Page 85 of Vying Girls

Another hum.

‘S,’I said next. That was always the easiest.

Nic repeated the next letter twice before I finally shouted out,‘T!’

I looked up at her and she smiled, dropping her hand from me. ‘Yep.’

‘Best?’

She nodded, coming back onto her stomach, shoulder pressed against mine. ‘Best day ever,’ she whispered.

CHAPTER 14

Tilda

‘This is wild,’ Elly says, gawping at the devastation all around us.

The sunny, windless day seems incongruous against a backdrop of fallen trees and debris. A few lampposts are toppled across the path, marked by orange cones. Farther out, one of the lakes has flooded, with rumours of a student evacuation. Thank God we live on the other side.

They named the storm Harriet in the end, something our Harriet is acting like it’s a personal homage to her. I shake my head with a smile. It’s the little things with her.

‘I might get a pine tree tattoo or something,’ Elly muses, pursing her lips. I pull her out the way of a flashing service truck as it works to reset all the damage.

I nod in approval. ‘Can’t go wrong with that.’

The trip to the tattoo parlour had been Elly’s idea. Turns out it’s a tradition of hers to get a small, silly piece every Friday 13th, but since that fell on the day of the storm, we had to make do with today. My last tattoo was yonks ago so I’m more than happy to tag along.

Attached to Vipers, it’s a squat, graffitied building that seems so out of place with the castle backdrop. It’s rammed today, full of people with the same idea as us, allowing us time to peruse the laminated menus they’ve made for the occasion.

Elly looks around, still pondering her design. ‘Hm. Not very random though, is it?’

‘That’ll make it random.’ I nod to the gumball machine in the corner.

‘That’s a shout.’ She stands and heads over to it, rifling in her pocket for change.

I admire her casualness when it comes to tattoos. Couldn’t be me though. Every one I have follows a similar aesthetic, tells a similar story. Suppose that helps with the choosing. Not that I’m any closer to picking one now that I’m here.

Elly returns waving a little plastic ball.

‘What have you got?’ I scoot closer to her on the bench.

She cracks it open and unfolds the paper inside. It’s a tiny kawaii frog, a wizard hat perched on its head.

‘Fucking mint,’ she says with a grin.

‘Aw, I love it,’ I laugh. ‘It’s adorbs.’

‘Yeah? Could get a matching one.’

‘Not really my style. But maybe a toad. All warty and creepy.’

‘You’re creepy.’ Still smiling, she kisses my cheek. ‘In all the best ways.’

She’s the first to be called into one of the curtained rooms, the buzzing of tattoo guns persistent behind them. I relinquish my seat to peruse the walls of designs, not finding anything I fancy in the Friday 13thcollection.

‘You here with Elly or getting one yourself?’

I turn to see Skylar loitering against a pillar bedecked in stickers. She looks dressed for a night at the Vaults in fishnets, shorts and a black top adorned with a tonne of metal buckles. Can’t lie, I kind of dig it.