"And then there's girls like me"

The bass and the guitar came in, the small crowd immediately starts a smooth head nod with a little hip. "Dum dum da dum--bwaaaangg." I cued up "Golden Boys" as the guest DJ at Grassrootz. The DJ has the huge commitment of getting the party going or sending it out on a gurney. I guess the job got done.

That song...wow. Like a glass of wine after a long day of trying to be somebody. Takes me to a lot of places, though I just discovered it about four years ago. Soussi back in 2002, 2003. Golden Boys from G'town law and a lobbying firm downtown hosted a Thursday night affair. So suave, self-assured, arrogant, one was told "You're just like the boys in that song. Think you're a prince."

And then Barcelona...small apartment off Las Ramblas, two a.m., a deck of cards and amazing bottle of white wine. Best friends K. and C. talking shit and trading stories. I drank most of the wine myself.

Of course, the summer of 2004 before grad school. My mom's Silver Spring apartment, me packing for Paris and feeling all Vogue and Vibe at the same time. I'm packing for Paris!

Every girl has met, fallen for and scorned her golden boy, prince of all the magazines. I wonder: "would they love you if they knew all the things we know/those golden boys are all a fraud/don't believe their show."