Good Love Will Find Me

Natalie stepped out of the plane and the first thing that hit her was the sticky, humid Arizona air. As she descended down the ramp and into the airport, she fanned herself with her free hand. Even in a plain white oversized tank top tucked into olive green shorts, she was sweating.

She often thought that this - the weather - was one of the reasons she moved away from Arizona. But she knew that wasn't it. That wasn't even close.

Her entire family knew that she moved to California because her dad had forced her to. When her parents separated, her father got complete custody of her. While she loved California, she hated living with her father. He was strict, unforgiving, and they rarely agreed on anything. She clenched her fists at the thought of him.

Natty brushed the thoughts away and passed by all the signs that read, Thank you for flying with Southwest Airlines! and instead followed the arrows leading to baggage claim. Adjusting her bag's position on her shoulder, she waited at the carousel for her red suitcase.

Right next to her stood a group of guys that looked no older than she. They were all laughing and shoving at each other, calling out names. One even dared to look in her direction, and started to walk towards her, grinning.

She gave him a bitter glare, warning him not to try what he was planning. Natalie crossed her arms and scoffed, letting him know that she wasn't the least bit interested.

And it wasn't like it was because he was unattractive, because he wasn't. She just didn't need anyone. She didn't need anyone but herself. Her parents taught her that.

He froze, shocked from the rejection, and turned back around, only to be greeted by teasing and slaps on the back. The laughter died down as Natalie turned back to the carousel, keeping an eye peeled for her luggage.

And that's when she saw him.

A boy, crouched down, wearing a dark grey t-shirt and basketball shorts. He was tucking a strand of long hair behind his ear frantically and then he started to shriek. "I am Ratboy! Hear me roar!" He proceeded to beat his fists on his chest like King Kong and shrieked some more.

She held back a laugh. This was one of the most ridiculous things she had ever witnessed in her life!

One of the boys from the group next to her ran up to "Ratboy" and literally picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. Ratboy flailed in protest, kicking the guy in the face. "Ow, Pat!"

"Tim, put me down!"

A red suitcase crept by and Natalie rushed to grab it, pulling out the handle and walking away from the scene as fast as she could, giggling softly to herself.


"Natalie Marie Smith!" a voice practically shrieked from inside the house. Natalie ran a hand down her face and sighed. Somehow, the five years spent away from her mom erased the memory of her being one of the loudest people in Tempe.

Natalie didn't inherit the trait. Instead, she was more like her father in the way that her thoughts were expressed through actions, not words.

She handed the cabbie a few bills and instructed for him to keep the change. Then she retrieved her suitcase and bag, waving off the driver who offered to help her. She was barely halfway up the pathway to the front door when she was attacked by her mother's long arms.

"I missed you so much! How's California? Is it too hot for you here? Do you like meatloaf? I made some for dinner! How's your dad? Is everything going well?"

Her questions shot out like bullets going straight through Natalie's already thin attention span. All she wanted to do now was sleep. Airports exhausted her, what with all the rules and regulations, the security and the frisking and the checking in and such. She loved flying, but she hated airports.

All Natalie did was smile, waiting for her mother's questions to slowly come to an end. When they finished, she simply said, "I'm going to put my stuff in my room," giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Quiet enough that her mom couldn't hear, Natty mumbled, "This woman exhausts me."

She trudged up the stairs, lugging her suitcase behind her. Once there, she immediately headed for her room.

She found it to be untouched. Her sheets were just as she had left them from when she was 17 years old. The stuffed giraffe she received from a boy she had dated was sitting upright, its back resting on two fluffy pillows that sat in a stack at the head of her bed. Her closet door was open wide, the only difference was that it was empty. As she unpacked, she examined the room to make sure that it really was untouched.

Her posters - pages ripped out from Alternative Press magazine - were still tacked up on the wall. Stacks upon stacks of CDs were on her desk. Every single one remained in the same alphabetical order. She counted them to make sure they were all there, all 96 of them. These CDs made up about almost half her music collection - the rest of it was either on her computer or on the vinyls she had at home in California.

