gruesome

“Don’t touch it! It hurst like clappers.” Martha warned. Lillian retreated her finger and took a step back to sit on the steel bench. “That is insane.” She must have looked just as flabbergasted as Mariah, who had been staring at Martha’s stomach for the past five minutes. The ominous flicker of light inside the otherwise grey, dim shade of the girl’s locker room gave the whole sight something close to gruesome. “When did you do this again?”, it was the first time Mariah spoke. “Three days ago,” Martha said. ” At some studio in Sydney,” She hesitantly picked near her naval and hissed in agony. Lillian wasn’t sure the trip to Sydney was worth the grimace Martha put on at that second. “And your parents know?”, Mariah asked. Martha laughed and shook her head. “I will work on hiding from them for the next ten years. They’d kill me.” “Was it expensive?” Lillian looked up at her friend, in hopes the answer was no as well. Martha’s cheeks turned all rosy, which showed her freckles quite prominently. ” I wouldn’t know,” she grinned. “Dustin paid.” Lillian had never seen Martha’s boyfriend. But she had only heard praise for the nineteen-year-old and, in the gigantic realistic portrait of him, tatted on her friend’s stomach, he looked somewhat friendly. The silver piercing on her belly button only accentuated the whole image. Lillian exchanged a look with Mariah since she didn’t know what to say. Though Mariah didn’t falter for long. “Honestly, I don’t like it. But what matters is if you do,” Martha now smiled solemnly. “I love him. I love it.” So, apparently, that was what love could achieve. They left the lockers on their way to lunch break. “Wouldn’t just his name on your arm have done the job too?” Lillian wondered. After their P.E. lesson, they were the last ones on the floor because Martha insisted on showing them her new asset. “Either go all in or all out,” Martha said, smiling confidently. Lillian chose to drop the topic. “I won’t go for lunch, I think the office is only open for a short period.” Her friends shared an exciting grin as they affirmed “Good luck, Lilly!” and “You’re going to rock it!” She had informed them on her attempt to get into the schools’ newspaper, on a group call the night before. “Thanks guys!”.

Horas Newsflash has been St Horascious’ media outlet since 1989. They’ve been proving their versatility not only in print but also through the daily broadcast that uploads their videos on the school’s website. Internal school affairs, local school affairs, politics, history, sports, weather forecast, book recommendations and a million more topics were covered, which sealed a long-term success. Run by students and funded by donations, it was pretty much the only thing St. Horascious girls owned and relieved them from a normally tight and tiring schedule. Lillian hesitantly stepped into a room consisting of paper rather than concrete walls. Piles of files covered long wooden desks, heads stood bowed down, even after her door-knock, and the click of rapid typing scattered through the air. It smelled of coffee, sweet perfume and ink. Three girls were working on an article. It took Lillian half a second to recognise Thea Vaughn, elected chief editor of this term, as one of them. With her notebook in hand, she breathed in. Moment of truth. She knocked on the door twice. Thea looked up after the second time.