Ink (Book 1 of the Ink Series)

First day

I banged on the bathroom door. It was almost seven and Easton was taking his good old time getting ready for school. "Hurry up, I still have to blow dry my hair!"

Dad shuffled out of his room half asleep, any other day I would have been sorry for waking him, but not today. Today I hoped he could take the door off the hinges and give Easton a good lashing.

"Easton Andrew, Hope is going to have a heart attack out in this hallway if you don't let her finish getting ready for school," Dad warned, not taking it seriously. This was typical Dad behavior.

"It's not funny, Dad," I grumbled, giving the door one last kick before I went back to my room. I slammed my door shut, tapping my feet anxiously, waiting to hear the door creak open. But Easton was doing his best to make me late for my first day.

I dropped to my knees, pulling out my makeup bag. I would have to make do with what I had. I was no girl scout, but I would figure something out. There was no way I was going to school looking like a wet dog. I patted Crawford's head at the thought of it.

I did my best to dry my hair with my mini blow dryer that was bought at one of those rest stops on the way here. It was the best I could do right now. I flung my head upside down, drying the under part of my hair.

"Hope, you have a guest!" Dad yelled from the hallway.

I flipped my hair back over my head, totally confused. Who was here before school? I wasn't even dressed. I grabbed my dark blue jean shorts from my bed, pulling off my pajama pants. This morning was going to be the death of me, I thought, ripping my wife beater over my head.

The door suddenly flew open. I screamed, covering myself with both hands. Tucker apologized, covering his eyes with his hand. "I didn't know you would be getting dressed, Hope. I'm sorry." He shut the door quickly, leaving me completely mortified and as red as a beet.

I was going to kill Dad for letting Tucker past the kitchen. And I was going to kill him for making my morning that much worse. Now Tucker had seen my buds, as Nona would put it, and I could only imagine what he thought. I was sure he'd seen much more impressive boobs in his life. If anything, he was probably vowing to steer clear of me now.

I grabbed my backpack from my bed, completely defeated. This would just have to do. I buttoned the last button on my pale yellow top and smoothed out my shorts. My hair was only half dry and I didn't care anymore.

Dad tried to comfort me in the hallway. "I'm sorry, doll, I thought you were just blow drying your hair."

I shot an evil glare at the bathroom door. Easton strolled past me with a giant bowl of cereal in tow. I bit at my lip, trying to fight the urge to retaliate. I shoved my foot out in front of me and Easton tripped, spilling his cereal all over the carpet. He face planted, his whole body wet, and I was pleased.

Dad gave me a disapproving glare. "He had it coming to him."

I caught a look at Tucker who was on our couch. He was making himself at home, his hands on the back of our ratty furniture. He jumped up as soon as I hit the door, going out onto the porch.

"Wow, you're a firecracker." He laughed, looking back inside at my brother.

I crossed my arms. "This is the morning from hell. First day of school and it already sucks. Not to mention..." I didn't add the other part to the story, I was sure Tucker knew just what I was talking about it.

He touched my arm, his fingers brushing softly against my skin. "If it's any consolation, I think you look beautiful." I eased up just a hair. He took my backpack slinging it over his shoulder. "And I promise you I didn't see much."