Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Faring Well
“I can’t do this.” Two months and thirty rehearsal after their first line-through, it was finally opening night for the cast of A Black Comedy. It was ten to curtain.
“Five to places,” AJ, the stage manager, called to the actors.
“Thank you, five,” Gerard mumbled along with the other actors, pacing back and forth. He fiddled with the mic tape on the back of his neck. His stiff hair made his whole head feel stiff.
Tonight, it was gelled back from his face, feeling like a helmet with all the sculpting that had gone into making it perfect. He was wearing makeup. Like, girl makeup. It was thick and cakey, and Gerard just wanted to rub his hands all over his face, but he couldn’t. They’d been doing dress-rehearsals for about a week, and every time, Gerard could feel the foundation begin to drip down his forehead with sweat about halfway through the show. But he couldn’t wipe it away because it would stain his black oxford.
Black oxford, black slacks, black shoes, and a red tie. He felt like he was going to a bar-mitzvah instead of out on stage. But, according to Mr. Karp, the black signified Brindsley’s tendency to stay in the dark and keep secrets concealed, and the red represented his lustful nature that compelled him to flit from woman to woman. Gerard just figured it could be worse. He could be playing Harold and have to wear an obnoxious paisley-print oxford and cumbersome overcoat, like Derek had to. Or, he could look like Mr. Peanut, like Josh’s Bamberger costume made him look. Yes, it could be worse, but that thought wasn’t necessarily comforting.
“I can’t do this,” Gerard repeated, wishing he could run his hands through his hair, or rub his eyes with his fists. Neither was an option, so he just continued to pace.
“Gerard,” Sarah said, grabbing hold of his shoulders. How could she be so calm, so collected? “Gerard, listen to me. Last night at rehearsal, you knew every line, every block, every little emotion that you had to show on your face. This is no different. You’ve spent two months proving that there’s a reason you got this part, and now you’re just gonna go out and show the people in that audience.” Gerard shook his head and walked over to Emily, the Assistant Stage Manager, who sat backstage while the SM sat up in the tech booth.
“Hey, Em,” he said, strumming his fingers on the podium. “Ask booth how the house is.” He gestured at the headset she wore, referred to as “com” by anyone who knew anything about the stage. Gerard had been given the full tour one day while Karp was working with Josh and Zach on German accents.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” Emily asked with a smile. “We sold out tonight, Gerard! Every seat in the house is filled. It’s standing-room only for the ushers.” She went back to checking cues with the rest of the tech crew while Gerard’s stomach did back flips. A full house? Students, teachers, parents…not his own, of course, but still. So many people. How many people did their theatre hold? Sarah had told him once…it was…800...840, actually, now that he remembered. Another back flip. He bit his lip, then remembered he was wearing lipstick and stopped.
“Gerard,” Sarah repeated. She turned him around and switched on his body-mic, rotating her body so he could do the same for her. “Please calm down, or you really are going to screw up. It’s just another rehearsal.”
“Just another rehearsal,” Gerard muttered, breathing out a long stream of air. He and Sarah walked out on stage at their cue and took their places, standing at either end of the stage.
“There,” Gerard began in complete darkness. There was a cough in the audience. People chuckled at the lack of light. What was his next line? Gerard wracked his brain. He took a deep breath. “How do you think the room looks…”
“Gee, you were so good!” Mikey was straining against Frank’s hold on him to get to his brother. “I didn’t know you could do stuff like that!” Frank released the little boy, who threw down the bouquet of flowers he’d been holding and tackled his older brother with a hug.
“Whoa!” Gerard exclaimed, catching Mikey and swinging him around. “What, did you think my only talents were window-checking and peanut-butter sandwich-making?” He laughed and carried his little brother over to where Frank was picking up the discarded flowers. He set Mikey down and allowed his boyfriend to squeeze his hand.
“You did great, babe,” Frank told him, abandoning all reservations and throwing his arms around the taller boy’s neck. Gerard laughed and placed a hand on his back before pulling away.
