Surrender Your Heart

Kylie was sitting, strumming a few chords on her acoustic guitar when her phone rang. She picked it up and, not bothering to check the caller ID, she hit the green SEND button.

“Hello?”

“Ky, where are you?”

Surprised, Kylie checked the clock. It was only a little after one o’clock. “Squire? What do you mean where am I? I’m at home. You told me I was not needed today in the studio because not much was going to be happening, so here I am, not coming in.”

Squire let out a frustrated breath. He really wished this girl didn’t have the memory she did sometimes. “I know what I said, but I think it would be beneficial if you came in for a little bit. The guys want to demo a song just to get a feel for everything, and I thought you’d want to be here.”

Kylie set her guitar down on the ground and checked the clock again. She shrugged. “Ok, I’ll be there in like a half hour.”

“’K, see you then.”

The blonde jumped up and went to get ready, throwing on a jean miniskirt, a white tank top, a purple zip up hoodie from Johnny Cupcakes, and white flip flops. Then she put her hair up in a messy bun and walked out the door with her iPod, phone, and black messenger bag-purse in hand. She turned the car on, pulled out of her driveway and pumped the volume on her CD player. “So tell all the English boys you meet, about the American boy back in the states/ The American boy you used to date/ who would do anything you say,” came through her speakers and she grinned, singing along to random parts of the song.

Soon enough, she was pulling into the parking lot of the studio. Matt and Rian greeted her.

The rest of the band had come in a few days ago. Since she wasn’t really needed at the studio yet, Squire had told her not to come in. But she had ignored him the first day because she wanted to meet the rest of the band. Jack had been the first to greet her, with his lanky structure and dark brown-almost black hair and his goofy facial expressions, Kylie immediately knew he might be trouble, but she didn’t care. He was nice, and funny. Then there was quiet Zack, who was also nice to her. She could tell he was serious about his music though, but he loved his friends. And last but certainly not least, there was Rian, who could easily make her laugh by making fun of one of the guys and being a semi-ass, and then go and call his girlfriend and be one of the sweetest guys ever. They were a variety, the four guys were, but it made the whole recording-pre-production process interesting.

Matt looked at her with a… a video camera? She thought, confused. She parked and climbed out. “What the hell is that and what the hell are you two doing?” she asked them as they pointed the camera on her. Matt was smiling, and Rian was laughing.

“This is a video camera, lovely lady, and we are filming you for the video update blog on Glamour Kills. Say hello to all the lovely people watching!” Rian exclaimed walking over to her with Matt.

Kylie put her hands on her hips and scowled. “I do not enjoy being on film, assholes.”

“We’re recording,” Rian told her with a big smirk, exposing his piano key teeth.

Kylie immediately changed her exterior to that of a happy girl and said, “Well then, hi whoever is watching this! Can I go inside now?” she cocked her head to the side and asked the boys.

They laughed and nodded, then continued their video. Kylie walked inside the studio and into the control room where Squire and Alex were sitting. Kylie threw her purse on the big table where all the laptops were sitting and said, “Where’s Jack and Zack?”

Alex shrugged. “Jack’s probably eating as per usual. Zack’s in there,” he told her, moving his head towards the recording room where Zack was sitting, playing his guitar.

Kylie nodded and took a seat by Squire. “You were pleasant on the phone earlier,” she told him, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Squire rolled his eyes. “The guys wanted you here, and were being annoying about it. Sorry, I took it out on you.”

Kylie shrugged. “Yeah, yeah whatever,” she told him with a smile. “So, what are you doing today?”

Alex swiveled in his chair and said, “We want to try and do some pre-pro stuff, maybe try and record a few things to get a feel for it.”

Kylie nodded. “Why don’t you then?”

Squire laughed. “Ky, you of all people know its not that simple. You’ve done this before.”

“Yeah, I have. But I’ve never done the pre-pro part. I usually come in after that, duh.”

Squire rolled his eyes. “So technical,” he told her, and proceeded to explain why they couldn’t just start, that there was a lot to think about and work on and they couldn’t just start. Kylie shrugged and sort of ignored him, like she so often did.

Outside, Rian had the video camera in hand and was walking back inside because Matt got a phone call. “Hello?”

“Matt? It’s Celia.”

Matt groaned. Celia was his roommate, and she never called him unless something was wrong. “What's wrong Celia?”

Celia rolled her eyes. “Nothing, Matt. I just… ok, I locked myself out of the house. What am I supposed to do now?” she yelled at him.

