Genesis Girl (Blank Slate #1) - Jennifer Bardsley Page 0,20
and ruined it with tattoos,” I answer truthfully.
“Everyone gets tattoos, Blanca. Blank skin is really alternative.”
“That’s not true!” I say. “Your dad doesn’t have any.”
Seth hoots. “Whoa! Well that answers that question once and for all.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My dad does too have a tattoo. But it’s not someplace people can normally see. It’s practically the only part of him that wasn’t visible in that video.”
I feel my cheeks burn. Cal’s surreptitious tattoo is not something I want to know about.
“Don’t you want to know what it is?”
“No,” I say. “I’d rather not.” Of course, as soon as I say that I immediately begin wondering. It’s like something you wish you could un-know.
“My mom had the same one.” Seth nibbles behind my ears, trying to pique my interest. When I lay my head on his chest and don’t respond, he kisses my hair. “What do Vestals have against tattoos anyway?”
“They’re inauthentic,” I say. “They get in the way of who you really are. When people see you, they don’t see you anymore. All they see are your tattoos.”
“But my tattoos are exactly who I am. Every last one!”
“Truly?” I lift my head. “There aren’t any you regret? Not even this one?” I tap an elaborate angel, right next to a sun, on his inside biceps.
“I got that one when my mom died,” Seth murmurs. He wants me to feel pity, I know it. But I’m tougher than that.
“What about this one?” I point to a scribble on his abdomen. “Who’s Tiffany?”
“First girl I ever, you know … ” Seth grins. He rubs his hand down the pristine skin of my arm.
I smile like I think it’s funny. “I hope you’re not expecting to tattoo my name on your butt any time soon.”
“Maybe not today, but the future is ripe with possibility.” Seth leaves the unspoken question hanging in the air. What exactly are we doing here on this bed? Seth with his shirt off. Me willing to please. He slides his hands up my leg, and then rolls me over, crushing me with his weight. “Should I stop?”
“Whatever it takes,” Cal told me. “Hook him. Keep Seth coming back for more.”
So I say it, because I have to say it. Because I’ve gone Geisha.
“No. I want you to keep going.”
And the sick thing is part of me does want him to keep going. The part of me that’s one human being attracted to another, higher morals be damned. The part of me I could never let the Vestals see in a million years.
Seth stares into my eyes with his crazily tattooed face. He knows I’m telling the truth, but he doesn’t know all of it.
“Blanca,” Seth whispers hoarsely. “Blanca, I—”
But I don’t get to hear what he was planning on saying next. Right then his fingers twitch. I can feel them on my thigh. They vibrate so hard it hurts.
“Sorry, but I need a minute,” Seth says. “An important message came through. I’ll be right back.”
I watch him head through the door to the bathroom, hungry for tech.
That fluttering feeling evaporates like steam. There’s something twisted about a guy who would leave me lying here in bed to go look at stuff online.
My white silk catsuit fits like a glove. I climb out of bed and slip on my boots. I bend over and shake out my brown hair. Then I run my fingers along my scalp to lift the roots.
Seth is still in the bathroom, and I knock gently on the door. “Are you decent?”
“Sure thing,” he answers.
I swing the door open and find Seth sitting on the edge of the bathtub. The lion-headed snake hovers on the visual, floating right in front of the toilet. Seth types away at the air, a blur of fingers.
“What are you doing?” I ask, leaning against the sink.
“Nothing about you. Don’t worry. Although, man, every other tabloid out there is talking about you. Whoever sold that picture from last night made a whole lot of money.”
“We’re like pandas,” I explain.
“What?”
“Vestals are like pandas. That’s what the teachers at Tabula Rasa used to say. Vestals are like pandas, movie stars, and Amish people all rolled into one. We’re so rare that everyone wants to take our picture. That’s why we have to be so careful.”
“Pandas, huh?” Seth says. “I guess you are kind of cute. But I don’t think that’s why they took your picture last night.”
“Why, then?” My heart pounds hard. Did Seth find out about Alan?