Boxed Set: The Ink Series Volume 1-5 Read online

  “What has got into you?” I asked, swatting her hand.

  “Mexicans have got into me.” She shoved a finger in her mouth, sucking off the dripping grease. If it wasn’t for how beautiful she was this would have been looked at as disgusting. But judging by the guys dropped jaws at the table next to us, it was hot.

  I watched her finish up the last of her taco, the bits of cheese dropping on the paper, which she hurriedly picked up with her fingers, popping them in her mouth. She swatted her hands together and then went for a wet nap.

  “Okay. So now that I am full, where is he?” She blotted the corners of her mouth.

  “He said he was finishing up practice,” I told her, staring through the groups of people trying to find Slade in the crowd.

  Karsen rubbed her shoulder, twisting her head back in forth. “Man, I could use a really good massage. Isn’t California known for pampering spoiled rich people?”

  I shrugged, pulling my sunglasses down to block out the emerging sun. The storm was long gone, thankfully, and all that remained was damp pavement and puddles as far as the eye could see.

  “I’ll be back,” Karsen said, popping up with her tray. She sashayed past the group of older guys. Their eyes following her backside as she carefully stepped, her movement so elegant, so trained. She was a natural dancer. Something I had been at one time, as well. This only reminded me of it.

  Karsen bent down, picking up her dropped napkin, her rear being checked out by everybody. She ran a hand down her toned legs, shooting the guys a flirtatious grin.

  I laughed to myself, watching her enjoy all the attention. It was strange how comfortable she was now with attention. Before, Karsen wanted nothing more than to be ignored. It was hard to take a girl that looked like her serious. She had the blonde hair, tanned skin and crisp green eyes that made her look so sweet. The kind of eyes that everybody wished they had.

  She shoved a lock of her medium bob behind her ear, giving the boys a wave.

  I looked away, trying to locate Slade. No sign still. Going back to Karsen, I nearly screamed. There Tucker stood doing his best attempt at coming off as dashing, which wasn’t hard when you looked at him for even three seconds. The only problem was he was doing this with my best friend.

  Karsen tucked her thumbs down the front of her tiny jean shorts, her flat stomach revealing itself up to her navel. She circled the ground with one flip-flop as Tucker kept flirting. Karsen finally scanned over the tables—I wished I could hide under mine—and her eyes fell on me. She pointed a finger in my direction.

  “Wave, bitch!” Karsen yelled.

  I pulled my sunglasses down to the tip of my nose, staring Tucker down. His smile slid off his pompous face.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Slade said, planting a kiss on my cheek. He took a seat along with Kidd and Oz. I gave them all a wave and made the eyes of a girl with a really huge crush to Slade for everyone to see. It was a natural thing anymore.

  “So, where is this Karsen?” Slade looked around at the potential girls that could be my best friend.

  “Is she hot?” Oz asked, more joking than serious.

  Kidd perked up at the question as well, drawing his attention to me. He rested his elbows on the table, staring me down, waiting for my reply.

  Slade rubbed at his neck. “Look at these two.” He grinned.

  “It’s okay. Yeah, she’s a cute girl.” I still hadn’t admitted to which one was my best friend. I really didn’t want to know that she was talking up Tucker of all people.

  “Well?” Oz asked.

  Slade looked at me, raising an eyebrow. I sighed, pointing toward Tucker and Karsen.

  “Well, shit, she’s hot. But apparently really stupid,” Kidd said, looking back at me.

  “Hey, don’t be rude. She doesn’t know him from anybody. She’s from Georgia. Hope thought he was great the first time she met him, too,” Slade rationalized.

  “Well, gee, thanks. I don’t like to think of myself in that category though. It makes me a bit nauseous,” I said, slipping my hand into Slade’s lap. He interlocked his fingers with mine, stroking them as we watched Karsen laugh it up with Tucker.

  “I know what we should do,” I said suddenly, a big grin spreading across my face. “Kidd, go over there and act like you’ve been waiting on her. Like she’s your woman.”

  Kidd shook his head, confused by my weird request. “Uh, Tucker knows me. I doubt that would fly. And besides, what if she kicks me in the nuts or something?”

