Revealing Ink

But she wasn’t fine at all.

Cecilia closed the book. Her stop would come soon enough, and it didn’t make sense to begin reading another chapter. Moreover, that last sentence really got to her. She often found it hard to see through a fake smile or a white lie. So the thought of not seeing right through someone’s pain when it mattered, scared her.

She sleepwalked through the crowded streets to the café, where she would meet an old friend. It was summer, so you saw that more people had tattoos than you’d expect. She remembered the first time someone had told her the meaning of the semicolon tattoo. As sad as it was, Cecilia was glad to learn of it. She was friendly by nature, but whenever she came across one of these tattoos, she tried to be extra kind. Sadly, not everyone gives you a heads-up of their internal struggles whenever you meet new people.

She arrived early at the café and sat down outside where Lauren would be able to see her easily. A moment later, a waitress who looked like she had just started university came over. She had several piercings in her ears and her long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Cecilia found the amount of foundation, concealer, and contouring strange because you could still tell that she would still be really pretty without it. When she handed her the menu, she saw a cracked mirror on her forearm and, somehow, it looked as if there were moving pictures inside. Skin on a belly pinched between two fingers, make-up covering an old doll, a laughing scale that had the word “fat” coming out of its mouth…
“Would you like something to drink?”, asked the girl in a confused confusion, and tore Cecilia out of her trance. She hadn’t even noticed how long she had been staring at the poor waitress’s forearm.
“Sorry. Yes, a pot of mint tea, please. Thanks,” she said in a robotic manner, a bit shaken herself. The waitress gave her an uncertain smile and as she walked away, Cecilia watched the mirror fading from her forearm.

Her friend arrived, grabbed her shoulders from behind and pulled her fully back to reality. She got up and hugged her. It had been a while. Cecilia had been caught up in work and her friend in a new relationship. Although new was probably the wrong word after half a year. They smiled at each other. There’s just some part of you that comes back to life when you see an old friend again. They both sat down, each picked a different cake and Lauren ordered a black coffee. With the menus gone, Cecilia started to look at her friend more closely. She looked thinner, her make-up was simple and not as bright and outrageous as before and her clothes looked normal, aside from one small rainbow bat pin. “So, Lauren, how’s it going?” – “It’s great! Amazing! Jake and I are looking for an apartment together and can’t wait to move in together!”
Something seemed off. Then, Cecilia noticed a heart tattoo on Lauren’s collarbone. It looked battered and bruised and was only feebly beating. It also seemed to be coated in some white paint. Lauren grew nervous as her friend didn’t react to her news.

“I’m fine! I really am!”, she burst out.
-“But you don’t seem fine at all.”