Ink Exchange

"Did you go over the reading for Lit?" Aisli

"We had a di

They both continued to steer the conversation away from topics they didn't want to address. Leslie lied easily, but Aisli

Leslie looked: there wasn't anyone there. "Sure. It drives Dad mad that I wait tables, and you know, gives me a good excuse if I need to explain my weird hours."

Leslie didn't admit that she had to work or that her father didn't have a clue what she did for money. She wasn't sure her father knew she had a job or that she paid the bills. He might have thought Ren was doing it, although he probably didn't realize Ren was dealing—or selling me—to get his money. Talking about money, home, and Ren was so not the sort of conversation she wanted to have, so she took a turn shifting the topic. With a conspiratorial grin, she looped her arm around Aisli

"Niall? He's just…he's not, but…" Aisli

"I doubt that, sweetie. Your vision's clouded by staring at Seth too long." Leslie patted Aisli

His face was as beautiful as Keenan's but in a different way: Niall's had character. One long scar ran from his temple to the corner of his mouth, and he wasn't shy about it. His hair was cut so short that there was no chance of anything detracting from the beauty of that jagged line. And his body…wow. He was all sinew and length, moving like he had been training in some long-lost martial art since birth. Leslie couldn't figure why anyone would notice Keenan when Niall was around. Keenan was attractive enough, with his u

Leslie prompted, "So relationships…"

"He doesn't, umm, do relationships." Aisli

Leslie let it drop for the moment. Although Aisli

But Aisli

"Les!" Ria

"Just two of the tasty treats today …" Leslie linked her arm through Ria

"So dark-and-pierced wasn't on duty?" Ria

"No Seth. Today was blond-and-moody along with scarred-and-sexy." Leslie winked at Aisli

"No, not—" Aisli

"Sooner or later, you're going to need to share the wealth, Ash. We're feeling deprived. Weakened." Ria

And for a moment, Leslie saw a look of longing pass over Aisli

Aisli

Ria

After Ria

"What do you mean?" Aisli

"Lying." Leslie sighed. "I miss us being real friends, Ash. I'm not going to encroach on your scene, but it'd be nice to be straight-up again. I miss you."

"I'm not lying. I … can't lie." She stared beyond Leslie for a moment, scowling at someone.

Leslie didn't turn to see who it was. "You're not being honest, either. If you don't want me around …" She shrugged. "Whatever."

Aisli

A jerk passing in the hall called, "Dykes."

Leslie tensed, torn between the once-instantaneous urge to flip him off and the still-new fear of conflict.

The bell rang. Lockers slammed. Aisli

"Sweetie, I doubt they're any worse than what—" She stopped herself, unable to say the sentences that would follow. Her heart thunked at the thought of saying those words aloud. She shook her arm. "Can you let go? I've still got to go to my locker."

Aisli

Chapter 2

After school Leslie headed out before Aisli

When she walked in the door of Pins and Needles, the cowbell clanged.

Rabbit glanced over his shoulder.

"Be right with you," he called. As the man beside him talked, Rabbit absently ran a hand over his white-and-blue-dyed hair.

Leslie lifted a hand in greeting and walked past him. This week he had left a tiny goatee directing attention to his labret piercing. It was that piercing under his lower lip that had caught her attention the first time Ani and Tish had brought her to the shop. Within a week, she'd had her own piercing—hidden under her blouse—and found herself spending time in the studio.

She felt safe there—away from Bishop O.C., away from the unpleasantness of her father's drunke