  “Are you saying you’re afraid?” I teased him. This was all it took to get Kidd out of his seat. I knew he was daring, I could tell from just meeting him a couple times.

  Slade groaned. “You don’t know what you just did. This asshole is crazy.”

  “Who cares? Tucker doesn’t know who Karsen knows. For all he knows it could have been something I made possible.” I pursed my lips, watching Kidd begin walking toward them. He fixed the black bracelets on his arm before making it over.

  “There you are, sex kitten,” Kidd said loudly. So loud the whole taco shack stopped eating, talking and moving.

  Karsen’s face grew puzzled. “Sex kitten?” she asked, a bit bewildered, but kept smiling anyway. I watched her look him over. Taking in his black boots, black tattered jeans with several chains through the belt loops and the dark green shirt. She zeroed in on his tattoos, an even bigger grin spreading across her face and I could tell she was hooked.

  “What would you prefer I call you?” Kidd asked, checking her out now.

  Karsen took hold of one of the chains on his pants, pulling him close to her. “Call me sold. Excuse us,” she said, blowing Tucker off.

  We all laughed, watching Tucker’s ego run away with its tail between its legs. Karsen laughed, following Kidd to our table.

  “Now that was comical,” she said, taking the seat Kidd offered her. “Totally comical.”

  “My kind of girl.” Kidd laughed, shooting her a grin.

  “So, which one is Slade? And I hope it’s not this one that just nearly made me want to jump his bones in public.” She pointed a finger at Kidd.

  “No, Karsen, that’s Kidd. And that’s Oz. This one over here is Slade.” I nudged Slade. He extended a hand across the table.

  “Hi, Slade,” Karsen said, shaking his hand. “I’m Karsen. Best friend of Hope.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Slade said, letting go of her hand and taking mine back.

  “So, I heard so many things about you. A lot of great things. Seems you’re doing a great job at impressing Hope,” Karsen said, giving him a serious expression.

  “Hmm,” Slade said, playing it cool. A bit like he was when I first met him.

  “Do you like Hope?” Karsen asked. I shot her an annoyed glance. This wasn’t something we needed to discuss with everyone at the table.

  “I would think that seems rather obvious,” Slade said, throwing an arm around my chair.

  “Why don’t you tell me some more about you, Karsen?” Kidd threw in.

  “What does a guy like you want to know?” she asked, giving a smile.

  “Anything you care to share,” Kidd shot back.

  Karsen bit her bottom lip playfully, thinking about what to share.

  I leaned in to Slade. “I promise she isn’t always so harsh. I think she has jet lag or something.”

  “I’m not worried about it. What are you guys up to tonight?” he asked, trailing a finger down my leg.

  “I don’t know. I want to do something fun with her,” I said. I knew Karsen expected some kind of thrill while she was here for another six days.

  “There’s a concert tonight. Come over and hang out. That should be fun. And judging by the looks of things, Kidd will keep her entertained,” Slade pointed out.

  Kidd and Karsen flirted with one another. He played with her hair and she touched and commented on each and every tattoo on his body, even ones in places she probably shouldn’t have ventured to look at. I now knew Kidd was the proud owner of tatto
os right above his manhood. And he wasn’t afraid to show them off.

  “So we will see you guys around nine then,” Kidd told us as we were parting ways finally.

  “If you’re lucky,” Karsen teased, turning quickly. She grabbed my arm in sheer delight. “He is hot. And you should have seen what he is working with.”

  I scrunched my nose. “I think I’m okay.”

  Karsen shrugged. “And Tucker, he said you guys were once good friends. He’s really cute in an all American kind of way. What happened with that?”

  I rolled my eyes, hating to dive into the story. “Let’s just say he isn’t what he comes off as. And his dad is awful. Stay far away from them both.”

  That’s all it took for Karsen to change the subject back to Kidd. I hoped it would stay that way but Tucker always had a way of popping up everywhere. But I knew Henry Park was the one place we would be safe in.

  Undecided

  I watched Karsen apply blush to her cheeks, sweeping the brush against her face, completely mesmerized by her conversation with me about Slade and his friends.

