Inked: A Driven World Novel (The Driven World), стр. 25

Grabbing my cell, I quickly shoot my aunt a text to check in with her before turning the volume up. I back off the driveway and press my foot on the accelerator.

I don’t have a destination in mind, I just intend to drive until I feel the need to return home once again, but I’m not surprised when I pull up to a parking lot that I’ve become very familiar with over the years.

Ignoring the benches, I walk up to the top of the hill and drop onto the grass.

This is my happy place. The spot I come to when things in the town below get too much. All I can hear is the sound of birdsong and the very faint crashing of waves in the distance.

Lying back, I close my eyes and allow the afternoon sun to warm my skin.

I think back to last night and how easily I followed Corey to that hotel and cringe at my behavior. Here I am, trying to prove that I left that kind of life behind me, yet one suggestion of a good night and I follow his lead like he’s the fucking pied piper.

My stomach clenches uncomfortably. I’ve spent years finding other outlets to help me deal with everything that happened, but one threat of losing another person I love, and I fall straight back into old ways.

I hate myself for it. It doesn’t matter how many times Bailey tells me that it’s different, that I’m different. I still feel the same as I used to back then after making yet another bad decision.

Children playing somewhere in the distance force me to sit up. I look down the hill slightly to see them running around and laughing. The sight is like a baseball bat to the chest.

This place is where my parents used to bring us to play. We learned to ride our bikes without training wheels here, we flew our kites, and it was where we’d spend hours chasing butterflies.

I sigh as tears burn the back of my eyes. There are so many memories of them in this town that I’ve often wondered if I should have left, if it would have made it any easier. But then I think of Bailey and her parents, and my aunt. I could never leave them.

Without any family to take me in, I found myself being bounced around foster families and group homes after I lost them.

Each one was worse than the last. I assumed it was karma. It was my fault they’d died that day, so it was the universe punishing me for being so selfish.

My final family were totally different to any I’d experienced before, and I had no idea how to handle it. I’d left behind the ones who only cared about the money they got for taking in an orphan and found myself inside a loving one, which, for some fucked up reason, genuinely wanted me there.

I couldn’t believe it the day I was dropped off to find this lovely house with seemingly happy and normal parents. There had to be a catch. I’d spent the past few years in Hell—there was always a catch.

But I was welcomed into their family as if I were their own and shown to a bedroom bigger than I’d experienced in a lot of years. It was unbelievable, but I couldn’t handle it.

To this day, I’ve no idea why they put up with me. They did everything they could for me, but I pushed back at every opportunity. I’d skip school and end up being returned by the police when they found me off my ass drunk somewhere. I’d climb from my bedroom window to escape to find a distraction I so desperately craved. I was the teenager from Hell, I know that, but they stood by me, and Bailey and I struck up a sisterly bond that to this day hasn’t been broken. We are the most unlikely of friends, but she’s seen me at my darkest, and, just like her parents, she never let me go. For that I’ll forever be grateful.

The light wind blows and movement at my feet catches my eye. Reaching out, I pull the dandelion from the ground and hold it up in front of me, inspecting the seeds.

Sucking in a deep breath, I purse my lips and blow. The seeds are immediately released and dance off into the warm afternoon air, floating away to find a new life elsewhere.

My heart clenches at the same time my cell pings.

Pulling it from my purse, I find Bailey’s name staring back at me. How does she always know?

If you need me, call me x

Scrolling up slightly, I find the address she promised to send me.

Could I?

Her words from earlier come back to me. “Today could be the day, you know.”

Placing my cell back into my purse, I stand. After taking one last look around and breathing in the fresh air, I head back to my car.

The address is for the other side of town. I’ve no idea if they’re open or where exactly it is, so I decide that while I’ve got nothing better to do, I’ll have a little road trip before going home and getting another grilling from Bailey.

I stop off at a coffee place and grab myself an afternoon snack and one very strong cappuccino that will hopefully help keep me awake before I carry on.

When I get closer, I put the address into the GPS and allow it to guide me to my destination.

It has me pulling into a dark and dingy parking lot which looks less than appealing, but as I drive around, I spot the neon light from the studio in the distance.

Something flutters in my stomach, but I’ve no idea if it’s nerves or excitement.

After killing the engine, I sit there staring at the tattoo parlor for the longest time. I know where it is now—I could leave, knowing that one day when I feel ready I could return.

But that isn’t