You're Living a Lie, You Just Can't Hide From Me

Garrett was puzzled by her answer for some time. He liked that Natalie wasn’t telling him everything and that he’d have to work to get it out of her. But she didn’t seem to care that teasing him as she was could cause real damage. And then, the way she let John all over her… He wasn’t usually a jealous person, but the bass player found himself wanting to wipe the cocky grin off of his older friend’s face more than ever now.

He didn’t understand how in mere months someone could be a totally different person. Not that he knew her in high school even three months prior, but he knew what she was like. The girl that had so shamelessly grinded up against him was not the same girl who spent her lunch periods in the library. It seemed as if every premonition he had about her was false.

John was trying to be even more charming, making sure to touch her arm and compliment her. She smiled, and laughed at his jokes, but it sounded fake to Garrett. Natalie was a smart girl; she knew that if she went with John, she’d be nothing more than a one night stand and a line in a song.

Garrett had loved Rachael dearly, but this girl had always intrigued him. No one understood just how much he wanted to know Natalie. Every inch of her skin as well as every detail of her life.

She caught his gaze, biting her lower lip.

John was all over her, and while she was attracted to him, this was not so intriguing. It was funny how easily she bored of clubs and drunk guys. She would much rather cuddle up with someone and watch some movies. The club scene wasn’t exactly for her, especially now that she was so different than ever before.

It was guys like John that had made her this way. But it was a boy like Garrett that was what she really wanted. It wasn’t as if she liked the way things had happened, but she had changed more than ever, and Garrett wouldn’t understand.

“Natalie,” John groaned as she pressed herself against him. “Why don’t you want me?”

She looked at him with a smile. “Its not that I don’t want you.”

“So what is it?” He breathed.

“Its that I don’t think I can trust myself around you.”

He brought his hands to her backside, gently squeezing. “But you feel so good, baby.”

She almost laughed at John’s drunken come-ons. She’d been with a lot of guys and his charm was unlike any of them. She didn’t mind the way he fondled her. In fact, she wondered if it upset Garrett. She liked the idea of making him jealous that he couldn’t have her. Something about John made her weak, but she couldn’t totally give into him.

“Natalie, let me take you out.” John’s breath was hot against her ear.

“Baby, you’re drunk.” She spoke quietly.

“I’ll take real good care of you.”

“I bet you would.” She let out a small moan to tempt him before smiling, kissing his cheek and politely excusing herself.

Garrett didn’t know what to say to her after seeing the encounter between the redhead and John. He couldn’t decide if he was upset or jealous. If he felt she was compromising herself to make herself seem more worthy to the singer. But, at the same time, she seemed to know just how to turn him on. But as soon as she sat down in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, he forgot everything.

“Hey.” She smiled, curling her body closer to him.

“Natalie, what are you doing?”

“Just being friendly.” She smiled.

He sighed. That wasn’t what he meant. He couldn’t get out the words he really wanted to ask.

He didn’t know why she was playing games and causing this rivalry. Why was she practically having sex with John on the dance floor and then crawling into his lap? Was she really that type of a girl? Was this all just a game to her?

“Gary, I’m just having fun.”

The bass player wrapped his arms around her, unsure of what else to say.

“Don’t be mad, okay?” She whispered, stroking his cheek affectionately.

“I just can’t figure you out.” He admitted.

Natalie giggled, resting her head against his.

Garrett didn’t know how he was feeling, but she made everything so much harder for him. If she’d chosen John, that would have been fine – he’d get over it. But here she was going from one boy and to him. It wasn’t fair and her contest upset him.

Just because she was beautiful didn’t mean she could get away with playing games like that and getting him all wound up as she did. He didn’t even know how to tell her that he wasn’t interested in games. He wanted her all to himself, as selfish as that was, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to have her.

He glanced over to where Pat stood with a questioning look on his face. The drummer was just as shocked as Garrett was that little Natalie Evers was such a tease. God, if kids from their high school saw her now, they’d never believe it.

She was a regular vamp. She probably could have any boy she wanted wrapped around her finger. Was this all some sort of master plan of hers? He honestly didn’t understand what she was up to or why she was doing it, but he didn’t feel able to deny her anything either.

“Garrett?” Natalie called, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Natalie,” He breathed.

“Don’t be mad at me, Gary.” She spoke, taking his hand and kissing each finger.

“What are you doing, Nat?” He spoke more firmly.

“I want you.” She whispered. “But, I am not going to give into it so easily.”

He was absolutely speechless as she leapt from his lap and over to where Alyssa was. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to formulate some sort of response to the statement.

She wanted him just as he wanted her. What was this about not giving in? Why would she deny both of them? What a tease.

Alyssa didn’t understand what Natalie was doing, but she knew better than to tell the younger girl what to do. The redhead was set in her way and stubborn as soon as she set her mind to anything. She wanted to leave Tempe and did it. She’d moved to Los Angeles, and was supporting herself.

Now she wanted to play with both John and Garrett before she decided whom she wanted. It wasn’t fair to either boy, but that was the least of her worries. Perhaps this was some sort of revenge… Natalie had wanted Garrett all four years of high school and now that he wanted her back, she wasn’t willing to give in so easily.

