Misprinted Lies (Alice in Chains/Bruno Mars)

The Girl with Blue Eyes

In late January, a little while before the Superbowl, Bruno was up for a Grammy. I was too, for engineering Unorthodox Jukebox. We had a little get together at his house for drinks before leaving for the show. I wore a light blue dress with little silver studs; the blue matched my eyes perfectly.

"Look at chu," he said, hugging me. "You look so pretty."

"Awww," I replied. "Thank you, handsome."

Bruno won his Grammy. I was so proud of him.

"Unorthodox Jukebox wouldn't have happened without my manager, Brandon Creed... my buddy Phillip Lawrence for writing these amazing songs with me...Lily Staley for being the best engineer and producer in this whole industry..."

When he dedicated the award to his mom I got a lump in my throat. After the show, Bruno, his dad, Jess, Phil, Ari, and I hopped into a limo to go to an after party.

"Wow it's a great night," I said.

"It would've been better if you got one too," Bruno said. "That was bullshit."

"It's okay," I said, looking out the window. "I'll get it next year."

We got out of the car and entered the banquet hall in the hotel where the party was being held. There was a mob of girls waiting outside for Bruno. He went over and signed a few things, taking a few pictures. The rest of us waited for him, at a safe distance; these girls were crazy.

They were so crazy that they started attacking Jess, saying she was worthless and didn't deserve Bruno. Bruno grabbed her and whisked her away as she cried into him.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys? You can't treat people that way! You don't even know her?" I yelled.

"Yes we do," the angry fan said.

"You know her from what you read on the fucking Internet from other angry assholes who you don't even know. Bullying is not okay. It does a lot more damage than you even realize. GET OVER YOURSELVES!"

I felt a hand on my arm. It was Bruno pulling me away from the railing.

"Hey," I said. "I wasn't done."

"Where the hell did that come from?" he asked.

I couldn't tell if he was proud or disappointed. I probably lashed out a bit too much and didn't really think.

"A bullied kid," I sighed.

We met with Jessica inside. She hugged me instantly.

"Thank you so much," Jessica said.

"You're probably gonna get a TMZ appearance from that," Bruno said seriously, but then smiled a little.

"Eh I stopped caring about what people think a long time ago." I turned to Jess, whose mascara ran black marks down her cheeks. "And you should too. They're just jealous."

The media and especially people on the Internet spread the most ridiculous lies. Sometimes I wished I was born into a different decade, or even century.

Later on during the party, I was talking to Jess. Well, I was trying to. She wanted more details about my dress. I picked it up from the store kind of last minute. I knew nothing about fashion.

Phil was lingering around us, trying to move. There were so many people crowded in the large banquet hall we were all packed in there like sardines.

"So Jess any new modeling gigs coming up?"

"Yes," she said coldly. "In September."

That wasn't exactly what I was predicting she'd say. September wasn't really close.