Falling For Ace

Eight

I V Y

While the adults began talking about their childhood and all boring stories, I found myself eating my pizza quietly since I had nothing interesting to say and I did not want to be part of the adults' conversation. It always ends up with something like marriage, kids and stuffs.

I took a bite from my second pizza when Mason's phone started ringing. He excused himself before standing up and leaving to attend the call. Ace and I were the only ones not talking. I finished my second pizza, feeling full.

I opened my soda and drank the whole content before standing up and went to wash my hands. After washing them, I turned around only to be met with Ace's piercing blue eyes, staring right at me.

I wiped my hands with the towel before smiling at him, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to wash my hands," he replied walking towards the sink, his shoulders brushing against mine. I took a step away, giving him more space. My eyes fell on the tattoo on his wrist. I took a close look at it before my eyes slightly widened.

A snake wrapped around a sword and a skull tattoo. The sword was into the skull and the snake was coming out from the skull's eyes, mouth and other holes on it's face. It wasn't big but any person who is or was, in my case, involved in the underworld knew what this tattoo mean

The Italian Mafia.

Ace was part of the Italian mafia.

A C E

I stared at Ivy who had her eyes fixed on the tattoo on my wrist which represented the Italian mafia. Her eyes were wide opened and her lips were slightly parted. She hadn't realized that I was staring at her, she was too concentrated on the tattoo.

Did she see this somewhere? Fuck, did she know what it represents?

"Ivy?" Hearing my voice snapped her back to reality. She blinked a few times before staring at me, "sorry, I zoned out."

"I could tell," I muttered, staring at her closely. She took a deep breath before flashing me a clearly fake smile, "I was thinking about something. Never mind."

"About my tattoo?" I asked, showing her the tattoo representing the Italian mafia clearly, "this one? Have you ever seen this anywhere before?"

"No," she shook her head, "no, I just find it very interesting. Like, what does it mean?"

"The skull represents death," I replied, "the snake represents power and the sword represents authority, protection, courage and strength."

"Interesting," she muttered, "well have a great night."

"I'm not leaving anytime soon." I stated. Mason and I planned to play video games and all while my parents planned to have a long talk with Mr and Mrs Reed. These four were childhood friends which was how I met Mason in the first place.

My dad signed a deal with Mr Reed and they were invited for dinner at our place. Mason and I were both bored shitless at that dinner so I asked him if he wanted to play video games with me. He instantly nodded and followed me to my room and we hit it off. He and I had a lot in common.

"Then enjoy the rest of your night," she said before walking away not giving me the chance to say anything else. Her whole mood changed when she saw the tattoo.

Did she by any chance know what it means? That was the billion dollar question.

Ivy was gone for two years. Why? She was clearly lying when she said it was for studying. Mason told me a different reason, he told me that she wanted to stay with their grandparents who live in France.

Both of them were lying. But why?

"Stop playing detective," I muttered to myself before shaking my head, "so what if they lied? That's their problem not yours." I made my way outside and saw my parents taking all the time in the world eating and chatting.

I felt a pat on my shoulder making me turn around to come face to face with my best friend.

"Let's go play?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. I nodded, "go, I'll come after grabbing my drink," he then walked away. I went towards the table and took my bottle of soda before going to Mason's room.

I opened the door, stepped into the room before closing it. Settling on the couch in front of the screen, I opened my soda and waited while Mason chose a game for us.