Dancing On My Own

The Dance

So... short story inspired by Dancing On My Own! The two versions I recommend are by Callum Scott and Kato. I don't own the song, just the idea of what it might represent that I've written down here. A Line break indicates a POV shift, read and review! This is short with fast switches, just warning you.

The club lights were flashing, the music was pounding, and my heart was breaking. She was with someone else now, and I know I should just move on. Her smile wasn't for me anymore, and I hope that her new man cherishes it as much as I wish I had. The light, bouncy beat gave her an energy I remember feeling through my body. She moved with the music, the tight red dress accentuating curves I used to hold close. Her curled hair flared out around her creamy white shoulders. It had been two weeks since the split, not nearly long enough. The table I was sitting at was a desolate place that discouraged sitters for some reason, and aside from myself the only other occupant was a woman near my age. I didn't take too much notice of her, my old flame still burned bright enough to capture my attention completely. The song shifted, and the lights dimmed. The beat was gone, replaced by a slow, steady rhythm that used to make me pull her tight against my body, smiling at her blush every time I did so. Her new man, a tall and dark skinned guy with dark hair styled up in a way that I know would catch her eye, snaked an arm around her waist, and she blushed for him as her arms went around his neck. That one action shattered the broken remains of my heart, the jagged pieces flying into my ribcage as shrapnel. One song came to mind, drowning out the sound coming out of the speakers. As my tears started to fall, my voice rose almost on its own.

"Somebody said... you got a new friend..."

********

The flashing lights looked frozen, the music seemed to soften, and my heart felt broken. He was here, but it wasn't with me. I know I need to get over him, but memories of the time we had together was the string holding the remains of my heart together. His deep brown eyes wouldn't gaze into mine anymore, and I hoped that his new girl would love them as much as I still do. The upbeat music was matched by the way his fit body moved, the dark polo hugging his biceps that used to lift me up high enough to kiss him. I could see that he had done up his hair differently. The dark locks were styled in a way he never did for me, probably trying to move away from what we had. It had only been three weeks since he left me, and he already looked so normal... with someone else. I had chosen a sad looking table in the corner, its appearance matched my somber mood. I only shared it with one other person, a guy whose head hung just as low as mine. My attention didn't stay on him for very long, it always drifted back to where my heart wanted the rest of me to be. Instead, there was a cute girl with curly blond hair in my spot, her red dress showing off curves I knew he would like. The song ended, the lights died, and a slower, sadder song started. He smiled at her, and his strong arm went around her back. Seeing it happen made the small of my back burn with the memory of him doing the same to me. At the same time, the string holding my heart together snapped, and I broke. For some reason a song started in my head, a song that matched me so well it was scary. As the first tears started to fall, the lyrics jumped out at me so it sounded like it was no longer in my head. After the first line, I couldn't help but sing the next part.

"Does she love you better than I can..."

********

It felt almost as if there was a second voice that joined mine when I sang the second line to myself. My tears splashing on the table, I continued to sing regardless of my head adding voices.

"There's a big black sky over my town..."

********

I heard the voice singing with me, and my head shot to the man sharing the table with me. I saw his mouth moving with mine, and his head slowly turned as we joined together into the next line.

"I know where you're at, I bet s/he's around..."

Aside from the one word difference, he was singing the same song as me. My second observation was that his cheeks were just as tear stained as mine. We sat and stared at each other in silence for a long moment, the song playing over the speakers obviously not registering in either of our heads. I didn't plan on doing anything until he started again.

"And yeah I know, it's stupid," he sang quietly, looking into my wet eyes almost fearfully.

**********

I sang her the next line on impulse, and when she just stared back at me with her dripping eyes, I thought she was going to leave to cry in peace. Then the incredible happened.

"But I just gotta see it, for myself," she sang, just as quietly as I did.

We sang the song through and moved closer to each other, and as we touched, my hand burned and I thought of her again, and I looked at her again longingly, her memory preventing me from moving on to this new, and just as amazing, girl sitting next to me.

*********

After we finished the song we were sitting close to each other, and his hand touched mine. I felt a spark, though of hope or fear I couldn't tell. He must have felt it too, because his hand jerked away the instant we touched. His gaze went towards my ex, and I realized that the girl must have been his. My eyes also drifted over to them, and I felt my heart twinge. This was different though. If my ex had shattered it into pieces then this new mystery singer must have started picking them up. His hand reached into his pocket, and as he met my eyes once more I could see that his heart was still caged by its own feelings for that girl in red. He had me now though, and I was convinced that I would wait for him. But before I could ask him his name, he smiled sadly and stood to leave. This was the first time I had felt anything other than pain since the split, and I didn't want to let it go so easily. I stood after him and clutched his arm before he could start walking. He took my hand in his two callused ones and told me something that gave me hope.

"Thank you, miss. Thank you for showing me that there is something else to look forward to. Something other than misery. But for now, I need my heart to finish breaking so I can rebuild it for someone else."

And with that he left me standing over a table in a dance club listening to a slow song my ex was dancing to. I never even got to thank him back. I had to thank him for helping me get over my ex, to realize that my heart was broken into enough pieces that I could rearrange them for him. As I realized this I realized that he had placed a crumpled piece of paper in my hand. On it was a hastily written phone number and a smeared spot that had obviously caught a tear. Seeing this, I smiled and sat back down in thought.

*********

The brisk air felt refreshing in my lungs and cool against my still wet cheeks. This new girl, she took my mind off of my old one. She had started to fill a hole I didn't even know had a bottom. Maybe it was time to stop holding onto what kills me and to find something that keeps me going. All I had to do was turn around and go back to a dark, solemn table in the corner of a dance room with a lone occupant.