“Yeah, kind of. Like, she asked me if I was doing okay and if there was anything I wanted to talk to her about. It was…okay.”
“And did you? Talk to her?”
Sophie blushed. “No. I mean, I guess I’d like to, but…”
“Still awkward?”
“Yeah, totally.” Sophie fiddled with the mid-thigh rip in her long denim shorts. She dipped her head. “When…when you first liked someone, you know, a girl, did you ever think they might like you back but then think you were imagining it?”
Ash’s breath caught. Huh, yeah, and not just when it was the first time I liked a girl. Thanks, universe. This conversation, right now? She swallowed before responding. “Um, yeah, that happened to me.”
Sophie glanced up, then down again. “And, um, what did you do?”
“I…I told her I liked her. Eventually.”
“And did she like you?” Sophie’s voice was small.
Ash wrapped one arm around her niece’s shoulders.
“Or was it a disaster?” Sophie looked quickly at her, wide-eyed, then ducked her head again.
“No. I was lucky. Although she didn’t like me that way, she never told anyone what I’d said. I guess that’s why I liked her so much in the first place. She was a good person.” Just like Carmen. Ash shook the thought off. This is about Sophie. Focus on her, not your own drama.
“I think I would die if I told K—her and she didn’t like me back.”
Ash smiled and kissed the top of Sophie’s head. “You wouldn’t die. But yeah, it would be hard. I get that.”
“I don’t know what to do.” Sophie looked up at last, and her teeth worried at her bottom lip. “I like her so much. I see girls and boys walking around town, holding hands and kissing down at the park, and I…” Her blush deepened. “I really want that too. With her,” she whispered.
Ash’s heart lurched. “Honestly, I don’t know what to advise. A part of me wants you to just go for it—ask her if she’d like to go out and see how it goes. But a big part of me doesn’t want you to get hurt. I’d hate to tell you to do it and then we find out she’s a nasty bitch who tells the whole school.”
Sophie shook her head. “I don’t think she’s nasty. She never seems to gossip or take the piss out of anyone. She’s pretty quiet.”
“What’s her name?”
Sophie hesitated and went back to picking at the hole in her jeans. “Keisha. We have French together.”
“Do you sit next to her?”
Sophie’s mouth fell open, and she leaned away from Ash. “No! I couldn’t do that.”
Ash nudged her with her shoulder. “Maybe that would be a start, once school starts up again. You could at least talk to her some more, right?”
Sophie blinked a couple of times. “Um, yeah, I guess I could do that.”
The door opened, and a tall woman walked in.
“Sorry, time to go to work.” Ash stood. “But we can talk more later, okay?”
“Yes. Thanks, Auntie Ash.”
Ash’s mind was busy with a whirl of thoughts as she walked over to her client. Sophie working her way through all that she was feeling but not shying away from any of it. Whether Courtney would ever come to accept Sophie for who she was or might be. Carmen and whatever the hell it was that was going on there.
Ash hadn’t done anything about contacting Carmen since their aborted meeting yesterday. The message she’d got from Carmen late last night had seemed a little cold. As if Carmen was distancing herself. And maybe that’s a good thing. She smiled at her client and motioned her towards the chair, every action on autopilot as her brain still churned. No, Carmen distancing herself didn’t feel good. It left an emptiness in Ash that she didn’t want to acknowledge. Because if she did, she’d have to admit that her feelings for Carmen were already running deeper than she would want.
“You okay?” Ash asked Sophie when her niece flopped onto the sofa beside her three hours later.
Sophie shrugged. “Suppose so.”
“What does that mean?”
Sophie turned to look at her. Her eyes were a little wild. “I’m thinking about telling Trina.”
Ash swallowed before responding. “But that’s good, right?”
“I hope so,” Sophie mumbled.
“You’ve known each other since you were little. I’m convinced she’s going to be cool with this. Really.” Ash patted Sophie’s arm.
“I hope so.”
Sensing there was no point in pushing this tense subject, Ash stood. “Tea?”
“Yes, please.”
Sophie’s phone rang as Ash made their tea. Ash tried hard not to listen in.
“No, it’s just… Well, I just wanted to talk to you. I’m at the studio now, but I’ll be home later tonight.” A pause. “Well, yeah, it is pretty important.” A longer pause. “Yeah? That…that would be cool. Okay. Bye.”
Ash carried over their mugs of tea. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s… She’s coming here. Like, now. She’s in town to return some shoes she bought on Saturday.” Sophie’s eyes looked even wilder than five minutes before.
“That’s great.” Ash glanced at her watch. “I’ve got my next client in ten minutes but even if I’m working, feel free to talk with Trina here, or you can go somewhere else. I honestly don’t mind, okay?”
Sophie nodded, her hands twisting the bottom of her T-shirt. “Okay. Thanks.”
The client arrived, and she got him settled in the chair. This was an easy piece: a string of barbed wire encircling his bicep. She got started, settling herself into that calming zone where it was just her, the tattoo gun, and the ink following the lines she’d laid out. At some point through the work, the front door opened and closed. After reaching a convenient pause in her work, she flicked a glance over her shoulder.
Sophie and her friend Trina sat with their heads together on the sofa. Although still looking worried, Sophie was talking. And Trina was listening.
God, I hope I’ve read Trina right all this
