The Dancer

Dakota couldn’t think of a better way to relax. Sure, she had a job to do that night, but being able to go work out early in the morning followed by a swim in the hotel pool and a soak in the Jacuzzi was not a bad way to spend a morning. After her soak, she went to her room, showered, and met up with a few of the girls from the show to go to lunch. She hadn’t laughed so much or so easily in a long time, other than with Brian, and she realized how much she missed having a social life.

She felt her phone buzz from its’ position on her thigh and she glanced down, seeing Brian’s name come across her screen. She smiled and typed out a reply. Two days before, she had flipped out considering the fact he’d put his number in her phone and he surprised the hell out of her by texting her, not constantly, but enough to make her heart beat quicker.

Dakota hadn’t told any of the other girls, or Gemma for that matter, that she’d gotten his number. In fact, she left him out entirely when Gemma asked how her day had gone. Her mother had smiled like a fool when Dakota told her how much she’d spent.

“This is why I love you,” she said, chuckling. “You get all this for that little price, my little smart shopper.”

Even though her mother and Gemma had been nicer to her before she left, she was still beyond glad to get away from Las Vegas. She was determined to spend some part of Friday going to the beach; she’d never seen the ocean in person and it was high time that she got to experience it. The best part of the entire trip was the fact that she could leave the dreaded skull necklace and its contents at home.

It was hard when it came to packing, though. Every time Gemma left the room, she snuck something else into her suitcase. She’d almost gotten caught when she shoved the dress she’d picked out into her suitcase, but Gemma’s head was turned and she was able to cleanly slide it in. She took several pairs of shoes, a couple of bathing suits, two outfits to choose from for the concert, and of course, the dress.

Now, after lunch with the girls, including a shot of liquor toast to their performance that night, she made her way back to her hotel room for a quick nap.

When she woke up, it was after three in the afternoon and she felt ready to take on the world. She took an almost hour-long shower, making sure she was clean, and then got out, plugging her phone up to play music while she got ready.

She didn’t have to do much, considering they had a dressing room set up for the girls at the arena, but she wanted to clean her face and straighten her hair.



Brian sat at the restaurant with Missy on the other side of the table. He forgot he’d promised to take her out to lunch when he got to Long Beach, but she’d quickly reminded him of it. He’d also forgotten how annoying she was, which he made evident by the amount of time he spent on his phone. They were done with lunch and it had been paid but they were sitting there just finishing their drinks.

He nodded along to whatever she was saying, but at the vibration of his phone, he looked down. He smiled when he saw Dakota’s name and tried to keep from laughing at her response. He replied and looked back up to see Missy staring at him.

“Am I boring you?” she asked, and he could tell she was mad.

“No, I’m sorry. Jimmy’s got some wild idea,” he covered.

“Brian, you promised you’d spend time with me and now you’re spending it all on your phone. I don’t like it.”

“Missy, I told you before that my band comes before everything. You agreed to that when we started hanging out.”

She put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. Her honey-brown hair fell over one shoulder, and Brian pictured dark brown, almost raven locks falling. He blinked rapidly and looked back at her.

“Brian, I think it’s time we take our relationship to the next level. I know you said you weren’t ready, but I can’t keep waiting around for you.”

Angry because they’d had this conversation half a dozen times, he just looked at her.

“You know how I feel about you and I know you have feelings for me. Why can’t you just admit that?”

“I can’t admit it because I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you, Melissa. I’ve told you over and over and over that I do not want a relationship. Until you get that into your skull, I think we should stop seeing each other.”

Missy just stared at him as he gathered his things and stood up to walk away.



Dakota pulled her bag from the passenger side of the rental car, shut the door, and pressed the button on the remote, locking it. She unraveled her headphones and stuck them in her ears, starting music on her phone. She was wearing a tank top and jeans, loving the warm but breezy weather of California. She was definitely going to have to talk her mother into moving here later on.

She flashed her pass to the security guard and walked through the door, instantly astounded at the amount of noise and commotion going on. She was two hours early for the show and didn’t think it would be this busy.

Making her way to the girls’ room, she passed by a bunch of people carrying equipment and instruments. She received a lot of looks but she kept walking. Her music was paused, her message tone playing, and she looked down.

“Your cigarettes are going to fall.”

She stopped and her hand immediately went to her back pocket where sure enough, her cigarettes were about to come out. She shoved them back down and turned to look around. She didn’t see anyone looking at her, and she looked back at her phone to reply to Brian.

“Stop staring at my ass.”

She glanced over her shoulder once more and made her way down the hall to their room. Two of the girls were already there and she greeted them before looking at her phone which had gone off again.

“Can’t be helped. It’s pretty nice.”

She laughed and shoved her phone in her pocket, sitting down on one of the couches. They’d set up a small bar for the girls, stocked with different kinds of liquor and beer, and even water. There were several large mirrors with lots of lights, chairs, two couches, and a bathroom off to one side.

Dakota leaned back in the couch, smiling contently. Her phone buzzed in her pelvis and she looked down, Puddle of Mud flooding her ears, at the text message from Brian.

“Red or black?”

She smiled and typed her reply.

“Black, definitely.”

She looked up as Sadie, the blonde dancer, sat down beside her. She was holding up two pairs of shoes. Dakota looked at her face, which showed her frustration, and she helped by picking a pair of red ones.

“God, you’re a life saver.”

Dakota’s phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced down.

“Did you bring your dress?”

She rolled her eyes before typing out a reply. “Yes, I did.”

“Sweet. After y’alls song, you should go ahead and get ready. We’re taking all you girls out.”

“Where?”

“A little spot not far from here.”

“Brian, I have to go back to the hotel to get ready. I’ll take a cab to the place.”

She stood up, realizing it was almost time for the concert, and she took the opportunity to use the empty bathroom to change. When she came out, all of the girls were there, and a couple of them had broken into the liquor. Music was playing from somewhere in the room and Dakota smiled. She had to admit, it would be nice if the club had a dressing room like this.

There was a knock on the door, followed by it being opened just a little bit and a head sticking in.

“Anyone naked in here?”

Dakota recognized Johnny Christ sticking his head in. When all the girls replied, he threw open the door, hollering, followed by the rest of the guys. Each one of them, with the exception of Zacky and Brian, introduced themselves, and when Brian got to Dakota, he winked and hugged her.

“Too bad you weren’t naked,” he said low enough so only she could hear.

She rolled her eyes and smiled as the guys started to pour drinks for everyone.

“We wanted to thank you guys for coming to dance with us, partying with us, and being some of the luckiest bitches alive,” Johnny said, lifting his cup.

Everyone else followed suit, chuckling a bit at his words.

“Have a great show, guys,” one of the girls said.

“Don’t fall on your ass,” Jimmy said to the girls. “If you do, just make that shit look like it was on purpose.”

“Hear, hear!” Dakota said and giggled.

They all downed their cups before slamming them down on the table they were gathered around. Dakota wished Brian good luck before the guys left the girls to finish getting ready.

Hurriedly, Dakota put makeup on her face and slipped on her shoes before jetting out of the door. She made her way to the side of the stage where she could see the guys already performing. A large circle pit was forming in the middle of the crowd that was going completely nuts. Her heart was pumping with the energy that flowed from the crowd and the guys and she smiled, excitedly.

Time slipped away from her and before she knew it, ‘Beast and the Harlot’ was playing, and she snapped out of her trance. She made her way to the back of the stage where the other girls were congregating, waiting for ‘Scream’ to start, next. Finally, the stagehand gave them their cue and Dakota’s heart doubled in speed.

Show time.