AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Landry. Thank you for allowing me into your home,” Bri told her and, from Mom’s appraisal of Bri’s modest shirt, khaki pants, and tennis toes, she clearly approved of her.
Mom welcomed her inside and ran upstairs. I’d stayed over at Bri’s house when I visited Paloma’s Edge in July. She and her brother, Gavin, had been more than hospitable to us.
Mom’s focus fell to the wrapped up plate Bri held in her hands. “Bri, darling, you didn’t have to bring us anything.”
A nervous grin curved her mouth as her face flushed. She made mouth-watering desserts, while Gavin, her brother, cooked great comfort foods that were as savory as Jake’s. “I insisted, and then Mariska finally told me that you like flan with raw brown sugar on the bottom.”
Mom started to shake her head at me when Bri cautiously gave her the plate. “Mariska will get you anything you want,” she said over her shoulder as she strode into the kitchen.
***
“HAVE YOU SENT YOUR decision yet to any of the colleges you applied to?” I asked Bri. We lay on opposite ends of my bed. Mom and Dad had the day off from work, but after they picked up Pete from school they were going on a date. If I drove two hours to and from Paloma’s Edge, Mom and Dad would have to stay home. I didn’t want them to pay Mrs. Muldoon if I could be here, and Bri had said that she wanted to drive here.
“I am going to go to Paloma Edge Community College. I can’t pass up full financial aid package they offered me. How’s the first semester going for you?”
I canted my head in her direction. “I thought I flunked one of my mid-terms until I checked all of my grades online. When I get back to my dorm, I wanna luxuriate in a bath, but then I remember that I share the same shower with a bunch of other girls who aren’t always considerate to the maintenance workers who clean up after their rolls of toilet paper and tampon wrappers. And when I am done cleaning up other’s girls stuff, ‘cause I know they’ll be more junk in the bathroom in the morning, I don’t wanna start the readings I didn’t get to when I was at the library or do more of my homework.”
A soft chuckle escaped her lips. “It’s a good thing that I plan on living off campus when I apply to UM two years from now. I’ll just clean up after myself.”
I rose from the bed and sat down, and felt a thrill zip down my back. “Why am I just hearing about the rest of your plans now?”
Bri’s face tensed before she replied, “I only got serious about school last year and this year, so I am being realistic about my chances of getting in. Even if I get straight A’s at Paloma Community College, when I apply to transfer my chances could be slim.”
“What’s your GPA?”
“2.7,” she said with a slight bob of her head. “If my grades turn out the way I expect them to this marking period, it might go up to the 3.0.”
“I believe you’ll make it, Bri. Admissions committees don’t just look at your GPA. They look at your personal statement and they wanna see how you’ve grown during your high school career.”
“Does the messy bathroom and showers bother you, because your Dad’s a maintenance worker?” she asked, changing the topic in a tentative voice.
“It does,” I admitted. “It’s unfortunate that I probably care too much, because I’ve heard what he’s cleaned up and I imagine it’s not too different from what the maintenance lady does at the residence hall. I don’t think Dad’s used to being home so much since his hours have been cut back.”
Bri nodded. “So, he’s mostly with Pete all day and night and your Mom takes whatever shift is available?”
“Yeah. She’s one of three translators there, but she’s the only one who is fluent in French and Spanish. She gets first dibs for shifts. She likes to make breakfast for Dad and Jake.”
“Gavin likes to start his day with me, too,” Bri said. “What time are you driving back on campus tomorrow?”
“Early in the morning to get ahead of the traffic.”
“Are you free this Monday evening by any chance?”
“I’ll be done at five. Why?”
“Millie wants us to go with her to get a piercing that she and Jared will appreciate.”
Hunter
MANUEL LOOKED AT THE schedule on the computer when Vince came up to him after being summoned.
“You only got one or two appointments for a piercing?” Manuel asked him.
As I was sterilizing my ink pens from my last session with my door ajar, I heard Vince say, “…She said two friends of hers might be with her when I do it and that one of them might want a nipple piercing. I’ll see where she stands after I give her the run down.”
“Alright. I’ve leave that thirty minute slot open, but if she says yes and you think she needs more time to think it over, then reschedule her.”
Manny called Vince again shortly after their conversation when an average height bald female with a hot red and orange dragon tattoo on her head that went down the back of her neck said hello to Manny. I recalled that it was the design I’d included in my portfolio. It was similar to the one Manny made me do on the spot for a friend of his my first day on the job at eight in the morning. I’d heard that a girl had been the first one to request that particular design of mine, but then I was surprised she wanted it done on her head. It had to be painful. However, Vince did the textures, the lines, and shape so well on her skin that I knew others thought about whether or not they’d have the balls to undergo the pain and make such a bold statement. I liked keeping my own ink simple and well hidden. Manny and Vince didn’t get that just because I lived and breathed drawing sketches and tattooing, it didn’t mean that I wanted my whole body to be inked up. Even Chase hasn’t seen my ink and he’d asked me on numerous occasions to see them. I’d sketched various versions for the tattoos that appealed to me and then I’d thought about it for months before I’d got one. The last time I got some ink was three years ago, and I wasn’t in a rush to get another one.
