“Hmm…”

  My situation was a little different from other days. I was alone in the mall I previously visited with Lusia. I usually would come to this place looking for a notebook, pencils or something for my father, but I wasn’t looking for any of those things. Instead, I was staring at a store full of cosmetics.

  Let’s go back to yesterday.

  “Aisha, look at this!”

  “What?”

  I looked confused where Lusia was pointing. That way I noticed a little raflesia in her right ear.

  “An earring?”

  “Exactly! It was a gift from my aunt.”

  “It Looks very red…”

  “Yeah, I like that color.”

  “A heart wouldn’t be something better?”

  “She knew a heart would be too standard, I also prefer this.”

  “I see…”

  The change was basically zero, but I guess Lusia was happy with that. Still, that only made me wonder about something.

  “Earrings don't hurt?”

  “A little, but only when the hole is made, Is like and injection.”

  “I see…”

  “You should try it.”

  “If you say so…”

  And that’s why I’m here. At first, I tried getting Lusia’s help, but she was busy today, so I'm on my own. That made everything more complicated than I thought.

  “I can’t find the raflesia ones…”

  My first idea was just matching with Lusia, but apparently those earrings weren’t something common. The other options weren’t helping, the variety was too much. I couldn’t even flip a coin because it only had two sides.

  “Something tiny…or something big…”

  With no more choices, I tried getting help.

  “Maybe my dad?”

  My only friend is Lusia so she was my only option. I could try calling my dad, but he doesn’t know that much about this kind of thing. Although my options were limited, somehow, I still had someone.

  “This number... “

  With no more options, I selected the number, and after ten seconds, the call was picked.

  “Hello?”

  “...Is this Camila’s number?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m Aisha Woods.”

  “Oh, hi.”

  Camila is the class delegate so her number is something almost everyone in the class has, that includes me. In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t call this number because the delegate doesn’t need anything from me, but after what she did some days ago, I supposed she wanted to talk more with me, so this shouldn’t bother her.

  “What do you need?”

  “I need help choosing earrings.”

  “Earrings?”

  “Yes, it's wrong?”

  “No, you know our school admits almost everything. I’m just surprised.”

  “Lusia told me that I should try using earrings.”

  “I see. And I guess she's busy and you need someone as plan B.”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmm…I can help, I’m gonna be busy in like thirty minutes.”

  “Thanks…”

  “Well, give me a quick description of the place.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  That way, I explained every single earring I managed to find in the store. My descriptions were enough for Camila, so she started giving her advice.

  “What about a big circular one?”

  “I wanna start with something little, I don’t even know how to do a hole in my ear without a tutorial.”

  “Right, what about a sparkle or a star?”

  “Lusia told me I look weird with cute accessories.”

  “In that case you should try something monochromatic or something that doesn’t imply vivid colors…What about a skull?”

  “Maybe…”

  Slowly the options were decreasing. Camila was proposing options and giving advice. Meanwhile I was accepting or denying depending on what Lusia would say and how difficult it would be wearing the earring.

  “I think this is getting easier…”

  “I don’t understand how this is something difficult for you.”

  “I don’t know that much about Lusia’s likes.”

  “Yeah but, you don’t have like…anything you enjoy?”

  “...Being Lusia’s friend, maybe?”

  “Maybe you can find an earring with Lucia’s face.”

  “I doubt it…”

  Just in case, I searched again, but I didn’t find anything resembling Lusia’s face.

  Eventually the options were only ten, a number still problematic but a lot more manageable.

  “Hmm…”

  “Is it easier now?”

  “Yes…”

  “Really? What are you gonna pick?”

  “Actually, I’m gonna buy all of them.”

  “Huh?”

  “It's not that expensive. Five dollars should be enough.”

  “Why in dollars?”

  “Thanks for helping.”

  “It’s nothing, I like helping my classmates.”

  “...Sorry for ending our conversation in a such abrupt way.”

  “I was also bothering you both with so many questions, it’s okay.”

  The call ended without any inconvenience, so I picked all the earrings and went to pay for them.

  “...Right.”

  Just before paying I remembered that I needed a needle. Before coming here I checked some videos about earrings and apparently I can’t use Lusia’s needle or actually any needle that wasn’t mine. That makes sense because I was planning to stab a part of my body, but at the same time it was a little inconvenient.

  “Needles…Needles…”

  After a minute of searching I finally got some needles. Now without more inconvenients, I paid for everything and abandoned the mall heading straight to my house.

  “I could do this by myself…but it's gonna be complicated…”

  Stabbing my ear doesn’t sound like something light, so doing it by myself could be a little difficult. When someone puts their hand in a hot stove they immediately move it, if something like that happens I could make a mess with my own blood.

  “He has good precision…But I don’t wanna bother him…”

  Asking my father for help was a bad idea for various reasons. He maybe is busy, maybe gets worried, maybe putting earrings isn’t something easy for him. Sadly, my only two options were waiting for Lusia or doing it by myself, and the second one was quicker.

  “I’ll do it after working…”

  When I was finally back in home, I found my father doing a lot of things.

  “Hello…”

  “Hello Aisha.”

  “I’m gonna help.”

  “Thanks, this is too much for me alone.”

  “You should hire someone else...”