  “They’re so dark and brooding. You can totally tell no one is comfortable being near them. And I don’t know why they are so hot. All of them.” She set the brush on my vanity with a soft clink and raked her fingers through the sides of her hair.

  “And I think that has to really suck for them, don’t you?” I asked, trying to get her to think rationally. It seemed since she got here all she did was act like a girl with the sex drive of a porn star. And I knew this wasn’t the usual Karsen.

  “I think its captivating,” she mumbled, shoving a clip into the right side of her hair. She turned her face towards me. “They don’t care if everyone despises them. And that is hot.”

  I sighed. They didn’t care because they were witches. Something she knew nothing about. Neither of us did. And it was probably the whole town’s hunch that kept them far away from Slade and his pals.

  “Everything can’t be hot, Karsen. Slade has run into a lot of problems. Most of them having to do with Tucker.” I pulled my rose colored t-shirt off the hanger.

  “I know. Tucker told me.” She stood, finally content with her hair and makeup. She unzipped her shorts, wiggling out of them. “Once the old Tuck Meister realized we were friends, he told me all about Slade. He said he attacked you and some other girl. That he is no good and that he hates that you are socializing with him.”

  I stared at Karsen as she squirted lotion into her palms, rubbing them together. She acted like it wasn’t a big deal.

  “So?” I asked, a bit disturbed. She slid her hands down each thigh, working the lotion into her skin.

  “So, I know when a guy is trying to compete with another guy. It’s obvious he likes you. So of course he is going to talk bad about Slade. Boys think with their penis. What better way to scare you away then to make up crazy stories about Slade and his dark following?” Karsen gave a satisfied smile and pulled a black skirt out of her duffel bag. She pulled the skirt up to her waist and then quickly slid her pink panties off.

  I gave her a disgusted look when I realized she wasn’t hurrying to swap her panties with another pair. “So, that’s all you see it being?”

  “Of course. I really don’t think you would be running around with some guy who attacked you and some girl. Do I look stupid?”

  I shrugged. “Well, you are wearing a very short skirt with no panties to a concert with a bunch of violent, thrashing metal heads.” I gave a small smirk.

  “Slade’s friend is hot. Kidd. What a name. I’m sure something is going to happen, so this makes it easier. Besides, those panties are really expensive and I don’t want to lose them.”

  I stood up, shaking my head at her. “Did you ever think it makes you look… um…” I couldn’t finish my sentence; I didn’t want to offend her.

  “Easy. Provocative. Sexy. Savvy. Smart. Ready for sex?” She rattled off word after word. None of them was fitting my idea of right.

  “Karsen, can we be serious for about five minutes?” I crossed the room, searching for my jean shorts. When I couldn’t find them Karsen tossed me another black skirt, if you wanted to call it that. It was more a belt. I tossed it back.

  “My dad would kill me,” I assured her. I was pretty sure he would kill her too, but luckily he wasn’t home yet.

  “Go on about serious. I don’t have all night.” She plopped down on my bed.

  I took a seat at my desk. “Is everything okay? You don’t seem like yourself. I never knew you to be so vocal.”

  Karsen’s expression fell. “I’m just letting loose. Finals, test, school. Not to mention dance. It’s just a lot.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a long sigh. “And you’re gone. It was a little hard being myself without you there with me. So, maybe I just got used to putting on a show for everyone. It makes it easier to deal with the day to day.”

  I wiped at my tears that were spilling from my eyes now. “It’s hard here too. I went to school for barely a week and was expelled. This whole town hates me. The only people I can relate to are the outcasts. And I was attacked on the beach by the Mayor but no one believes me. It’s hard here too.”

  Karsen sat up, she wiped her own tears. “I wish I could stay. I wish by some miracle I could just stay here.”

  “Me too.”

  “Hope, don’t worry about all of these people. Just be you. And the outcasts are hot, that to me is well worth it. It doesn’t get any better than that.” She laughed, causing me to laugh.

  We both agreed our lives sucked. We were almost eighteen, so there wasn’t much we could do about it but wait.

  “I don’t know if this skirt was a good idea,” Karsen told me as we approached the gates of Henry Park. She held tight to my arm and used the other hand to keep her skirt from flying up from the strong breeze.

