The Inbetween Cult

chapter twenty-three - what?

"I can't believe you guys are getting tattoos." Noah snorts during our group work in Pre Calc.

I laugh. "I can't either, but it's happening. We've all got our parents' consent, so we're all good to go. We're going straight from here."

"I can't wait," Khakis grins happily.

"You should come with us," I suggest to Noah. "You're our friend, too."

"Yeah, but this is your original group, I just  became friends with all of you. I'm alright."

"Well, you and me should get one together, at least. C'mon, Noah, you're graduating this year, too. We gotta have something to remember each other by."

Noah sighs with a smile, pausing for a moment. "Alright. Fine."

I smile, satisfied.

Today was going to be a good day.

******

After school, Haze, Hair, Khakis, Jovie, Noah, and I all met at Khakis' truck and got in, driving straight to the tattoo parlor.

The five of us; Haze, Hair, Khakis, Jovie, and I figured we'd each get a tattoo of our nickname. I'm going to get a mustard bottle tattooed on my middle finger, Haze wouldn't tell us what he's going to get, Hair is gonna get just the word "hair" tattooed on his bicep, Khakis is gonna get a pair of pants tattooed on his side, and Jovie's gonna get an oreo tattooed on her wrist.

Noah and I decided on getting a chili pepper tattooed on our wrists to remind us of the bunny named Chili he got me at the school carnival months ago.

"I'm so nervous," I whisper happily as we pull into the parking lot.

"Same," Jovie giggles, all of us piling out and entering the parlor. We show the employees either our I.D.'s to show we're legal, or the papers our parents signed that gave permission for us to get a tattoo.

I just forged my mom's signature since I didn't have time this morning to ask her to actually sign the paper.

Shh.

"Follow me, you two," a woman tells Jovie and I, and we follow her to the room, all of us separated into three groups which is kind of disappointing.

Jovie and I clench onto each other's hands as we pick out what colors we want our tattoos to be, what sizes, and if we want any fancy detailing to them. We both just ask for plain, nothing fancy to it, but my mustard bottle was going to be yellow, and Jovie's oreo was going to be black and white - obviously.

We sit in two chairs and are forced to let go of each other, and after another woman enters, she does her own thing with Jovie while the first woman puts a piece of white paper with a small mustard bottle traced on it against my finger, gently removes the paper, the mustard bottle now on my skin. She then grabs her needle and dips it inside the white ink.

"Don't move, precious," she tells me, and she begins carving into my skin.

It doesn't hurt as much as I thought, but I knew once she'd start filling the mustard bottle in, it would start to hurt.

She's so careful as she traces everything out, it's actually mesmerizing to watch everything unfold. She dips in the ink every few minutes, then continues, and I feel the need to hold my breath, afraid anything I do will fuck her mojo up.

"You can breathe, y'know," she suddenly giggles as she dips in the white paint.

I chuckle nervously.

I'm such a dumbass.

******

After about forty minutes which seemed pretty short to me, my mustard bottle was done and as cute as ever. Jovie's oreo looked incredible, but I couldn't leave my chair to see the other's because I still had to get my chili pepper. The woman does the same thing with the traced chili pepper and pressed it to my wrist.