I stood, fixing the outdated magazines for the fifth time today. Gliding my fingers across the images of heavily tattooed people on the covers, I flipped through them every so often, feeling the crisp edges created by water, staining the pages with drops from that one leak in the ceiling that we never fixed.
The door to the tattoo shop hadn't opened in hours, and no one had an appointment or even a consultation today. At least I would still be paid for my hours, but there was only one other guy here, a 17 year old who's here to get out of class at the end of his school day. I thought he would be an annoying, angsty teen, but he's quiet and polite and he just cleans around here. He told me he'd like to be a tattoo artist someday, and I told him I'd draw out whatever he wanted. That's what I do here, other than being a receptionist— answering phones, booking and checking in appointments, and such— I also draw people's tattoo designs, usually outlines and geometric prints.
It's fun, because I love art, but I'm more of a freelance worker with artistry, doing drawings, painting, tattoos, and even makeup. What I've really been trying to do is model, I'm trying to get signed to an agency before college starts. I already took a year off to try and get my life on track, since I moved from Georgia to Rhode Island for school.
Now I'm 19, and by the time the school year starts I'll be so close to 20. I'm hoping to make something of myself, and I'm not going to let anything slow the process.
Just then, my phone buzzed with a notification. On a busier day I would've waited until I got off work to check, but there was no hindrance to stop me today. I saw that it was a Twitter direct message, from one of my mutuals apparently, since my DM's aren't open to anyone else. I opened the message to see that it was from a boy I followed back a long time ago, by association. I never unfollowed because I knew I had ties to him in some way, which he reminded me of with his message. It read;
Hey I know you don't know me but are you Ethan's sister?
I was confused and slightly suspicious, but instead of blocking him like I would usually do, I responded.
Yes...
I waited about 5 minutes, sitting behind the front desk, my nails tapping the glass countertop as the student volunteer, Parker, swept the floor for the umpteenth time. My phone vibrated, making a harsh noise against the top of the desk.
I'm Leah's friend & she wanted me to ask Ethan if you were coming to her grad party
I squinted at my phone screen, yet again in confusion, until he sent;
I asked Ethan but he told me to ask you directly
Leah's family and mine are linked quite oddly. Ethan is my younger brother by three years, and he developed a friendship with our neighbor, which brought our family closer to theirs. We lived in that same complex for over ten years, and they eventually became like cousins, aunts and uncles to us. So my "aunt" Diane and her husband Mike had a niece who started coming over to their house, the one next door to us, nearly as frequently as Ethan and I did. This was when she was about 10, and I was 12.
So basically, Leah is my neighbor's niece, and a distant but valued friend of mine. And the boy who messaged me was Leah's friend apparently. I told him to tell Leah I plan to be there. It would be at her house, the one in the deeper part of the city back in Atlanta. We had always lived in a suburban area, and she came to her aunt's house for weeks at a time.
I hadn't spoken to Leah in almost six months now, since we were both so busy. Honestly, I hadn't spoken to Ethan in about that long either. Since I moved to Rhode Island, things in Georgia— family, friends, everything really— got put on the back burner. I still love my family and friends with all my heart, but they weren't entirely supportive of everything I do in life. They still aren't, but they've learned to ignore the things they don't like about me, like my career choice, my relationships, and even little things like my hair.
Aside from the negativity, I got excited about seeing them again.
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A/N: this is part 1 of something that i haven't really planned out yet but i'll make into... 3 parts i suppose
ok bye hoes
