At A Glance
Author	Laura McCarthy
Contact	laura_popple@yahoo.co.uk
IAM	Lozza_mc
When	A month ago
Artist	Gillian and Gemma
Studio	Mikes Tattooz
Location	Carlisle, Cumbria, UK

"What the fuck is a smiley?"
Oh god not again, I thought. I lifted up my upper lip, to display to Gemma exactly what it was.
"mer, at it" I mumbled, still holding up my lip.
"what?"
"I said there, that bit, the wee bit of skin between the lip and the gum."
"Oh right, I can't do it." Gemma replied, I was just about to start my argument against when she started speaking again.
"I would need Gillian to help me hold back your top lip, and she's not here today, sorry."
"Alright, well, there isn't anything I want at the minute, is Gillian in next Monday?"
"Yeah she should be, give us a call on Monday just to check, I know how much of a trek it is for you two."

With that, Gemma bid us goodbye, and she went upstairs to the tattoo studio. I walked across the waiting room to sit and think. I wanted this smiley, when I want something it burns inside me, it burns so much that I feel that I will explode if I don't get it. I will admit I am a 'spoiled brat', in the sense when I know I can have something and I can't get it, it annoys me. We are a family of minimum wages, and I know there is so much I can't have, but when I save for something, and I know I can afford it and it is denied of me, then I get upset.

I don't think I could sound any shallower now really, so I shall make you laugh. Why a smiley, you ask? Well. I am scared of tongue piercings.
Now, if you have stopped laughing enough to carry on reading, I'll explain why.
I suppose it's the idea the healing, rather than the actual piercing itself. So no, I don't cower in terror whenever I see a tongue piercing; I don't have nightmares about big scary needles poking me, it is just the thought of spending a week starving from not being able to eat with a swollen tongue.

My tongue is fat; I never even considered it possible until my partner said that your tongue is supposed to fit inside your teeth. Well, my tongue rests on my teeth, and feels squashed when I try and fit it inside them. I dread to think how hard it would be trying to cope with a tongue even larger due to swelling. That is what freaks me out, not being able to eat due to swelling. I love my food. My tongue shall remain un-poked.

So there I was sat, thinking (imagine Winnie the Pooh, sat on his log, tapping his head saying 'think think think'). I was facing a dilemma, should I go home, save my money for the next Monday when my son was in nursery, and get my smiley then? Or should I say fuck it, and get something, anything, just so it wouldn't be a wasted trip this week.

I left. I would much rather wait for something I really wanted rather than get something I was 100% sure of. I know I have gotten impulsive piercings before, but I had my list then! So I had to wait another week, no big deal right?

My good god, seven days is really quite a long time when you have money burning a hole in your pocket! I almost spent my £15 many times that week, but somehow I resisted temptation to buy anything I didn't need, like food... or drink, or loo roll! I spoke to friends about my planned piercing (well, okay, I have no friends, I did talk to Popple about it extensively) and eventually became so worked up about this piercing that it almost frazzled BOTH of my brain cells!

So the week went by, and at 11am the following Monday, with little Callum already off at nursery, Popple and myself set off on the half hour drive to Carlisle. I hadn't eaten any breakfast yet that day, so on the way I purchased a couple of bars of chocolate from the garage, purely for the sake of blood sugar of course (!)

Thankfully, as it was the middle of the day, the drive to Mikes Tattooz was relatively uneventful. We drove down the side road next to the studio and parked up. I was playing with the part of my inner lip where the smiley would be placed, thinking that it would be the last time in a while I would be able to do such a thing.

We walked in through the door, getting a rather nasty look from a passing by granny as we did so, and plonked our arses down on the chairs available. The door to the piercing room was shut, so I assumed that someone was in there with Gillian. Popple stood up to look at the flash on the walls, trying to decide on plans for his next tattoo. A pair of young teenage girls walked into the studio, and walked slowly around the room, heads together and giggling every few moments. Neither of them had any visible modifications, so I assumed that they were there to attempt to get their first.

