Ink (17 page)

“
Hey, I got to go. Maybe I’ll see you later,” Slade told me. He squeezed my arm, passing by me and out the front door.

Tucker shot his friend an annoyed look.

“
I’m going to run down to Jesse’s. I’ll give you two some time to pull it together,” his friend said. I thought long and hard on his name. I thought maybe it was Carl, but I wasn’t sure.

Tucker got up, opening up my cupboards; he was awful nosy, I thought. He turned to me finally. “This will be a lot of fun, I promise. Probably a lot more fun than anything Slade could show you.” He smoothed my hair.

“
Why must you always put him down? I know you don’t like him but it’s really not cool.” I looked into his eyes. Couldn’t he just be a decent guy?

Tucker sighed. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. “I’m sorry. I will try to be nicer to Slade. I will try to be civil. Does that make you happy?” Just before I could answer, Nona burst through the door dressed in a long red dress, it fit her body snugly.

“
There’s my girl. And not even ready!” She gasped. She snapped her fingers and Claude appeared in the doorway with a black bag. She snapped them again and Claude unzipped the bag revealing a light pink dress with a black belt and the tiniest straps that held the illusion that there were none at all. She very carefully handed over the dress.

“
I guess this means I
am
going?” I asked Nona.

She gave a nod. “Go get your clothes on. We don’t want to be late.” She turned, looking Tucker over. “He looks dashing right, Hope?”

I nodded my head and headed to my bedroom.

Behind my door no one knew what I was doing. Or how I felt. My bedroom was my one safe hiding place from the world. I slipped out of my clothes, and then I touched the small black heart.

My mind was on Slade, and I was determined to get to the bottom of this ink. There was no way he did what he did. I opened up my laptop. With everything going on in Cherry that had to do with music, I wondered if anything was on the internet.

I typed in
Evil kings of Ink
. I was sure there was some sort of fan page somewhere for such a popular band. I hurried to slip on my dress as the hourglass turned slowly on my laptop. Our internet sucked in this house.

While I waited, I pulled my hair up in a bun, securing one side with a pearl hair clip. I applied some shimmery pink lip gloss to my lips and finally the page was loaded. I clicked on the first link as I brushed on some pink blush.

Band linked to bizarre rituals

Evil kings of Ink are said to practice witchcraft. Is this the cause of all the followers? Or are we simply living in a society where anything with a skull is perceived as scary?

Residents of Cherry don’t think so, they have banned their children from even stepping foot into the concert after a young teen was found dead. Is there more to the show then just good music and lots of tattoos?

There was a knock at my door. I clicked off of the website. “I’ll be out in a minute!”

“
Hurry up, munchkin, Nona needs a martini!” Nona shouted from the other side of the door.

I pulled on some dress shoes, hurrying down the hallway. My mind raced. Witchcraft? That was just bizarre. Nothing about Slade made me even assume such a thing.

“
Wow,” Tucker said, his mouth open in awe.

Nona jabbed Tucker in the ribs. “I told you she got even cuter,” she remarked, taking Claude by the arm and heading out the door.

“
You look amazing,” Tucker insisted.

I smiled. “Tucker, can I ask you something?”

Tucker nodded. We ignored Nona’s demands to hurry, standing in the middle of the living room.

“
Did you ever hear about witchcraft here in Cherry?” I scanned his expression.

He pulled at his tie, a little nervous. “Why would you ask something like that?”

I shrugged. “Just heard something in school.” I hoped he believed me.

“
People are stupid, Hope. Back when all that stuff was happening with the missing girl and the band, people were swearing on their first born that the band possessed some powers. But we live in the real world, stuff like that doesn’t exist. So whatever you’re thinking, just forget it.” He turned me toward the door, making me head out.

“
Yeah, but what kind of powers?”

Tucker scratched at his head. “Ancient bullshit. Something to do with Indians or aliens, I don’t know. That’s how much I fed into it.”

I followed along hanging on to Tucker’s every word.

“
My dad says the only people who hold powers like that are evil. And it’s not really power at all, it’s just Satan. Let’s stop talking about it, okay?”

I sighed, not wanting to stop. “I will once I get a quick explanation.”

Tucker groaned. He stopped on the boardwalk, throwing a hand through his hair anxiously. “Wade Andrews was part of the band, also Slade and Erica Andrew’s father. One night at a bar, Wade got into a scuffle over a pool or dart game. Everyone at that bar swore this man’s tattoos exuded an energy, that he lifted the entire pool table above his head and crushed the other guy. Some people even swore they saw him rise up off the ground. I call bullshit.”

Tucker chuckled. “It gives me the creeps. And from then on everyone swore they were witches or practicing some sort of satanic witchcraft.”

I nodded, not able to say anything.

“
Parent’s were upset because their perfect little girls were going into these concerts all sweet and innocent and coming out trashy. Our neighbor actually caught his daughter getting it on with two men in his own bed. It’s just disgusting,” Tucker told me.

“
Maybe it’s nothing more than the girls. I mean look at Darby,” I said with a shrug. Maybe this town was just too afraid to admit they weren’t as perfect as they wanted to be.

“
Maybe. Or maybe they are just bad people. Just ordinary criminals that don’t give a shit about anyone but their own kind,” Tucker suggested.

I changed the subject as we headed up to a lavish house lit up like a Christmas tree, hundreds of people all across the sand and lawn.

T
ucker’s hand stay glued to the lower part of my back as we hurried into the party. I searched for Nona and Claude, someone to make me feel at least a little normal. But they were nowhere to be found. As I looked a little closer it seemed the lawn and patio was only congested with the younger crowd. Just about everyone from school and the beach was swarming all around.

Tiny lights hung over head, sparkling against the sky. They reminded me of the kind you decorated your Christmas tree with. A soft set of violins carried through the air along with the clatter and rattling of fancy dishes.