“Thanks.” He was beaming. He was so happy that everything had gone well. The audience had laughed so much throughout the whole thing, and they clapped at all the right parts, and they’d even gotten a standing ovation at curtain call. It was the most amazing feeling ever, and Gerard didn’t have to wonder why the drama kids loved it so much. Yeah, it was work, but if this was the pay-off, sign him up for another show. “What’d you think of the whole show?”
“It was great. Really. You all were great,” Frank said, picking up Gerard’s hand and kissing it.
“Way!” came a burly voice through the crowd. Gerard wrenched his hand out of Frank’s grip immediately, placing it, instead, on top of Mikey’s head and ruffling his hair. Bob Bryar approached the three boys. He looked from Frank to Gerard and back again, his gaze lingering on his cousin. Gerard froze. What had Bob seen? Finally, though, the blond boy cleared his throat and smiled. “Great fucking job, man! Maybe this whole play thing isn’t as gay as I thought it was.”
“Uhh, thanks, I guess,” Gerard said, laughing awkwardly. “Hey, where’s--” His question was answered before it was asked as Ray and Harper approached, Ray’s arm slung over Harper’s shoulders.
“Will you get off of me,” Harper said, trying to squirm out of Ray’s embrace. The boy grinned and held tight.
“You know you love me.” The bickering two turned to Gerard. “You were great, man!” Ray finally withdrew his arm to clap Gerard on the back.
“Really, Gerard, I didn’t know you had such acting talent!” Harper hugged her friend and bent down to Mikey. “What did you think, Mikes? Did Gee do well?” Mikey grinned and nodded, basking as usual in the special attention Harper always paid him.
“We should all go out to eat to celebrate!” Ray proposed.
“Not tonight, guys,” Gerard said, to groans and eye-rolls from everyone else. “No, really. It’s late, and I’ve got to take Mikey home. He has school in the morning.
“Come on, Gerard.” Harper pushed him lightly on the arm.
“Really…” he said sheepishly.
“The kid’ll survive one night of a little less sleep than usual,” Bob told Gerard. “Tell you what, leave him with my mom. We’ll drop him off on our way out, then you can pick him up on your way home. He can sleep at my house while we eat.”
“I don’t want to push him off onto your mom,” Gerard said, but Bryar already had his phone out and was talking to his mother.
“Hey, Mom,” Bob said. “Listen, we all want to go out, but Gerard can’t leave his little brother at home alone.” He paused, listening and nodding. “Okay. We’ll drop him off.” With that, the case was closed and they set off. Or almost did.
“Hey, guys!” Everyone suppressed a groan as Sarah Valens approached, her tan character shoes clicking on the pavement outside the theatre where the cast was mingling with the still-remaining audience members. “What’s up? What’d you think?”
“You were great, Sarah!” Harper said, giving her sister an awkward side-hug. They had never really gotten along very well
“Are you guys going somewhere?” Everyone exchanged awkward glances, and then looked to Harper for a solution, who stuttered.
“Uhh…Yeah, yeah, we are…but didn’t you say you had a lot of homework to do?” Harper rubbed the back of her neck.
“Yeah, but Karp excused us from classes tomorrow so we could sleep in and be well-rested for the performance at night, so I can do that tomorrow.” Harper bit her lip and looked around.
“Well…then…Yeah, I guess you can come with us,” she finally sighed. Bryar made a wounded noise, quietly, but loud enough for Gerard and Frank to hear. Ray might have heard too, but he chose not to snicker along with the two other boys. Harper sighed again. “Come on, guys,” she muttered, leading the way to the parking lot.
“We have to go change first,” Gerard told them. “But Sarah and I’ll meet you guys there. Come on, Mikey. You can come backstage to wait for me.”
As it turned out, Mikey was intercepted by Maria, the props girl, and the rest of the female run-crew once backstage. They told Gerard they’d watch him (or fawn over him) while the older Way changed and washed off his makeup.
