I don't own a thing, unfortunately.

Inked!

Chapter 3
Accidental Meeting

After a month, Gwen felt that it was the job of her life. Not only because it was easy and fun, she also felt that it was her element.

On her second week of work, she started to take her sketch book to work, just to kill time when the day got a bit slow. One day she forgot it at the studio and the next day Mike gave it back to her. He apologized for taking a peek at it and then asked her if she could show him more of her drawings. Days after, half of her creations were decorating the studio walls.

Besides, Jon and Mike started to teach her how to tattoo and pierce, both arguing it would be nice if she could help them once in a while with small tattoos or doing some piercings everyday. They even suggested her to enroll to a tattoo school, so she could work legally with them.

"I'm not sure about it", she said as she scratched the back of her head handing a pamphlet back to Jon.

"Come on! You really like what we do here and your art is so beautiful", he replied opening her sketch book and putting the pamphlet in there.

"I don't think my mother would approve, you know", she turned to the computer screen and opened some files randomly.

"Okay, so you're going to leave us behind after getting the money you need for art school?", he asked concerned.

"Don't push her to do things she doesn't want to do", Mike told him as he passed by them entering the back room where, like he often said, the magic happened.

"I just don't want her to leave", Jon laughed and patted Gwen on the back.

"I'll think about it", Gwen smiled not really sure if she would be able to make up her mind.

She still had to think about it, and then she would have to talk about it with her family. Even though she considered herself independent, she never left her family's opinion out of rule.

It was really tempting to study body art after going to art school. For her, it looked like a good opportunity to have an artistic job, plus she had fun working with Jon and Mike. But she didn't want to settle for something that wasn't really her idea. Also, she wondered if she wouldn't get bored with it.

The door opened and Gwen came back to reality.

"Hi, how can I help you?", she asked smiling to a blonde short girl accompanied by a mature woman. The girl resembled Lindsay, somewhat.

"I want a belly bottom piercing", the blonde girl giggled.

Gwen went to the back room and came back to the lobby with Jon. He went back into the room with the girl, while the girl's mother sat down on one of the couches that were in the lobby.

The woman was just getting comfortable when her daughter came back pulling her shirt up enough for her mother to see her piercing. Both thanked and left leaving Gwen and Jon alone.

"I am bored", he sighed stretching his arms towards the roof. "Want to go somewhere?", Jon asked.

"But we're still working", she answered. She was surprised.

"Oh, well… Your loss", he shrugged and walked to the door. "I'll be back in an hour or so", then he left.

Gwen was playing her fifth game of solitaire, she was about to win when she accidentally closed the game's window. She regretted turning Jon's invitation down. The day was passing slowly, too slow for anyone's sake. About forty minutes had passed by since Jon left and it felt like hours for Gwen.

She stood up, stretched her legs, and then she walked around for a bit. The goth thought she was minutes away from going crazy. Gwen threw herself on the largest couch, leaving her head hanging to the floor.

"What're you doing?", Mike asked in dismay.

"I'm bored", she answered with a monotonous tone that made her boss smile and shake his head.

"You can leave if you want", he said as he sat on the other couch, the smaller one. "Days like this one are a real pain in the ass".

"Yeah".

"I am back", Jon said as he came in. He looked at the other two curious of what they were doing, especially Gwen. "What's going on here?", it surprised him that his brother was spending time out of his cave back in the other room.

"We're bored", Mike told his brother. "Maybe we should close early today", that statement made Jon gasp in excitement and Gwen got up as fast as she could.

"Woohoo!", someone cheered from outside making all of them look through the window. "Go, dude, go!", Gwen recognized the voice and, next thing she knew, Duncan and Owen walked into the studio followed by all the other campers.

"Oh, my God! Gwen!", some girl squealed. Gwen couldn't see who it was until the gal got across all the other people.

"Leshawna!", Gwen exclaimed excited. Her friend ran to her and they hugged. The other campers where somewhat shocked of running into her in such a place. "It's been so long! How have you been doing?"

"All good, girl", the chick with 'tude replied. "We're here because Owen and Duncan made a bet. What're you doing here?"

"I work here", Gwen smiled and sat down on the couch with her friend. "Tell me all about it", she wanted to know what the bet was about.

