My face flushed as the flashbacks of that night replayed inside my mind. How could I ever forget?
20
SOPHIE
Raven’s Tattoostood above the door of the shop while I waited for Noah to pay for the parking ticket.
“You’re getting a tattoo?” I asked as he approached me, keeping his hands in his front pockets.
“No.” He grinned. “We are.”
“We are?” I repeated like a parrot, my eyes widening. “The bucket list?”
“Oh yeah. We’re getting tattoos today and crossing one item from that list.” He looked toward the side where the entrance to the alley next to the shop was. “Maybe two.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” He looked back at me. “Let’s go inside. They’re already waiting for us.”
With a hand on my lower back, he pushed me toward the glass door and opened it for me. The little ding above the door rang as we entered and two sets of eyes turned toward us.
A girl stood behind the glass counter containing rows and rows of different jewelry. The first word that came to my mind while looking at her was happiness. Streaks of rainbow colored her hair, while a bright smile adorned her face. Two piercings on her lower lip caught my eye, but her arms… Her arms were filled with ink. Some colored, some black and white, lines and shapes, and it all merged together, creating mesmerizing art.
“Hello there,” she called out as the door closed, while the guy we saw came closer to her, stopping right next to the counter. “Noah, right?” She pointed at him, still smiling.
“That’s right.”
“And this must be Sophie.” She looked at me. “I’m Phoebe. And this grump here,” she pointed at the guy, “is Leo.”
“It’s nice to meet you both.” I grinned at them. While Phoebe kept smiling, Leo kept the neutral expression on his face and just nodded.
Noah wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kept me at his side as we walked toward the counter.
“Do you guys know what you want to get?”
“Uh—”
I wanted to get a tattoo; I just hadn’t figured out what I wanted it to be. I looked at Noah, waiting to see what he was going to do.
“A sun,” he exclaimed. “A small sun, right here.” He pointed at the area between his thumb and forefinger. “It doesn’t have to be too big, but yeah.”
“A sun?” I asked. “You never told me that you wanted to have a tattoo.”
“We never really talked about it.” He smiled. “Do you have something against my choice?”
“No, not really.” I shook my head. “I just don’t understand the meaning behind it.”
“Most of my tattoos don’t even have a meaning.” Phoebe snickered. “In the beginning you think that each and every one of them has to have some special, hidden meaning, but trust me,” she walked behind the counter and right toward us. “After tattoo number three, I just started doing whatever I felt was right and whatever I liked.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah. People get so concerned that every tattoo has to have a deeper meaning, but they don’t. Tattoos are art, and if I see something that I really like, or if one of my friends designs something that really speaks to me, I’ll get it done.”
“I get that.” Noah nodded. “You have some pretty dope tattoos.”
“Thank you.”
“But this one has a meaning. A very special one.”
