maven - julien baker

🦇meet-cute🦇

"wake the fuck up mae!!" fiona exclaimed as she lightly shook me. i groaned and rolled over in her small daybed. "fine, fine, fine." she says and stretches in bed. i get up and start making coffee in the little kitchen area. "do you have any appointments today?" arden asks while walking out of their room and yawning. "i have a group tattoo today along with another appointment later." i said and sip my coffee. i know i'm insane for liking my coffee black but i loveeee the bitter taste. fiona and arden nod. "alexa play my 'maven' playlist." i say to the little echo dot. it's repeats what i said back to me and starts playing 'maple syrup' by backseat lovers.

we all walk back to our rooms as the surround sound speakers fill the small house with music. we all love nice and peaceful mornings and just silently enjoy each others space. i love my friends so much. i change into a cute little outfit with a button up, tie, skirt, and docs. i sling on my bag and start collecting all my knick knacks. "bye my lovelies!!" i shout as i head out the door.

i hop in my red 1965 pontiac grand prix and start driving over to my shop. i own a tattoo and piercing shop with my friend from high school, imani. it's called 'the ink garden'. i play my music and vibe while i drive.

i get to the shop and unlock the doors. i walk in and embrace the solitude. "BOO!" i hear a voice shout and i yelp. imani comes up from behind me and gives me a big hug while giggling cause she scared me. we pull apart and i say "god im you scared the shit outta me.". she continues giggling as we walk to our stations. it's only 10 am but my first appointment is at 10:30 and my brain is not fully on. i put my headphones on and just chill on my little red bench. i start dozing off.

a little bit later i hear a "yoo-hoo!" from a random voice. i open my eyes and see three girls walk in wearing matching bomber jackets. i get up and head over to them. "hi! welcome to the ink garden! i assume you're my 10:30 appointment? btw i'm maeve." i say with a slight smile. "hi, yes we are! i'm julien and this is lucy and phoebe." the little one covered in tattoos says while pointing to the silver haired girl and the tall, black-cat-type girl. damn the little one is so cute. no, no, no, you can't say that about clients, maeve. "well let's get started! what's y'all's plan?" i ask, unknowingly smiling. "we want to get matching teeth tattoos." phoebe says with a wide grin and rosy cheeks. "awesome! i assume there's a meaning behind these teeth?" i say with a guessing tone. "yeah! we're in a band called 'boygenius' and we wanna get teeth as a reference to our song bite the hand." lucy says cheerfully. "that's so cool! i'd love to hear your music! i bet it's beautiful." i say. "thank you so much!" julien says while blushing. "hey imani! can you queue up some boygenius on the speakers?" i exclaim to imani whose chilling at her desk in the back. i hear a "mhm" from behind me. "so, whose first?" i ask the girls sitting in front of me. julien raises her hand and says "that would be me.". "great! so where would you like to place it? i bet i can find a little spot in that pool of tattoos you got." i say with a little laugh. "have at it!" julien says with a smile and reaches her hand out towards me. music is playing in the background and i hear a voice powerfully singing 'gnashing my teeth like a child of cain!'. oh wow these girls are amazing. as i search through juliens tattoos to find a spot, i ask "okay wait who just sang that lyric because that voice is incredible!!". "that's our sweet juliens voice you're hearing." phoebe says with a proud smile. julien is blushing like a tomato at this point from the praise and light physical touch from me. i smile to myself lightly. i find a little patch of blank skin on juliens wrist. "how about here?" i ask and point to the spot. "perfect." julien says. i nod and pat the chair for her to sit on. she hops up and lays down while i set her hand on my little tray.

i start freestyle drawing the tooth on her skin and i feel her chills as i delicately detail the tooth. "ready?" i ask and she nods. i start inking and vibing to their sweet voices.

i finish up julien's tattoo within about 30 minutes. next is phoebe who takes it like a champ and lucy, the tattoo virgin, who pushed through the pain. one thing i love about the girls is that they really know how to have a good conversation and really vibe with people. i feel like i've known them for years at this point, especially julien. i think i'm starting to crush on her. she's so introspective, and smart, and kind, and so, so cute. also she is like the biggest flirt, oh my god. i love it.

"all finished!" i say and lift my needle off lucy's hand. "thank fuck!" lucy says with relief washing over her face. we all snickered at her comment. i made eye contact with julien and we smile and blush at each other. "hey, would you wanna hang out later? you just seem really cool and i love your energy." phoebe says with a big smile. "omg, of course!" i say, "can i bring my roommates, arden and fiona? you'd totally love them!". "omg, yes! that would be so cool!" lucy says. julien has a big smile on her face but she's trying to hide it. we all trade phone numbers and they put their contact names as "PB🤭🤭", "lucyyy🦷", and "julien🩷". julien's contact made me all giddy like a teen girl. we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

i finished up this other girl's tattoo within 3 hours later that day and went home and chilled till about 6. then i get a text from julien asking if i'd wanna go to dinner with the girls and my friends. i, of course, say yes.

THE DINNER IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

(thank you for reading and listening to my goofiness. LOVE YA POOKIE!! - slatey<3)