After a minute of observation, Gemma started to come down the stairs. I caught her eye and smiled. She went up to the two girls first, while they asked how much a belly button ring cost. Gemma asked them how old they were, and after some hesitation they replied 14. Gemma just asked them to leave.

Once the girls had left, and Gemma and I shared a giggle, she called Gillian downstairs to get me ready for piercing my smiley. I started to get really excited, a natural high I get when I get pierced is one of the best feelings I have ever felt. The build up to a piercing is as important as the actual needle going through my skin for this.

Gillian led me through to the piercing room (it was locked because no-one was in it) and I sat on the bed. It is like a bed you would see in a doctors office, and had the disposable paper over it for hygiene reasons. I made some small talk with the two of them, as this would be the first time that Gemma had really assisted in a piercing of mine. Gemma got all her gear prepared, and asked me to lie down on the bed. I lay down, settled myself without tearing the sheet, and tried to calm myself down. The two of them were stood by my head, and Gillian enquired if I would like to be frozen. Being the wimp that I am, I took the spray. Gemma held my lip back as Gillian sprayed my inner lip, just the once. Normally she seems to spray an awful lot on, but with just one spray, I was worried that it wouldn't work as well. The spray tastes absolutely foul, as a small bit dribbled onto my tongue.

After about 3 minutes of experiencing this foul taste, Gillian asked me if I was ready. I said I was, and asked if she had done this piercing before. She said that she had done it, two or three times. In retrospect, I think I really should have been asked to rinse my mouth with mouthwash. I had brushed my teeth excessively that morning, and just before I left home, so I hoped it wouldn't be too much of a problem. This was a passing thought, because Gemma then started to hold my upper lip back. Being the experienced hardcore pierced girl that I was, I burst into a fit of giggles. Once again, she pulled my lip back, and again I couldn't stop giggling. After 3 more attempts, I managed to calm myself down enough to relax my top lip. She pulled it back, and Gillian had a feel (with gloved hands) of my smiley bit (for lack of a better word) and got herself ready. She showed me the needle she was going to use, and she bent it into a sort of 'C' shape, so that it would not catch on my gums or anything as she was pushing it through.

Right, the needle was coming closer, and I shut my eyes. I wish I hadn't, but it seemed to be a reflex. I wanted to grimace, but didn't want to risk the procedure. Suddenly, I felt a pressure inside my mouth, there was about a split second of pain, it felt just like a slight pin prick. Then I felt the needle resting against my lips as Gillian reached for the jewellery. It was an unusual sensation, I knew that the needle was going right through my lip, but I couldn't feel it.

Then, I felt a slight tugging, and after a moment heard the familiar snap of a ball being placed into a BCR. Gemma let go of my lip, and it was over! I sat up straight away, the rush of adrenaline going through my body. I felt full of energy and ready to bounce up and down and out the door!

Popple got the money to pay Gillian, and I started to play with my new toy. I moved it around and wanted to touch every part of it with my tongue, and got told off by Gemma and Gillian. My response was that I thought I may as well play with it while it was still numbed!

On the drive home as the spray started to wear off, I didn't dare move it anymore than I had to. It stung when I caught it trying to eat an apple later that day, but only when it was actually being moved. I used some watered down Listerine to clean around it for the first few days, and I was meticulous with my oral hygiene. I have heard that this piercing doesn't always last, so I have personally done the best I can in trying to look after it.

The first few days, it felt exactly like I had an M&M stuck behind my top lip. After about 2 days, I started to stop noticing that it was there, and 2 weeks later, I barely notice it. I have been getting quite a build up of 'junk' on the hoop which I have just been cleaning off with my toothbrush. It is very delicate, and it's important not to brush too hard if cleaning it this way. After the first time I tried it I learned that lesson! The funny thing about this piercing, is that it has shown me exactly how much I do smile, whereas before I never really though I smiled much at all. If I am smiling because of the piercing, that is great, as more people should smile! The only real problem I have had with it is when people have asked me if I have something in my teeth.

Oh well. At least I am smiling enough for them to notice it!