My First Tattoo

It started at around six o-clock on a mid-August day. I had just gotten out of school when my friend, whose child I had babysat the other weekend, messaged me telling me she had the money for me. When I went to pick the money up I had a genius idea: I can get a tattoo. So I messaged my friend Layton, who does tattoos, and asked him if he would give me a tattoo. To which he said yes because he had to buy diapers. I told him I would be there in a bit and sent him a picture of what I wanted so that he could draw it up. My mind and heart was racing. How do I hide it from my mom? Will it hurt? What if I don’t like it? On the way home I was thinking of ways to get to Layton without my mom being suspicious, and that is when I thought of Emerson. Not only will he take me, but he will make sure everything goes the way it’s supposed too. The phone rang for a couple seconds before he picked up, I told him what I was planning and asked if he was in, after a couple seconds of thought he said he would pick me up at eight. I walked through my front door to find my mother and tell her that I would be out, and when asked how long I would be I told her no later than ten. But when I looked up at the clock and mentally kicked myself, That gives me roughly two hours to get the tattoo, and that is if Emerson picks me up on time. It was eight- thirty when I got the text from Emerson telling me he was outside. I skipped down my drive way and into Emerson’s black BMW. He then bombarded me with a million and two questions on if I was going to be okay and apologizing because he couldn’t stay.  He is always worried about me. But I guess someone has to be.  As we pulled up to the he tells me that if Layton tries again to call him so that he can beat him up. I just laughed and thanked him. Turning around I got a better look of the motel; I noticed that it is a rundown white and blue motel that probably hasn’t had maintenance called since the 90’s. I walked up the unstable stairs and knocked on the room number he gave me. A couple seconds later a woman with a baby answered the door and behind her I see Layton cleaning his tattoo gun. The woman who answered the door introduces herself as his girlfriend and the baby she was holding as their baby. I tell Layton that I have limited time to which he responds to by pointing me to the bathroom so I can get ready. After I get ready, I sit backwards in the car and he starts the outline on my shoulder. I heard the buzzing of his gun, and could feel his cold hands on my back. From there it’s a blur of him asking if it was my first tattoo repeatedly because he could not believe how still I was for it being my first time, shark week on discovery channel and crying baby. It felt as if I were getting a massage where the masseuse scratched me. It felt like it had only taken at most thirty minutes when he told me it was time to look and see if I liked it. Looking in the mirror I gasped, it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen. I had him take a picture of it and when he handed me back my phone I realized that it was nine-fort. I had roughly fifteen minutes to be home. I got dressed as fast as I could leaving my bra straps down in fear it would harm the tattoo. I thanked Layton for his time and energy as I paid him and left. I rushed down the stairs while I called Emerson to see if he was picking me up. No answer. I tried again and again and still no answer. I looked down to check the time and it was nine forty-five, slipping my phone into my pocket I began to run. I knew it was pointless but I had to give it a shot. I had to make it home by ten. So I ran through the streets of Holbrook. I ran as fast as I could. I didn’t stop to see if I were being followed, as I usually do, I didn’t look behind me, I didn’t even stop to tie my shoe, I just ran. I ran even faster when my house came into view, I ran up the steps and to the door, as soon as I opened the door I took out my phone and looked at the time. And in front of my eyes the times changed from nine-fifty-nine, to ten o-clock sharp. I had made it. Filled with adrenaline I rushed to the bathroom to take off my shirt and get a better look. My tattoo looked better the more I looked at it. After I pulled myself away from the mirror, I walked to my room with a feeling I had never felt before, mischievous. I walked into my room and started getting ready for bed when my little sister woke up and asked my why my shirt was off and why I had the lights on, at first she thought I was lying about getting a tattoo until I showed her to which he immediate reaction was to tell my how pretty it was and how screwed I was if mom found out. I told her she wouldn’t have to worry about it because mom wouldn’t find out. I climbed into bed with a smile on my face, and fell asleep to the image of my tattoo in my mind. 

Warped Tour

                                 

Walking up to the gates I feel a knot in my belly, my heart is surely going to beat out of my chest,  but for once it’s not a panic attack about to happen. I can feel the energy coming off of the other concert goers. At Warped you can be or do almost anything. It’s a day and place where for once nobody is judging you for what you are wearing, what you listen too, or how you look. The wait in line is the worst part, it seems like it never ends, and the suspense of what is to come is so great that I cannot stop talking to Patrick about how excited I am. “Oh my god, Pat, what if we get to meet Fronz?! What if he thinks we are cool and invites us to hang out? Oh god I am going to die.” I exclaim to Pat, to which he responds his infamous side smile and a “That would be cool.” Pat is the type of person who will let me be excited enough for the both of us because he doesn’t really like to show his emotions. When we are done being searched and having our tickets checked we are finally granted entry. Walking through the gates of Warped Tour I would describe as entering a Alternative Wonderland. There are people

with hair the color of rainbows, people either cloaked in black or almost nothing at all, there are girls in short- shorts but also boys in even shorter shorts, there is music coming from almost every tent and there is always someone walking around trying to sell the band merch for a band that isn't very popular but is on the verge of fame. You can see tents everywhere, from the acoustic tent to the medical tent. They always have a free water station but the catch is that the free water will almost always be as warm as the outside air.

At Warped there seem to be no limits, this is confirmed with how easy it can be to meet your favorite bands members. You can meet them at a stand in line signing or sometimes they will be walking around. I can  vaguely remember at my first warped my friend Isaac coming up to Pat and I so excited that he met a band member in the crowd. I can remember even better the moment Pat and I met Ash Castello and Chris Fronzak. We sat, because I got tired of standing, in line to meet Ash. We went back and forth with “I wonder what she will be like?”, and Pat’s wishful thinking of; “What if she falls in love with me and then I get to date Ash!?” to which I will always respond with “Oh my freaking god heck yes! And what if Fronz thinks I’m a cool cat and, because I’m not underage anymore, wants to date me!!?” But sadly of course that is not how any of the meet and greets went. When we finally got up to the merch tent where they were doing the signing pretty much all Pat and I could do was smile and gush. I can remember having an ear to ear smile and my hands shaking as I shook all the band members hands, all the band members were pretty chill and normal until the last one, who kinda creeped me out because he wouldn’t let go of my hand. As much as that creeped me out, solely because I’m not used to people being affectionate, I wished Fronz would have held on to my hand. But sadly when I met Fronz I couldn’t even get words out of my mouth much less whip the cheesy fan girl smile off my face. I can vaguely remember him putting his hand on my shoulder and the glare from the girl that had been waiting in line with us because the meet and greet  line ended right behind me and Pat. I didn't care though. I was to happy. At Warped Tour, it seems nothing can go wrong even though everything can, you can pass out from the heat or even do the splits in the mud in front of the slip-n-slide and hurt yourself in front of everyone( a personal experience) or even get get punched in a mosh pit. All this is worth it in the end because the good things always out member the bad. Warped Tour will leave you near death but you will never be closer to living