“Thank you,” I say, turning around. “This means a lot. It’s like, I have finally reached adulthood. I can let my mother and my past go, and make my own decisions now.”
“That’s a great way of looking at it,” Josh replies. “Now,” he says, “It’s my turn.” He makes me laugh.
Renee puts some ointment on my tattoo and then covers it with gauze. “Keep that on for a while.”
“Okay,” I squeak, putting my pants back over it.
She cleans everything up and then Josh lies on his side. It is interesting to see her work on him. He doesn’t even flinch. I stick my tongue out at him.
When his is done, it is really freaking awesome. Josh stands up and looks at it. “SWEET!”
Suddenly, my cell phone rings. I dart to my bag to get it. It’s Jeremy. I answer it, “Hello?”
“Hey, did you guys eat dinner yet?” Jeremy asks.
“No,” I say, looking at Josh. I mouth Jeremy and he grimaces.
Jeremy says, “Ask Josh if I can come.”
“Hold….on,” I slowly reply. I cover the end of my phone. “He wants to come to dinner!” I hiss.
Josh frowns. “Tell him my mom got the flu and we are coming back over by him.”
“I don’t lie to him,” I moan. “We promised.”
“Well, then, I don’t know. Tell him, I decided not to go over there, which I did.”
Talking back into the phone, I try and not let my voice shake. “Josh decided he didn’t want to go over there.”
There is a pause, and then Jeremy asks, “What have you two been doing this whole time.”
“I don’t know,” I say.
Growling, Jeremy snidely remarks, “Has he put his hands on you in any sort of affectionate matter?”
“No, he hasn’t.”
That seems to lighten Jeremy’s mood. “Then what have you been doing?”
“Just stuff, nothing in particular. Josh needs to stop at the store. We need to pick up some things.”
“Do I need to come? I don’t remember giving you any money….did I give you money?”
With a giggle, I say, “No.”
“I need to do that. I will get you a debit card,” Jeremy states.
“A debit card to what?” I ask, slightly confused.
There is a slight pause and then a sarcastic, “To my bank account, duh!”
“What!?” I snap. “I am not doing that.”
“You need money to live on,” Jeremy states matter-of-factly.
Growling I say, “No, I am not budging on that one. You can give me an allowance.”
“What are you, 12?” He replies. “None of that matters. When are you coming home?”
“Soon, I promise. I am going to go now.”
With a heavy sigh, Jeremy says, “Alright, see you soon.”
“Bye,” I reply, pressing end. “He is going to know something is up.”
Josh grimaces as he pulls his shirt back down. “I am not going to come up to the apartment. If I wince, he will know something is up.”
“And what am I supposed to do?” I ask.
“Put on something that is baggy and with an elastic band,” Renee says. “I would say go without pants, but obviously that won’t fly. I would go without underwear.”
A devious smile passes over Josh’s face. “Maybe I will come up.”
I roll my eyes. “Shut up Josh.” He just laughs in reply. When she gives us the total for the tattoos my heart stops. “Josh! I can’t have you pay that.”
“Umm, it’s your graduation present, just REALLY early. It’s awesome, just leave it at that,” Josh reassures me.
“Okay,” I sigh. He pays and we leave. It doesn’t take us long at the store. Josh tells me to put the stuff in my backpack, so Jeremy doesn’t see. When we pull up to the apartment, I turn to him. “Thank you, Josh. This meant a lot.”
“No problem kiddo,” he retorts. “Have a good night and keep that clean.”
Leaning over, I kiss him on the cheek. “I will. See you later.”
“Bye,” Josh says, waving.
The walk to the door feels really long. What am I going to do? How am I going to hide this? When I get upstairs, and open the door, Jeremy is nowhere to be seen. Taking the opportunity, I dart into my room. I shut the door and sigh. Quickly I take my pants off, which is a huge comfort. Next comes my underwear, and then I pull on pajama bottoms. I actually sigh.
There is suddenly a knock on my door, “Isabelle?”
“Yeah,” I answer.
“Are you okay? You didn’t even come and say hi,” Jeremy says.
