"Whoa, are angels allowed to cuss?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't you need an adult's permission or something to get a tattoo?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"Not when you're with Emrys," I answered truthfully, meeting her glare without qualms.
"Right, I forgot. Yourfriendcan make anything possible," she said sarcastically, stepping closer to inspect my tattoo. "Getting a tattoo at some hole-in-the-wall isn't the smartest idea. You could get a life-threatening illness from instruments that haven't been sterilized properly. Not to mention diseases," she added, studying it intently.
"Oh, crap. I knew I should have been suspicious when I saw him pull the needle out of an old Mason jar and wipe it on his jeans. Come to think of it, I bet him using a rusty needle wasn't the best idea either," I said sarcastically. "Give me a little credit, Krista. The place I got it from could give lessons on cleanliness."
"It still doesn't change the fact that you got a tattoo without permission," she said tightly before turning and leaving the bathroom with steam trailing her.
"Ugh," my shoulders drooped at her departure as I kicked off my jeans and stepped into the shower. I knew I was being a pain in the ass, yet I couldn't seem to stop lashing out. I guess it was just in my nature. Whatever the reason, being a teenager sucked ass as far as I was concerned.
Lynn was waiting on my bed when I exited the steam-filled bathroom twenty minutes later.
"What's up?" I asked, throwing my dirty clothes in the wicker hamper in the corner of my room.
"I thought we could have a slumber party," she said, not meeting my eyes while she pulled at a loose thread on my comforter.
"Really?" I asked skeptically. She didn't normally look so unsure. Sitting there all docile and shy was a complete contradiction to the image she projected with her short spiky haircut, multiple piercings, torn jeans, and black grunge rock shirt. Her newly adopted personality was seriously screwing with my mind. At the moment, she didn't remotely resemble my confidant of the past year. My sounding board. The one I could vent to that totally got where I was coming from. It was as if aliens had taken over her body and turned her into an adult without notifying me.
Uncomfortable silence settled over the room like a heavy wet cloak as we stared each other down. I could feel a fissure slowly making its way between us. One of us suspicious, the other secretive.
"Okay, yes! Krista and Haniel feel you need to be under lockdown," she finally admitted defensively.
"So, now I'm a prisoner," I snipped, feeling my blood start to rise.
"Only if you consider hanging out with your best friend a prison," she said, chucking a pillow at me in aggravation.
"Nice try," I said, tossing the pillow back at her. "You can't guilt me into thinking this is right."
"Don't be such a drama queen. Any parental figures would have a problem with their daughter traipsing around the world with some boy they don't know. The only difference is at least you get to hang out with your friend."
"Yeah, but we all know I'm not like most teenagers. If Emrys tried something, it's not like I couldn't kick his ass with my eyes closed."
"Not if he's in your head, manipulating your thoughts," she pointed out.
I shifted uncomfortably at her words. That was the crux of the problem. If I would have just come clean about the mind bending, it might solve this issue.
"So, are you going to show me your tattoo?" Lynn asked, offering up a truce.
"I don't know. Are you going to let the otherprisoners rough me up?" I asked, finally breaking into a smile.
"Word to the wise: Don't drop the soap in the shower," she said, raising a pierced eyebrow.
"Gross," I said laughing, turning around to show off my tattoo.
"Holy bat shit, that's amazing," she said, hopping off my bed to get a better look. "The detail's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's out of this effing world. It makes mine look a kindergartener did them in art class."
"Yeah, Anthony's amazeballs. You wouldn't believe some of his work."
"Anthony?" she asked curiously.
Turning back around, I studied her facial expression to see if this was yet another ploy to see where I had been. I hated that I felt like I couldn't trust her as much as I wanted at the moment. Still, I decided to come clean. I could really gauge her intentions anyway, and all the deceit was getting exhausting. "Yeah, some guy Emrys knows in Shanghai. He was a bit strange with his freakish Mr. Clean attitude, but judging by Krista's reaction earlier, I guess it's a good thing he was so meticulous."
"Shanghai? You lucky dog. That's one place we haven't been sent on a mission yet. How was it?"
I launched into an excitement-filled explanation of everything I had seen on my short jaunt abroad. It felt nice to be honest as everything bubbled out of me. I described Anthony in detail from his massive frame down to our shared bug phobia. Lynn laughed out loud that even with his size he was still afraid of something so small.