Chasing the Sun (COMPLETE)

chapter nine

Indigo

I trudged up the sidewalk and to the front door. I couldn't tell you how many tattoos I'd done today but I was the last one to leave the shop, besides Harry. After the whole incident this morning with Kennedy, he'd done an amazing job at avoiding me all day. I didn't even bother trying to seek him out before I left.

I opened the front door, sighing as I made my way to my room and flopped on my bed. I wanted to change as the California sun was not a fan of my black leggings and I'm pretty sure I was just as drenched as I had been this morning.

"Is that my best friend that walked through the door a few moments ago?" I heard Josie yell from somewhere in the house. I threw on a pair of athletic shorts and an oversized t-shirt before answering.

"No, just your local robber." I threw my hair up and went to find her.

"Well shit, anything in the room with all of the orange stuff is free of charge." I scoffed before finding her on the patio with Mitch, Sarah, Daisy, and Lucas.

"Well good thing all that stuff is pretty much mine anyways." I placed my hands on my hips as I greeted everyone. Josie patted the empty cushion beside her and I made my way over to her. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"How was work? Do any really cool tattoos today?" I opened my mouth to tell her work was busy but I didn't do a tattoo that really stuck out to me but Mitch beat me to it.

"Tattoos? Are you working at Harry's shop?" I nodded, shrugging at everyone's mouths dropping, "Wow, Harry never hires girls because of-"

"Kennedy?" I raised my brow as he nodded, "Yeah, met her this morning and she gave me quite the impression by sticking her tongue down Harry's throat and then insulting my outfit." Everyone started laughing at this.

"Welcome to the club, sister." Daisy stated, shaking her head, "I miss the Harry that wasn't a moody mess all the time." Everyone spoke up at this, a chorus of agreement falling over the group.

"Next topic, I am dying for a new tattoo. When can you squeeze me in?" Josie wiggled her brows at me.

"I have a key so we could go anytime really. I would just have to check with Harry. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side considering I really like this job." My hand moved it's way behind my neck as I laughed awkwardly.

"Harry is harmless, just moody 24/7." Sarah rolled her eyes, "I don't think you can really get on his bad side unless you're Kennedy." I smiled at her.

"Alright so we'll go tonight then, yeah?" I just shrugged, knowing I'd be safe if Josie was with me. She and Harry were friends and that girl could talk herself out of anything. I've seen it a million times as she got pulled over many times for speeding but never received a ticket.

"Jos are you doing anything for you birthday coming up?" I froze at Lucas's statement and I knew Josie felt it as her grip on my shoulder tightened.

"I don't know guys. I'll have to speak to my bestie here considering we always celebrate together." She looked at me, giving me a wink, "We'll have to get back to you on that." I just nodded, swallowing. My mind wandered as they continued their conversation, their voices now just background noise to the inevitable thoughts I tried to hide deep within my mind.

     I didn't excuse myself, instead just getting up and walking to my room. I could hear Josie call after me but her voice sounded far away. I felt as if my lungs were collapsing in on themselves, my vision becoming blurry as I reached my room, falling to my knees before I could get the door closed.

     "Indigo!" Josie's arms wrapped around my shaking figure, whispering to me that I was safe and what I was feeling was okay. I felt the heat of my tears along my cheeks, the gates I'd tried so hard to keep closed suddenly bursting. I couldn't breathe, I can't breathe, "Indi, please listen to my voice. You need to take deep breaths, okay. Breath with me, in and out." I tried to follow her commands, my breaths coming out shaky as tried to calm myself. Josie was squeezing me tight and I could feel myself relaxing.

     "Is she okay?" I heard Sarah's voice behind us. I felt Josie nod against my head, telling her we just needed a moment. I could only imagine how scary this looked to her. I knew Josie would smooth it over later, just as she always did with everything but I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

     "I love you, Indi. You're doing great. We're going to get this through this together." She kept repeating the words until I turned to hug her. I felt awful for burdening her with my pain but I was so thankful she was here to help me through my breakdown, "Do you want to get out of here? We can get ice cream and you can show me around the shop and what you've been working on. I can text Harry if you need to make sure it's okay with him first."

     "Okay." I stated as she helped me up, hugging me one last time before telling me she was going to tell everyone that she wasn't feeling well so they would head home, even though Sarah saw me. I hated the fact that I caused her to lie to her friends, she could have told them it was my fault, but that was never Josie. She'd always done her best to protect me, even when we were kids. She was one of the kindest people I knew.

     I didn't dare look at my reflection as I changed once again, this time throwing on a hoodie, leaving on my athletic shorts, and my favorite pair of tennis shoes. I let my curls down and pulled my hood up in hopes of hiding my swollen eyes. I grabbed a pair of sunglasses before meeting Josie in the kitchen to get out of here.

//////////

have y'all figured it out yet??