but after a while, we just started taking down the ones by previous students."

Before I can answer, I hear a voice coming from behind me "Hannah has a picture up there. Do you see that one with the Ferris wheel just to the left? She took that on our first date."

"Hey babe" Hannah smiles, hugging into the mysterious blonde-haired, blue-eyed man. She turns back to me and says "Marley, this is my boyfriend Arrow Dekker"

Every part of visible skin except for the face is covered in tattoos. There is what I recognize to be the black pearl from the pirates of the Caribbean, a camera, an anchor, a bluebird, a skull, and a few little ones that I can't pick out.

"Hi Arrow, nice tatts" I say, looking over at the bluebird on his upper arm.

"Thanks, do you have any?" He asks

"Not yet, but I would love one. I have one in mind but haven't gotten around to doing it, plus I wouldn't know what shop to go to." I answer, rubbing the spot on my wrist where I would love to have a memorial tattoo on.

+++++

The conversation about tattoos has brought me to the tattoo parlor where Arrow has gotten all his. There is a mural on the wall of multiple dragons that catches my attention. They are such beautiful creatures. I flip through the look book and come across one that I like. Hannah decides to get a tattoo with me but lets me go first.

I nervously sit in the chair waiting to be stabbed repeatedly with the little needle. The tattoo artist asks what I want to get done.

"A breast cancer ribbon with angel wings, and mom written in the center of the ribbon" I answer.

She nods and draws up a stencil, gathers the right colors of ink, and makes sure the equipment is wrapped up and sanitized.

I'm not a huge fan of needles so I don't know how well this will go.

***

I found out the Tattooist's name is Rachel. Rachel is almost finished, just the word "mom" has to be added. All throughout the appointment, she has been talking with me to try and keep me calm. The tattoo gun is not a pleasant feeling, but I will get another.

"And we are done" Rachel says, wiping my tattoo with some sort of liquid. "You're going to find it itchy and it will scab over, but don't scratch or pick the scabs off."

"Okay, thank you. How much do I owe you?" I ask, moving off the seat.

"Seeing as it is your first, I'll give you a little discount. It will come to one hundred fifty dollars." She replies, leading me to the cash out in the front of the shop.

If this is a discount, I don't want to know how much it would have been without it. The tattoo is beautiful, but I wasn't expecting that price. I pay for my tattoo and meet Hannah and Arrow back over in the seating area. Hannah decides she is getting a tattoo also, so she follows Rachel to the back to begin hers.

***

Two hours later, Hannah's tattoo is complete. She ended up getting a large rose on her neck, which looks extremely painful. "Okay next is this new piercing place down the block"

We leave the parlor and walk down the block to a cute little piercing shop. Hannah won't tell me what she is getting but I guess I will find out afterwards.

"Do you want to get anything done?" Hannah asks as she walks up to the desk.

"No thanks" I reply.

Arrow and I sit on the chairs out in the front of the shop while we wait, seeing as it's a surprise.

"So, what is your specialty at school?" I ask, sparking a conversation.

"I don't really have one yet" He replies, rubbing the back of his neck.

'I thought you had to have an idea in order to get in?"

"You do. I just lied on the application. Can we not talk about school right now though?" He asks, leaning forward.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" I ask, pulling out my phone to check the time.

He licks his lips and moves his eyes up and down my body "I want to talk about how hot you look in those jeans"

I'm about to tell him off when Hannah walks out.

"Awe babe a Monroe piercing? It looks great on you" Arrow smiles, walking to meet her halfway and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks, Hun. what do you think Marley?" She looks over at me.

"It suits you" I answer.

We leave the shop and drive back to campus in Arrow's car. I make up the excuse of needing to start my assignment and unpack my things, so I can get away from him.

Tears well up in my eyes as I walk into the building. I look for the keys in my jacket pocket and end up dropping them onto the floor.

I hear footsteps and don't bother to look up to see who it is. "What's wrong?" Dean asks as he leans over to pick up my keys.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I say, taking my keys from his hands. "I'll talk to you tomorrow"

I open the door and walk through, shutting it with him standing there.