I Guess I'll Never Get To Call You Mine
LAURENCE
“So what shop did you want to go first?” I asked. Sébastien had texted me earlier saying to take Aline out shopping, and I was cool with it. Ever since we started dating I’ve been hanging around him and his band mates a lot and it felt good to be around a girl for a change. Now we were just cruising around in Seb’s new Audi. Aline had been quiet after she picked me up, and now she seemed lost in thought, concentrating her eyes on the road.
She pursed her lips and let out a nervous laugh. “To be honest, I don’t really know,” she admitted. “We really don’t have time to go shopping on tour so our wardrobe department usually buys my clothes for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like shopping as much as the next girl but growing up with guys did not give me a lot of experience in throwing together a good outfit.” “Fair enough,” I smiled. “What is it really like growing up with Simple Plan anyway?”
“It was…” Aline smiled. “An idyllic time, I guess you can call it. Montréal really is the only place we can call home. We’ve never lived in one city that long before, so naturally most of our friends are here. I mean, friends friends, not you’re-famous-I’m-famous-let’s-take-a-picture-together friends.” I nodded. “Seb told me you guys moved a lot. It mustn’t have been easy.” “Yes, because of Mom’s job. We’ve lived in a bunch of cities in both the States and Canada and even South America. In between switching schools and moving houses my brothers eventually tried their hand in songwriting. I was pulled into it because Randy couldn’t master guitar playing and singing at the same time and they needed another guitarist. Then we eventually got signed and started going on tours.” “Sounds exciting.” “It kind of is, in a way, but it’s also pretty lonely growing up,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling, but there’s a part of me that wished I can go back to Montréal one day. Not to visit, but to stay for a long time. The bad thing about moving is you never got to stick around long enough to make friends, although I am socially awkward in the first place anyways.”
“Really?” I laughed. “I can’t imagine an international rock star being socially awkward.” “I was, believe me,” she grinned. “Did you know how I met Chuck? Our moms met in some kind of kindergarteners’ moms’ alliance who met to talk about their kids’ problems. I was a social outcast by then because I brought Marc’s G.I. Joe doll for show and tell instead of a Barbie. I haven’t got a bloody Barbie anyway. Chuck was labeled as a weirdo because he tried to join the girls in the playhouse. So his mom and my mom had us meet in the playground.” “Chuck tried to play with the girls?” I giggled. “What an impression that must make.” Aline shrugged. “I conked him on the head with a plastic toy truck when I first saw him and he cried.” I laughed. “That was mean.” She grinned. “I did it to my brothers often. When Mom introduced me to Chuck I thought I was going to have another brother and I wasn’t impressed.”
I thought of what she said for a moment. “Is that what you really thought of him?” I said. “As a brother?” “I guess. We managed to be stay friends up until CEGEP. I made a few friends too, but I mostly hung around with Chuck and sometimes his buddies as well. I think I could’ve made more friends, but he always had plans for us after school.” She chuckled. “You know he’s kind of possessive on his friends. His other best friend is Pierre. I seriously had no idea how he became that popular in school when all he did was skateboard and spit gumballs at people’s hair. Anyways when he and Chuck become friends Chuck nearly drove me nuts worrying if Pierre would ditch him one day for a ‘cooler’ friend. It was all so suspicious I half-expected him to come out to me one day and say he and Pierre are dating.” We both laughed. Pierre and David had this bromance thing the media liked to popularize, but according to Seb, Pierre and Chuck’s past history is way better.
“What about you? Did you date anyone back then?” “Hell no. The dudes thought I’m just some tomboyish introvert who hangs around with geeks,” she laughed. “No, I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was in The Youngbloods.” I was about to ask who when her smile suddenly faded. “Say, wasn’t that car behind us fifteen minutes ago? Why is he still here?”
She pursed her lips and let out a nervous laugh. “To be honest, I don’t really know,” she admitted. “We really don’t have time to go shopping on tour so our wardrobe department usually buys my clothes for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like shopping as much as the next girl but growing up with guys did not give me a lot of experience in throwing together a good outfit.” “Fair enough,” I smiled. “What is it really like growing up with Simple Plan anyway?”
“It was…” Aline smiled. “An idyllic time, I guess you can call it. Montréal really is the only place we can call home. We’ve never lived in one city that long before, so naturally most of our friends are here. I mean, friends friends, not you’re-famous-I’m-famous-let’s-take-a-picture-together friends.” I nodded. “Seb told me you guys moved a lot. It mustn’t have been easy.” “Yes, because of Mom’s job. We’ve lived in a bunch of cities in both the States and Canada and even South America. In between switching schools and moving houses my brothers eventually tried their hand in songwriting. I was pulled into it because Randy couldn’t master guitar playing and singing at the same time and they needed another guitarist. Then we eventually got signed and started going on tours.” “Sounds exciting.” “It kind of is, in a way, but it’s also pretty lonely growing up,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling, but there’s a part of me that wished I can go back to Montréal one day. Not to visit, but to stay for a long time. The bad thing about moving is you never got to stick around long enough to make friends, although I am socially awkward in the first place anyways.”
“Really?” I laughed. “I can’t imagine an international rock star being socially awkward.” “I was, believe me,” she grinned. “Did you know how I met Chuck? Our moms met in some kind of kindergarteners’ moms’ alliance who met to talk about their kids’ problems. I was a social outcast by then because I brought Marc’s G.I. Joe doll for show and tell instead of a Barbie. I haven’t got a bloody Barbie anyway. Chuck was labeled as a weirdo because he tried to join the girls in the playhouse. So his mom and my mom had us meet in the playground.” “Chuck tried to play with the girls?” I giggled. “What an impression that must make.” Aline shrugged. “I conked him on the head with a plastic toy truck when I first saw him and he cried.” I laughed. “That was mean.” She grinned. “I did it to my brothers often. When Mom introduced me to Chuck I thought I was going to have another brother and I wasn’t impressed.”
I thought of what she said for a moment. “Is that what you really thought of him?” I said. “As a brother?” “I guess. We managed to be stay friends up until CEGEP. I made a few friends too, but I mostly hung around with Chuck and sometimes his buddies as well. I think I could’ve made more friends, but he always had plans for us after school.” She chuckled. “You know he’s kind of possessive on his friends. His other best friend is Pierre. I seriously had no idea how he became that popular in school when all he did was skateboard and spit gumballs at people’s hair. Anyways when he and Chuck become friends Chuck nearly drove me nuts worrying if Pierre would ditch him one day for a ‘cooler’ friend. It was all so suspicious I half-expected him to come out to me one day and say he and Pierre are dating.” We both laughed. Pierre and David had this bromance thing the media liked to popularize, but according to Seb, Pierre and Chuck’s past history is way better.
“What about you? Did you date anyone back then?” “Hell no. The dudes thought I’m just some tomboyish introvert who hangs around with geeks,” she laughed. “No, I didn’t have a boyfriend until I was in The Youngbloods.” I was about to ask who when her smile suddenly faded. “Say, wasn’t that car behind us fifteen minutes ago? Why is he still here?”