“Come on, Sarah, hurry up,” Gerard said, strolling into the girls’ dressing room. He’d learned after about a week that nothing got done unless you walked right in. None of the girls seemed to mind, anyway.
“I’m sorry,” she grunted, yanking a brush through her blonde hair. “I can’t help it. This beehive is taking forever to brush out.”
“Well, hurry. I don’t know how many more of your mom’s cookies those techie-girls can shove down Mikey’s throat before he pops.”
“Okay! Ready!” She grabbed her bag off the counter and walked out of the room ahead of Gerard. He followed closely behind and grabbed Mikey, slinging the small boy over his shoulder with one arm.
“Sorry, girls,” he said, walking backwards. “The little man has a bedtime. Say goodbye, Mikes.”
“Bye!” The little boy waved excitedly at all his admirers, beaming as he was carried out the back door of the theatre like a sack of potatoes.
“Mikey’s a good kid,” Sarah told Gerard when he got back in the car after leaving the child with Bob Bryar’s mother (and thanking her extensively).
“Yeah,” Gerard sighed, rubbing his face before getting the car started. He was definitely starting to feel those long rehearsals. He was so glad that, after dropping Mikey off at school tomorrow, he’d get to go back home and sleep until call time at five. “He is. Everyone loves him, especially me. I can’t imagine living without him, even though it was only a year ago that I was on my own.” When he was tired, he babbled.
“I remember that,” Sarah said, smiling at him. “I remember when I first met you, my sister had told me about what happened with your mom and everything, and I just thought that was the coolest thing. You were so independent, so free. You lived on your own, you had your own job, you were your own boss. I mean, that was just…the coolest thing. To me, anyway,” she added, blushing.
“Yeah, but there were also bills to pay, groceries, insurance, and I had to do everything for myself that I had never even thought about. Still are, and still do. It’s tough. I thought it would be cool, too, but it wasn’t.” Gerard shook his head, remembering how stupid he’d been then. Just as much as Mikey had needed him, he realized, he had needed Mikey.
“What was wrong with it? I mean, you got used to the tough stuff, didn’t you? What about the freedom?” Sarah begged him to tell her how amazing life alone was. Gerard sighed and shook his head again.
“Sarah, freedom? I mean, yeah, I was my own boss, but it wasn’t what you think. I had to work two jobs just to make rent, and when I wasn’t working, I was at school, or drinking my problems away, or doing drugs to forget what kind of shitty situation I was in, and what I’d gone through with my insane mother. I’m sure Harper didn’t tell you about any of that, did she?” Gerard was losing his temper, and Sarah shook her head slowly, looking frightened.
“No…she didn’t…”
“Do you know how many different drugs I tried, Sarah?” Again, she shook her head. “Neither do I. Heroin, coke, acid, ‘shrooms, ecstasy; you name it, I’ve probably done it. I’d drink until I blacked out. There are whole periods of my life--days, weeks, even a month--that I don’t remember what I did, or what happened to me. I would wake up in my own vomit, I’d think about killing myself, Sarah. I’d forgotten I had a brother. I skipped school, I failed classes, classes that I made up over this past summer so I’d be able to graduate on time and go to college so I could get a good job to support Mikey. The people I ran with then were a lot different, and Ray and Harper are the only ones who stuck with me when I got out of it. I got fired from one of my jobs and would go days without eating, just to pay the bills and support whatever habit I was rocking at the time. If you want to call that freedom, then be my guest, but it was anything but easy, Sarah. Keep your childhood as long as you can. Given the choice, I would not just willingly have given mine up as early as I did.” Gerard realized he was gripping the steering wheel tightly, so tightly that his knuckles were white. Unwillingly, he glared over at Sarah, who looked like she was going to cry.
“I--I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t know.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you,” Gerard told her, reaching over and rubbing her arm lightly. “It’s just…It kinda gets to me when people think I just have this easy life where no one tells me what to do.”
