Bad Girl, Bad Boy...Could Only Mean Trouble

The following days were uneventful as everyone waited for Christmas break. Toni wasn’t fully forgiven by the brother, but they were on much better terms. Charley had convinced her parents to let her spend break with Toni and Andrue instead of going on some ridiculous trip with them. Andrue was still contemplating Toni’s suggestion of a tattoo, but she knew that he was getting closer to saying yes.

The group hadn’t seen much of Laurie since Toni had told her about the incident with Clark. Toni was sad that they seemed to have lost her, but knew that she would of stuck around if she truly cared. Nathan had been hanging around with Andrue more and more, until he had seemed to become a part of their circle.

Toni ignored him as best she could, she hadn’t forgiven him for stealing her number, but she knew that there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Charley had been worried that Nathan hanging out with them would have brought Tiffany along as well, but Nathan had revealed that he had dumped her after catching her cheating on him.

On the last day of school, Toni was at her locker trying to figure out what could stay and what needed to come home with her when she felt someone walk up behind her.

“Hey.”

Turning around, she saw Andrue and Charley standing there.

“What’s up?” She asked cautiously. They seemed to be ganging up on her and she didn’t want to think about what they might have to say.

“I haven’t done anything if that’s what you guys are wondering.” She stated.

“No…I came to give you this. She came to make sure that I didn’t change my mind. I swear you brainwashed her…” Andrue muttered holding out a piece of paper.

Looking at the paper, Toni gasped. She looked back at Andrue, read the paper again and jumped forward so that she was hugging him. Pulling back she hugged Charley as well grinning.

“I knew you’d say yes! Thank you so much Andrue.” Toni hugged him again and grabbed her stuff running off down the hall.

“Hey! Wait up a minute! Aren’t I coming with you?” Charley yelled after her, following quickly.

Toni paused and waited for her friend. When she finally caught up, she took off again and beat her to the car. She hadn’t planned on getting it done, but the paper that Andrue had given her and said that the appointment was for today whenever she could come in. Climbing in the driver seat, she unlocked the other side so that Charley could climb in.

“Are you going to get something too? Or is it just me this time?” Toni asked.

“Just you. I’m still saving my money.” Charley told her laughing.

Toni patted her bag, glad that she had thought to grab the money she would need before leaving the house that morning. After a few minutes, the pulled into a parking lot in front of the shop and jumped out. By this time Toni had calmed down, but Charley was still as excited as before.

“I can’t believe he said yes! Oh my god, I’m so excited to see what it’ll look like!” Charley gushed.

“Dude, you need to chill. I’m not getting all of it done today…maybe just the outline. When should I make the next appointment for the rest of it?” Toni asked, mainly to herself.

The guy behind the counter watched them walk in and waited for Toni to say something to him. Looking up suddenly, Toni reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper. Smiling, she handed it to the guy and pulled out her sketch book when he read the paper and asked what she was getting.

“I’d like to get this as a half sleeve.” Toni told him pointed to the design.

“You draw this?” He questioned.

“Yeah…it’s sort of a past time for me.” Toni blushed.

Nodding, the guy asked if she wanted it on her upper or lower arm. When she told him upper, he told her the price. The website had been a few dollars off, but she had more than enough to cover it. The guy asked if they could come back in a little while, giving him the chance to copy the design onto the paper that he would use to transfer it into Toni’s arm.
Leaving the shop, Toni looked around the street.

“So, what are we going to do for half and hour or so?” She asked looking over at Charley.

Charley had a thoughtful look on her face and quickly pulled out her phone. Texting someone, she pulled Toni down the street without a word of explanation. Checking her messages, Charley smiled and walked faster. Finally, she stopped in front of a shop Toni didn’t recognize. It looked like it might have been a clothing shop at one point, but now it was full of books.

Toni noticed that it wasn’t just books, put art supplies as well. Following Charley in, she looked around curiously. She didn’t bother asking Charley for an explanation, just followed her quietly into one of the back rooms. She didn’t see anyone working the counter and wondered where all the employees were.

Suddenly Charley stopped walking and Toni ran into her. Looking around her so that she could see what they had stopped in front of, Toni realized that they were looking out of a huge bay window. Without a sound, Toni stepped forward and gaped at the view.

“The store belongs to my cousin. I knew that you would like the view and maybe want to look at a few sketch books. If you buy one from her, I can probably get you a discount.” Charley explained.

Toni pulled out her sketchbook and flipped to the last empty page. She hadn’t answered Charley, just nodded her head and sat at a table that was across from the window. She sat and drew for a bit while Charley browsed the store and sometimes watched over her shoulder.

Finally satisfied, Toni pulled back and set her pencil down. Looking out the window and then back at the picture she grinned. She was glad that Charley had decided to come over here when she had. The light was perfect and the sun caught the water just right. Holding the picture out to Charley, she said that if she was given a little more time she could add some color to it.

“What are you going to do with it? It’s a gorgeous picture.” Charley admired the picture closely.

“I was thinking that maybe after I add the colors, your cousin might hang it in the front of the shop. Or you could hang it at home. I don’t need it at my place and I don’t know what else to do with it.” Toni explained.

Charley grinned and hugged Toni. While Charley was examining the picture one more time, Toni glanced at the time on her phone. Gasping she jumped up and started pulling Charley out of the store.

“What are you doing Toni?” Charley asked confused.

“Tattoo.” Toni stated simply grinning.

They hurried to the shop and as they walked in, the owner walked out of the back room with the ready design in hand. He smiled when he saw Toni and Charley walk in, motioning for Toni to follow him. Toni noticed that he didn’t saw much, but didn’t point it out.

Sitting in the chair the he indicated, she pulled the right side of her shirt off and put her arm out like he had shown her. He put the paper around her arm so that it covered the entire top half and pressed down before pulling it back. Toni watched him the entire time and winced slightly when he put the pen to her skin.

Charley sat in a chair across from her and watched the entire time. Toni continued while the guy outlined the tat.

“Do you have more stuff like this?” the guy asked suddenly.

“Yeah, I’ve got a whole sketch book full.” Toni told him. She realized that he hadn’t introduced himself yet. “What’s your name anyways?”

“Evan. Sorry, I should have told you earlier.” He told her laughing.

Toni laughed along with him and followed his small talk while Charley cut in every once in awhile. Evan yelled out a greeting when they heard the door open, and Charley turned to see who had walked in. she was surprised to see Nathan walking through the door. He walked into the back room and stopped short when he saw Toni and Charley.

“What the…what are you doing here?” He asked.

Toni almost bolted upright, but stopped herself when Evan put a hand on her shoulder. She glared at Nathan and ignored his question.

“Hey, be nice, they’re customers.” Evan told him.

“You know him?” Toni asked.

“Yeah, he’s my younger brother.”