Surrender Your Heart

For the next few days, Kylie was on autopilot. She woke up, got ready, went to the studio, ignored Matt, didn’t say much to anyone except to yell at one of the guys, and then went home and went to bed, only to repeat the whole thing several hours later. For some reason though, today felt different. She woke up and actually felt like going into the studio. She was starting to wonder if yelling at the guys was helping her feel less stressed.

She got dressed in a pair of distressed jeans and a plain white t-shirt and then made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed an apple and slipped on some flip flops. She walked out of her home and made her way to the Jeep climbing in only to be greeted with the sounds of ‘This Photograph is Proof’. She was clearly on a Taking Back Sunday streak. She tapped her fingers in time with the music on the steering wheel and she pulled out of her driveway and drove along the highway to get to the studio.

Soon enough, she was pulling into the parking lot of the studio. She stopped her iPod and grabbed the apple she bought with her and then climbed out of the car. Taking a bite of the Granny Smith, she walked briskly towards the studio.

She walked inside and was greeted with a gust of cold A/C air and the sounds of playful arguing coming from the lounge, where Kylie knew there was a pinball machine set up. The guys wasted a lot of time on that thing. Ignoring it, she continued towards her final destination of the control room. Again, Matt was there. And again, as she did every day, Kylie ignored him. “Hey Squire,” she called out, breezing by everyone to get to the opposite side of the room where she threw her purse onto the ground.

“Hey Ky, wanna go get Alex for me?”

She nodded and walked out of the room. She thought she heard footsteps following her but she ignored them. That is, she ignored them until whoever it was who followed her grabbed her arm when they were outside of the lounge door. She stopped and turned to face who it was. Matt. He looked frustrated. “Can I help you?” she asked roughly, breaking free from his grasp.

Matt sighed. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not,” she protested, even though it was clear to everyone around them that she was.
“Yes you are, and it would be nice to know why.”

Kylie rolled her eyes. “I’m not avoiding you Matt, I’m just not going out of my way to talk to you. Sorry,” she told him and then turned to go into the area where the boys were. “Alex!” she called out, “Squire needs you.”

“Yes ma’am!” he answered, saluting her and leaving his now finished game of pinball for Rian to play.

When Kylie turned around to follow Alex back into the control room, Matt was right there again. He smirked and said, “Okay then, if you aren’t avoiding me then you’ll go bowling with us tonight.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I’m busy,” she told him and then tried to go around him. He stopped her.

“No you aren’t; you’re avoiding me.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “Fine, I’ll go,” just to make a point to Matt. It wasn’t until the words had already escaped her lips that she realized she was, in fact, avoiding him.

“Good; Lucky Strike Lanes. It’s twenty one and over, so bring ID. We’ll pick you up around seven. Deal?” Kylie grumbled a yes and walked away. She couldn’t decide if she was happy that Matt had sort of asked her out or mad because he was clearly trying to make a point the same as she was.

***

The guys finished up rather quickly that day, and so Kylie headed home at around six to get ready. Considering she didn’t do much in the morning to get ready to go into the studio, she had more to do to get ready for the “date”. Thinking about the word ‘date’ made a shiver climb up her spine and nerves to course through her body. It also made picking out an outfit nearly impossible. “What do you wear when you bowl?” she asked herself aloud.

She continued to search her closet as she stood in nothing but a towel. She finally pulled out a pair of her favorite jeans and a couple t-shirts and threw the items on her bed. She finished getting ready—blow drying her hair straight, putting on a little pink eye shadow and some mascara, brushing her teeth, etc.—and then went to get dressed. She put on the jeans and dug around her in drawers for a bra. After she found what she was looking for she looked at her shirt choices. It was down between a gray Mickey and Minnie Mouse shirt and a blue shirt with paint splatter on it. Looking around her room for something that would make her decision for her, she spotted her light blue converse. She smiled, walked over to her closet and picked them up. Holding them up to the Mickey Mouse shirt, they matched perfectly.

She finished getting dressed and checked the clock on her phone. It was six forty eight; Kylie smiled to herself. She had gotten ready and with twelve minutes to spare! After throwing on a necklace that had a tiny pair of Mickey ears studded in diamonds, Kylie grabbed her black Volcom bag holding her wallet, iPod, and chap stick, she walked downstairs. Her foot barely hit the last step before the doorbell rang. “Hold on!” she called out, taking her time to get to the front door.

She opened up the door and saw Matt standing in front of her. He was dressed in a pair of dark (and slightly tight) skinny jeans, along with a black t-shirt with Anberlin written all over it and a black Oriole’s baseball hat. Upon seeing what she was wearing, his jaw dropped. He pointed to her shirt and said, “I’m stealing that from you before the night is over!”

Kylie gave him a funny look and looked down. She pulled the shirt from her body slightly and said, “What, this? Why?”

“I love Mickey Mouse, remember?”

Kylie smirked. “Well if you like that, you’ll really like my necklace.” She held it out from her body and titled her head back slightly so Matt could get a better look. He held the necklace and shook his head. “Don’t tell me you’re a Mickey freak, too.”