“
Are you hungry?” Tucker asked, stopping in front of the buffet tables.

I wasn’t sure what any of the items were that I was staring at. I shook my head no. I wasn’t one to try odd foods, and judging by how rich his family was. I was sure it was super odd.

“
You sure?” he asked again, picking up a cracker with something black on top of it. He popped it in his mouth.

“
So sure. I had dinner before I came, remember?”

Tucker nodded. “Well, come on, let’s mingle. I could show you my dad’s house.” He took me by the hand.

I couldn’t help noticing the woman staring me down now. Apparently our hand holding was a big upset. I tried pulling away from Tucker, sensing the hostility. Especially from one woman in particular.

“
What are you doing?” he asked, staring down at my hand that was trying its hardest to escape his.

“
Is it me, or are people giving us strange looks?”

Tucker sighed. “I don’t care what kind of looks anyone is giving us. I’m trying to make you comfortable. I know I would hate to be left alone at some party where I knew no one.”

I disagreed. He was the biggest flirt, the most ambitious person I ever met, and I had never seen him look remotely embarrassed or uncertain about anything.

“
I’ll show you the house. Maybe that will ease you into all of this.” He brought my hand to his lips, kissing it gently. This soothed me and settled my nerves. If he wasn’t bothered by it, then I wouldn’t be either, I told myself.

A waiter wearing a black tux and white gloves passed us, carrying a silver platter with elegant glasses. Tucker stopped him, taking two off the tray
and handing me one. I studied the bubbly beverage, worried it was something I shouldn’t be drinking.

“
It’s harmless, Lourdes calls it
summer punch,
” Tucker said, taking a swig. I gave it a sniff before bringing it to my lips. The sweet taste of raspberry stung my tongue pleasantly. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

“
Who is Lourdes?” I asked, following him into the house. I clutched my glass, careful not to spill it as we entered into a hallway.

Tucker shut the door, taking his shoes off before he stepped onto the plush wine-colored carpet. A large staircase with the same carpet and an elegant wooden banister took us up to an amazing hallway. Family portraits hung on nearly every wall. Potted plants on neat little tables placed at each window. There was even a golden statue of some sort of dog in one corner.

“
It’s beautiful, Tucker,” I told him. I stared at the family photos. Tucker, and who I assumed was his father, were wearing matching sweaters, the photo was sepia and that just made it even fancier. A large German Sheppard perched at his father’s feet. And when I concentrated a little longer, I realized the woman staring back at me with the big smile was the woman that had given me the strange look downstairs.

“
That’s your stepmom?” I asked, pointing at the woman staring back at me. Her perfectly smooth hair and square chin staring back
at me. She was polished and tan and hardly looked like a step mother of any kind. She was young.

“
Yeah, Dad likes them young. And Anita likes them loaded.” He laughed. Tucker opened the first door on the left. He flipped on a light. I stared around at all the glass cases that housed baseballs and autographed baseball bats.

“
My dad’s prized possessions,” Tucker said, running a hand over one of the stands. The room had to be worth more than our whole house and everything in it. I eyed a baseball mitt on a little metal stand.

“
Wow, this is pretty impressive.” I slowly was growing less uncomfortable with being at the party. Tucker turned the light off and shut the door. He opened up the next door.

“
This is my room,” he said, shutting the door behind us. I took a long sip of my drink. Dark wood, blues and greens decorated the walls, floors and bedding. A large, impressive wooden desk sat against one wall that looked more like something a CEO would use than a kid in high school. His room was neat, with a place for everything in it.

Tucker turned the knob on his stereo and “The White Stripes” filled the room, the stereo’s lights rising and falling with the beat of the song. He took my glass, setting it on his dresser.

“
You look amazing,” he said, staring down at me.

I smiled quickly. “So do you.”

“
I can’t get my mind off of you, Hope,” he admitted.

I raised an eyebrow and swallowed hard. “Why’s that, Tucker?” I turned away, pretending to look at his collage of pictures.

“
You’re so genuine. Nothing like the fake girls at Ashwilder. You act like a real person.” He made my heart flutter with his kind words. I liked hearing them.

“
Well, thanks,” I said. I couldn’t help but notice all the girls hanging all over Tucker in his pictures. It made it hard to believe he thought of me as anything special.

“
And you’re really pretty. No one looks like you around here.” I could feel him behind me.

“
A lot of blondes around here,” I said, trying to inject a little humor into the moment. Tucker pushed my hair away from my eyes.

“
I really want to kiss you,” he said.

I bit my lip, not sure if that was such a great idea. Tucker and Slade had wanted to do a lot of kissing lately. And I was beginning to enjoy it a little too much.

“
Okay,” I said.

Tucker dipped his head down, finding my lips quickly. He immediately backed me up until we met his bed. I stiffened as we fell down onto it, his hands pulling my dress down.

I broke away from his kiss. “Tucker, no, I don’t want to be doing this.” I pushed into his chest, getting free.

“
I’m sorry.” He dropped his head in his hands.

I pulled my straps up. “I’m not upset. You shouldn’t be either. I just don’t want to do anything either of us regrets.” I rubbed his back, offering comfort.

“
I wouldn’t regret anything. Why do you think you would regret it?” He stared at me curiously.

“
Because to me that’s a big deal. Maybe not to you.” I didn’t want to sound harsh, but I also didn’t want to sound amateur. So I went with harsh.

“
Shh… I respect you. And I think it’s great, don’t worry about it. I’ll settle for a kiss.” He leaned in, softly kissing my lips, his hand running up my arm. He turned it up a notch by softly pushing back my hair and grazing my neck with his lips. My breath caught as his breath hit my skin. Intensity built more and more and I gave in, moving a little closer, kissing a little more forcefully.