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

Natalie smiled, her fingers finding the Ryan Adams vinyl she was looking for. Garrett was now beside her, looking over her shoulder. Normally, that would’ve bothered her, but she didn’t mind him. He kind of made her feel okay… maybe even better than that.

“Ryan Adams?”

“You haven’t heard him before? Oh my God, he’s a genius.” She turned to face him.

“I’ve heard the name before.” The bass player spoke quietly, trying to recall.

“I promise you, he’s the best.” Natalie smiled.

“Alright.” He chuckled.

“Maybe sometime you can come over and listen to it?” She asked, not totally acknowledging what she was saying.

“C-come over? To your a-a-apartment?”

The blush was now obvious on both of their cheeks. But she just bit her lip with a small nod. It was kind of embarrassing. She wasn’t trying to flirt; she just thought he’d appreciate hearing this amazing man. Ryan Adams was too amazing for words and she knew that someone who loved music as Garrett did would benefit from it.

“Uh, y-yeah.” She smiled.

“You own a record player?”

“Yeah… it’s the only way to really hear the songs, you know? The quality is so different.”

Garrett wondered if he should have been offended that she wasn’t a fan of CDs or mp3s, as that was what his band put out. They hadn’t put out anything on vinyl and he wasn’t sure they ever would. But he knew she was in no way insulting him or the Maine. She probably had only heard them at that first show. She probably didn’t have any of the EPs.

He wondered if he liked her better knowing that she wasn’t too aware of them or their songs. A lot of girls he’d gone to high school with now were trying desperately to win him over… now that he was in a signed band.

Natalie had never been like the other girls at their high school, he knew that. So it was no wonder that she wasn’t too interested or keen on knowing about the band. There was something about her that was really old-fashioned and the fact that she was such a fan on vinyl almost proved him right.

“You think they have any Savage Garden on vinyl?” She smiled.

“Savage Garden?” He chuckled.

“‘Truly Madly Deeply’ is still one of my favorites.” The girl grinned widely, letting out a laugh when she saw Garrett’s face.

“You aren’t serious, are you?”

“No.” Her laugh was beautiful, he decided that he loved hearing it and wanted to hear it more.

“Oh.”

“That song was total cheese. It was kind of cute though.”

He shrugged. “We listen to cheesy ‘90s music in the van I’m used to it.”

“I think I’d like a really cheesy love song written about me someday.” The girl told him with a soft smile.

He had a feeling that she was going to get one… maybe more.

Natalie wasn’t used to such attention. She had five boys basically hanging on her every word. Now she could see why Alyssa loved having male attention; she felt empowered. It was actually kind of nice, she decided. They told her stories from the road, and talked about how excited they were for this new record.

They had all these songs written and were so pumped to get into the studio and perfect them. It was nice to see how dedicated these boys were, and she really respected them. She remembered Garrett and Pat from high school being in bands, but the Maine seemed to be the best fit they’d been involved with.

“So where are you from originally?” John asked softly, his eyes taking in every detail of her face.

“Um, my mother’s womb?”

The boys chuckled, but he shook his head. “N-no… you have a little southern twang in your voice.”

“Oh.” She bit her lower lip. “I was born just outside of Dallas, Texas… to a Beauty Pageant obsessed mother and a father who wished for a son. Then we moved for a little while to just outside of Atlanta… and then we moved to Tempe.”

“You did pageants, didn’t you?”

“I was groomed to be the next Miss America, yes sir.” Natalie giggled softly. “I rebelled against it when I was twelve and have never looked back.”

“So you’re a former beauty queen?” Pat shrieked.

“Yes… I guess, I am.”

She's eighteen and a beauty queen. John chuckled to himself.

“God, what kind of questions did they ask?” Jared chuckled. “Must have been horrible.”

“I swear, it was just as awful as you think it was.” She smiled softly.

Garrett smiled softly, shaking his head.

“I bet you won every time.” John spoke with a wide smile.

Natalie shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what to say. She bit her lip and instinctively brought a finger to touch the stud on her nose. If only her mother could see her now…

“Today was a lot of fun, but I should go.” She spoke quietly.

“What? You can’t leave!” Pat called out.

“You’re in LA for how long? We’ll see each other again.”

“Might as well get your number then.” John flashed her a grin.

She nodded, trading contact info with the boys before heading out.

“Gary, you’ve been staring at the same spot for ten minutes. She left already.”

The bassist blushed, tearing his gaze from the spot that Natalie had vacated. “She just…”

“She’s fuckin’ hot.” John declared.

“Well yeah, but its more than that.” He bit his lip. “I…I don’t know.”

“Its cool, Gar. You’ve got a crush.”

He didn’t respond.

Kennedy just chuckled. “She seemed like your type anyway. Too bad John was trying so hard.”

“That was nothing.” The tall singer countered.

“Stop being such a cockblock.”

“Are you sure she wasn’t into me?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Its okay.” Garrett sighed, taking a sip of his water. “We should head back anyway… work on the songs.”

He didn’t like the idea of John liking the same girl as him. John always got what he wanted. Girls threw themselves at him daily. He was the lead singer for God’s sake. No one could give two shits for the bass player. Girls always found John attractive because he was such a pretty boy. The same wasn’t true about Garrett.

John would write a love song and whisper sweet nothings in the girl’s ear while Garrett would freeze up and start rattling off random facts about zombies. Girls kind of got turned off by that. He wasn’t exactly smooth. Anyone could tell that.

He knew he didn’t have much game, but Natalie seemed like, at the very least, she’d be up for good conversation. There was something about her that he couldn’t figure out. It was strange to think that they’d been around each other for long enough yet he honestly didn’t know much at all about her. Just that he was hopelessly attracted to her and that he didn’t have the balls to do anything about it.

He had fallen for her in high school, never doing anything about it. He was too shy, and she didn’t really talk to anyone. He had thought about her many times during his high school career. Wondering if he’d ever get the guts to ask her out. Wondering what she was doing or what her favorite candy was. If she ever thought about him in return… if she went to his band’s shows and just never came forward.

He could remember seeing her face at so many shows, but never having the nerve to talk to her. Not even just Kerosene Kid shows that he was playing, but also other concerts in the area. Pat had always encouraged him, and teased him when he didn’t. But Garrett Nickelsen wasn’t a charmer. He was awkward and shy, and kind of nerdy. It was just sad that he hadn’t grown out of it and that his taller, more charismatic friend was probably going to work his way into Natalie’s bed.