Tattoos

Chapter 1 - Jasmine, Beck and Steph

Tattoos

Chaper 1-  Jasmine, Beck and Steph

“I’m sixteen in two weeks!” Jasmine giggled excitedly pulling her gym top over her head.

“Oh gosh Jas can we see your tat one more time!” Her friends begged. The whole school knew about Jasmines tattoo, not like she had been bragging about it this week or anything. She had started her glowing stage 2 weeks early which meant her soul mate was somewhere near her the whole time. India’s birthday was in 3 days and hers hadn’t glowed once, not once. She was worried, but said nothing. Jasmine pulled her sock down for the fifth time grinning as India watched enviously. Jasmines tattoo was gorgeous. On her ankle, there was a rose with a single petal falling off.  India’s was just a Chinese symbol.

 Staring in the corner of the locker room as she got herself dressed for gym class, she could see why all the guys liked her; perfect body, hair, face, boobs. Mostly boobs. India on the other hand wasn’t so lucky. Her skin was paler than most girls in the town due to the fact that the outside world scared her and she preferred to stay inside her cosy room writing fan fiction. India had dark brunette hair that trailed down to her lower back and she never really bothered to do anything ‘special’ with it in the morning. She left it flat and knotty flipped over on one side of her head. Her eyes were a chocolate brown and to say she had a strong jaw would be an understatement.

Unlike Jasmine who wore designer brands, India settled with the usual boring sweaters, normally a grey or burgundy colour and plain blue jeans, passed down from her older sister Maureen of course. 

India was snapped out of her adoring gaze at Jasmine and sighed. She grabbed her t-shirt and shorts out her locker and slammed it shut. Quickly putting them on, she briefly glanced at her wrist for any signs of glowing. She had been doing this for a week now and got nothing.

As India sat in the cafeteria waiting for her best friend Stephanie to come join her, she opened a good book and began reading. To Kill A Mocking Bird has always been her favourite ever since her older sister made her read it for her school project and then tell her all about it. She had probably read it over 10 times and just couldn’t get enough.

“Wassup girlfriend number one.” India jumped at the voice seeing as she was so engrossed in the book. She spun around to look Beck in the eye and arched her eyebrow.

“And who is girlfriend number 2 may I ask?” India asked, throwing a grape at his face. Unfortunately for her, he caught it in his mouth.

“Burger King of course, who else?” Beck smirked and pulled India’s chin in to kiss her. Beck Capulet, India’s long term boyfriend of 2 years. They had met when they were 14 in a book club run by the local library and instantly clicked. He was a skinny boy with barely any muscle. He had fluffy black hair that curled on the top of his head and had deep brown eyes that seemed to captivate you at the worst of times. Overall, he was downright adorable. “Don’t worry Indie, you’ll always be my number one.” He smiled genuinely and turned to face Steph who walked over with a disgusted face.

“No PDA in the cafeteria thank you very much.” She laughed and took a seat next to Beck.

 “You’ll always be my number one.” Kept replaying over in India’s mind. That’s not true Beck. Her heart panged as she thought of the night when Beck told her he didn’t have the same tattoo as her. Yet he was still optimistic. They didn’t have to worry about this until they were 16 so for India, she had three days. Beck had 2 months. 

The rules of “birthmarks” were strict. No one was allowed to start looking for their soul mate until the day they turn 16. This was for simple reasons. The tattoo starts off very faint at the age of 5. It develops over the years, often changing shape, so looking for the right person wasn’t easy. People often got the wrong impression from their tattoo. Dating someone else other than your soul mate wasn’t out of the question. You were allowed to date as long as you had a strong heart for breaking up with them. It was difficult. There was a one in a millionth chance that your soul mate was someone you were dating at the time.

2 weeks before your sixteenth, your tattoo starts to glow if the person is near or in the same radius as you. During these 6 weeks, your tattoo will probably have glowed at least once and people often say that when you are in direct contact with them, the soul mates experience a painful feeling in the area of the mark.

“Indiee?” India snapped out of her gaze and smiled at her friends. “You going to eat that or can I?” Beck asked, pointing to her crisps and apple.

“No, go ahead.” She smiled and closed her book, putting it in her bag. “So, guess who was bragging about their mark again?” India challenged her friends.

“Let me guess, Jasmine Martindale perhaps?” Steph asked, rolling her eyes and putting her chin in her hand.

“Bingo.” India replied pointing her finger in the direction of her best friend. Beck and Steph groaned and started mimicking her.

“Oh I’m Jasmine Martindale and I like to wear push up bras and brag about secretly knowing who my soul mate is!” Steph started.

“Look everyone! Look! The rose on my ankle has formed another petal! Look!” Beck joined in, his voice becoming girlish and his hands flapping everywhere.

The three of them burst out laughing and sighed once they were done. The bell rang signalling the end of their lunch period and everyone started getting up to throw away their rubbish. India waved goodbye to Beck and Steph and made her way to Biology. As she walked, she started to realise she was noticing more and more people with tattoo’s clearly visible and on show. She saw Rita Fenton’s dove tattoo behind her ear and then she spotted Hannah Fitzgerald with 3 stars on the back of her neck. India bit down hard on her bottom lip as she stared at her own mark. Everyone had such beautiful marks with pastel colours, India couldn’t compete. She didn’t even know what hers meant. Steph had been trying to reassure her that it must be something bold for it to be in thick black letters but India wasn’t convinced.