  “I told you to wear underwear,” I said in her ear. The line moved at a snail’s pace.

  “Oh, I got underwear,” Karsen said, pulling a lacy pair of boy cuts out of her bra. She didn’t bother to look at all the astounded expression as she bent down, working her underwear up her legs.

  “Karsen, there are men watching you,” I hissed.

  “I’m sure they’ve seen panties before, Hope,” she assured me, taking my arm again as the line kicked back into gear.

  The man behind us moved even closer to us, breathing down our necks. “You girls into Evil Kings?”

  I barely made eye contact with him, afraid after what Karsen did that it was a bad idea. “Yeah, of course.”

  Karsen turned and gave him a smile. “I’m new here. But whatever Hope is into, I am, too.” She gave a wink and tugged me through the gates.

  “This place is amazing,” Karsen yelled over the band playing on stage.

  The crowd was so thick it was going to take a lot of upper body strength to get anywhere. I gripped Karsen’s hand tightly, afraid to lose her in such a boisterous crowd. I knew I would never find her, and I also feared for her wellbeing if I lost her.

  The high temperature from the crowd and the atmosphere was overpowering. Karsen pushed and pulled me through the crowd a lot better than I would have. We frequently brushed into sweaty black t-shirts, passed sweating chests and beers clutched in tight grasps. But, finally, after all the battle, we reached a clearance and some fresh air, not the musty rank air of sweaty skin infused with too much liquor.

  I rushed to the bus with Karsen in tow. Lucy and Erica were outside of the bus tuning guitars and reading sheet music.

  “Look who it is!” Lucy exclaimed, standing up. She rested the guitar against her chair, giving me a firm hug.

  “The boys invited us out,” I told her. Lucy’s expression fell on Karsen now, as well as Erica’s.

  “This is Karsen. She’s my best friend from home. She’s visiting for a week,” I told them.

  Lucy gave a swift nod, extending her hand. “Karsen, it’s good to meet you.”

  Karsen studied them both closely, gro
wing a bit quiet. “Hey.”

  “She’s so blonde. Are there even any blondes in this place tonight?” Erica asked to not a soul but herself.

  “And you’re so dark and mysterious. In a good way, of course. I love your tattoos,” Karsen said to Erica.

  Erica’s expression promptly fell. She didn’t know what to make of the vivacious blonde anymore now that she fed her a genuine kind word.

  Erica bit down on her blood red bottom lip. “I like your skirt.”

  I smiled, pleased they could get along. If only I had known all it took was a couple contemptible compliments to get on Erica’s good side.

  “Hey,” Slade said, coming down the bus steps. He came to a stand next to Lucy.

  “Hey,” I said back.

  “I’m singing three songs tonight. You can sit offstage and watch. Karsen, too,” he told me. Lucy watched us both as we silently wished we could be a little closer. Her meaningful smile revealing she totally understood what was going on between us.

  “Well, that’s about an hour from now,” Lucy pointed out. “I say you guys hang out for a bit. It looks like you need to.” She touched my arm, heading inside with her guitar.

  I smiled, feeling at ease. Slade came closer, taking me by the elbows. He stared down at me, his body smelling of fresh soap and musky cologne. “You look hot.”

  I accepted his compliment and his kiss. “So do you.”

  “Erica seems to like Karsen. You might have lost your best friend,” Slade pointed out. We both watched Erica and Karsen giggle and chatter softly.

  But that soon ended when the bus’ door flung open, carrying Kidd down the steps. He wore dark jeans, a white t-shirt and a black baseball cap turned nearly backwards on his head. Brown bits of hair peeking out from underneath the cap, and the usual black bracelets and scarves. He flipped Slade and me the bird, black nail polish resting on each fingernail.

  “Hey there, Hope. Sex kitten,” he said to Karsen. Erica shook her head, heading inside.

  Karsen allowed Kidd to draw her from the chair she was sitting in. He checked out her black skirt and her red cowl neck halter top. Kidd threw an arm around Karsen. “I think I’ll take the time to get to know your best friend a little more.”