“I’m sorry, Gerard,” Sarah said, beginning to compose herself. “I mean--I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant…I don’t know what I meant…” she admitted.
“Look,” Gerard said, feeling like a total asshole. “Let’s just pretend this whole thing never happened, you know?” Sarah nodded. “Okay. Let’s jut have fun. Opening night is over!” Sarah smiled appreciatively and nodded again. “Good.”
When they got to the restaurant, everyone had already ordered, so Gerard and Sarah caught the waitress and placed their food. It was a great night, and Gerard felt like he let off a lot of steam that had been building up. The group was there for a lot longer than they probably needed to be.
“So then--” Gerard said once they were finally getting up to leave, about to deliver the punch line to a joke he’d been telling. However, his phone ringing cut him off. Curious, he checked the caller ID and saw that it was a call from the Bryar household. Before answering, his heart dropped. There were only so many reasons Bob Bryar’s mother would be calling him when Mikey was at her house. Shakily, he answered. “Hello?” He waved his arm at his friends to quiet down so he could hear every word.
“Gerard?” Bob’s mother. She sounded upset. Her tone did nothing to ease the sinking feeling in the pit of Gerard’s stomach. “Honey, it’s…it’s Mikey. I think--” She stopped, unsure what to say.
“Mrs. Bryar, just tell me what’s wrong.” The panic was evident in Gerard’s voice, and the wait for a verdict was killing him.
“I think you should go meet Mikey at the emergency room,” the woman whispered.
So...this is too long. Then again, it's been a month since I've updated, so maybe the length is good. Umm...I feel like I might get death-threats for ending the update-drought with a cliff-hanger. I bet you can only imagine what's wrong with Mikey...Umm...yeah...So...Go comment/subscribe/tell me how much you hate me for making you wait for another update. Oh, and if anyone cares, I went to see MyChem last Tuesday night at Revolution Live. It's too much to go into here, but if you really want to know about my...crazy night, you can read about it "here":http://insertsarcasticremarkhere.tumblr.com/post/5625518008/my-chemical-romance-at-revolution-in-ft-lauderdale-fl. Warning, if you like the band Circa Survive and get offended easily, I would not recommend reading this. I was pretty angry at the lead singer for being a huge dick at the time, so...yeah. Also, I took a few pictures, "but here are the best ones I got.":http://insertsarcasticremarkhere.tumblr.com/post/5684326081/some-of-the-better-photos-i-took-at-the-concert So...yeah. Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the next update. OverAndOutxx
“Five to places,” AJ, the stage manager, called to the actors.
“Thank you, five,” Gerard mumbled along with the other actors, pacing back and forth. He fiddled with the mic tape on the back of his neck. His stiff hair made his whole head feel stiff.
Tonight, it was gelled back from his face, feeling like a helmet with all the sculpting that had gone into making it perfect. He was wearing makeup. Like, girl makeup. It was thick and cakey, and Gerard just wanted to rub his hands all over his face, but he couldn’t. They’d been doing dress-rehearsals for about a week, and every time, Gerard could feel the foundation begin to drip down his forehead with sweat about halfway through the show. But he couldn’t wipe it away because it would stain his black oxford.
Black oxford, black slacks, black shoes, and a red tie. He felt like he was going to a bar-mitzvah instead of out on stage. But, according to Mr. Karp, the black signified Brindsley’s tendency to stay in the dark and keep secrets concealed, and the red represented his lustful nature that compelled him to flit from woman to woman. Gerard just figured it could be worse. He could be playing Harold and have to wear an obnoxious paisley-print oxford and cumbersome overcoat, like Derek had to. Or, he could look like Mr. Peanut, like Josh’s Bamberger costume made him look. Yes, it could be worse, but that thought wasn’t necessarily comforting.
“I can’t do this,” Gerard repeated, wishing he could run his hands through his hair, or rub his eyes with his fists. Neither was an option, so he just continued to pace.
