17 Made Mistakes

⋆19༄ Time and space.

Hello there! Welcome to another chapter ♡. Before we start, I just want to say two things.

In my bio you will find an e-mail address which you can use to message me about anything! Even weather, haha.

Also, thank you for the high activity on the last chapter. It really made me happy. You're golden!

——————————

The calendars quickly flipped to Friday, making me receive my first hard-earned money. I've saved the tips that I had been given into the bargain, and now I was finally able to trawl the shops.

I have also rung a tattoo studio — the exact same one that Nathan worked in as an ink designer during the school year — and booked an appointment, which turned out to be much cheaper than I had expected because I was offered to be sorted out by an apprentice. The tattoo that I had picked is small and simple, thereby the prospect of it getting ruined does not concern me.

The reason why I decided on this particular place is because Nathan had showed me their work in the past, and it was absolutely breathtaking. I would have never even thought about going there, if he still worked for them during holidays, but it was summer now, and I remember him saying that he only agreed to the contract under the condition that he gets his holidays off.

Me however, I have no choice but to work thanks to my obstinate, still incensed mother. Not only can't she get over my little dress-up stunt, but the fact that someone broke into our house — which apparently was 'my punishment' served by whomever decided to do it, for whatever I had done — made my mother really crabby.

So here I am, with my first paycheck, in a mall, waiting for my companion.

Feeling quite self-conscious due to standing on my lonesome in the bustling public, I busy myself with my phone, and rest my back against the wall.

I had arrived a tad early, and having got all this ample time now, I go through the shopping list in my notes — a roster of things that I had set out to buy or change in myself.

Whilst my eyes wander all over the palm-sized screen, I don't even acknowledge the person who began to approach me, until the moment I get jolted out. "Bloody hell, Connor! I'm too young to die from a heart attack," I gasp, hoisting my hand up to my sternum.

"Sorry." His face distorts in apology. "I didn't mean to. I was actually going to message you that I'm already here, but then I saw you, so I just honed in on." He shrugs, giving me a rueful look. "What do you want to get then?" He starts another hare, examining my expression.

The reason why I picked Connor to accompany me during the shopping is easy — I've judged him so quickly and wrongfully that now I wanted to see him for who he really is. He seemed quite chilled about the whole idea of whiling in the mall with me, which made me conclude that he really needed some company. After I had publicly forced him to reveal that Beverly was his ex-girlfriend whom he had cheated on, and Will threw in the snippet about her suicide, people must've immediately turn their backs on him. I literally blew a hole in his fresh start — something that he downright deserved after all the years of being blamed for her death.

"I need a hair dye and some new clothes," I eventually respond, starting to stroll ahead.

"A hair dye?" His forehead furrows.

"And a box of bleach. Without it, there is no chance for any colour to bond to my dark hair."

"Is it something you've wanted for a long time, or is it just a summer whim?" The corners of his mouth lift faintly, awkwardly, as if he wasn't feeling comfortable around me, and this observation makes me draw up in the middle of the mall.