Dance To This [gxg]

19. Boardwalk Buzz

Her eyes never left mine as she sang softly. I felt myself zoning out with her voice being the background to my daydream. My mind went back to the dance. How I would have done things so much differently.

I don't wanna be a monster
But I've been here for days

How I would have kissed her that night.

Drinking too much now I want you
Can't get you off my brain
I won't be the one to tell you things
And lie to you if you wont listen

She paused and stopped playing for a few seconds. She smiled slightly at me. 

I'm not a monster, monster, no

She played the final chords of the song and finished with a flourish. Erika walked off the stage and returned the guitar to its owner. 

She ran over to me and wrapped her arms around me. 

"That made me feel so alive" she exclaimed. I chuckled and held her tight. 

"Alright everyone that was our last performance for this evening. We're going to judge this the way we always do" the pink lady said into the mic. 

"Make some noise if you think Steven won" the pink lady said. 

The silence was deafening. 

"Make some noise if you think Veronica won" 

There was a few claps from the crowd. 

"Make some noise if you think Erika won" 

There were a few seconds of silence before the crowd roared with screams and applause. 

"That means the winner is Erika Park!" The pink lady screamed into the mic. 

Erika went back onto the stage to collect her prize. She ran back to me and wrapped her arms around me once again. 

"We did it" she cheered. 

"No you did it" I corrected.

I took her hand in mine and we walked up the walk again towards the indie tattoo shop. 

"How dead do you think I would be if I got a tattoo?" I chuckled. 

"You wouldn't" Erika shook her head. 

I pushed the door of the tattoo shop open and pulled her in with me. 

"You wanna get something done?" a girl draped in tattoos asked. I nodded. She handed me a form and a book of designs. 

I filled out the form as Erika watched me with wide eyes. 

"Are you sure about this?" she whispered. I nodded as I scribbled my signature on the little line in the bottom left corner. 

"Don't worry Erika. Help me pick one" I reassured her. 

We flipped through the book until we settled on a design I liked the most. The tattoo was of a black rose. Simple yet it conveyed my personality perfectly. 

"Alright I'll just get everything ready for you but you can take a seat right over there and your girlfriend can sit next to you on the left side" the tattoo artist explained.  I took Erika's hand in mine as we walked to the other side of the studio. 

"Girlfriend" she whispered.  

"How does that make you feel?" I asked

"Official" she giggled.

"Do you want it to be official?" I smirked

"Unofficially" she covered her face with her hands. I chuckled and pried her hands from her face.