Whipping off my hoodie, I go open the door. “I am fine,” I state, putting my hand on the non-tattooed hip. “How are you?”
Looking a little skeptical, Jeremy replies, “Hungry. Where is Josh?”
“He had to go do something. I have no idea where he is going,” I sigh. Okay, that is the truth. “What do you want for dinner?”
“I was thinking grilled cheese and tomato soup,” Jeremy chirps, happily. “It’s cold out. Then when you are done with your homework, we get to curl up on the couch and watch the news.”
I roll my eyes. “Whoopie.”
“Shush, you love it. Now, come on.” I follow Jeremy into the kitchen. This hurts! The rubbing on it isn’t helping. Jeremy turns to me. “Want to grab out the soup? I will start the sandwiches.”
My gaze turns to the cabinet, the soup is on the stop shelf. Oh boy. “Sure,” I whisper. Carefully, I put my knee on the counter.
Jeremy looks at me and says, “Get a chair Isabelle. You know I hate it when you climb on the counters.”
“Sorry daddy,” I laugh.
Shaking Jeremy replies, “Don’t ever call me daddy again. We kiss on the lips. Nasty.” That makes me giggle. I open the cabinet, reach for the soup and then grimace from the pull on my skin. Suddenly, Jeremy yells, “Isabelle!”
“What?” I exclaim back, looking at him. He is staring straight at my waist. When I look where he is looking, my heart drops. Crap, my bandage is showing.
“What in the world is that!?”
Getting off the counter rather quickly, I mumble, “Nothing.”
“Did you get hurt?” He asks, stepping closer, looking really concerned.
“Not exactly,” I reply.
Now, he is right in front of me bending down to look. “At school?”
“Nope,” I squeak.
“This happened with Josh!?” Jeremy snaps.
“I am not hurt, exactly. Just leave it be. I am fine.”
Jeremy gives me a very stern stare. “Isabelle, don’t lie to me. WE promised not to lie.”
“Omitting is not technically lying in this case,” I say, pulling my shirt down more.
“Isabelle Nimon,” Jeremy growls. “What is that bandage on for?”
Frowning, I whisper, “I got a……” and then stop.
“A what? A rather large injury, because that is what it looks like.”
I take a deep breath. “Okay, I will tell you, ONLY if you promise not to yell or harm Josh in any way.”
“He did this!? He hurt you!?” Jeremy screams.
“No,” I insist, shaking my hands. “He didn’t touch me, other than hold my hand. You have to PROMISE me that you won’t yell at him or harm him. If you are going to yell at someone then it is going to be me. Promise?” Jeremy just stares at me and then nods his head. “I got a….tattoo.”
There is dead silence, and then Jeremy quietly says, “Say that again.”
“I got a tattoo, wanna see?”
Jeremy puts his finger up, “JOSH took you to get a tattoo?”
“Yeah, he got the rest of his side done.”
“How long had you been planning this?” Jeremy inquires hotly.
Frowning, I say, “Since lunch time.”
“So, in three hours, you made the decision to go get a tattoo,” Jeremy growls.
I cross my arms, “Yes, I did. Jeremy, please, you can’t ruin this for me. It di
dn’t involve you. It’s my body and I am an adult. This meant a lot for me. I can make the choices about my life now.”
“How did you pay for it?”
“Josh paid for it. It was my graduation gift,” I say as cheerily as possible.
Turning away from me Jeremy rubs his temples. “I am not upset that you made this choice on your own, but I wish you had put more thought into it.”
“Do you not like tattoos? Do you find me repulsive now?”
“Oh no Isabelle,” he replies, turning back to me. “I love tattoos. I plan on getting one. I always wanted a memorial tattoo for Kaitlin, and no, tattoos are dead sexy on a girl. As long as it isn’t on your lower back, we know what everyone calls those.”
Pulling my pants down a little bit, I say, “No, on my hip. You want to see.” With a heavy sigh, Jeremy nods his head. I slowly peel the bandage away and grimace. “It still hurts.”
“It is beautiful,” Jeremy whispers. “Did you draw it?”
“Yeah, and Renee, the tattoo artist, said that my work was so good, that she may want to use my skills. Isn’t that awesome? My first gig as an artist.”
