The Story and The Song

I was sitting in my underwear on the couch, two bags of Cheeto's at my feet, and slaying Nazi zombies on Xbox. Labor Day is always a good day.

"No, Natalie don't go in there. Fucking fuck..." I mumbled as the virtual girl ran towards the closet. The minute she got close it exploded and zombie after zombie came pouring out. I was blasting their heads off with a twelve gauge when my doorbell rang. I paused the game and looked up and saw Paisley standing there. She'd only been to my house once and that was for a basement show.

"Should I answer the door sans pants and shirt or get dressed?" I wondered out loud. I decided on not getting dressed and opened the door. Her eyes got extremely wide and I could swear she was staring at my nipples. She coughed.

"Uh! Hi, David." She avoided my eyes. Maybe pants would have been a good idea.

"Hey, Paisley," I stifled a laugh. "What's up?"

"Well, I was kinda' hoping I could get some... some ink done." She looked me right my eyes.
I was on fire inside.

"Oh! Yeah, sure thing. Come on in. Do you have any designs?" I said casually while opening the door just wide enough to let her inside. Which isn't wide at all. She walked into my living room, took one at the television and smiled at me.

"Left For Dead. I can dig it." She made suggestive moves with her eyebrows and laughed. She set her bag down on the kitchen table and started pulling out papers. I was standing there watching all this when I realized I was still in my underwear. I excused myself and ran down the hallway to my room. I found a pair of yellow gym shorts and pulled them on.

"So, what are you looking to get done?" I said walking into the kitchen and flipping on the second light switch. She arched her left eyebrow playfully and slid a white piece of paper from her bag like it was the bible.

"This." She said simply and stretched her arms out as far as they would go. Her design was beautiful to say the least. It was two decapitated heads of Medusa with stretched Mayan stretched earlobes, curled hair and gouged eyes. Between the two heads was a 3D diamond. Well, as 3D as you can get on a flat surface. There were three banners surrounding the diamond: one on top, and two to the sides. They were blank.

"Paisley... that's... that's..."

"Amazing? I know." She cheesed at me and I laughed.

"Well, I'll have to scan that and print it out on transfer but that shouldn't take long." I cracked my knuckles and motioned for her to follow me down the hallway. I opened the door to my dad's in-home tattoo studio. It was like entering a legit tattoo studio, the walls clashed and had about eight extra large posters on each of them. It's my favorite room the whole house.

She looked around room with wonder and awe in her eyes. She caught sight of the zebra print chair and immediately sat in it. She sighed a contented sigh.

"Great chair right?" I leaned over her. She smiled without showing her teeth and sat up. I walked over to the computer and laid her design on the scanner.

"So," I turned around to face her while the scanner was running. "where do you want this thing?" Her head snapped away from one of the posters and she looked at me.

"Oh. Um, my chest."

"Oh cool." The computer made an AIM-like noise when the scan was complete. I sat down in the chair and loaded the printer with transfer paper.

"Hey Paisley, come here." I heard her slide off the leather chair and walk across the tile floor. The transfer finished printing and I held it by both the ink-less top corners.

"Take off your shirt." I said and looked up. All she did was shrug and pull her shirt over her head. I had a heart attack, a revelation, found myself and died all at once. Now, not to sound like a womanizer, but she had an amazing body, like, Angelina Jolie couldn't touch her in a beauty pageant.

She put her hands on her hips and her index fingers traced her sharp hipbones. My eyes were following the motion then I blinked and stood up. I put the transfer on her chest and felt her relax against my touch.

"Um, the-the straps. They're in the way." I stammered and pulled the transfer back.

"Oh, uh, hold on. I have something else. Where's the bathroom?"

"Room across the hall." I nearly yelled at her. She nodded, jogged over to her bag, pulled a little plaid piece of fabric and walked out of the room.

I was finishing the shading on Medusa number two and leaned up to wipe away the excess ink. Paisley smells like lavender, cigarettes, and green tea. Which is obviously amazing.

"What do you want in the banners?" I asked, taking my foot off the starter and sitting back in my chair. I heaved a sigh.

"Oh, nothing yet. I don't know what I'm getting there but I don't want to fill them in just yet."

She reached over to the small table, picked up her green tea, and took a swig. I took off my gloves and threw them away.

"Well it's done. Just lemme clean it up a little and then you can see it."

"Yay! Wait, is it going to burn?" She squinted her eyes at me and I couldn't help but laugh.

"No, not at all." I put some of the cleaning solution on a small cloth and started wiping the natural tan of her skin and avoiding the ink.

"There. Now you should come with me so we can view this beautiful tattoo." I wiggled my eyebrows and held out my hand. She laughed and took it.

"So poetic..." She whispered. I pretty much dragged her to the big mirror on the other side of the room.

"David! It's... beautiful. Oh my God, it's gorgeous."

Right now I should man up. Make her mine right now.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. She was standing stock still.

"Just like you." I whispered in her ear and felt her shiver. I slowly made my way around her and touched her lips to mine. I slid one hand off her waist and cradled her face. She started kissing me then pulled away entirely.

"We... I ... I have to go." She shook her and started to turn around and I grabbed her hand.

"Paisley wait! I have to confess something, I've been in love with you since the day you moved here in ninth grade. I'm just too chicken shit to do anything about but now I'm doing something about it. You're perfect in every way for me. You have an amazing personality, great taste in music, you live for art and photography, and I just..." I sighed and held her gaze. "I guess that somewhere between shared art supplies, missed notes, and presentations in Biology I fell in love with you." I blurted it out. I did it. I just confessed my soul to a girl who wasn't interested in me. Her hand tightened around mine and she pulled me into a hug.

"I've felt the same way this whole time. But I've been hurt too much and too badly to let anyone in. I'd always spill my guts out to someone and then they'd leave." She nuzzled her nose into my neck and I pulled her as close as I could without bumping her tattoo.

"You won't have to worry about that because I never want to leave you. I just want to lay with you and see you smile." I twirled a piece of her stray hair around my finger. She disconnected our hug, stepped back, and crossed her arms over her stomach.

"Well what now?" I leaned against the wall and ran a hand through my hair.

"You should be my boyfriend." She smiled at me.

I rule at life.