The Tattoo

| Chapter 1 |

It's the first day of senior year. I got up early, got ready, ate breakfast and drove my car to school.

Once I've parked my Ferrari (I don't mean to brag), I went inside school and most people smiled at me. In the morning, we had to go to the administration office to get our schedule, locker number... stuff like that.

And as I was waving at some girl who was screaming, "Hey, Crystal!" at me, I bumped into someone. I looked up and saw a tall guy with messy chestnut brown hair and deep green eyes. He was wearing all black clothes and had a scowl on his face.

"Watch where you're going," he said. I was too stunned to say anything. I just stared confused at this guy whom I've never seen in my life.

Then, realizing that I was still standing in the middle of the hallway, I continued walking.

After receiving my schedule and locker number from the secretary in the office, I went to my new, plain, gray locker and entered the combination the secretary told me.

I put some notebooks and textbooks that all students were required to buy and get two days before school. Seeing that I got Science first period, I took my Science textbook and notebook and out it in my brand new, white tote bag that I got during the summer holidays.

Suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw one of my best friends, Luna, grinning at me wildly.

Luna was always happy at the first day of school. She's not very smart at studies or anything, but she says she'd rather go to school, where all her friends are, rather than at home, with her hippie parents.

Personally, I think Luna's parents are pretty cool. They aren't strict and are more 'live-in-the-moment' type of people. But if they catch Luna in trouble (even if it's a bad grade), they'll go absolutely ballistic and ground her and confiscate all her electronic devices and stuff like that. Luna hates that. But I think it's quite great that her parents care.

"CRYSTAL!" Luna shouted (which attracted some people's attention) and threw her arms around me. "Oh gosh! I missed you during the holidays so much!"

"Hi! I missed you too! But Luna... I can't breathe... I think you're hugging me too tightly." I said.

"Oh sorry!" Luna said, pulling away.

"It's okay. So, where's your locker?" I asked.

"There!" Luna pointed behind her. "Somewhere far, far away from your locker..."

"Um... okay! So, what's up?" I said.

"Nothing much... just like every summer since I was born, my parents took me to our cabin..." Luna responded. Her parents owned this cabin in the woods somewhere in Japan, where Luna and her family came from.

They moved here, to Glassgate, when Luna was four years old, and still go back to their little cabin every summer. Thankfully for Luna, there was Wi-Fi there at the cabin, so every summer was spent watching Netflix and Face-Timing me and our other friends.

From what she shows me on Face Time and pictures, Luna's parents cabin is actually quite nice. To me, it has a mysterious vibe to it, just by looking at it. It looked like one of those cabins in horror movies, except their cabin isn't haunted (I hope).

"What about you? You had a good time in Paris?" Luna asked me. My parents decided to take me to Paris this year. We've been there a couple years ago, but no matter how many times I go, I'd never get bored of it.

"Paris was great! Especially the food! Oh, Luna, you'd love the churros!" I said.

"Ugh... you're so lucky! I wish my parents would take me to somewhere as cool as Paris... but they said we might be going to Greece for Christmas!"

"That's great! I went to Greece last year and I've got to say, it's better in the warm weather 'cause then you can go to the beach! But I'm sure—"

"CRYSTAL! LUNA! My besties! Oh, I've been longing to see you since I landed from Spain two days ago!" Our other friend, Samantha, squealed as she pulled Luna and I into a tight hug.

"Hey, Sammie!" I hugged her back.

After we pulled away, Samantha had this look on her face. Last time she has that, she announced that she was dating the school's lacrosse team captain, Anthony. They broke up on the last day of school, which was extremely heartbreaking for Samantha. But now, because of that look, I can't help thinking that she's moved on.

"I-I've met this guy—" Samantha began.

"Eeeeeeeee!" Luna squealed. I rolled my eyes at her.

"His name is Pablo and I met him when I was in Spain. The first words he said to me were, 'Me encanta cómo sus cerraduras de oro brillan bajo la luz cegadora del sol', which means, 'I love how your golden locks shine under the blinding light of the sun' . And that's what my tattoo says! Oh goodness, I think he might be my soul mate, although it's a long distance relationship! But I don't care! Because he's very, very good-looking and we spent most of the summer together! I told my parents that I found my soul mate... they're very happy for me!"

"Since when can you speak Spanish?" Were the words that came out of Luna's mouth.

"I can't. But I memorized what Pablo said, because it's awfully romantic, am I right?" Samantha replied.

I nodded and smiled. "I'm happy for you, too. Did Pablo see your tattoo?"

"No. I was afraid he'd think it's weird, since he doesn't know what happens here, at Glassgate..."

"Right... but are you sure... I mean, what happened with Anthony last time..." Luna trailed of, hating to bring up the tragic incident of what Anthony did to Samantha.

I saw Samantha's smile fade, but it was back on in a millisecond, I thought I might've imagined it. "Pablo isn't Anthony." Samantha said.

I could tell she didn't want to talk about Anthony. After all, everyone at Glassgate knew what happened. It's a very small town. Then a second later, the bell rang, signaling us to go to the morning assembly held every day.

Samantha, Luna and I walked together down the halls. For some reason, I could just tell this year was going to be different. I just didn't know whether it was going to be a gold different, or a bad one.

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Hi! Nothing much happened here... but what do you think Anthony did to Samantha? Oh, and in case you're wondering what Crystal's tattoo says, it's actually on the cover. If you look closely, you'll see that there are a few sentences of, 'You are my sun. My moon. And all of my stars.' And that is what Crystal's tattoo says. So I will see you in the next chapter! Thanks for reading!

- Jasmine -