Finding Oak (Teacher x Student)

Chapter Twenty and a Half

Eriqs POV

I waited for Roanoke to come back over to me, and we would dance together, there to the song she was playing. She instead she walked to the center of the dance floor, a good few feet in front of me. "Oak?" I asked, watching her eyes which danced playfully in my own. The smile creeping on my face couldn't be hidden as she began to dance.

She leaned back, and tapped the toe of her platforms to the tile, letting the click ring.

She did it again, and again, to the start of the song, before leaning forward and letting the backs of her shoes click too. I watched realising she was tap dancing. Starting slow, until the beat of the song began to pick up, and so did she. The smile on her face must have been that wide, because of the dumbfounded look on my own. Her entire body moved with swift movements, her hands clapping or moving along to the way her feet threw her body. Everyone had started to watch her ,as the soles of her feet played the song louder. Her dress, perfect for the occasion was an exact blue that jumped with the tap too. I started to laugh, as I was outstanded. She was beautiful in that moment, capturing everybody.

Nearing the end of her dance, her feet had been flying. She was tapping so fast we couldn't figure out which click belong to what tap she had made. It was like a magician performing. Like she was pulling rabbits out of hats for us all. She finished off, without breaking a sweat, and smiled. Everybody in the cafe was clapping, and I was truly falling in love at the sight of her, on a checkered tile backdrop looking like a picture on a postcard from the 60s.

She sat down next to me, her eyes on fire. I liked the life she had in her, the chance she had to really become herself again. I wanted to share it with her. Instead I kissed her on the lips. The cafe was so far out into the countryside of Michigan there was no way anyone we knew would see us.

"What was that?" I asked, still encased in whatever I had just witnessed. She smiled to me, her laugh curling her face into a huge smile.

"You asked me to tell you about myself!" She said, and her ponytail bounced with the laughter. The whole place was dimly light by christmas lights strung up and I never wanted to forget how she looked right there in that moment. Her eyes dancing, her skin glowing. I made a mental note to capture this moment for later.

I leaned back away from her, putting my hands behind my head. "I must admit, Oak, that was something." I said, my laughing taking over.

She looked at me as softly as ever, and her smile made my skin feel on fire. Why wasn't there a way to freeze this moment, for like, maybe forever and just live in it until we come up with something better to do. Instead time caught back up, and we were finishing our ice cream. when I tuned back in, she was carrying on about something. She grinned at me, her entire face lit up as she said "Did you know that?" She stared at me, and I stared back, just smiling at her beautiful eyes. "Did you even hear what I said?" She asked, starting to laugh again, and I shook my head.

"Nope." I said, popping the p sound. "No idea, sorry, you were just so flawless in that moment, right there, that I couldn't focus on anything else."

She shook her head, laughing. "Thats alright, I'll tell you later" She said, smiling. I tried to get her to tell me then but she insisted it be saved for another time. So when our ice cream had vanished, and our milkshakes were empty, dinner was done and the music was still loud, we got up and danced. every dance move that existed; we probably did something nothing like it. We both just jumped around together, learning how to hear each other talk, through the music.

The whole evening from then on, was just as exciting. By 10 o'clock we were out of the cafe, laughing that we'd spent four hours just dancing with our shoes kicked off, and our second round of ice cream melting. We didn't let the night end, as we drove off down a dirt road we'd never seen before, and just sat with the heater on, in the snow in January, watching the night sky get darker and darker.

We didn't really say any words to each other, we simply stared off as the stars continued to peek through one by one. Finally roanoke broke the silence and turned towards me.

"You know, tonight, was like a fairytale." She said, turning back to look up through windshield to see the stars. I watched her silently, before chuckling lightly.

"Yeah I guess it sorta was." I mumbled back. With the stars overhead, and the dashboard lights glowing softly, I laid my hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little, before relaxing back into staring at me. I leaned towards her, my hands reaching up to her cheek, and I kissed her slowly. The hum of the heater was all the sound either of us could hear but I swore my heart was beating so loud, if she were looking for it, she'd hear it.

In the end, it was a night I wouldn't forget.