Shaking her head, Kylie slung her bad over her shoulder and walked out the front door, locking it behind her. “No, I’m not. I used to live by Disneyland when I was really little, and for some reason my friends thought this was hysterical. So they always make a point to buy me something Mickey Mouse related on my birthday. This year, it was a t-shirt and this necklace. Next year, I’ll probably get Mickey himself.”

Matt laughed. Kylie smiled. She hated herself for it, but she couldn’t help it. It was Matt, and he was very attractive, funny, and made her stomach fill with butterflies whenever she thought about their kiss. “So, where are we going again?”

“Lucky Strike Lanes, ever been?” When she shook her head, Matt continued. “It’s a 21 and over bowling alley. We’re going to have to sneak Jack and Zack in, but whatever.”

Kylie nodded and when they reached Matt’s car, Kylie climbed into the front seat. Matt got in the driver’s side and said, “Ready?”

She nodded. She was as ready as she was ever going to be and whether she liked it or not, that was going to have to be enough.

***

When Matt and Kylie pulled up to the alley, the guys were already waiting for them outside. The pair walked up to the group, everyone exchanging hello’s with Kylie. “Come on! I want to party!” Jack yelled. Kylie rolled her eyes. She couldn’t wait to see them try and sneak this idiot/two year old into a 21 and over place.

Of course, they succeeded with ease. In fact, the bouncer barely gave the gangly twenty year old another glance. He just waved Jack in. Then there was Zack, who could easily pass for twenty one; the let him in also. The rest of the group got in with ease, also.

Alex walked over to Matt, who was standing by Kylie, and said, “I sort of announced to the world that we would be here tonight. Don’t be surprised if we get swamped with fans and whatnot. Okay?”

Matt held his hands up in defense. “Not my problem, at least not tonight; don’t get arrested or kicked out. I’m going to go set up some lanes.” With that, Matt left to set up their games.
Alex smirked at Kylie, who was watching the tour manager walk away. He shook his head and slid up to her, slinging his arm around her shoulder. “Come on; let’s go find you a ball.”

She followed him, not sure what else to do. “So, why did you tell everyone you guys would be here tonight?”

Alex shrugged. “Why not, you know? Not like we have a million twenty one and older fans out there. I figured, who would it hurt?”

The older girl shook her head in amazement. “You’re braver than I would be, that’s for damn sure.”

After everyone got their bowling shoes and a ball, they paired up. Kylie happened to be the only girl that night, thanks to Matt, so she got paired with him. Alex and Jack were on a team and Rian and Zack were on a team. Kylie turned to Matt and put her hands on her hips. “You set this up, didn’t you?”

Matt laughed and shrugged. “You’ll never know. Come on Minnie; get your shoes on so we can kick some ass.”

It took three games and a tie breaker, but the winner was finally announced. “We win! We win! We win!” Kylie danced around, doing her own little victory dance. Matt laughed and pulled her in for a hug. The two high fived and cheered. Had Kylie had enough time to react (and a little less alcohol in her system) she would have clammed up at the mere mention of being this close to Matt. But here she was, hugging him, and not feeling nervous at all.

“Rematch!” Jack yelled, feeling cheated.

Kylie laughed. “Forget it, Jack Attack. We won; get over it.”

Jack pouted and she just laughed. Alex shook his head. “That’s what we get for taunting the girl, Jack-o. We should have known better.”

Smiling triumphantly, Kylie said, “Now what?”

The guys shrugged. “Food?” Jack suggested. Everyone cheered. To the twenty four hour diner it was.

***

Fifteen minutes later, the group was sitting in the twenty four hour diner down the street from the bowling alley. It had a total retro diner vibe, which Kylie loved. They all took seats in a big booth that could have seated eight probably, but instead was holding the five of them. Kylie was in the middle of it all, with Matt on her right and Alex on her left, while Jack sat next to Alex and Rian and Zack sat next to Matt. They ordered tons of food with no intentions of eating it all and joked around. Finally the food was bought and Kylie dug in to her chocolate chip pancakes slathered in syrup.

Everyone was eating, so Jack spoke up, mouth full of food. “We have two Mickey freaks with us now.”

Kylie rolled her eyes. “I’m not a Mickey freak!” she defended herself.

“Says the girl wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt and necklace,” Matt joked, smiling at her. “But hey, I understand.”

Kylie scowled at the boys who were currently laughing at her expense. “I used to live by Disneyland, thank you very much. It’s a joke.”

“Whatever you say, babe,” Matt said.

Kylie froze. The seemingly non-threatening and not at all harmless “pet name” of sorts was going unnoticed by everyone—everyone but her. It stuck out like a bright, flashing, neon sign in the middle of the dark. She peeked at Matt over her glass of milk. He seemed unaffected. Maybe he called every girl babe at least once. It probably meant nothing. Unfortunately for Kylie, the idea of it meaning nothing made her chest ache, because if she was being one hundred percent honest, she wanted Matt to call her babe and mean it. She wanted to kiss him again. She wanted him to ask her on a date that didn’t involve the four guys she was working for. She liked Matt and the idea that he didn’t and probably wasn’t going to feel the same way made her want to cry, as bizarre as it sounded.

She tried to push the thoughts away, but it was too late—Kylie was falling for Matt; Matt, who would be leaving soon. Matt, who had torn down her guard and taken a piece of her heart with him.