The Art of Life (86 page)

               
“Okay,”
he replies.
 
“Let’s go then.”

               
As
we walk down the hallway, people smile and nod at me.
 
Okay, that’s not the reaction I was
expecting.
 
It’s hard to not smirk.
 
The rest of the day flies by.
 
I don’t know if I am on an adrenaline rush or
what.
 
When art class comes, I am dying
to see Sonya, but she is nowhere to be found.
 
The class bell rings and she never shows.
 
Her two sidekicks are in class though.
 
They keep looking at me.

               
So,
finally, I turn to them and snap, “What?”

               
Nervously,
Daniella
says, “You know, we don’t agree with her all
the time, and we know she is super jealous about Jeremy.
 
We are sorry for what happened.
 
She went home because she didn’t want to face
you, if that makes you feel any better.”

               
I
snort and laugh.
 
“That is kind of
funny.”

               
Daniella
smiles back.
 
“We thought you would get a kick out of it.
 
Don’t let her get to you.
 
She picks on us, too.
 
It’s what she does.
 
I don’t know why we put up with it.
 
The older we get the older it gets.
  
We are sorry if we ever hurt your feelings.”

               
“Thanks,”
I say.
 
They smirk and go back to what
they were doing.
 
I take out my
sketchbook and with new inspiration, I start to draw.

               
At
the end of the day, I nearly sprint outside.
 
Josh is standing next to his car, grinning at the girls again.
 
I run up to him and jump into his arms.
 
He goes, “Geez, hi, happy to see you, too.”

               
“NO,
today was EPIC, I told Sonya off!” I gleefully exclaim.

               
“Sweet!”
Josh shouts.
 
“Tell me about it in the car.
 
We
have appointments to get to.”

               
So,
on our way to the tattoo parlor, I tell him everything.
 
At the end, Josh smiles and says, “Good girl.
 
Jeremy will be proud.”

               
“I
can’t wait to tell him,” I sigh, looking out the window.

               
“Yeah,
tell him about that, not this,” Josh replies, as he pulls up to the shop.

               
I
take in a deep breath.
 
“I am
nervous.
 
Is this going to hurt?”

               
“Oh
yeah, probably,” he laughs.
 
“I will hold
your hand though.
 
I told Jeremy I was
taking you to my parents’ for dinner, and he said alright.
 
So, we have time.”

               
My
heart is nearly pounding out of my chest.
 
“Okay,” I squeak, “here we go.”

               
When
we walk into the tattoo parlor, it isn’t what I expected.
 
I pictured some big biker, and dark walls,
weird people sitting in the corner.
 
Not
this place, it’s all black and white tiled.
 
Everything is super clean.
 
A girl
with full sleeves is sitting behind the counter.
 
She smiles, “Hey Josh.
 
You ready for me to finish you up?”

               
“Yup,”
he replies.
 
“And I have a new recruit.”

               
She
eyes me up.
 
“Are you 18?”

               
“Yeah,”
I answer.

               
“I
will have to see and make a copy of your ID,” she states.

               
Putting
my backpack down, I pull out my wallet.
 
“Here,” I say, handing it to her.

               
“Isabelle….hmmm,
alright Isabelle, what do you want done?”

               
“This,”
I say, taking out my sketchpad.
 
I rip
out the picture and hand it to her.

               
The
girl’s eyes get big.
 
“Did you trace
this?”

               
“No,
I drew it myself,” I laugh.

               
“This
is amazing,” she retorts.
 
“Do you have
anything else I can see?”

               
That
makes me slightly nervous.
 
I look over
at Josh.
 
He smiles, “Renee is not going
to make fun of you.
 
She is an artist
too, if you think about it.”

               
With
a heavy sigh, I hand my sketchbook over to her.
 
Renee smiles and sets it on the counter.
 
Josh leans forward to look, too.
 
She opens it and seems to carefully look at each drawing.
 
“These are great,” Renee finally says.
 
“I would love for you to do some work for
me.
 
I mean, the way you capture
people.
 
My clients would love that.
 
I would pay you.”

               
“Really?”
I ask, probably too eagerly.

               
“If
this is really your work, yeah,” Renee replies.
 
“Who is the hot guy?”

               
Josh
groans, “That’s Jeremy, her significant other.”

               
“He
is not my boyfriend,” I snap.

               
Snorting,
Josh says, “Yeah, but he is still your significant other.
 
Jeepers, you two might as well be married.”

               
“You
say that like it’s a bad thing,” I mutter.

               
“No,
no,” he exclaims.
 
