Page 41 of Rebel Summer

“You’re always looking at mine. Thought you must be thinking about it.”

“That’s permanent. That should be all the hours.”

“Good point. Better make sure I put that in the contract…” He trailed off, writing something while he muttered the word permanent under his breath. He looked at me. “I’d hate for you to just get a stick-on for my lack of detail.”

I had the strongest urge to laugh, even as exasperation vibrated off me. “I’m not getting a tattoo.”

“Great. You can keep the fifty hours and get working on my car.”

“Tattoos aren’t a big deal. It doesn’t mean anything if I get one. Nobody will care. So why don’t you pick something else?”

Please pick something else.

Dax smiled. “I know that.” He pointed toward the garage door. “Most people out there know that.” He leaned closer to me, peering deep into my eyes. “But I think, just like the senator, you have an image you like to portray. Nice and buttoned up. And I think letting people see you with a tattoo might be the hardest thing of all.”

I didn’t say anything. I also couldn’t look directly at him.

He leaned back against the counter, getting comfortable with the pen and paper in his hand.

“Number two. Tag a building.” Dax immediately began laughing after he said the words.

“Tag a what? What does that even mean?”

“Tag a building. I’m sure a rebel like you keeps a few cans of spray paint on hand.”

This list of Dax’s was full of crap. I knew that now. He and I both knew I wasn’t going to do either of these things. Legos were in my future, and my hope was dashed.

“And the grand finale—my personal favorite. Drive a car around the entire island. One hundred hours.”

I scoffed. “There are no cars on the island.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That’s not true.”

I thought for a minute. It was very illegal to have a car on this island. There wasn’t even a way to get one here unless you ferried it on. There wasn’t exactly a way to do that without being seen. There were only two authorized motor vehicles allowed on the island that were bigger than a golf cart.

“You mean the ambulance? So I have to steal the ambulance and ride it around the island?”

“Or the fire truck. You can take your pick.”

“Why don’t you give me something I can actually do on your stupid list?”

“With an attitude like that, you’ll never accomplish anything.”

He tacked the paper up underneath the old pinup calendar and turned to me, a look of triumph on his face.

“Sorry, Books. If you can’t handle any of these worthwhile pursuits, you’ll just have to…I don’t know…” He broke off, waiting until he had my complete attention, and then said loudly and with much emphasis, “BUILD MY LEGO CAR.”

I lifted my hands up in the air as if to strangle him. The frustration inside of me warred with the pleasure radiating up my spine at making him laugh.

Off balance.

“Get back to work, Books. I can’t believe I let you stay clocked in for all of this.”

I headed toward the door, feeling a reluctance to leave that surprised me. Before I got to the door, he called out, “I would love to see you with a tattoo, though.”

I slammed the door to the sound of his deep chuckle.

Biology Class

---