  “I'm fine with my best employee.”

  I immediately started helping my dad with some things like replenishing alcohol, cleaning the bar, organizing objects people left by accident, and in general, preparing the place for any client.

  During the work, I was thinking a lot about how complicated it would be for something without experience like me putting an earring, somehow it was even a little…intimidating? I don't think that’s the correct word. I know a little how it feels being scared, so I know it is not that. Still, whatever I was feeling, was a little similar. My dad apparently noticed that something was wrong because he talked to me.

  “Aisha, are you okay?”

  “Yes…Why are you asking?”

  “You tend to forget to blink when you're thinking too much about something.”

  “...I will try something new, but it's not something bad.”

  “I see. It's something difficult for you?”

  “A little, I can make it here so it isn’t that complicated, but just the idea feels…odd.”

  “I see (Probably is makeup or something like that.)”

  “Maybe it’s a bad idea…I don't know why I would even try it.”

  “...You know?, your mother used to call me a lot when she wanted to try something new.”

  “...Why?”

  “She always had the same thoughts ‘Maybe this hurts’ ‘Is this wrong?’ ‘I will look bad?’ ‘I will ruin it.’”

  “And what did you do in situations like that?”

  “I just said ‘stop messing around.’”

  “...That’s anticlimactic."

  “At your age I was a pain. I'm still ashamed of that.”

  “Where do you wanna go with this…?”

  “In the end, I always ended up going to her house, just for being at her side, or even to see if I could help her.”

  “Every single time?”

  "Yeah, she always needed that last push."

  "Push?"

  “If you’re not sure whether to do it, do you have someone who praises you or laughs at your mistakes? I was that person for her."

  “...”

  “I approve whatever you wanna do, but if it isn’t enough, you have someone else?”

  “...”

  “Your face says everything.”

  Suddenly, my father put his hand in his pocket and took out some money.

  “Today your turn ends early, this is your pay from today, so you won’t get anything helping me.”

  “...You know I don’t do this for money.”

  “I know, but it's really difficult to convince you to not help.”

  Without arguing I picked the money and left what I was doing.

  “Thanks…”

  “Thanks to you for helping me.”

  I wasn’t busy any more. so I went to the bathroom. there I checked if I had everything.

  “Disinfectant, needle, earrings…”

  Everything was ready and I could start immediately, but I was having the same thoughts…

  “...”

  Thinking about what my father told me, I did a phone call.

  “...”

  “Aisha, how it's going?”

  “Hello Lusia. I'm okay”

  “What do you need?”

  “Nothing, just…”

  “Hmm?”

  “I’m gonna try something new, you have time later so you can see it?”

  “In like two hours, but we wouldn't be able to do much, do you want to do it anyways?”

  “...Yes…”

  “Cool"

  "Maybe it looks weird..."

  "It's something embarrassing?”

  “No, is just an accessory.”

  “I see…Is it expensive?”

  “No, I got a lot so I could give you one.”

  “...Wait, you chose it?”

  “With some help, but yes.”

  "Dang it, now I’m really curious, I wanna see you already.”

  “...I know you can wait…”

  "At least you can told me what it is?"

  "Well...I'm gonna try earrings."

  "I see...Wait."

  The audio suddenly saturated before what Lusia was saying could be understood again. She probably screamed so loudly that her phone's microphone couldn't handle it.

  "You're gonna put on earrings?!"

  "Is that we-"

  "You can't do that alone!"

  "I can't?"

  "No?!"

  "But I found a good tutorial."

  "Maybe people with experience can do it, but people like you can't."

  "I didn't knew that..."

  "If I rush what I'm doing I can be there in an hour, wait for me."

  "'I thought you-"

  I couldn't finish my sentence before she hung up the call, leaving me alone with myself.

  Triying to waste time, I showered and cleaned the bathroom. And after fifty minutes, she arrived and entered to the bathroom with a blue bag.

  "Are you okay?!"

  "Huh, yeah."

  "If you're gonna worry me, please do it with a better timing..."

  "What are you carrying in that bag?"

  "Some things for helping you with your earrings."

  "Thanks..."

  "Thank me when we're done."

  With nowhere else to lean, Lusia laid me down on the floor. Luckily I had already dried it.

  "We're gonna talk while I do this, that way you shouldn't be scared."

  "I'm not scared..."

  Ignoring me, Lusia prepared everything in a spot that my eyes couldn't reach, so I was totally unaware about what was happening.

  "I can't believe you of all people wanted this."

  "I understand the feeling."

  "And without the help of an adult."

  "Sorry..."

  "Thanks god you called me...Why did you call me by the way?"

  "I was thinking about you."

  "If this happens again, you will bite a tomato."

  "..."

  "Next time, call me, it doesn't matter if I'm busy."

  "Are you sure?"

  "I don't wanna see you harmed".

  "...Okay..."

  Lusia helped me with every single step while we talked about anything. A part of me didn't liked bothering her, but, I also felt felt grateful for having called her, and it wasn't my own safety what made me feel so grateful.

  "Here."

  Once the process was finished, Lusia showed me my reflection. I looked the same as always, but now I was wearing two small clocks on my ears.

  "..."

  "At least you have a good taste."

  The look on her face when she saw the final result made the whole experience worthwhile.