He smiles, “No, that is good. Ugh Isabelle, you sure keep me on my toes.”
That makes me smirk. “Someone has to.”
“By the way, I am going to sternly talk to Josh,” Jeremy states, grabbing his cell phone.
“No!” I exclaim. “You promised!”
Jeremy looks at me. “So, I am not allowed to say anything to him?”
“Nope,” I reply. “Just leave it be.” Suddenly, my cell phone rings. With a quizzical look, I say, “I wonder who that is.” I go over, pick it up and smile. “It’s Cassandra.” I quickly answer it. “Hello.”
Then there is just high pitched squealing on the other end. “GUESS WHAT!?” She yells.
“What?” I ask, a little bit dumbfounded.
“Guess who is engaged!?”
My jaw drops. “No way! Kent proposed?”
There is more squealing. “Yup! He took me out to a park for a picnic and then asked me. It was great!”
Holding the phone to the side, I tell Jeremy, “Kent proposed to Cassandra.”
“I know,” Jeremy chimes back with a grin. “He told me he was going to.”
“And you didn’t tell me!” I gasp.
He shakes his head. “I didn’t know if you could keep a secret, and REMEMBER we can omit things.”
“Funny,” I retort. Putting the phone back to my face, I say, “I am so unbelievably happy for you two!”
“Thanks!” She replies. “Now, the question comes up, will you and Jeremy stand up in the wedding?”
The silence is deafening because I can’t talk. “Me? Jeremy I understand, but me?
“Yeah, you are like a little sister to us, and we need someone to stand up with Jeremy. Will you do it?”
“Of course I will,” I reply. “I mean, yes, what an incredible honor.” My eyes drift to Jeremy. “Cassandra wants US to stand up in the wedding.”
With a smirk, Jeremy says, “Sounds good to me.”
Cassandra sighs on the other end. “Okay, I have more people to call. Will you help me look through magazines this week? I want to get started.”
“Sure,” I reply. “Just let me know when.”
“Alright!” She chirps. “Talk to you later.”
One more time I say, “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, bye!”
“Bye.” I hang up and look at Jeremy. “That is awesome for them! Wow, she sounds so happy.”
Jeremy comes over and ruffles my hair. “You will be too when your future husband proposes.”
“I sure hope so,” I reply.
“By the wwwaaayyyy,” Jeremy draws out. “You have your driver’s test on Wednesday.”
“What!?!?” I scream.
A horribly devious grin passes over Jeremy’s face. “Yup, you are more than ready. I set it up.”
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I am so nervous!”
“You will be fine,” Jeremy reassures me. “Now, let’s make dinner my little tattoo queen, I am starving.”
With a huge smile, I say, “Want some more great news? Let me tell you what I did at school today……”
Chapter 23
“I think I am going to hurl…..”
Jeremy takes my hand. “You are going to be fine. Just remember, to breathe and think.”
I turn and look at him. “Easier said than done. What if I fail?”
“Isabelle, you are not going to fail. This is easy. You have been driving great and you can parallel park like a master. Just take it slow and easy. Don’t overthink things.”
Without moving my gaze from him, I just nod my head. “Okay.”
“Now, the test instructor needs to get in. You will do fine. Good luck.” With that Jeremy gets out of the car.
The instructor gets into the car. It’s a guy. “You are a lucky girl to be taking your driver’s test in this. Make sure you don’t peel out though, that docks points.” I take a deep breath and nod. “Okay,” he says, “let’s get started.”
It isn’t that hard, the driver’s test. After a little bit, I calm down and I think it goes well. When we are all done, the instructor looks at me. “Well, Miss. Nimon, you are now a licensed driver.”
That makes me squeal and jump up and down. We quickly get out of the car and run up to Jeremy, jumping into his arms. “I did it!”
“Good job!” He exclaims. “I am proud of you.” Bouncing, I just smile. Jeremy laughs. “Go finish up the paperwork. We are meeting Cassandra and Josh at the restaurant and Kent is going to try and eat with us.”
“Awesome!” I yell. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the test instructor waiting for me. “Be right back!”