“Not at all Isabelle,
it’s not like that.
 
Whoever comes along
is going to have some fierce competition with you two.”

               
“Whoever
he is,” Renee quips, “He is hot.”

               
I
smile.
 
“Yes he is.”

               
“Enough
about my friend’s looks, let’s get inked up,” Josh says, rubbing his hands
together.

               
Renee
hands my sketchbook back over.
 
“Who is
going first?” She asks.

               
Out
of the corner of my eye, I see Josh pointing at me.
 
“Her.”

               
My
heart starts pounding again.
 
Renee takes
my sketch and says, “Alright, let me trace this.
 
Take her in back and have her use the
bathroom, and then lay down on the table.”

               
Nudging
his head towards the back, Josh says, “Come on babe.”

               
We
go back there and I do use the bathroom.
 
My hands are shaking I am so nervous.
 
Am I really going to do this?
 
Yeah,
yeah you are.
 
When I get out of the
bathroom, Renee is sitting by the table.
 
“What colors do you want girl?”

               
“Purple,”
I say, “a really pretty purple.”

               
“Alright,
lay down,” Renee instructs.

               
It
is awkward, but I do.
 
“So, how bad is
this going to hurt?” I ask.

               
“It
is different for everyone,” Renee replies.
 
“Where do you want it?”

               
“Right
here,” I say, pointing on my pants.

               
She
laughs.
 
“You need to pull your pants
down then.
 
I need to have that area
clear.”

               
“Are
other people going to come in here?” I ask.

               
“No
one comes back here unless I say so,” Renee states.
 
“You are okay.”

               
Josh
looks down at me.
 
“Do you want me to leave?”

               
“NO!”
I yell.
 
“Don’t you
dare!
 
I am not doing this without you.”

               
He
pulls over a stool and says, “Okay, I promise to not look as a guy, just your
friend.”

               
That
makes me giggle.
 
“Yeah right, but
whatever.”
 
I undo my pants and pull them
down on the side.
 
“This feels awkward,”
I mumble to myself.
 

               
“Trust
me, when I start working on you, that is going to be the last thing on your
mind,” Renee says.
 
My eyes bulge and she
just laughs.
 
It takes her a little bit
to set up.
 
I just get more and more
nervous.
 
Finally, after she has cleaned
my skin and put on the stencil.
 
Renee smiles.
 
“Okay
hon
, I am going to start now.
 
Remember, it’s better to breathe, than hold
your breath.”

               
Instantly,
I take Josh’s hand.
 
He puts his other on
top.
 
“You will be okay.
 
Yell if need be.”

               
With
that, Renee starts and I gasp.
 
She
stops, “You okay?”

               
“Yup,”
I reply, “keep going.”

               
It
takes a while, and is quite a weird experience.
 
Parts of it hurt like nothing I have never experienced before and then
other parts aren’t so bad.
 
Josh keeps
talking to me through the whole thing.
 
Finally, Renee stops and says, “We are done.”

               
I
try to look down and say, “I want to see.”

               
“Let
me clean it up,” she replies, and she does.
 
“Now, go look in the mirror.”

               
Quickly,
I stand up and then realize, okay, that hurts.
 
Half holding my pants, I walk over to the mirror and look.
 
“Oh
my gosh
,” I
whisper.
 
“It’s awesome.”
 
I look down at the three purple tulips that
are now on my hip.
 
They are surrounded
by delicate spirals and tiny stars.
 

               
“It
looks good,” Josh declares, coming up behind me.
 
“Now, you have to follow her instructions on
how to keep it clean and moisturized until it heals.
 
We will stop at the store and get it all for
you.”

               
“Thank
you,” I say, turning around.
 
“This means
a lot.
 
It’s like, I have finally reached
adulthood.
 
I can let my mother and my
past go, and make my own decisions now.”

               
“That’s
a great way of looking at it,” Josh replies.
 
“Now,” he says, “It’s my turn.”
 
He makes me laugh.
 

Renee puts some ointment on
my tattoo and then covers it with gauze.
 
“Keep that on for a while.”

               
“Okay,”
I squeak, putting my pants back over it.

 
She cleans everything up and then Josh lies on
his side.
 
It is interesting to see her
work on him.
 
He doesn’t even flinch.
 
I stick my tongue out at him.
 

               
When
his is done, it is really freaking awesome.
 
Josh stands up and looks at it.
 
“SWEET!”

               
Suddenly,
my cell phone rings.
 
I dart to my bag to
get it.
 
It’s Jeremy.
 
I answer it, “Hello?”