The Last Days

|| Chapter 4 ||

Chapter 4: Aurora

My next appointment is a college guy who specifically asked for me to do his tattoo. In an email, he sent me the design he wanted on his lower back, the Rockie Mountains, saying that he was transferring to a college over seas and he wanted to be reminded of his hometown. This way, I guess he would always remember.

When he comes into the parlor, and I belt out his name, Nick, and his blonde eyebrows raise at the sight of me. He's pretty cute, with a pretty boy feel to him, but he isn't my type. Too pale and just by looking at him, I can tell he think men are more superior than women.

"So, mountains on your upper back?" I ask in attempt to start a conversation with him as we walk to the back where my room is. I lift the picture up to my eye level. When I first started, the pen was awkward for me to handle, but I quickly got used to it. I wouldn't say I am a pro, but I'd like to think that I have a pretty amazing artistic ability.

His design is just using black ink. It's simple, I'm guessing, just like him. I take a deep breath to steady myself.

"Ready?" I ask, giving him some time to prepare himself. He sits onto the chair, then takes his shirt off, revealing a toned back. I widen my eyes. I have to say that I'm impressed. He looks like he plays baseball, or maybe a running back or wide receiver for football. He doesn't have the body physique of a line backer or soccer player.

He takes a breath, making me roll my eyes, then states, "I'm ready."

With his words, I start. I feel his back tense under my hand, the muscles moving under my palm. The disign starts to unvail in a matter of moments, revealing the  outline of the mountains. I take a clothe an wipe the excess ink away.

"What's your major?" I ask him, trying to ask interested when it's really just questions to keep his focus off the pain.

"Business. The old man wants me to follow in his footsteps, but with the right knowledge."

"That sounds like fun."

"Yeah," he mutters, "If you wanna do that kinda thing? I want to go pro-football."

"Oh?" I blink at the boy in front of me. "You any good?"

He's about to shrug, then remembers I am tattooing him. "I've heard I'm good, but it's always hard to tell if someone is just trying to make you feel better I'd being genuine."

I wipe some ink away with a clean rag. "I know that feeling."

He looks back at me over his shoulder. "Really?"

I give him a smile that I hope doesn't look too sad. "I'm sure it happens to everyone," I say, directing the question from me.

"What major are you taking?" He questions me.

I widen my eyes, then burst out laughing so hard that I have to pull the pen away so I don't mess up his design. "I'm not in college."

"Really? Why not?"

"Not my sorta thing." It's not a lie. I used to imagine going when I was younger, but now there's not even the slightest possibility since I dropped out of high school.

He nods his head slowly. "If you were able to go to college, what would you do?"

"What makes you say that I can't afford it?" I demand, placing the pen needle onto his back.

"You seemed like you wanted to, but something is holding you back," he explains to me. Oh, he doesn't know how right he is about that statement. The "thing holding me back" is just not what he thinks it is.

I stay silent for a moment. "I would want to be a cook, go to culinary school." I know it's surprising, but it's something I wanted to do for a while. My mother used to to let me help cook in the kitchen before she died.

"Yeah, you look like a chef." He leans his head down as I move the pen to his other shoulder. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," I murmur without missing a beat.

"You look like you could be my age!" His shock shows in his voice. "And I'm twenty-one."

"I get that a lot."

After a while, I stop torturing him with the ink pen when my phone vibrates "I have to go to the bathroom." I hand him a water. "I'll be back in a second."

I check my phone to see that I received a text from Mae to confirm that we're still going to hang out. I send one back quickly, then return to the room to finish the design. I add in little details, like shadows and hints of dark grey to five texture.

"Wanna see it?" I say as I pull away.

Nick looks back at me with his eyebrows raised. "You're already done? I thought it took stages?"

"That's if you wanted colored ink or a more complex design." I shrug, then roll in my chair towards a cabinet and pull out a hand mirror. He takes it from me and angles it so he can get a good look.

"Wow! It looks so realistic and so much better than I thought!" He smiles at me charmingly. "Thanks so much!"

I instruct him on taking care of the irritated skin as I put a bandage that covers the tattoo.

As he leaves, I hear the bell chime, signaling someone has entered. I take a glance from behind the counter, and wave at Mae, who has Jericho in tow. He growls lowly at the sight of Nick, and I try to hide a smile as Nick carefully walks around the two like they're a pool of lava.

When he exits the parlor, I wave to Mae. "Hey! It's almost five, so I'll just pack it up and then we can go. You wanna do anything today, or just go look at the sale they're having at that one store?"

"Um... Let's just go look at the sale." Mae looks slightly on edge. "I think I need new clothes."

I lean forward on the counter, gazing at my friend. "What's wrong?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing?" When I raise my eyebrow, she sighs dejectedly. "I guess I'll tell you later."

I give her a nod, then make my way back to my room to grab my brown purse that straps over my shoulder and hangs by my hip. I check my phone again, and sigh. My father hasn't even tried to call me.

"Let's go," I say as I walk closer to Mae. I scratch behind Jericho's ear, who just started warming up to me.

I remember when I first met Mae. It was about three years ago, when we were thirteen, although Mae looked like she was an adult with the makeup and clothes she wore. She was walking alongside Jericho who looked like he didn't even need a leash.

"Hey!" She turned to me. "You're really pretty."

She didn't even smile. "Thanks."

"Do you, uh, mind if I pet your dog?" I motioned to the intimidating animal with a smile she didn't return.

"If you can get anywhere near him, I'd say we could be friends." She stopped walking, then turned to face me with her crossed over her chest.

My smile grew, and I tentatively reached out my hand to touch his head, but his growl made me take a small step back. Mae had scoffed as if she knew this would happen, but I gave her a determined grin, and slower than ever placed my hand on his back.

For a second, he let my hand stay there, but before I could react, his teeth were sinking into my little arm. I had let out a weak scream, and Mae barely managed to pull Jericho away with my arm intact.

"I am so sorry! Please don't sue me! I don't have any money anyway, but I couldn't take it if you did!" Mae continues to pull Jericho away from me with a regretful look on her face. "I didn't think you'd actually touch him! Why didn't you pull away?" She demands loudly, gazing at my arm that continues to bleed.

I don't even notice it, mostly because I know the bite wasn't even feel. The other part was because I was extremely happy. "You do know what this means, right?"

"What?"

"We're friends now."