Wrong Impression

21. Against the mirror

"Wow, looks really cool."

"What?" he asked, looking up at her. Once he did, the tattoo disappeared under his t-shirt.

"Your tattoo. Does it mean something or is it something random like noodle soup?"

He laughed and indicated that she should sit down again, so she did. "You know, I actually checked to make sure I didn't get noodle soup. It means rebirth."

Her heart tightened and she fought the impulse to ask when he got it. A much stupider question came out instead. "Why rebirth?"

"To remind myself that no matter the stupid shit we do, we can always rise above it." He smiled, but it was bitter. "Teenagers are stupid, Angie, putting so much heart into the wrong things. But as long as we're still breathing, there is hope. No matter how we burn."

She nodded, the knot in her chest even tighter. He was a fighter who was going through so much and it made her feel horrible that some of it was her fault. "I'm really sorry."

"For what?" he asked surprised.

"For setting you up with Kay and she stood you up. For getting Tom in trouble..."

"No," he said, raising one hand to stop her. "I don't mind that your friend stood me up. I don't want to date anyone right now and it was nice to spend an evening out by myself. And Tom... What he did was his call, not yours. Should you have anticipated it? I'm not sure how well you know Tom. The thing is..." He sighed, but there was a smirk on his face. "Next time, tell him. But also make sure he's tied to something and has the time to think before he acts."

Angie giggled. She really liked Jimmy. He was something else. And she'd been a little scared that he'd be pissed at her for what happened to Tom. Instead he was being wise and poking fun at how impulsive his brother was. He was trying to make her feel better. Why?

"Do your know where Tom is? We have practice today and I wanted to know if he'd come."

"Yeah, he will. He's at work right now. Just wait for him. I'm sure he'll want to see you, too."

She nodded and stood. "Thanks. For telling me. And for not getting pissed."

"Life's too short to get pissed," Jimmy answered and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Just... Play nice, okay?"

She nodded though she had no idea what he meant. And his words plagued her mind as she spent the time before practice in the library, trying to get some homework done. She had no idea what to do about biology. She didn't know if there was any way to fix her grade now or if Collins would even show up for the next class. It made her nervous and itchy.

Seeing Tom made her nervous and itchy too, but for a different reason. Would he be pissed at her? She would be. She'd give him hell if it were the other way around, if she'd gone to jail because of him and he wouldn't have visited. Half of her entertained the thought of skipping practice and just crawling inside a hole to hide.

But at four o'clock, she picked up her stuff and headed for the dance studio even if her legs shook with every step she took. There was no way she was not seeing Tom.

When she got there, he was already dressed and was fiddling with the music player, putting on different songs. In the air tonight by Phil Collins filled the air, giving Angie a sense of foreboding.