"Let me see," Coop yells, running around the desk.
I hold out my hand for his inspection and then rotate my arm.
"Whoa, that's sweet. But why did you get it on your hand?" he asks.
"Hey," Jade says, and he winces.
"I know, Mom," he says.
"What?" I ask, thoroughly confused.
"Tattoos are personal," he recites. "They are not for other people to like or approve of."
"Do you not like it?" I ask.
"Oh no, I love it. But it was rude of me to ask why you got it on your hand. That's your choice."
"How about we make a deal?" I ask.
He puts his hands on his hips and waits for me to continue.
I lean down to whisper in his ear. "I'll tell you why, but first you need to convince my mom to make Friday night pizza for Sunday night dinner."
"Deal," he says and holds out his hand to shake mine.
Chapter fourteen
Jade
"Babe." Addie sections off my hair and clips the rest up again. "You're going to look so hot. I can't believe you've never done this before."
"Because my head smells like a fucking janitor's closet?"
She laughs and continues to add a mix of bleach and something else, I can't remember what she said, to the ends of my hair. I still can't believe she got me to agree to this, but if worse comes to worst, I can chop four inches off, and it will be like none of this ever happened. Maybe a little spice in my life will be good though, and this is the kind of spice I can handle right now. It's safe.
"What color are we doing?" I ask.
"Um, it's a surprise."
"I don't like the sound of that."
"Yeah well, too bad," she says and sticks her tongue out at me in the mirror.
Addie is the best friend I always wanted and never had growing up. I was never the girl who was friends with girls. I was the girl who was never anyone's favorite. Including my dad's, apparently. I looked him up last night. That was a mistake. His new family is perfect. Perfect hair, perfect teeth, not a wrinkle in their clothes. I don't want to be that. I don't want to be plain or boring. So why does it still hurt? It shouldn't. I love my life. Could it be easier? Yes, obviously. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Coop and me, we're okay, and with this new job, it's only going to get better.
"Earth to Jade," Addie says, waving a hand in front of my face.
"Huh?"
"I said, I never thought my brother was badass enough for a hand tattoo," she says, then removes her gloves and sits down on her bed. I spin around in her vanity chair. "Maybe I'll get a tattoo." She sighs. "A rotten egg."
"What's up with you?" I ask her. "You've been off since Mateo got home."
"I'm the rotten egg," she says, flopping back on her bed like a fainting princess.
"Addie."
"No, listen. Mom's this TV super chef, Dad is a former heartthrob, all-star baseball pitcher turned small town coach, and my brother is the prodigal son. The entire house changed when he got home. But mostly, mostly it just highlighted that I'm the screw-up."
