Chapter 10: Boots and piercings - Monet
I still can't believe Cole actually gave me a credit card. He did give me a whole lecture of being responsible with spending when I actually don't intend to spend his money.
Maybe only a little bit.
On the cowboy boots of course.
Amy is on a mission to put a lot of debt on her credit card, though. I've never been one for much shopping though, and I've never had someone to go shopping with either apart from my mom.
I raise my eyebrows when she holds a very skimpy romper in front of her body. "You will look really great in this. Your ass will turn heads for sure."
"I'm not wearing that, Amy." My mother is Puerto Rican, meaning I inherited a generous amount of junk in the trunk.
I was extremely embarrassed when I started developing, because it felt like my ass and breasts were all over the place, until Luke sat me down and told me girls pay lots of money to have my body.
I've tried embracing it ever since, but I try not to flaunt it.
"If I had your body, my things would be hanging out everywhere!" Amy turns and looks at herself in the mirror. "If I wear this, I will look like a noodle."
"You literally have the best legs."
"I know." She sighs dramatically. "That's why we have to show out girl. We will have eyes on us! I'm buying you the romper, you can change your mind later."
I do not see myself wearing that. Cole would probably lose his mind if I showed up at his game looking like that.
Amy makes me buy two pair of cowboy boots, a ridiculous silver pair and a much more acceptable black pair, convincing me that Cole has much more than three hundred dollars in his bank account, and he won't miss it.
When she stops in front of a piercing and tattoo studio, I'm convinced this girl is really bad for me.
"What are we doing here?"
She smiles deviously and goes inside, and I have no choice but to follow her.
A heavily tattooed girl at the reception looks at us like she definitely has better things to do. "Let me guess, belly piercings?"
"Yes!" Amy beams.
"No!" I exclaim.
"Listen." Amy takes my hand in hers. "We're only young once with banging bodies. We're going to meet the love of our lives in college, and after we're going to get married and get pregnant. Then there are no more flat stomachs. We have to do this now!"
In my life, I have never had the desire to pierce my belly, so why the hell am I lying on a damn table, and a tattooed girl is pushing a needle through my skin?
I chose a little ring, and when I'm done, she shows me what it looks like in the mirror.
"Well!" Amy says excitedly.
"It's cute."
"I told you so!"
We're loading up her car when a text comes through, and I get really nervous when I see it's from Cole.
"Monet, why the fuck is there a charge from a tattoo studio!" He says in the voice message, and I can hear the sound of weights in the background.
"Don't answer." Amy waves her hand. "He's busy, he has to be strong for the upcoming season. Do you wanna come over to my house first? My mom would like to meet you."
"Sure." Again, I never went over to any girls' houses. I went over to Luke's house a lot, and when they left for college, I put in extra shifts at the diner to make up time.
Having Amy is like experiencing girlhood for the first time.
She made me get a belly piercing.
My phone rings with a video call from Mom, and I answer with a smile. "Hi, you!"
"Hi baby, why is Cole sending me messages saying you're ghosting him?" She smiles.
He has some nerve doing that when he has been rude to me since I got here. I didn't run to her and complain.
"Cole is at practise, why would I ghost him?"
She narrows her eyes on the screen. "He said you got a tattoo."
"I did not get a tattoo." I laugh.
"Okay, you know I'm all for having a good time, baby, but don't make decisions you'll regret later on."
"I didn't get a tattoo. Do you want to meet Amy?" I turn the screen so she can see the devil who is making me do these ridiculousl things. "We got our bellies pierced."
"Hi ma'am!" Amy waves with her free hand. "I'm taking good care of your daughter!"
I laugh as I turn the screen back to myself. "She's lying, she's a very bad influence."
Mom laughs. "I like her! Please call your brother before he starts blowing up my phone. Bye!"
I send him the picture Amy took after both our bellies were pierced with the caption. "I did not get a tattoo, stop messaging Mom."
He reads the message, but he doesn't reply.
I'm probably in trouble again.
Amy pulls up to a beautiful two story house on the lakefront, a far cry from the single story, three bedroom house Cole and I grew up in.
"Wow, this beautiful." I tell her before we get out.
"Dad signed another eight year deal with the team, so we moved into a newer house." I help her unload her bags from the car. "The perks of being a coach here."
It does come with a lot of responsibility being the head coach of one of the best teams in the country, though, so having a nice house must be a good perk to have.
Amy looks just like her mother, tall, slim with black hair and big personalities.
"I'm so happy she has a friend." Her mother beams at me. "You must please come over for dinner sometime, have a sleepover!"
"You're going to scare her away." Amy leads me to her bedroom which is probably three times the size of my one back home.
She's still showing me around the house when my phone rings, this time Cole.
"Where are you?" He wants to know, his voice sounding deeper and rougher than usual.
"I'm at Amy's house."
"We're having pizzas and playing games at our dorms tonight, do you guys wanna join us?"
I stop and smile. He wants to spend time with me, finally.
"You know I'm going to smoke you, right? Are you sure you want to show your football friends how your little sister shows you up?" I joke, happy that he's asking me to do things we used to.
"In your dreams. Be here at seven."
I'm still smiling like an idiot when Amy waves her hands at me. "Who was it?"
"Cole. You want to hang out at the football dorms tonight? He said they're having pizza."
"Fuck yes!" She exclaims and claps her hand. "Tonight we're smoking hot! Time for the first outfits!"