“Gerard,” Sarah said, grabbing hold of his shoulders. How could she be so calm, so collected? “Gerard, listen to me. Last night at rehearsal, you knew every line, every block, every little emotion that you had to show on your face. This is no different. You’ve spent two months proving that there’s a reason you got this part, and now you’re just gonna go out and show the people in that audience.” Gerard shook his head and walked over to Emily, the Assistant Stage Manager, who sat backstage while the SM sat up in the tech booth.
“Hey, Em,” he said, strumming his fingers on the podium. “Ask booth how the house is.” He gestured at the headset she wore, referred to as “com” by anyone who knew anything about the stage. Gerard had been given the full tour one day while Karp was working with Josh and Zach on German accents.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” Emily asked with a smile. “We sold out tonight, Gerard! Every seat in the house is filled. It’s standing-room only for the ushers.” She went back to checking cues with the rest of the tech crew while Gerard’s stomach did back flips. A full house? Students, teachers, parents…not his own, of course, but still. So many people. How many people did their theatre hold? Sarah had told him once…it was…800...840, actually, now that he remembered. Another back flip. He bit his lip, then remembered he was wearing lipstick and stopped.
“Gerard,” Sarah repeated. She turned him around and switched on his body-mic, rotating her body so he could do the same for her. “Please calm down, or you really are going to screw up. It’s just another rehearsal.”
“Just another rehearsal,” Gerard muttered, breathing out a long stream of air. He and Sarah walked out on stage at their cue and took their places, standing at either end of the stage.
“There,” Gerard began in complete darkness. There was a cough in the audience. People chuckled at the lack of light. What was his next line? Gerard wracked his brain. He took a deep breath. “How do you think the room looks…”
“Gee, you were so good!” Mikey was straining against Frank’s hold on him to get to his brother. “I didn’t know you could do stuff like that!” Frank released the little boy, who threw down the bouquet of flowers he’d been holding and tackled his older brother with a hug.
“Whoa!” Gerard exclaimed, catching Mikey and swinging him around. “What, did you think my only talents were window-checking and peanut-butter sandwich-making?” He laughed and carried his little brother over to where Frank was picking up the discarded flowers. He set Mikey down and allowed his boyfriend to squeeze his hand.
“You did great, babe,” Frank told him, abandoning all reservations and throwing his arms around the taller boy’s neck. Gerard laughed and placed a hand on his back before pulling away.
“Thanks.” He was beaming. He was so happy that everything had gone well. The audience had laughed so much throughout the whole thing, and they clapped at all the right parts, and they’d even gotten a standing ovation at curtain call. It was the most amazing feeling ever, and Gerard didn’t have to wonder why the drama kids loved it so much. Yeah, it was work, but if this was the pay-off, sign him up for another show. “What’d you think of the whole show?”
“It was great. Really. You all were great,” Frank said, picking up Gerard’s hand and kissing it.
“Way!” came a burly voice through the crowd. Gerard wrenched his hand out of Frank’s grip immediately, placing it, instead, on top of Mikey’s head and ruffling his hair. Bob Bryar approached the three boys. He looked from Frank to Gerard and back again, his gaze lingering on his cousin. Gerard froze. What had Bob seen? Finally, though, the blond boy cleared his throat and smiled. “Great fucking job, man! Maybe this whole play thing isn’t as gay as I thought it was.”
“Uhh, thanks, I guess,” Gerard said, laughing awkwardly. “Hey, where’s--” His question was answered before it was asked as Ray and Harper approached, Ray’s arm slung over Harper’s shoulders.
“Will you get off of me,” Harper said, trying to squirm out of Ray’s embrace. The boy grinned and held tight.
“You know you love me.” The bickering two turned to Gerard. “You were great, man!” Ray finally withdrew his arm to clap Gerard on the back.
“Really, Gerard, I didn’t know you had such acting talent!” Harper hugged her friend and bent down to Mikey. “What did you think, Mikes? Did Gee do well?” Mikey grinned and nodded, basking as usual in the special attention Harper always paid him.
