𝐒𝐓. 𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃, b.

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄

❝𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐢'𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲?❞

"𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 that for?" jahseh points to the tattoo on the inside of my right forearm. there rests a small tattoo in all caps that reads "purgatory."

"i don't know, i was listening to a song and thought the word sounded cool, and when i looked up the definition the word seemed even cooler. so i thought i should get it tatted."

jahseh runs his finger along the tattoo, sending chills up my arm. he gives me a smile. "i think it's badass."

i glance away to try and hide my smile, and while doing so i catch ms. berry's eyes as we pass the front desk. she smiles at us, and with this smile, she's acknowledged that she knows we were gone, and that she's glad to see the two of us getting along again.

"don't be a stranger, yeah?" jahseh's voice snaps me out of it, and he's gesturing to the hallway that holds our sector, suggesting that he'll be heading to his dorm. i nod and he walks off, leaving me to fend for myself in the main hallway.

i sigh and decide that i'll head back to my dorm too, just to take a breather before i go to class. we ended up coming back right before third period. i really just wanna skip the rest of my classes, and i can, but i don't really have shit to do but sit in my dorm and walk around the school, so i guess i'll actually do something productive for once.

it was fun going on that walk with jahseh and it was reassuring that he knew his way around, i think that if i'd gone by myself i'd have gotten lost. he was also able to point out the best spots to get food and places to shop. it was so cute watching him talk about this area, although this isn't his home. he told me he was raised in lauderhill, and kind of got passed around from city to city because of his home situation and because of frequently transferring to different juvies. once he got to st. george, he got acquainted with the city of st. george island and it basically became his second home.

he told me he was set to stay in st. george until he turned eighteen.

his birthday is in a few weeks, and he'll turn seventeen, an age he said he'd been awaiting a long time; he was tired of being sixteen.

i'd just turned sixteen last month so i haven't been this age for long, jahseh was older than me by a year and he made sure that i knew it.

to celebrate his birthday, he told me he was going to a strip club and i had to laugh, because he's not even old enough to have access. he said he had his ways and that he'd get in easily, going to a strip club was his only birthday wish.

guys, am i fucking right?

i roll my eyes involuntarily just thinking about it, but that's what teenage boys do, they're hornballs.

my wrist is grabbed roughly and i'm knocked out of my thoughts. i look in front of me to see who's grabbing me.

quinn?

she quickly drags me into the bathroom, letting go of me and checking all the stalls to make sure that no one's in there. she locks the bathroom door and finally looks at me, her face flushed and her hair messy. she's out of breath and looks like she's just heard the news of the century.