She didn’t know exactly what had happened to Natalie in the months they’d been separated. Alyssa went off to school and Natalie had been the same nerdy, timid, innocent girl she’d always been. Then, all of a sudden, she was some sort of vixen.

With bright red hair, and a totally new personality along with her new look. It wasn’t that she was fake. It was a major shift, a confidence boost. Something had happened in the time they’d been separated, something that had shaken up Natalie’s world and had changed her. She’d never asked and Natalie had never even begun to explain it.

She couldn’t help but feel responsible for the younger girl. But now she was feeling responsible for the boys that Natalie was leading on. It was sad because they were both sweethearts, neither deserved to be played like this. Especially so obviously so. It wasn’t even as if she was dating both of them at the same time – she was flirting with each of them in front of the other.

Kennedy sighed from beside her. “Do you think she knows what she’s doing?”

Alyssa smiled. “Not a clue.”

The guitarist shook his head, wrapping an arm around the brunette.

“But I think you do.”

He chuckled.

Natalie sighed, pulling up to the apartment complex and finding a parking spot. Garrett had been silent the entire car ride, Pat had fallen asleep and John was drunkenly rambling about something or other. She almost felt badly about everything.

This wasn’t being done to be malicious.

She just didn’t know if she could give herself to someone. She didn’t want to fall for him or John or anyone when they would just return to Tempe and forget about her. She was waiting for one of them to prove themselves to her. That this was more than just a hook up, or, at least, that it could be.

It was something she didn’t feel she could explain. Mere months before, she had no self-confidence and no idea how to get a boy interested in her. Now she had two. It was all because of one night that she had changed.

Natalie wanted nothing more than to find a boy and fall in love… get married, have babies, but she didn’t know if it were possible. She didn’t feel worthy as anything more than a tease or a plaything. No one had ever proved her worthy of more than that.

“Natalie, want to tuck me in?” John asked with a wink.

She giggled softly, moving away from Garrett to wrap her arm around the singer. “I’d love to.”

The bass player shot the dirtiest look he could muster to the back of the taller boy’s head.

He didn’t understand what had happened to Natalie. Something really big must have happened to her to change her so much. He had a feeling it was something horrible. Natalie was so small and defenseless, he had a feeling someone had hurt her, taken advantage of her.

He didn’t know what to expect, but something in him thought that her ladylike ways had changed dramatically. She wasn’t the timid, innocent girl he’d always known her to be and he was slightly put off by it. Part of him liked that she was so flirtatious and that she liked to tease him, but it wasn’t fair.

Most of the time, he just wanted to throw her against the nearest wall and have his way with her, but he’d never do that. He’d never been so sexually and romantically frustrated in his life. He needed to show her that he was the one she should be with. He needed to convince her, and win her over. Let the competition start. Let the games begin.

Natalie smiled softly at Garrett as she followed John to his bedroom. The bass player sighed, heading to his own bedroom.

John stripped down to his boxer briefs before climbing into bed. She put him in bed, and put a bottle of water and some Advil on his bedside table, but he hadn’t passed out yet. Jared was asleep, and she’d found that he was an incredibly deep sleeper. Still, she quietly sat beside John, gently stroking his hair, trying to coax him to sleep.

He pulled her closer, cuddling her body against his chest. She loved the way he made her feel so small and petite. The way his arms wrapped around her. How much bigger his hands were than her own.

“Stay with me.” He whispered.

Natalie couldn’t resist.

John smiled. He figured that he was winning her over. That she was falling for him as he had fallen for her. And then he realized that she was still fully clothed, but didn’t want to sound perverted.

“Aren’t jeans going to be difficult to sleep in?”

She smiled, getting off of the bed and standing before him, giving him a little show as she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down her toned legs. Her tunic was long enough that it covered her, but he was definitely turned on by the removal of one garment. Then, she crawled back into bed, and his hands found their way to her inner thigh. Natalie gasped slightly as his fingers brushed over her most private part.

“John, no.” She gasped quietly, moving his hand away. “We’re just going to sleep.”

“Well, do I, at least, get a goodnight kiss?”

She giggled, moving even closer to him, her fingers dancing over his chest. “I guess I could allow that.”

He smiled, his face moving closer to hers. Her ocean colored eyes looked teal now, hazy as if lust clouded. She didn’t move, just waited for their lips to touch. What was meant to be a simple peck had become something more.

John kissed her in an aggressive fashion that made her gasp. But she had to admit; it was really hot and passionate. He seemed to know exactly how to kiss her to make her weak in the knee. He really knew what he was doing as he dominated the kiss, exploring every crevice of her mouth.

Natalie smiled into the kiss, but her mind drifted off to Garrett. Had she upset him? Did he think she was a slut now? She didn’t want hurt him in any way, but he couldn’t expect her to give in so easily. She couldn’t help that she had feelings for him and for John. She wanted to weigh her options before anything. She didn’t want to make any commitments just to be hurt in the end.

Garrett was such a sweet boy, and he didn’t deserve to be toyed with as she was doing. He’d been nothing but devoted to Rachael, and possibly would be the same way to her, but Natalie couldn’t bring herself to accept that. She just wanted him to prove it… or for John to prove it.

She needed something to make sense of this.