Matt cringed at her volume and said, “Calm down. Call information and ask for a locksmith in Bethesda. They’ll come and let you in the house.” After reassuring her that she would be fine, Matt hung up. He walked into the studio and into the control room where everyone was debating on what to do. Matt took a seat next to Kylie who was sitting quietly, texting someone. “Girls suck as roommates,” he mumbled mainly to himself.

Kylie looked up at him and raised one of her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“I have this roommate, and she’s a girl and a terrible roommate. So I’ve come to the conclusion that all girls suck as roommates. Sorry,” he told her with a smile.

Kylie laughed. “Not all girls, but apparently this girl. Why is she still your roommate if she’s a shitty one?”

Matt shrugged. “It’s easy, and she always has her side of the rent, so I just don’t care. And I’m lazy and don’t feel like finding a new roommate, to be quite honest.”

Kylie chuckled. “Well, then its your fault.”

Matt nodded. “My fault and my problem. Fuck me for my laziness,” he mumbled.

Several hours later, the band was in the recording room practicing playing together after almost a month off of not. They weren’t being serious… at least, half of the band wasn’t being serious and it was really starting to frustrate Kylie. “Jack!” she yelled, pushing the button on the control board so he could hear her.

“Whaaaaat?” he whined, stopping what he was doing.

“Stop dicking around! You guys should at least pretend to act serious while you’re here.”

Jack smiled a cheeky smile and said, “You know you like my dick, baby.”

Kylie glared at him through the glass, even though he could barely see her. “Sorry baby,” she said, sarcasm dripping from every word, “I like my dicks a little bigger than a centimeter. Try again.”

Jack scowled. “Why are you yelling at me and not Alex, or anyone else?”

“Because no one else is being a moron right now. You are, deal with it!” she finished, backing off from the board before she broke something. She huffed and took a seat at the table, spinning her chair around so she faced Matt. He was smirking at her. “What?” she spat.

He shook his head. “You get so pissed, and its just… kind of amusing.”

Kylie rolled her eyes and turned back around so she was facing Squire.

“Why am I the only one yelling at them? Why aren’t you getting frustrated?!”

Squire smirked. “Because they’re ahead of schedule, and so there’s no reason to be so flustered.”

Kylie narrowed her eyes and glared at the older guy. She stood up and stalked out of the room, trying to calm down. Matt watched her leave and Squire chuckled. Matt turned back to look at the producer. “What?”

Squire shook his head. “Nothing, she’s just… such a perfectionist that she goes overboard sometimes and its funny to watch.”

Matt laughed and got up, wondering if Kylie was slashing the tires in someone’s vehicle or something equally drastic. He found her in the lounge, getting a Red Bull out of the mini fridge. She opened the can and took a long drink. Matt watched her. She was sort of beautiful, so it was hard not to. He was embarrassed when she caught him staring because he had only known her a few days, so staring was really, really creepy. “What?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t breaking anything.”

Kylie laughed sarcastically. “Ha, ha. Funny.”

Matt shrugged and grabbed a can of Red Bull, taking a drink before saying to the blonde, “You really love this? The whole producer thing?”

Kylie thought for a minute. Yeah, she loved it. Music was the only thing she was one hundred percent sure of, and that was comforting. She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Matt nodded. “I guess that’s a good thing, considering how much you go through to do it.”

“Think of it like this: you really love being a tour manager with a bunch of immature idiots… I mean, your friends?”

Matt nodded. “Well, yeah. I love it.”

“It’s the same for me. You love it and you couldn’t see doing anything else, even though others think otherwise.”

Shrugging, he said, “I get that, I just… you seem so stressed, I guess I just wondered if you really loved it, that’s all.”

“Well I do; your boys in there just stress me out. Make them stop, and I’ll be back to normal,” she told him, winking while she walked by, headed back to the control room.

Matt laughed and followed.

Later that night, when everyone was tired out and getting ready to leave, Alex slung an arm over Kylie’s shoulder. “Aiz want to partay! Where’s a good party spot, baby?”

Kylie looked at Alex with disbelief in her eyes and shrugged his arm off of her. “One, do not call me baby. Two, Metal Skool is good.”

Alex frowned. “We’ve been to Metal Skool a million times. What about a house party?” he smirked.

She groaned. She was not in the mood for this. “Fine, house party, go crazy. I’m going home. See you—“ Kylie attempted to shut her door, but Alex was preventing it from happening.

“Not so fast, tiger. Come on. Come over to the place we’re staying at. It’d just be a few of us hanging out. We need to get to know our producer!”

Kylie rolled her eyes. “I’ll call Matt if I decide to come. See you later,” she told him, shutting her door. She pulled out of the parking lot, rubbing her temples. What was she getting herself into with these guys?