Chapter 1 - section 1

A quick note:

Hi guys. Sorry this is taking so long to finish, and that I'm sorta hogging the front page. I'm trying to get this done as soon as possible.

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THE PIERCING


Winter has been slow. Days never blue, air in permanent chill. Windows all fogged, hot mugs of tea cooling faster than you can drink them. People out in their thickest hoodies, skin frosty pale under a washed-out overcast of boring clouds, no shadows anywhere. Cold wind blasting whenever rain isn't thrashing down at black umbrella-tops held at the sky; it had been a long season. No one could do much more than hole themselves up inside their homes, eat, drink, overeat, gather around heating units and fireplaces, snuggling under quilts, all those warmest parts of the house, as the world outside shivered.

But winter is finally fading out. Ruby Wertz has seen the sun for the first time in a whole three months. It was only a glimpse, but there it was, out from behind the coat of grey cloud. Then back again. At least it was a sign of the start.

The flat has had a post-apocalyptic vibe ever since her three housemates have left for winter vacations; wintery light on the walls and no one to talk with, no one to greet in the morning.

But that's over. Presently, Ruby is at a gelato shop with the first roommate to have returned from vacation, ordering a triple scoop of chocolate chip/strawberry/mango. It's the first day of autumn. Strangely, it's warm enough despite the earliness of the season. They collect their orders and sit at a table. This friend of Ruby's is one Georgia Destani, mediterranean goddess, a tall and lithe, black italian hair, bronze tips fanning silky down around her shoulders, gracious curve of her lower back flaring into hips and an ass in the top-ten-percentile (probably worldwide). The type of chick you find on Tinder with a gallery full of vapidly hot photos that make you feel inferior in every way - but she's actually very nice, smiling most of the time when something hasn't irritated her. She can be opinionated at times, but once past those roadblocks, she's the most the most amiable conversationalist Ruby knows. You can talk about anything with her.

Ruby watches Georgia sit down, a single scoop of vanilla in meagre portion to Ruby's own. It's probably how she keeps in shape while letting herself indulge now and then.

On the other hand, not so much flaming hot as downright adorable, Ruby is more cute in looks. Enough to melt boy's heart. Happy cheeks, faint dimples with a cheeky grin, round bedroom eyes, grey, with a vaguely asian slant of glee, brown hair barely past shoulder length. She's only two or three inches shorter than Georgia, so not much, but there have still been times when Ruby has experienced fleeting stings of envy.

'So anyway,' Georgia is saying, having recounted her cruise ship holiday on the other side of the globe, from which she'd returned just yesterday. 'That's what I did these winter holidays.'

Ruby scoops into her mouth a cold little dollop of mango gelato, licking the remains off the small spoon, nodding as she does so. 'Sounds so fun,' she says, 'My winter wasn't that fun. I mean, it wasn't bad, just every day was getting the same. There's only so much you can do indoors.'

'Like watching TV and eating,' Georgia suggests, thinking she's being funny.

Ruby laughs, but the truth is, she indeed has been eating. Quite a lot. But it's not as if Georgia has actually noticed. Three months ago, out of nowhere, there came this constant feeling of being empty that Ruby could never seem to fill. It was too hard to tell if it was an emptiness of the soul, or an emptiness of the stomach, easy as they are to get confused, but eating seemed to get rid of the feeling. Only until it came back. So she ate. And ate when it came back. And she ate again. Like right now.

Ignoring a growing, nittering doubt that maybe she's been eating more than she needs, Ruby jabs the spoon into the gelato and digs out a nice, hefty dollop regardless, shovelling it into her mouth before it falls off the spoon.

Jane and Tamara, their two other roommates, are still away on holidays with their own families and friends. 'Hey, wonder how Tamara and Jane are doing,' Ruby wonders. 'You heard anything yet? All I've heard- seen, I mean- from them is their snapchats, so...'

Georgia takes a measly lick of gelato from her spoon and shakes her head. 'Nah, not really. Just snapchats as well.'

'Like that one of Jane getting her eyelash extensions, and-'

'Oh yeah!' Georgia has suddenly remembered something. 'That reminds me. So hey, I was gonna say: what do you think about getting a belly button ring?'

Ruby tilts her head. 'Like, my opinion on it?'

'Well... I've sorta decided already, but... I still think it's cool, right?'

Ruby beams, 'Oh yeah, absolutely! That'd be a-a-awesome.' She then imagines herself with one. 'Hey. You know. Actually, I've always wanted one too, really.'

Georgia gets the inevitable idea. 'Oh my god we should do it together!'

They both grin at the idea, getting navel rings, the two of them, friends long before they were roommates. Maybe they could even get a half-half thing going on, you know, where you get a ring that's half the other one, and your friend has it.

So, they agree on it.

Together, later that evening, they book an appointment at a body art shop on the other end of town.