Oh Dakota

The dress I was wearing had hundreds of memories stitched into it, and by the time I was done wearing it that night, it would have hundreds more.

My grandma started sewing when she was fifteen years old for her wedding. She sewed a little bit each day and had it done in time for when she was married at twenty two.

When my mother got engaged at twenty years of age, my grandma adjusted the dress and improved upon it, adding a few things here, taking a few things there, just to make it look as stunning as it did now.

My mother was out of town, just like she always was, so I snuck her wedding dress out of the house. My dad had died when I was five years old, leaving my mother to take care of me. She tried her best, but her best unfortunately wasn't enough. My grandma had been my prime caretaker for most of my life.

But now was not the time to live in the past. Now was the time to live in the present. The dress had been shortened from its original floor length to knee length, which made it blend in much better and not make me look like a seventeen year old wearing her mother's wedding dress.

After the first two songs, I smirked against the bright lights and shouted to the crowd "HELLO TORONTO! WE'RE BANG! BANG! YOU'RE DEAD AND WE'VE COME TO SEDUCE YOUR WAFFLES!"

A few songs later, I gulped down a large sip of water. We were a few songs away from the end of our set. We didn't have a really long set just because we were a local band opening for a larger band.

"Okay, this is called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de la Porciúncula but since we love you guys, you can call it it's shortened form L.A.." We were originally going to name the song Los Angeles, after the Californian city, but after we found out that the real name was this giant mouthful, we jokingly named it that.

After our set, I stepped off the stage and laid my head against the wall. It was hot, but not as hot as my face, so it cooled me down some. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

A cold bottle was pressed into my hand and I smiled gratefully at Shane, my very good friend who was also a bass whiz.

The back of the venue was a bar, so we walked over to it and sat down.

"Great show," he complimented, tipping his beer back and taking a swallow.

"You too. You really shredded." My voice was a little hoarse from singing and yelling for forty five minutes. "God, I hate this cold," I muttered, mostly to myself. It was late October, and like clockwork, I got a cold. It would be gone in a few days, just like clockwork.

Shane nodded and took another sip of his beer. I followed suit.

We sat there in silence for a bit before I lifted my hand and ran it through his shaggy hair a few times. He laughed and ruffled my hair.

"Hey!" I said, pouting indignantly.

"You messed up my hair!"

"Yours is always messed up. And besides, it's sexy." I said, ruffling it up a bit more.

He laughed and took another sip of his beer. The next band had started playing by the time we finished our beers. Shane checked his phone for the time. "Shit. I really have to go. I promised Chloe that I'd be at her house in fifteen." He ruffled my hair once more and left quickly.

I sighed boredly. Chloe was his girlfriend. I didn't know her personally, but I heard Shane talk about her and she seemed great. I was lucky that she let him play gigs on Friday nights and wasn't jealous or anything. The only thing was that he'd have to leave soon after. Austin, the guitarist in our band, would always have gross PDA sessions with some groupie whore and Noah would disappear as soon as he set foot away from his drum kit, leaving me all by my lonesome.

"Hey there Delilah," a tall boy about my age said, dropping into the seat next to me.

"That's the worst pickup line I've ever heard." I told him, rolling my eyes. "And that's not my name. But you're close. It's in a song. Bet you can't figure out which one."

"Dear Maria, count me in?"

"Nope,"

"Katie don't cry, I know, you're try-"

"Nope," I cut him off.

"Angie, please don't tell me no-woah-oh-oh,"

"No."

"DAMMIT! Give me a hint?"

"Um, it's a new song."

"I need another hint."

"She's got a little bit of money and a little bit of this and it's all she needs to live," I sang a line.

Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh Dakota, I know our love is new, I barely know you, I've fallen over you. It's the way you do the things you do that make me fall in love with you. Dakota, are you in love with me too?"

I smiled, "That's me. Dakota Howard. What's your name?"

"It's your turn for a bit of musical trivia. First name is also the first name of the drummer in All Time Low and last name is the last name of one of the deceased Beatles."

"Rian…Harrison?"

"Yep. How'd you know Harrison, not Lennon?"

"I like George Harrison better. Is Rian spelled with an 'i' too?"

"Yep. Rian 'with an i' Harrison."

"So, are you one of the noobs that are just here for the headliner?"

"Nope, I'm one of the creepers that are here to pick up the frontwoman of the local opening band. DIDJA HEAR THAT? SHE'S MINE!" he yelled the last bit to the moshers.

I laughed. We continued talking for a while, exchanging our opinions on music, movies and books. Rian was funny, knew music, and was cute in a scrawny, messy haired sort of way. I decided flirting wouldn't hurt anyone.

"So, your girlfriend's okay with her boyfriend coming to a club without her and hitting on defenseless lead singers?" I asked casually.

"Actually, I don't have a girlfriend. My last one was a skank I caught groping some stoner behind a club."

"Oh, that sucks," I said, patting his leg, but I left my hand there.

I saw him glance down and bite his lip. He nodded and put his hand on mine. I smiled slightly and laced our fingers together.

"So, did you like Bang! Bang! You're Dead?" I asked, leaning closer to him.

"Actually I was too mesmerized by their lead singer. She was wearing what looked like her mother's wedding dress, but it looked amazing and she was hot."

His comment made me blush fifty shades of red.

"You know, you're very cute when you blush," he commented.

Of course, that made me blush even more.

"Hey, do you care about the headliner?"

I shook my head and he stood up. I followed him outside to a back alley. He pressed me against the wall and we started kissing passionately. I could tell he was still raw from his last brutal break up and he could probably tell that it had been too long for me too.

"Oh God Rian…"I muttered a while later. He was attacking my neck with his mouth and his fingers were tracing patterns on my hands. A phone vibrating interrupted us.

"Shit," I muttered, checking the caller ID. "Allô? Oui Maman. Oui. Je serai à la mason bientôt. Oui. Oui. Oui. Ciao."

"I have to go," I apologized to Rian. He took a pen from his pocket, took my hand and wrote his number on it. Before he put it back, I wrote my number on his hand. He kissed me once more, very sweetly, before I left.

When I got home, my mother scolded me a bit before sending me to my room. I programmed Rian's number into my phone before dropping it on my dresser, changing into sweats and getting in bed.

When I woke up the next morning, I had one voicemail from Rian. I listened to it and smiled to myself before muttering, "yes", hitting a button, and closing my phone.

You have one new voicemail. Message one received on Sunday Twenty Sixth October, 2008 at three forty seven a.m. "Oh Dakota, I know our love is new, I barely know you, I've fallen over you. It's the way you do the things you do that make me fall in love with you. Dakota, are you in love with me too?" End of message…This message has been saved.