Sanity || j.d

26

I stood at the bus stop waiting to head to work the same afternoon. Of course I felt bad because I’d just gone and said to his face that his girlfriend was no better than a fake and that he knew nothing about my life when I knew nothing about his.

For some reason or another, I ended up standing outside the place that I had an address for Little Towns. Apparently I was one of the last to know that such a band existed and most of the student body knew where they rehearsed. There I was, walking up the driveway to a run-down looking place. Perfect for band practice and not much else.

The garage was wide open with a sign, badly spray painted: Open house. Music exhibition staring Little Towns featuring Kate Wilson. Well Kate didn’t even have to be invited because she was featuring in it. I followed through to the backyard where twenty-ish people had gathered and on a stage made from what looked to be plywood, a four piece ensemble and Kate were standing. Josh was up the back on the drums, a guy called Brooklyn was on rhythm guitar, Luke on bass guitar and Tristan on lead guitar with Kate standing up the front right up against the microphone. They were currently doing a rendition of She Looks So Perfect and they were pretty good.

Tristan looked back at Josh a moment, rather questionably if you ask me and Josh looked around at the crowd that had gathered and stopped on me. He looked back at Tristan and nodded. Damn it I shouldn’t have ditched work for this, now he’s (his band were) going to serenade me and end with the most awkward tension.

“Okay okay. Everybody quiet down.” Tristan shushed us lowly. I’d never actually heard him speak so I was rather surprised to hear his voice so low. “This is one of our new songs, written by our drummer, Josh, and brushed up by me.” Of course, Tristan has to have some of the credit with any song the band releases.

“Days and weeks seemed to fly right by

And before my eyes

You had changed your mind

You never sounded so right

It’s alright

I seemed to tell you every night.

I haven’t seen you in a while

You seemed to play me like a child

And now I’ve figured it out

You were never my girl

Had to fight for your heart

Had to fight for your love

And when you turned me down

To me you still meant the world

And now I never even thought I’d say this

The most important thing you have to hear it

The time is ticking;

Running out now

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

It’s a countdown

We’re running out

Of both love and life

I’ll sing you to sleep

With my sweet lullaby

You’d get so cold I thought you’d freeze to death

When we fell apart that’s when I held me breath

And now I’ve figured it out

You were never my girl

Had to fight for your heart

Had to fight for your love

And when you turned me down

To me you still meant the world

And now I never even thought I’d say this

The most important thing you have to hear it

I’ve always loved you

Don’t know why you’ve never tried

The light is out now

Time to say goodnight

You used to whisper secrets

In my ear

Such sweet nothings

That I’d just been dying to hear

You’re the girl I thought I’d never know

I always thought that I’d be mine to hold

But now it’s all been figured out

You’ll never be my girl

I’ve had to break into your heart

To have a love I’ll never hold

You turned me down more than a million times

But a single touch can bring me back to life

And now I never even thought I’d say this

The most important thing, you have to hear it.” 

The end of the song was met with applause, but they weren’t mine. As much as I was stunned that he could write lyrics like that, it didn’t sound right to have his girlfriend and lead singer sing them. Seeing as I’d missed the beginning of my shift, I decided that I might as well have gone and worked off my time lost when I arrived late. But at the same time, I was too stunned to move. 

How much of those lyrics were relevant?