The real-life rock star

This is from kitty can scratch -


September 26, 2005

The real-life rock star

The real-life rock star is that amazing friend we all have who has the ability to change the energy of a room with her mere presence. She glides effortlessly through the most difficult situations without breaking the slightest sweat. She's that person you'd hate if you didn't already love her so much.Looking back, there was never a point in time when she was uneasy around guys or looked awkward in her clothing. It's like she was born with the type of easy self-confidence most of us have to go through psychological hell to achieve and still others of us never master.
She was always cooler than you, and knew it, but never let on that she did. At least, not too often. She could be mean at times, but then, that's the mark of a girl who learned early on not to succumb to others' expectations, because there was no guarantee of a payoff even if you did everything right. Just when you began to think she thought only of herself at all times, she'd turn around and bring you flowers on Valentine's Day because she knew it was going to be a rough one for you.
She's the friend who taught you that sometimes, you end up glad you weren't cool, that your sense of style developed late, and, speaking of developing, that you were flat as a pancake until college. She's the one who taught you that what looks like effortless self-assurance often comes at a price.At just about the point where you finally catch up to the rock star, it starts to become clear that with the aura comes a whole bunch of other stuff you're glad you don't have. That the easy self-confidence you coveted in your youth was a facade put up to mask the underlying insecurity. You realize that you never had to worry about a guy only liking you because you were pretty ('cause, uh, you weren't pretty, and if you need a reminder, talk to that guy you ran into years after high school graduation who asked when you got attractive). You never had to worry about a lot of the stuff that she did, and you never had any of the experiences that made her a lot more grown-up than you a lot earlier on, or at least not to the same extent.
In the end, the real-life rock star is a lot like Axl Rose--someone who hails from Indiana and beats up supermodels. I mean, someone you admire, but whose life you know isn't as glamorous as it looks.