When I was little, Daddy swore I’d grow up to be a kick-ass princess, vanquishing dragons and saving the world. Since he was surely better than Santa Claus and Superman and Jesus Christ all rolled together, I believed my daddy. But sitting here, in the middle of Al’s abandoned auto shop, with Aden stabbing black ink into my skin, it was impossible to put much faith in fairytales.

Again, Aden jabbed his sawed off twelve-gauge guitar string into my wrist, and again my arm jerked. The homemade needle skittered flat topping the O, and Jared Marcum reached across the scarred card table. He scattered the baggies of pot and bottles of pills and the pile of cash I’d handed over. He cinched my palm in his grip and stretched my arm so far across that table my fingertips brushed against his stained wife beater.

 “Stop squirming, Taylor.” His voice was raspy from over indulgence, and the whites of his blue eyes were red lined maps to nowhere. He pinned my wrist to the pleather as hard as his don’t-you-move look pinned me to the wobbly foldout chair.

I swallowed. I nodded. I did not fight.

 But Aden didn’t get back to poking. Instead, he half-turned on the stool he’d stuck between my knees and scratched his hand across his bad buzz-cut. Shooting Jared a questioning look, he sliced me a kick-the-tires and check-under-the-hood, appraising leer. 

Not that he could have found much in me worth buying. With crazy-wild hair and my best asset being my shimmering green eyes, I was cute, maybe. But too short, too flat, I’d never be one of those tall, voluptuous blonds that hot guys watched saunter and sashay.

 I’d never be worth all this warped effort.

But as the right hand of the Rowdy Redneck gang’s homegrown God, Aden always made sure Jared got what he wanted. And right now, Jared wanted me.

“Don’t move.’ Aden snapped his tricked-out electric SpongeBob toothbrush back to life and re-dipped his needle into his ash and vodka slurry. “You want the tat to look like shit?” His glare buzzed my pulse and soured my tongue.

 “Don’t matter.” I toughed up my voice and pressed down on my knee, jittering a rhythm off-kilter to the pounding beats and sex rhymes blaring from the speakers. I stared down Jared’s hand, promising pain and swallowed the awful taste eating its way through my mouth. I gave Aden one hundred percent of my attention.

 It wasn’t his cockeyed stare that made some of the toughest Trojan football players drop their gaze and back out of his way. It was the loaded gun he supposedly carried behind that glare that got all those boys quaking.

I would not shake. I would not cry. I would not give either of these boys the satisfaction of looking away. It wasn’t that I had a death wish or was all that brave. The difference between those big old football players and me was the minute the last bell rang, they climbed into their SUVs, pickups and Beemers and drove across the bridge back to Tulsa or out south to their McMansions.

When I was little, Daddy swore I’d grow up to be a kick-ass princess, vanquishing dragons and saving the world. Since he was surely better < “Surely better” could imply that she still feels this way, and I think it would be stronger to indicate that she used to think that but doesn’t anymore (unless she still does feel that way). than Santa Claus and Superman and Jesus Christ all rolled together, I believed my daddy. But sitting there, in the middle of Al’s abandoned auto shop, with Aden stabbing black ink into my skin, it was impossible to put much faith in fairytales. <I don’t think this opening paragraph is working as well as you want it to. It isn’t really telling me much about the character. The first line made me think this was going to be a fantasy where princesses and dragons really exist, which set me up to expect the wrong kind of story. It feels like you are focusing more on voice with this paragraph than on relevancy to the story.

Again, Aden jabbed his sawed off twelve-gauge guitar string into my wrist, and again my arm jerked. The homemade needle skittered flat topping the O <I don’t understand what this means. Maybe that’s because I don’t know anything about tattoos, but I can’t visualize how the needle could’ve “skittered flat.” , and Jared Marcum reached across the scarred card table. He scattered the baggies of pot and bottles of pills and the pile of cash I’d handed over. < Why does he scatter these things? Also “scattered” makes me imagine him sprinkling the pot and pills across the table when I think what you really mean is that he’s shoving them out of the way. He cinched my palm in his grip and stretched my arm so far across that table my fingertips brushed against his stained wife beater.

 “Stop squirming, Taylor.” His voice was raspy from over indulgence, and the whites of his blue eyes were red lined maps to nowhere. <This feels a little too forced with the voice. If you keep it, “his bloodshot eyes” would make more sense to me. As it is, “red lined” made me think about a line around his eye, like “red ringed.”  He pinned my wrist to the pleather as hard as his don’t-you-move look pinned me to the wobbly foldout chair.

I swallowed. I nodded. I did not fight.

 But Aden didn’t get back to poking. Instead, he half-turned on the stool he’d stuck between my knees and scratched his hand across his bad buzz-cut. Shooting Jared a questioning look, he sliced me a kick-the-tires and check-under-the-hood, appraising leer. <I had to read this twice, then read the next sentence and come back to this one to understand what you mean, but it still reads like Aden is looking at two people at once.

Not that he could have found much in me worth buying. With crazy-wild hair and my best asset being my shimmering green eyes, I was cute, maybe. < Self descriptions always read as awkward. Since none of this really matters or affects the plot at this point, I’d leave it out. But too short, too flat, I’d never be one of those tall, voluptuous blondes that hot guys watched saunter and sashay.

 I’d never be worth all this warped effort. < Whose warped effort is she referring to?

But as the right hand of the Rowdy Redneck gang’s homegrown God, < This is difficult to understand, and I found it confusing even after two or three reads. Aden always made sure Jared got what he wanted. And right now, Jared wanted me.

“Don’t move.’ Aden snapped his tricked-out electric SpongeBob toothbrush back to life and re-dipped his needle into his ash and vodka slurry. < Why did he temporarily stop tattooing her and why does he resume again? It’s not clear. “You want the tat to look like shit?” His glare buzzed my pulse and soured my tongue.< I don’t know what emotion you’re trying to indicate with this description.

 “Don’t matter.” I toughed up my voice and pressed down on my knee, < What is she pressing down on her knee with? Her other hand? Why?  jittering a rhythm < What do you mean by “jittering a rhythm”? Do you mean that she’s tapping her foot? If so, why does that require her to press down on her knee? off-kilter to the pounding beats and sex rhymes blaring from the speakers. I stared down Jared’s hand, promising pain <This reads like she is promising pain, not that Jared’s hand is. and swallowed the awful taste eating its way through my mouth. I gave Aden one hundred percent of my attention. <I don’t understand what emotion she is experiencing.

 It wasn’t his cockeyed stare that made some of the toughest Trojan football players drop their gaze and back out of his way. It was the loaded gun he supposedly carried behind that glare that got all those boys quaking. < What does this have to do with anything? If it’s the reason she’s giving him her full attention, you need to find a  way to clearly connect the two concepts.

I would not shake. I would not cry. I would not give either of these boys the satisfaction of looking away. It wasn’t that I had a death wish or was all that brave. < This reads like what you’re saying is that not crying, shaking, or looking away means that she has a death wish. I’m sure that’s not what you mean, but a bit of clarification would help. The difference between those big old football players and me was the minute the last bell rang, they climbed into their SUVs, pickups and Beemers and drove across the bridge back to Tulsa or out south to their McMansions. < This is another sentence that doesn’t seem relevant to me. How does this tie into her not having a death wish?  Make sure your paragraphs are staying focused.