Natalie was only supposed to stay for a month, maybe five weeks. Even though sometimes her mother annoyed her to death (who didn't annoy Natalie?), she did love her mom, and she would much rather be here than at home where her father would nag her about college and getting a job.

She ran down the stairs and rushed into the kitchen where her mom was standing, putting the finishing touches on her meatloaf. Natalie engulfed her mom in a big hug from behind.

"I missed you, mom."

Her mom turned around and smiled. "I missed you too, dear. Ready for dinner?"

"You betcha. Airplane food is yucky. I'm stoked to have your meatloaf, finally!"

"Stoked? Is that California dialect I hear?"

"Come on mom, I'm sure kids here say it too."

"Oh hush, let's just eat."


Natalie woke up the next morning, stepping into the bathroom to take a shower. She was going to get fitted for her bridesmaids dress.

She let her hair air dry, since she was sure that the Arizona sun would do a good job of that, and wore simple denim shorts and a The Wonder Years pigeon tank top. Slipping on a pair of flip flops, she headed for the kitchen to eat.

"Smells like banana pancakes!" she stated excitedly.

Even her excited voice was quite soft. She had always had a problem with what her teachers called, "An outside voice." She simply didn't have one. People would have to get close to her to hear her, and to get someone's attention, she would have to either come up to them to talk or throw rocks at them.

Personally, she liked the second option better, but she didn't have very good aim. She sighed happily at the sight of good, homemade food. Her father didn't exactly know how to cook, and most of his girlfriends didn't either, so almost 75% of her meals were from restaurants or fast food places. The other 25% were things she learned to make herself."How's your father been feeding you over there?" Natalie's mother asked as she sat down.

"He's been feeding me greasy California food," she replied, holding back a laugh at her mom's horrified expression.

"Nat, you're kidding, right?"

"Nope, I'm not. We went out to dinner almost every night. He still doesn't know how to cook. But before you have a heart attack, I did learn how to make stuff myself. And I made it with all organic stuff, just like you taught me to."

She smiled and as did her mom. Natalie and her mom had always been closer than she and her dad were. She still couldn't understand why her father got full custody of her; her mom would take much better care of her.

When Natalie was done eating her breakfast, she went out to the backyard and retrieved her bike that was resting next to the shed.

When she lived here, she took her bike absolutely everywhere. She didn't own a car. She had her license, but she never drove. She pedaled.

Her mom had to run errands, so she decided to go to the fitting alone. Since it would be the first one, there was no doubt that there would be some adjustments to make anyway.

She adjusted her shorts and climbed onto the bike, her long and slender fingers gripping the handlebars. She set her bag in the basket in front of her and pedaled out of the backyard and towards the bridal shop.

The streets in Tempe were as familiar to her as the lines on her palm. She knew every nook and cranny, and she immediately drew a map of where she wanted to go and the fastest way to get there. Unlike California, where she never really got used to her surroundings, Arizona felt like home.


After being poked and prodded, all Natalie wanted to do was relax. But she didn't want to go home just yet; her mother's excited personality wasn't very relaxing.

So she headed for one of her favorite places.

The record store.

She chained her bike to the bike rack right in front and had to keep herself from running into the store. She hadn't been there since she was 17 years old. Now, at 21, she couldn't help but hope that everything was as she left it.

The bell above her chimed and she felt the same feeling as a bookworm gets at a bookstore. Her eyes roamed the store, and she was delighted to see that not much had changed.

There were only three people there. A girl with light brown hair that reached a few centimeters past her shoulders, a boy with dark brown hair that hung over his eyes, and another boy that had the same light brown hair as the girl. His hair was pushed back and contained by a grey beanie.

As she came closer, she realized that there was, in fact, another person, but this one much younger. The little boy looked about three, and he was holding the girl's hand.

He looked up at Natalie and giggled, then waved.

She smiled and waved back.

Then a voice behind her suddenly screeched, "Natalie Smith?!"

Natalie's eyes widened at the sound of her name being called and turned around to see who recognized her.

She came face to face with a girl named Bridget. Bridget had dark brown hair and crisp, blue eyes that somehow seemed to match her naturally deep red lips and pink tinted cheeks, all brought together by a snow white complexion.

