The Punk and the Ballerina

Nostalgia

Sebastian's point of view. March 2013.

My first long vacation in my career. I was looking forward to having time off, I was burnt out and exhausted. Back to back tours, music videos, endless press, I needed a break. I just bought my first house, a five bedroom, three bathroom house in LA. It was fucking surreal to go from living in Section 8 to buying my own home at 23 years old.

I bought my dad a new car, paid for my sister's college and braces, and I got my mom the hell out of our old neighborhood and bought her a three bedroom home in the suburbs. I offered to buy her something more extravagant, but she didn't want a huge house if she was the only one living there. Now she was going to fill her new home with animals she was going to adopt at shelters...and grand babies.

I just broke up with my on/off girlfriend Halo. She was the bass player in the metal band Death Diamonds. They were new to our label and opened for us on our last tour. She was stunning, covered in tattoos, and piercing blue eyes. Her band was on another tour and long distance was tough. Truthfully, I didn't want to make it work. The last time I tried long distance, my heart got fucking broken in millions of pieces, no girl was going to hurt me like that again.

Ari. I never found her after I got home. Her parents didn't want to talk to me. She already moved out, New York, I assumed. Her phone number eventually got reassigned to someone else. It's like she vanished. She could do better than me anyway.

The band was back home in Berkeley. We decide to come home to our roots to get inspired for our next album. I was staying with my mom to really reconnect to those old feelings. Mom was thrilled to have me home again, especially she didn't have to work again.

I was unpacking some of my old childhood boxes my mom kept in her guest room when I found a photo album. Pictures from middle school and high school. Friends I lost contact with, and of course, her. So many pictures of Ari. My heart softly cracked.

Prom pictures of us. We went to both junior and senior prom together. She pretended she was going with Parker and took pictures with him at her house to please her parents. Little did they know, she was actually going with me. Man, she took risks with me, I corrupted her.

Flashback. May 2007.

Parker dropped Ari off at my house. She was stunning in her aqua blue dress. She was like an angel, a goddess. I loved that color on her. I wished I could've afforded a more expensive tux instead of the one I got at Goodwill.

"You could wear rags and I'd still go with you," she smiled.

My parents took tons of pictures. Ari looked amazing in every picture, like she was born to be on camera.

Junior prom was fun, we got so many wide eyed looks it was hilarious. That's right, the poverty punk was at prom with the popular girl. Suck it, haters.

I shook the memories away. She probably had some rich, movie star boyfriend now. I got curious. Despite my better judgment, I looked her up on Facebook. Nothing. Instagram? Nothing. The girl was a ghost.

Cody texted me. "We're heading to a strip club tonight. You need to get laid again."

Cody had gone wild since he and Kelly broke up. They grew apart, never recovering since she left for college. He never got to ask her to marry him, she already moved on. I don't think he was over her, sleeping around and fucking away his pain, typical rock star move. My head was filled with Ari and Halo, I needed a distraction. I texted him the okay. This was our time, we were young and unattached, we had nothing to lose.

***

We pulled up to the club Midnight Babes. I never went to a strip club before, but I didn't want to spend the rest of the night moping alone at my mom's house, maybe all I needed was some hot chicks to make me feel better.

The inside of the club had so many neon lights it could blind anybody. The smell of booze and sex filled the air. At least the music was decent, playing dance and rock remixes of pop songs.

The boys and I sat in a booth in front of the stage. I hoped the leather was sanitized, lord knows what sins happened in this place. A blonde dancer with small tits danced around a pole. Jeremy practically threw all his cash at her, he loved blondes.

"Boobs are too small for me," Mace shrugged.

"Small tits are better than plastic ones," Jeremy ignored him.

A new girl graced the stage. The song playing was a remix of "Roxanne" by the Police. The announcer said her name was Roxanna Redlight.

She was gorgeous. Dark eyes, long dark hair, dark complexion, banging body. She looked familiar. Where would I possibly know her from? Maybe she was one of the bimbos from high school.

Roxanna had moves, her dancing seemed too professional and way above the dancers in this place. Those movements...I saw them before. She did a split on the catwalk. Something caught my eye.

She had a crescent moon tattoo on her left hip.

Flashback. August 2006.

It was the day after Ari's 16th birthday. We were chilling in my garage. Jeremy had gotten a homemade tattoo kit. He already gave himself a shitty diamond tattoo on his leg, dumb ass.

"I want a tattoo," Ari announced.

"Come off it," I laughed. Like Ariana Townsend would ever mark up her perfect body.

"I'm serious. I want control over my body. I'll put it on my lower hip where my parents will never see it."

I loved that rebellious gleam she would get in her eyes. She laid on the table as I stuck and poked the moon on her lower left hip. She took the pain like a champ. I wasn't the best artist, but it was fun doing permanent artwork on my girl.

Ari was obsessed with moons. She always wished she could dance on the moon. My work wasn't perfect, the moon was crooked, but Ari loved it. To our surprise, the ink stayed in her skin. I always kissed it when we made love.

I knew that crooked, imperfect crescent moon tattoo.

It was Ari.