FicWad

Chapter Sixteen

I stepped off the cool bus into the warm humid air. It was like someone had placed a warm cloth over my mouth that disabled my breathing and I had to take a few deep breaths to gain my composure. I looked to my side and saw Joe and Andy standing there, each lounging in the minimal shade provided for by the bus.

"Do you guys know where Pete is?" I asked sliding over to them.

They both turned to me with squinting eyes and shook their heads in unison. "He went somewhere with Mikey about an hour ago," Andy answered. Mikey was the bassist for a band called My Chemical Romance. Pete and he had become pretty close in the last few weeks. Maybe it was because both were incredibly shrimpy and nerdy.

"Doesn't he know we play in an hour?" I asked frustrated and clearly the only one bothered by this fact.

I saw Joe give a shrug and reach for his blaring cell phone in his pocket. I sighed in frustration when Andy brought my agony to a halt. "Look Patrick, he's here," he said pointing to a place behind me.

I turned around to see Pete and Mikey making a brisk trot towards us. I was just about to open my mouth to complain to Pete about punctuation when he beat me to the word battle. "Oh my God Patrick," he said huffing as though he had been sprinting towards us. "Look at this," he declared revealing a magazine lying in his hand.

I looked at it quickly seeing that it revealed an elegant Scarlett Johansson on the cover. "Yeah, it's a gossip magazine," I said looking back up at the smiling Pete and Mikey.

Mikey and Pete did a one glance at each other and then turned to me. "It's not just that," Mikey declared to me behind his square specks. He reached for Pete's hand and took the magazine and began flipping through it. "You need to read what it says on page fourteen," he added handing the open page to me.

I stared down at the page Mikey had indicated and saw an article on movie's rising blockbusters. Surely this wasn't what they had to show me so I scanned some more. Then my eye caught it. Down wedged in the corner of the page marked a headline I would never forget. Fall Out Boy Is "Expecting" A Lot More Than He Bargained For. I began to read hastily.

Pop-punkers Fall Out Boy have been rising up the charts with the major label debut album From Under The Cork Tree, but that's not the only thing that’s keeping this foursome busy. Lead singer/guitarist Patrick Stump has just announced he is expecting his first child with longtime girlfriend Maddie Michaels. A reliable source tells us the couple couldn't be happier about the news and are overjoyed about starting a family. "They always seem to be hand in hand," the source goes on. "I'm happy for him. He needs this." A wedding date has been set for the lovebirds and they hope to keep it private due to the sudden pregnancy. The baby is due early in the year. Other band members, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman, and Andy Hurley give hopes to the singer. Fall Out Boy will be spending most of the summer on Warped Tour. Visit warpedtour.com for tour dates.

I let the article fade from my vision and I looked back up at Pete and Mikey. "What is this?" I asked is disbelief.

Pete did a cheesy smile and answered. "Isn't it great?"

"Great!?! Pete this is horrible!"

"Wait a minute," Andy said coming to steal the magazine away. "Let me see."

"I'll call you back Marie," Joe said hastily taking his spot next to Andy to settle in on the article.

I turned back to Pete ready to declare an explanation. "Half the stuff in that article isn't true," I spat.

This brought the smile on Pete's face down and he looked as if I was saying he couldn't have his birthday anymore. "Patrick, it's press…"

"So…"

"There's no such thing as bad press," he quoted looking to Mikey for reassurance.

"He's right," Mikey agreed. "This could be great for Fall Out Boy."

"So you're saying…" I went on. "That I should just embrace this?"

"Yeah," Pete said. "Look Patrick this kinda news is putting our band in the mainstream."

I was bewildered to how Pete concluded this kind of event could be so great. But maybe he was right. Maybe this could help Fall Out Boy more than I thought, and it was true that Maddie was pregnant I couldn't hide that. "Well…okay," I said.

I looked over at Andy and Joe who had just finished the article and were looking at Pete with a shocked expression. "Pete…," Joe said suddenly. "You're not the reliable source, are you?"

It had never occurred to me until that moment that Pete could've been. That's why he was so happy about it. I turned back to Pete in furry.

"Woah," he said lifting his hands in argument. "It's wasn't me. I swear!"

I guess the look of pure horror convinced me it wasn't. But for all I knew their reliable source could be my next door neighbor. I sighed and rubbed an eyelash from my eye.

"But there is something we need to discuss," I heard Pete go on. Before I knew it Pete had his arm strapped on my shoulder and was giving me a soft pat. "You need to get Maddie on tour with us," he said.

"What?" I said confused for the tenth time that hour. "Why?"

"Patrick, we need to strike while this news is hot," Pete declared like it was the obvious thing. "We need the press to see you and Maddie together. We want them to know that this relationship is working and the story was right."

"So, you just want her here for photo ops?"

"And other business pleasures," Pete said winking at me.

I furrowed my eyebrows is disgust at him and sighed. "I guess," I caved.

"Great!" Pete said releasing me from his clutches. "We'll be in Chicago in a week. You'll do the persuading," he added looking at me for reassurance.

I just sighed and waved a hand of agreement.

"Excellent!" Pete shouted again. "Now, don't we have a show to do or something?"