Audre & Bash Are Just Friends(23)

The sun had set. It was just him and Jennifer’s three toy poodles in the cavernous condo. Everything was quiet. He was slouched in the window seat, meditating (i.e., scrolling through the tattoo art on his For You page). The only sound was the occasional firework coming from Prospect Park, across the street.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed through the silence. Spiritually, he jumped five feet in the air. And then he checked his phone. Unknown number.

Bash lowered his already deep voice to sound intimidating. “Hello?”

“Hi, this is Mack Rhodes. You Bash Henry?”

Bash sat up, poker-straight. Mack Rhodes owned Fifth Angel Ink Designs in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Fifth Angel Ink Designs—one of the most experimental, cutting-edge tattoo shops in the country.

During spring break, when most of classmates were skiing in Aspen, Bash was organizing and editing photos of his best work. Painstakingly, he designed a portfolio. And, holding his breath, he sent it off to his twenty-five favorite shops across the country. The actual city didn’t much matter. Wherever he got a job, he would go. After all, he had no home base. His only criteria? The shop had to be near a beach. With waves.

Myrtle Beach had it all. Extremely surfable waves, and Fifth Angel Ink. He’d do anything to work there. His ambition to make it as a tattoo artist was the only thing keeping his heart beating these days.

“Yes? Yeah, man, I… I’m Bash Henry. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintanceship… I mean, to be introduced to you.”

Grimacing, he buried his face in his hands.

Mack Rhodes chuckled through the phone. “Cool. Cool. Yeah, so we had a few artists relocate, and I’m on the lookout for fresh talent. Yo, your work is clean, kid. You’re good. Real good. Where are you based again?”

Bash was so stunned and honored, he could barely find his voice. “In Brooklyn. I’m in Brooklyn right now, but I’d move, like, tomorrow. I just graduated high school and I’m a massive fan, man, I know all your stuff. I used to trace it on fruit.”

“Oranges or grapefruits?”

Bash’s mouth fell open a little, and then a shy smile lit up his face. A warm, sunny feeling flooded through him. This was what it felt like to find your people.

“Grapefruits,” he said.

“I did that, too. I used to tape one of my mom’s sewing needles to a highlighter and use it as a tattoo gun,” he said with a short chuckle. “Look. I can’t promise you anything, but I’d love you to come down to the shop. We’ll have you do some test art, see if you vibe with the team.”

Bash went silent. He was too thunderstruck to respond. After a few seconds, he jolted himself back to life. “Cool. Yeah, I’m there. But I should tell you. I’m a minor. I won’t be eighteen till August. So, I don’t have a license.”

He held his breath. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He couldn’t lose it.

“All good. If we like you, we’ll pay licensing fees, train you, all that. Just let me know when you can come down in August, after your birthday. Cool? Talk soon.”

With that, Mack Rhodes clicked off. And Bash exhaled until his whole body went limp.

For the first time in ages, he forgot to check the time.





Chapter 10


It was Thursday. Audre just had one more day before she met up with Bash. And she was counting the milliseconds.

Since she barged into Just Because early that week, she’d been filling up her days with a bunch of random activities to pass the time. She chatted on FaceTime with Reshma in Argentina. She sat in various cafés rereading Evelyn Hugo. She swam laps at the YMCA.

Anything to swallow her growing nervousness at meeting Bash for her first challenge. What if she bored him? What if he thought she was too cerebral? What if he was actually a serial killer and drowned her in the Gowanus Canal? And, even worse, what if the girl from Prospect Park, Clio, really was his girlfriend? And what if, when she found out about their little project, she thought Audre was trying to steal her man? Audre hated cheating and cheaters. And she prided herself on being a girl’s girl. The last thing she wanted to do was disrupt someone’s relationship.

Oh no, she thought, opening the apartment door after a busy day of doing nothing memorable. Was this a bad idea?

Too late. Bash had just texted her, confirming their nondate.

Bash: wyd? we still on for tmr?



Audre: YES. i’m relieved, thought you’d cancel



Bash: why would I do that tho



Audre: cause I made that terrible comment about your cat who passed away



Bash: suffocated tragically, you mean



Audre: ugghhhghgh…



Bash: lol I told you, you good



Audre: sometimes my sense of humor is weird and I just blurt out nonsense



Bash: nah, I’m the weird one. it was our second convo & I brought up my dead cat



Audre: ok you have a pnt



Bash: so how’s noon



Audre: perf, i’ll meet you at Just Because



Bash: bet



Audre: what should I bring?



Bash: just yourself



Audre: nothing else?



Bash: an open mind