XO

Chapter 5

After the Angel fiasco, Sal decided that the rest of us should hang somewhere at the boardwalk. She didn't have the appearance of being mad in a way, but I could tell she was slightly annoyed by the whole situation and how Angel handled things. I looked over to my other friends to see that they were laughing and seemed to already be in a deep conversation. I turned to Sal, "should we ask them, I mean they seem like they kind of forgot about us, it'll be awkward to randomly join in". She just shrugged, picked up her purse, and headed to the cash register to pay for everything. Blaine and Derek followed us outside to the parking lot, while Sal and I passed around joints. As Sal was walking along with me, Derek walked up to the both of us, "I figured you'd just walk out without paying, since you said how much of a badass you were" Derek said in a slight mockery tone, smirking. "Well if you have money, you might as well use it", Sal said shrugging. Derek smirked even harder,"So I was right about the whole entitled rich girl part". Sal rolled her eyes and was about to reply before I said,"She never said how she got the cash". Instead of responding, Derek just gave me a satisfied smile. We walked outside, immediately feeling a slightly chilling breeze which felt nice in comparison to the sun's excruciating heat. As we made our way to the boardwalk Sal, Derek, and I smoked a few joints while Blaine trailed behind us. We were relatively quiet while we walked, but the silence wasn't awkward, it was peaceful.
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After a ten minute walk, we arrived at the boardwalk. The boardwalk was much less crowded than before. We walked the boardwalk for about an hour. We stopped at a few shops to look around. Most of them were filled with the usual souvenirs, clothing, and surfboards. I wasn't really interested until we walked up to a tattoo studio. Everything about it seemed perfect. It was darkly colored and filled with buff dudes covered in tattoos and with piercings. There were a few chicks too, they looked totally badass. "Someone looks interested", Derek pointed out in a sardonic manner. I rolled my eyes and jokingly shoved him before turning around. "Why don't you get one?", Derek asks in a questioning tone. I was about to reply by saying I wasn't old enough but I wasn't sure quite how old Derek was. After all, I am only fifteen and haven't even started freshman year. Besides, why shouldn't I get a tattoo? I may not be old enough to get one without parental consent, but I have a fake ID. "Fine", I replied in a snarky voice before grabbing Sal's arm,"C'mon Sal you're getting one too".  She looked like she was going to refuse at first, but then she went along with it. "I know you're just getting this tattoo to impress Derek" Sal said with a straight face as we walked in the shop. I just ignored what she said and started looking at the tattoo designs that they had on display. Sal turned to me, "I think I like this one" she replied with a mischievous look on her face. "That would look so good on you Sal" I said admiring  what she showed me. The tattoo was of Marilyn Monroe in a skimpy outfit holding a cigarette. "Sal, what do you think of me getting this one?" I said sarcastically. This tattoo was of something sexual, that pertained some nudity. "Rox, I think that son of a bitch would fit you well" Sal replied with a snarky laugh. As we discussed and joked around with what design we were going for, a huge man with piercings all over his face came up to us, arms crossed. "Can I see your IDs please?" the man said with a straight, boring expression. Sal quickly took out the ID, as if she was prepared mentally, thinking this all through. "Here you go" Sal responded as she showed the man her fake ID. He looked it over for a few seconds before saying it was okay. He then turned towards me,"ID please?". I calmly took out my fake ID and gave it to the man. I acted calm, but inside the anticipation was killing me. I was immediately filled with relief when he gave it back to me and said,"Okay, you're both good. Now what can I do for you?" Sal glanced at the man and I and replied by saying,"We each want a tattoo". The man was quiet for a second as he set up a chair and a desk. "Okay have you picked out a sample design yet, come with a design in mind, or are you still looking?", he asked plainly as he got out a set of clean tools. I turned towards Sal who gave me a little shrug. "I think we're still looking", I responded dismissively. "Okay, let me know when one of you is ready", he added as he walked over to his desk. Sal and I quietly wandered back over to a wall of sample designs. "So, have you decided what you want?", Sal questioned and smirked when she added,"And where you want it?" I sighed quietly before quickly scanning over the tattoo designs. After a moment I pulled out my iPhone and unlocked it. "I think I might want this", I confessed with a half smile, unsure of Sal's reaction. Sal took my phone and observed it closely. I was a little worried of what she thought until she said,"Bitch I love it, it suits you!" I looked back at my phone and at the tattoo design. The picture was of a pistol with thorns and a Rose wrapped around it. Not only did I like the design, but it represents one of my favorite rock bands, Guns n' Roses. I honestly fell in love with the tattoo, I just wasn't sure where on my body to get it and how big. "I love it. I think I'll get it either on my hip, or down the side of my ribcage", I declared as I turned toward the direction of Sal,"What do you think?" Even though Sal decided on a design previously, I caught her looking at a beautiful intricate mandala design of a sun and moon and another of a skull. "Honestly bitch, it would be totally sexy if you got it along your ribcage kind of to the side of your chest", she responded as she played with her hair. "You're totally right, thanks whore", I replied gratefully. The only thing on my mind in that moment was how much this was going to hurt.

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