Me & Mine

19. Love, Stargirl

My friends are all huddled around me, their noses almost touching my back. I shake my head and roll my eyes at them. Not that they will be able to see that. No, they are all studying the intricate design of the black ink on the upper half of my back. "It's a compass, guys," I sigh, "not the Mona Lisa." The thin vertical axis follows my spine, piercing the circle and the horizontal line like an arrow.

"It's beautiful," Ann says softly.

"And fucking hot," Travis ads, followed by a soft "thump" that I can only interpret as Max punching his friend. I smile and turn around again. Great. Now they're all staring at my boobs. They sit back and give me some space to breathe. I smile. "This is a night-blooming cereus," I say softly, locking eyes with Amory. He smiles lightly, encouraging me to go on.

"A cacti flower," I say, tracing the thin lines of the intricate design with my thumb, "also known as queen of the night. They blossom in total darkness."

Max' eyes shoot from the tattoo to capture my gaze. He doesn't smile, but his mouth parts a little, as if he wants to say something but can't find the words. His eyes study mine and I swallow away the lump in my throat.

"So that's it," I say, ripping my gaze away from Max, "a compass and a pretty flower." They were so much more than that. Amory knows. And I think Max suspects it too.

"Amory," I follow up quickly, "truth or dare?"

"Dare," he raises his eyebrows at me. "Go jump in the lake, brother mine."

He shrugs and takes off his T-shirt. I watch Ann practically choke on her juice. You're welcome. He runs away towards the lake and I take another sip of my beer. Granted, the dare was uninspired, but at least Ann got something nice to look at. "What did it say?" Harley asks softly. I'm not the only Diver twin with a tattoo or two. Amory's got a big one, on his chest, right above his heart. A ship, made out of thin lines and realistic shadow work. I smile lightly.

"So we beat on," I say softly. It is written in a clear script underneath the ocean line. Amory comes running back, his whole body shaking from the cold. I smile and hand him his beer.

"Harley," he says, wrapping his towel around him, "truth or dare?"

Harley picks truth and Amory smirks. "Do you fancy someone right now?"

Harley looks down and smiles. "I, um. I think so," she says, "yeah." The boys ooh and Harley faces me. I shush them. "Leave the girl alone," I say, "there's no shame in liking someone's face."

"Oh really?" Harley chuckles, the irony of that statement definitely did not pass her by.

"Max," she says chipper, "truth or dare?"

I shoot daggers from my eyes but Harley keeps ignoring my stares. Is she really going to embarrass me with Max? Would she? Could she?

"Truth," Max raises his eyebrow and smirks that devious smirk of his. I take a deep breath and bite my lip. Harley chuckles. "Whose face do you like?"

I close my eyes and bite the inside of my lip. Thanks a lot Harley.

Max smiles and points his finger at my face. I cock my head to the side and question his gaze. He just grins. "That one," he states firmly, still pointing to me, "a lot." My heart jumps and I'm afraid it will never find it's natural rhythm again. I smile, uncontrollably and unapologetically. I lower my head and stare at the bottle of beer in my hands. My friends ooh and aah, but I can only focus on the raging beast that is my heart, rushing blood through my body and clouding my mind.

Max asks Travis and he chooses dare. "I dare you to chug that bottle of wine," he says, pointing to the half-empty bottle of white wine, "if that's okay with you girls?"