Afterwards, we go out and everyone congratulates me. They even give me a cake, which I just shake my head at. When we get home, I do the little bit of homework I have. Jeremy comes up to the door as I am finishing up. “Hey, do you want to do lunch tomorrow?”
“I have school,” I retort.
“I meant at school. I will bring something.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I say, “Sure.”
Jeremy smirks. “Don’t be too over enthusiastic about it, you may hurt yourself.”
“No,” I laugh. “I would LOVE for you to come and have lunch with me.”
“Good,” he replies. There is a sudden twitch to his smile.
Narrowing my eyes, “What’s with the goofy grin?”
“No, goofy grin,” Jeremy sighs. “None at all.” With that, he turns and walks away. I watch him go skeptically.
The next day, I am on cloud nine all morning. Life couldn’t be going any better. While I am putting my books away at the beginning of lunch, Holly comes running up to me. “Jeremy is here!”
“I know,” I say slowly. “We are having lunch.”
“Yeah…..I mean…..you just need to go outside,” she states with a stupid smile on her face.
My eyes close and I take a deep breath. Part of me doesn’t want to know what’s outside. I know I had better get it over with. There is a stream of people going outside. I think I am going to end up murdering someone. When I get out there, I look at the street and just stop. Jeremy is there……without his shirt on, leaning against a car that is covered by a sheet. He looks extremely hot. His pants are riding low on his waist, showing off his chiseled stomach. I look and notice I am not the only girl recognizing it.
With a lot of hesitation, I walk over to him. “What are you doing!?” I hiss loudly.
“Payback,” Jeremy chirps, crossing his arms. “You embarrass me in front of my coworkers, I return the favor.”
“Don’t you think I have enough problems at school?” I snap.
With a raised eyebrow, Jeremy retorts, “I don’t think this is bringing you bad attention.”
“Why is your car covered?” I ask, looking next to him. Then I look carefully. “This isn’t your car. This is too small to be your car.�
�
“It isn’t my car,” Jeremy says. “See, this is the thing. Hot cars usually have hot girls that sit on it. Well, in this case, the girl would make no sense, so here I am.”
I give him the most dumbfounded look. “What are you babbling on about?”
“You need a hot guy…..to go along with your hot new car.” Jeremy rips the cover off the car, and my world stops.
“You are joking right,” I whisper.
“Nope, congrats on your license, toots,” Jeremy chirps.
Sitting in front of us is a very decked out import car. “What is it?” I ask.
“A Jetta. It has a killer engine in it. Won’t put it up against my baby, but it will get you from point A to B in a hurry. Now, it’s daylight so you can’t see, but it has lighting under the car, purple to be exact. Get in and I will show you the rest,” he instructs. “Driver’s side.”
I stand there and stare at him. “Jeremy…..have you lost your mind?”
“What?” He says, with the biggest grin. “I can’t drive my motorcycle come bad weather, so we need two cars.”
“Jeremy,” I say again. “I could take the bus.”
Dramatically rolling his eyes, Jeremy groans, “Just get in the car. It’s yours, so either use it or it’s going to sit on the street all winter.”
Looking back at the car, I murmur, “So, this is mine?”
“Yup,” Jeremy answers seriously. With that I jump and put my arms around his neck. “Well, that’s the best thank you I could get,” he chuckles against my neck. Pulling back, I just look at him. Then slowly I lean forward and kiss him ever so gently. He kisses me back. When we separate, he sighs, “Nope, that was definitely the best thank you.”
“This is too much,” I whisper. “I can’t even show you how thankful I am.”
A glint forms in Jeremy’s eyes. “I think you could if you wanted to.”
That makes my jaw drop and I smack him on the shoulder. “You are horrible.”
“Just get in the car Isabelle.”
So, I quickly sprint around to the other side. When I open the door to get in, I actually take a look at the decaling on the side. Narrowing my eyes, I whisper, “Oh my gosh. That’s my dragonfly. Jeremy! My dragonfly is on the side of the car.”
“Yup,” he retorts. “I was going to see how long it took you to notice that.”
The Art of Life Page 43