Tattoos & Scars [1] | Jasper Hale

-02-

Now, Alice Cullen was a very peculiar girl in the eyes of Joanna Hodgson.

So when she entered the shop, gray eyes meeting amber ones, Alice didn't waste a chance to echo out her name. "Joanna." A pleased smile crossed her lips and when she looked over to her boss, Maggie, the older woman smiled in response. "May I get a manicure today, just the regular. And may I have Jo as my girl?" Her eyes quickly darted over to Nathaniel, "I still love you, though, Nate."

The said boy waved her off with a smirk before returning to his homework.

Alice looked over the counter and towards the racks of colors. As a usual for the small woman, she would poke her tongue out the corner of her mouth whenever she was concentrating. But when her eyes landed on a color that she adored, her tongue fell back into her mouth and she requested for the light, magenta color.

  When the small bottle was in her grip, she waltzed over to Joanna, smiling in a blinding way with her pearls. It was easy to tell how eager the small woman was, her jitteriness being evident. Along with the way she studied her surroundings, never letting her lips drop in the slightest way.

  "What makes you Cullens drop in here so often?" Joanna began her small talk, letting her grey eyes lift for a moment before she reached for her nail polish remover.

  The girl in front of her was quiet for a moment before she responded back. "Oh, well we do lots of things, actually. But in all honesty, we come in for you and Natw since your guys' personality is well..."

  "Fun?" Joanna suggested, smiling slightly as she rubbed away Alice's old, apricot-colored nails. Making them clearer than the day she born. Joanna continued, "Our personality is a bit different. I'm fun. Nate sucks, easy like that." Behind her, Nate grunted, which made both ladies giggle amongst themselves. Joanna contiued her job, reaching over so she could place the new polish by her. Alice remained quiet, watching as Joanna did her work on her. Making beautiful designs and pieces of art that Alice always gushed over. Saying every time that she was a female Bob Ross. Everytime, Joanna would blush and wave her off.

  Now, as Joanna began to take her time in drawing small cross cross patterns on her fairly small ring finger, Alice gushed then. "Gosh, Jo, you're talented." Too busy with her work, the artist smiled shyly in response. Her cheeks having a small glow to them.

  Shockingly, it didn't take her long to finish her design. She's been gifted with this: her time creating stunning pieces was always short. And in the end, it came out gorgeous. A gasp fell from Alice's lips as she quickly and suddenly lifted her hair to stare at the design. Her facial features reminded Joanna of a baby seeing colors for the first time, clearly fascinated by it all.

  "Truly gorgeous," Alice whispered, staring directly into Joanna's soul. Studying her silently in a way that made a shiver crawl up her spine. Then she looked away, her golden eyes focusing on something else before she slumped in her chair. It made Joanna's eyebrows knit together as she watched Alice fly up into cloud nine with the way she drifted off.

Joanna was about to call her name when the small woman was bouncing up again. Becoming energetic once more and she excused herself. "Oh my. Why look at the time?" The clock barely struck one. "It seems like I need to leave. Have a good day, Jo!" She picked up her purse, slinging it over her shoulder become smiling brightly at her favorite artist before skipping out the store. Making sure she laid a fifty on the counter.

  Nathaniel looked surprised from behind Joanna. "She only got one hand done." In the front, by the cash register, Maggie's mouth finally closed and she placed the fifty into the machine, uttering a small, "She's pretty odd." It was odd, indeed. Joanna gathered her things, placing them back in their homes before sitting up. Her eyes were trained on the glass doors that were in front of the store, seeing a yellow car going off into the distance.