I held up a finger, silencing her. “Nah-ah. No questions.”
“Come on!” She stomped her wedge-heeled boot. “How can you expect me to not have questions now?”
“Oh, I don’t expect you to not have questions. I expect you not to ask them.” I winked at her, which only seemed to irk her more.
She pursed her red lips, green eyes swimming with curiosity. “Fine,” she conceded. “Now, go sit your ass down so I can torture you with a needle.”
I let out a laugh, trying to mask how nervous I was. This was my first tattoo, and I had no idea what to expect. Plus, I didn’t have a great relationship with needles. But who did?
I sat on the chair and eyed Red with suspicion. “You’re going to make this as painful as possible, aren’t you?”
“Can I ask a question?”
“No.”
“Then, yes. Yes, I am.”
Red busied herself tracing the image on a piece of stencil paper while I grew more nervous by the second.
“One,” I said, and Red slowly turned to face me. “You can ask one question.”
Red bit her lip, green eyes glancing all around the room while I heard the wheels turning in her head. “Okay, I do have one question.”
“Yeah?”
“And it’s by far the most important question I can ask right now.”
“Yes?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You better give me the truth.”
“Of course.”
Red scooted closer, her face hard with an immense amount of seriousness. “So, my question is…does your mom know you’re getting this tattoo?”
The heaviness of the moment lingered for a split second before I burst out laughing. “Are you serious? Is that your question?”
Red shrugged. “It’s a legit, important question, my friend.”
I snickered. “No, Red. My mom doesn’t know. And she won’t know either.”
Red threw her hands in the air. “Are you trying to fucking torture me?”
“You know she can’t find out.”
“Are you telling me your mom won’t know that her perfect little ballerina got her skin inked…permanently?”
“Geez, Red. You look disappointed.”
“Fuck, yeah, I am. This is like the best way ever to piss your mother off, yet you deny me the pleasure of seeing the look of shock and disgust on her face for the first time ever.”
I shimmied out of my tights, placed them on top of my bag, then slipped back onto the chair. “My mom would kill me if she finds out, which is why I want it here.” I pointed to my inner right thigh, and Red’s gaze followed.
She rolled her green eyes. “I’d much rather we tattoo this baby on your forehead so mommy-dearest won’t ever be able to miss it.”
“Shut up.” I chuckled. “Now, hurry up. I have an early class tomorrow.”
Red studied me with curious eyes. “You sure about this?”