"Making a long story short, Owen dared Duncan to get a tattoo on his nasty ass. If he did, Owen would give him 100 bucks or so", Leshawna explained her. "I never thought we would find you here. Owen gathered everyone, but couldn't get a hold of you; when he found me I told him I knew where you lived".

"Why did he get all of you together?", Gwen raised an eyebrow not sure of liking the idea of interaction with everyone.

"To make a party, girl!", Leshawna said out loud raising and waving her arms.

"And everyone is here?", the goth asked nervous.

"Yeah. Including Heather, Ezekiel and Izzy", her friend then seemed to realize something. "Trent is also here", she elbowed Gwen and gave her a mischievous look.

"What is it going to be, Owen?", Duncan asked to the fat lad proving he would do whatever it was to win the bet and the money.

"I'm not sure…", Owen put his index finger on one of his cheeks, pondering all his options.

"What if he gets something like 'Owen was here'?", Cody suggested to Owen.

"That's a good one!", Owen laughed while Duncan crossed his arms and gave them a cocky smile.

"So that's the one?", the punk boy asked Owen, who nodded excited and amused.

Gwen tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help it. Picturing Duncan getting Owen's name on his back was way too funny. She had a word or two with almost everyone before going to the back room to help Mike with his utensils. She didn't notice Trent, he had sat down next to Leshawna right after she stood up and didn't stop staring at her since.

"If I get a tattoo, would you give me a discount?", Izzy asked to Gwen pointing at some designs on the wall.

"I don't think so", she responded to the weird girl.

"Aw, come on! We can exchange things instead of money!", she waved her hands at Gwen.

"I don't think so", the goth girl repeated.

"Hey, Gwen, can you come here for a second?", Jon called her when he realized Trent didn't take his eyes off her.

Once Mike was done with the tattoo, Owen gave Gwen his address and he explained her how to get there. He also told her that, since he was staying in the city for a while, he decided to make the party there, but that he didn't even imagine she lived in that same city.

"I hope you can drop by", he said before they left. Gwen was really happy to see them all together again, except for Heather, of course.

"Some things will never change", she thought.

"Will you go to that party they were talking about?", Jon asked her. Gwen nodded and he frowned slightly. "Then take care", he softly pushed her to the door.

"But it's still not time to go home", she protested.

"It's okay. You can leave. Plus, you haven't seen your friends in so long", Mike said coming out from the place the magic happened taking off a pair of plastic gloves and threw them into the garbage can.

Gwen wasn't really excited about the party, but she agreed to leave early. She had plenty time to walk to her house instead of waiting for the bus. Besides, taking a walk would help her to calm down. She had seen Trent back in the studio, but didn't have enough courage to say hi to him. She had a mix of nervousness, sadness and excitement.

"What should I do?", she asked herself. "I want to talk to him again, but at the same time I don't know if I should".

She was so lost in her own world that she forgot to take a look around before crossing the street and almost got run over by a car. She froze and couldn't move at all, but the driver was able to evade her. Gwen's legs felt weak, she moved to the sidewalk and sat down there.

"Are you okay?", a familiar voice asked. Gwen looked up and saw Trent leaning over her with a worried look in his eyes. "Are you okay?", he asked again.

"Y-yeah… Yeah, I think so…", her heart first skipped a beat when she realized it was him. "I'm sorry", she blushed and got up, though she still felt weak.

"I was going to pick you up from work", he said as he helped her up and carried her bag. "I didn't expect to bump into you like that".

"I think I should go home", she said snatching her bag. She gave a few steps, but Trent followed her and grabbed her by the arm.

"Don't avoid me", he put himself in front of her and looked her in the eyes. "I know you don't really want to talk to me… but… I have really missed you", his words made Gwen blush and look away to hide it. "Just let me take you home".

Trent drove in silence following Gwen's directions. She felt awkward and tried too hard not to look at him. Whenever she was about to say something, she stopped herself by biting her lower lip. In less than ten minutes they were parked in front of Gwen's house. She had trouble hiding her agitation; she had to breathe slowly to keep herself together.

"Will you go to the party?", he asked breaking the silence. She nodded and opened the door; he held her before she got out of the car and kissed her on the cheek.