"favorite color?" Josh asked his maybe 6th question. we've been going back and forth like this for a while now, just asking each other random questions.
"grey. favorite memory?" i shot back quickly.
"getting my first tattoo. yours?" he asked, now at the edge of his seat.
"same as you. can i see it?"
"what?"
"the tattoo. can i see it?" i clarified. he then nodded and pulled up his first sleeve to reveal his arm, covered in tattoos.
"i think this one was my first," he points somewhere on his arm.
"wait, you said same with you? you have tattoos?" josh's eyebrow raised. yup, there it was. most people see me as the innocent little girl who'd never else anyone touch her skin, nevermind a needle. i pulled up my sleeve on my left arm, revealing my favorite tattoos. covered shoulder to wrist in tattoos that told a story on the way down, but nobody knew that.
"whoa." josh muttered, scooting a little closer to me to look at my arm.
"they all mean something, don't they?" josh looked up a bit from my arm, and at that moment i realized how close our faces actually were. i nodded slightly, studying his eyes. they were brown.
"do you wanna, like.. tell me.. what they... mean?" he said slowly. his breath smelled sweet. he was staring right back at my eyes. shit shit shit shit shit, this is awkward.
"uh. i guess," i whispered, tearing my eye away from his too-fucking-perfect for this world eyes. i think he snapped back to reality then i looked away from him because he scooted back a bit so i could actually breathe air that wasn't his too-fucking-perfect carbon dioxide.
"so uh, i've never actually explained this to anybody, so, stay with me." i chuckled. josh just nodded, glancing at my face, then quickly back to my shoulder.
"so, it's kind of like... how i see life? how i see life, yeah. i guess that could be what you call it," i moved my hair, so it was out of the way of my tattooed arm.
"so. it starts at the collarbone, actually, but it's just an arrow there," i pulled back my shirt collar a bit, so my collar bone was visible. it was an arrow with an empty quiver above it. josh nodded.
"the actual 'story' thing starts at the shoulder. just a sky, beautiful, birds flying, no clouds, perfect. then there is the green grass, vibrant and young. but the further you go down, the darker it gets. right here, there's dead grass, fire, dark skies, pollution, clouds, darkness. it's kind of trying to give off that no matter how beautiful something is, what's underneath can tell a different story." i sought to explain it in the way that sounded understandable, and i think it worked because he was nodding. by the way, if you didn't get it, picture my tattoo as a beautiful, flowery scene. now picture directly connected to it, upside down, now imagine the exact opposite of the beautiful view.
"does it represent you?" josh asked, looking up at my face as i rolled down my sleeve. my head shot up to look at him from my arm. i raised my eyebrows.
"i've never thought about it." i admitted quietly, returning my attention to rolling down my sleeve.
"so. what do your tattoos mean?" i changed the subject quickly. josh's eyes seemed to light up at my question. he immediately pulled his sleeve back up and started to explain each one rapidly and what it meant to him. it was adorable, and i never stopped paying attention.
he then pulled up his other sleeve to reveal a heart with the word "mom" in it.
"aww! that's adorable," i gushed. he pulled both his sleeves back down, a small blush dancing across his cheeks.