Bridget was her best friend in high school, but they grew apart when Natalie moved to California.

"If it isn't Bridget Campbell," Natalie smirked.

"What brings you back to the Grand Canyon state, my friend?"

"My mom's getting married."

"Oh, I heard about that. Have you met the lucky guy?"

"Now that I think about it, I actually haven't..."

Bridget clucked her tongue. "Natalie, always the ignorant one."

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Whatever," she scoffed, "How's this place been while I've been gone?"

"It's been less lively, I'll tell you that. Ever since you quit, it's not the same. How's California, anyway?"

Natalie simply frowned and Bridget understood completely.

"That bad, huh? What about college? Did you consider ASU?"

Nat nodded. "I got offered an internship at Alternative Press, so I'm gonna put the college thing on hold for a while."

Bridget socked Natalie in the arm. "You did not get an internship at AP."

"I did."

"You're shi-" she covered her mouth when she remembered there was a three year old in the room. "You're kidding me."

"Nope."

Bridget whooped, causing the little boy to whoop as well. Natalie laughed.

Bridget tilted her head to get a better look at the guy. "How's our little Luke doing today?"

Luke giggled shyly and stuck his fist in his mouth. The girl, who I assumed to be his mother, scolded him. "Luke, what did I tell you about doing that? No, baby."

Luke pouted, which caused Natalie to giggle quietly.

"Momma, I wanna ice cream!"

"Gare, he wants ice cream," she sang.

"Leigh," the boy with long-ish hair groaned, "I'm not done yet!"

"Sometimes you're more of a baby than Luke is," Leigh teased.

Natalie turned to Bridget and whispered, "Is that the same Leigh and Garrett from-"

"High school."

Natalie nodded in understanding.

"I'm gonna go to Daisy Dairy and come back, alright? Be good, you two," she warned jokingly.

Garrett waved and the other boy did nothing but grunt.

"See ya Bridget!" Leigh called as she stepped out of the store with Luke.

"Hey Nat, feel free to look around. I've gotta unpack some new shipments. Holler if you need anything." And with that, Bridget walked towards the back part of the store.

Natalie headed towards the M section in search of the new My Morning Jacket album. On the way there, she passed by a stack of CDs and the name card behind them was decorated with a label that read, "Hometown Heroes," in capital letters.

She peeled back the label and the card read Maine, The.

The name rung a bell. Nat bit her lip and thought for a while. Where had she heard that name before? Had they opened for a band she had seen? Nope. Did one of her friends listen to them? Nope.

But she had definitely heard the name before.

She grabbed the frontmost CD and examined it. The front was grey and it had a black encircled M.

"Checking out our CD, I see?"

She turned, startled.

It was the boy with the beanie.

And he was also the same boy that tried to hit on her at the airport.

"This is you guys?"

He nodded proudly and stuck his hand out. "I'm John."

She looked at his hand like it was diseased. "Natalie."

He brushed off the rejection and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Natalie."

"Don't hit on her again, John," said the other boy. Garrett.

"What do you mean-"

"You tried to hit on me at the airport, remember?"

John's eyes widened and they lit up with recognition.

"Shit, that was you?"

"It most definitely was."

Bridget came out of the storage area. "O'Callaghan, what did I tell you about putting the moves on girls?"

Garrett laughed. "He already tried before and she rejected him."

"A girl rejecting John O'Callaghan? That's a first."

"Shut up, Bridget," John mumbled.

"I'm outta here."

"Wait!" said Garrett, "Before you go, I'm pretty much obligated to tell you about this show that we're playing tonight. It's at the Marketplace in Tempe. You should come. Bridget's going."

Natalie looked to Bridget for confirmation, and she nodded.

"But that one's gonna be there," Natalie said with disdain, looking at John.

John frowned and stormed out of the store.

Garrett chuckled. "I promise he's not as much of an ass as you think he is."

She raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

"So you'll come?" Garrett said.

She nodded.

"Alright, see you there! I should probably go check on my girlfriend. Nice meeting you!"

She liked Garrett. Garrett was nice.

John, on the other hand, wasn't quite as charming.

Well, he was.

But she wouldn't admit that.