Silver Lining

Chapter One

The banging on the door made me drop my toothbrush. I have one hour until I have to leave for work and my mom has two. So why is she rushing me? When I open the door, a violet butterfly shimmers on my wrist. It wasn't there. Mom walks past me, frowning and slamming the door behind her. I walk down the hall to my bedroom, where I put on my gray sleeveless maxi dress and black flats. I take black beaded bracelets and put them on my wrist. They cover up the tattoo. It doesn't need to be seen in public yet.

My Samsung J3 vibrates on the black and white bed. Two messages from Amber and one from Alicia pop up on the screen. I read Amber's first.

That party was so fun last night.

Cleo and I have surprise for you and Alicia and after work.

The party at Orion's house last night was fun, but it was kind of a blur. I switch to Cleo's message.

I saw Sav kissing a statue last night.

That doesn't sound like something Sav would do. Orion doesn't even have statues near her house and neither do her neighbors. Alicia had to be imagining that. No one in their right mind would bring a statue to a party.

Are you sure that's true? Where did you see a statue?

A photo appears under my message. In the photo, Sav is standing in front of a statue of a short haired petite woman and his lips were puckered. I furrow my brow. That statue has the same short hair and petite body as Orion's roommate Justine. The door is wide open, and there's no way that Sav wouldn't see Alicia taking a photo of him. She sends another response.

Yeah. It happened in Justine's room. I'm outside your house.

Justine isn't the artsy type. She wouldn't have a statue in her room, especially not one that closely resembles her. I grab my black leather purse and leave the house. Alicia's green Honda is parked in front of my house. I strut to the car and get in the passenger's seat. She turns the radio off and smiles at me. I smile back.

"Did Sav see you take that photo?" I ask, covering my wrist with my purse.

She turns on the ignition. "No. He only had his eyes on the statue."

"Wow, that's hella strange."

"Yeah. What's up with you?"

"Not much. Did you see me get a tattoo last night?"

"No, but I did dance with you and Amber before you two went upstairs with a Chinese woman with red hair."

As Alicia drives past the houses, I look at Amber's messages again. I remember going upstairs with Amber after she got a little drunk. But I don't remember meeting a red haired Chinese woman at all. There wasn't a tattoo artist at the party, so how did this butterfly get on my wrist?

After driving into the Value Village parking lot, Alicia glances at my wrist. The tattoo is half exposed. Damn it. I haven't even felt the bracelets slide down. I slide them back up. She parks in a spot close to the store and pulls the key out of the ignition. Then, she turns to face me.

"Oh my God! You got a tattoo!"

So much for keeping it hidden. I send my response to Amber.

Awesome! Can you give a hint about what the surprise is?

I put my phone in my purse. "I mean, yeah. But I don't remember getting it."

"Amber got a pink flower on her lower back and has no memory of it. Maybe someone gave you temporary tats while you guys were asleep in that room."

Maybe that's what happened. Amber and I were probably in deep sleep. The rest of the night was kind of a blur. I take a tissue out of the glove compartment and soak it in water from the Dasani bottle.

I wipe the tattoo, but it dosn't come off. Damn. It's not temporary. Some weirdo gave me and my best friend permanent tattoos while were asleep?! What the fuck? When I find out who did this, I will give them a peice of my mind! I ball up the tissue and stuff it in my purse. Alicia widens her eyes.

"We can keep this between us and Amber if you want. Just until we figure this out."

"Deal. Let's go." I reply, opening the door.

We both get out of the door and amble to the store. On the way to the office, I put my bracelets on my other wrist and put on a gray lace glove from my purse. It covers my tattoo. Thank God. Sav stands at the door to the office holding two paper bags from Starbucks. He hands them to us, smiling. How did he sober up so fast? He was drunk last night.

"Hey, ladies. Here are the cheese danishes you asked for."

"Thank you." Alicia and I say in unison.

He wraps his arms around our waists. Alicia seems to be sniffing his shirt, which smells like beer and mint. We let go of him once he looks down at us. He goes through the door straight to the break room, running his hands through his black hair. We walk into the office, going straight to our cubicles. I sit on my swivel chair, setting my purse on the small beige file cabinet and the danish on my desk. I turn on the Dell computer and click right on Google Chrome after logging in. Before I have a chance to type, the phone on the desk rings.

"Hello, this is the Value Village call center. How may I help you?"

The caller coughs. "Hello. I'm Lena. I bought a pink pearl necklace the clerk won't let me return."

"You can't return jewelry. It's part of the refund policy."

"Damn it! Now, I'm stuck with these fake pearls. This is ridiculous."

She groans loudly and hangs up. I sigh heavily as I take one bite of my danish. A few minutes at work, and someone already called in, expecting to return something that they can't return. It's not the store's fault that she somehow thought that pearls from a thrift store would be real. I turn to the computer and type in 'Painless Tattoos'. I click on the second website I see, which talks about anasthetics. That totally makes sense, because without something to numb the tattoos, Amber and I would have woken up in pain. I close the tab and look in my purse to check my phone.

A message from Amber appears on the screen.

Sure. The surprise is something Cleo and I both share.

She and Cleo might both have tattoos. Or they could be sharing a car. I just hope the surprise is the latter. Maybe haning out with them tonight will get my mind off of what happened. The phone rings again and when I pick up, the caller says nothing. Then, the call drops. What a waste of time. I eat the rest of my danish as quietly as I can and scroll through photos of Amber on Instagram. In these photos, she's wearing a hot pink short sleeve crop top and a black skirt. Only part of the bright pink flower on her lower back is revealed.

The photos she had from last night are of me and her dancing and her kissing Cleo. In one of the photos, a red haired Chinese woman is standing behind us, smiling not dancing. Amber has me, Cleo and the woman tagged in the photo. I tap on the name she was tagged by, which led me to an account under the name selenamiri.