Page 41 of The Summer List

To the guy’s credit, he doesn’t bat an eye as he nods, but I do see him pressing his lips together like he’s holding in a laugh when Priya whirls around and hisses, “Your nipple?”

Even Shal does a double-take.

“You only live once, right?” I say with a shrug.

Priya looks like she’s going to need to sit down any second now, but we’re saved from a fainting spell when the guy at the counter distracts us by opening up a laptop and humming while he types a few things.

“Looks like you’re in luck. Leila should have time for you all in about twenty minutes.” He glances up from the screen to turn an expectant look on Shal. “Anything for you, or are you just the moral support today?”

Her voice comes out shakier than I expected. “Actually I, um, was wondering if you had a spot for a walk-in tattoo today?”

He clicks around for a few seconds and then tells her there’s room for a small piece in about two hours. He points out the artist across the room where he’s hunched over a woman getting a big piece done on her thigh.

“Did you have something in mind already?” he asks. “I can also give you Joel’s flash so you can see if you’re into his style. He’s just added some really nice new stuff, and he’s usually open to changes if you want to make them a little more custom.”

I notice Shal rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. “Um, sure, yeah. I’ll take a look at it.”

He shuffles some things around behind the desk and then hands her a folder.

“Let me know what you decide, and I can get you booked in. Feel free to have a seat over on the couches. In the meantime, let’s get some piercing forms filled out. Do you all have ID on you?”

We pull out our wallets and then get started on filling out the forms and reading over the aftercare information. Priya decides to go for a daith piercing in the hopes that it will be a subtle enough to attract minimal rage from her mother, and Naomi asks for a hoop through the outer cartilage of her ear.

“I still can’t believe you’re getting your nipple done,” Priya says to me once we’re finally ready to join Shal on the black leather couches by the front window.

I’m about to reply when I notice Shal has the flash folder sitting closed on her lap. Her hands are gripping the edges of the cardstock so tight her knuckles have turned pale, and her face is blank as she stares down at the tiled floor.

“Shal, what’s wrong?” Priya asks, sliding over to sling her arm around her sister as soon as she notices her expression.

“I…” She opens and closes her mouth a few times, her gaze still pinned to the floor. “I don’t think I want to do it anymore.”

Naomi moves to fit herself in on Shal’s other side.

“It’s okay,” she soothes. “You don’t have to.”

“I just…” Shal shudders before she continues. “I thought I wanted it for me, but I don’t. I just…I want to be smart, and I want to be successful, and I want to be a daughter my parents are proud of, but I also want to be cool and badass, like a…boss queen slaying my way through life, or whatever the hell it is we’re all supposed to want to be.”

She lets out a watery chuckle and then sniffs. Priya leans her head on her shoulder and squeezes her tighter.

“And I think maybe I just wanted this one thing to be about me,” she continues, “but I don’t think I’m going to feel any better if I get some random white dude named Joel who’s probably never tattooed brown skin in his life to draw, like, a heart or a bird on my rib cage. I mean, what the hell is that going to do for me?”

She laughs again, the sound edged with desperation, before she leans her head over to rest on top of Priya’s.

“I’m proud of you,” Priya says. “I should tell you that more often.”

Shal sniffs again, and I start to wonder if I should get up and give them a minute. I feel like a stranger who’s stumbled into a scene I’m not supposed to be watching.

I’m about to jump to my feet and pretend I’m looking for the bathroom when Shal lets out a heavy sigh and sits up straight.

“Okay, that’s decided. Maybe someday I’ll find the right tattoo, but it is not here in Joel’s flash book.” She looks between the two girls at her sides and then over at me. “You all have to carry the torch of the summer bucket list for me, okay?”

Before anyone else can speak, Priya stands up to loom over her sister.

“Oh, hell no,” she says with her hands on her hips. “Just because you don’t want a tattoo doesn’t mean you’re getting out of here without a body modification. If I’m finishing that list, so are you. No queen woman boss left behind. Slay, besties!”

She does a combination head toss, hip thrust, bicep flex that has us all laughing so hard we might actually get kicked out of this place.

“Did you really say queen woman boss?” Naomi demands. “Is that even a thing?”

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