Page 14 of Hidden with a Rockstar
We eat here every day. Same table in the corner. Same routine: Ravita brings the salad. I bring whatever I grabbed from the café downstairs, which is usually a sandwich and a coffee.
"Oh my god." She slaps the table. "Oh my GOD."
Several people sitting at other tables look at us.
"What? What happened?"
"Riley dropped a new practice video. Twenty minutes ago. Marnie is freaking out right now."
I grab my phone. The group chat is climbing fast.
Marnie:NEW RILEY VIDEO. NEW RILEY VIDEO.
Marnie:Her stick technique has EVOLVED. Cross-sticking in the bridge. I've never seen her do this before.
Marnie:I'm hiding on the floor of the stockroom and I'm NOT okay. My manager is going to fire me.
Ravita:SEND ME THE LINK RIGHT NOW.
I open the video right there in the lunchroom. Riley is in a practice room with a backward cap and her sleeves pushed up, running through a groove that builds from a basic pocket into layered fills. The cross-sticking Marnie mentioned is in the bridge—she switches her leading hand mid-phrase without losing tempo.
"Watch her left hand during the hi-hat pattern," I say to Ravita, who's already leaning over.
"I see. That's obscene levels of skill."
"I’m going to do a full breakdown."
"Your followers are going to lose their minds. Fourteen thousand people and they're all about to explode."
I'm already composing the post in my head.
I type a quick draft into my notes app, screenshot two frames, and send a voice note to the group chat.
Ravita:That was UNHINGED. You were almost crying about hi-hat ghost notes.
Marnie:This is why we're friends.
Ravita:Look at the view count!
Marnie:100K and its only been seventeen minutes.
The response is immediate and effusive and exactly the brand of energy I live for. Three women who met at a Sirens show a few years ago, bonded over Riley Puth's drumming, and maintain a group chat that averages forty messages a day.
Then Marnie drops the grenade.
Marnie:Okay, don't kill me, but I've been listening to the Belladonnas' new EP and their bassist is really good.
Ravita:You’re kidding me.
Marnie:I'm just saying! She's got great tone.
Ravita:Don't forget. We don't like the Belladonnas. That's the whole thing. That's our unifying principle as a group.
Marnie:You do know that the lead singer is dating someone from The Sirens. Jo and Rebecca are a couple. The rivalry is over.
Ravita:But still. We don't like them. We stan for Riley Puth.
Marnie:Can't we appreciate good bass playing and also be Riley devotees?