“We should all go out to eat to celebrate!” Ray proposed.
“Not tonight, guys,” Gerard said, to groans and eye-rolls from everyone else. “No, really. It’s late, and I’ve got to take Mikey home. He has school in the morning.
“Come on, Gerard.” Harper pushed him lightly on the arm.
“Really…” he said sheepishly.
“The kid’ll survive one night of a little less sleep than usual,” Bob told Gerard. “Tell you what, leave him with my mom. We’ll drop him off on our way out, then you can pick him up on your way home. He can sleep at my house while we eat.”
“I don’t want to push him off onto your mom,” Gerard said, but Bryar already had his phone out and was talking to his mother.
“Hey, Mom,” Bob said. “Listen, we all want to go out, but Gerard can’t leave his little brother at home alone.” He paused, listening and nodding. “Okay. We’ll drop him off.” With that, the case was closed and they set off. Or almost did.
“Hey, guys!” Everyone suppressed a groan as Sarah Valens approached, her tan character shoes clicking on the pavement outside the theatre where the cast was mingling with the still-remaining audience members. “What’s up? What’d you think?”
“You were great, Sarah!” Harper said, giving her sister an awkward side-hug. They had never really gotten along very well
“Are you guys going somewhere?” Everyone exchanged awkward glances, and then looked to Harper for a solution, who stuttered.
“Uhh…Yeah, yeah, we are…but didn’t you say you had a lot of homework to do?” Harper rubbed the back of her neck.
“Yeah, but Karp excused us from classes tomorrow so we could sleep in and be well-rested for the performance at night, so I can do that tomorrow.” Harper bit her lip and looked around.
“Well…then…Yeah, I guess you can come with us,” she finally sighed. Bryar made a wounded noise, quietly, but loud enough for Gerard and Frank to hear. Ray might have heard too, but he chose not to snicker along with the two other boys. Harper sighed again. “Come on, guys,” she muttered, leading the way to the parking lot.
“We have to go change first,” Gerard told them. “But Sarah and I’ll meet you guys there. Come on, Mikey. You can come backstage to wait for me.”
As it turned out, Mikey was intercepted by Maria, the props girl, and the rest of the female run-crew once backstage. They told Gerard they’d watch him (or fawn over him) while the older Way changed and washed off his makeup.
“Come on, Sarah, hurry up,” Gerard said, strolling into the girls’ dressing room. He’d learned after about a week that nothing got done unless you walked right in. None of the girls seemed to mind, anyway.
“I’m sorry,” she grunted, yanking a brush through her blonde hair. “I can’t help it. This beehive is taking forever to brush out.”
“Well, hurry. I don’t know how many more of your mom’s cookies those techie-girls can shove down Mikey’s throat before he pops.”
“Okay! Ready!” She grabbed her bag off the counter and walked out of the room ahead of Gerard. He followed closely behind and grabbed Mikey, slinging the small boy over his shoulder with one arm.
“Sorry, girls,” he said, walking backwards. “The little man has a bedtime. Say goodbye, Mikes.”
“Bye!” The little boy waved excitedly at all his admirers, beaming as he was carried out the back door of the theatre like a sack of potatoes.
“Mikey’s a good kid,” Sarah told Gerard when he got back in the car after leaving the child with Bob Bryar’s mother (and thanking her extensively).
“Yeah,” Gerard sighed, rubbing his face before getting the car started. He was definitely starting to feel those long rehearsals. He was so glad that, after dropping Mikey off at school tomorrow, he’d get to go back home and sleep until call time at five. “He is. Everyone loves him, especially me. I can’t imagine living without him, even though it was only a year ago that I was on my own.” When he was tired, he babbled.
“I remember that,” Sarah said, smiling at him. “I remember when I first met you, my sister had told me about what happened with your mom and everything, and I just thought that was the coolest thing. You were so independent, so free. You lived on your own, you had your own job, you were your own boss. I mean, that was just…the coolest thing. To me, anyway,” she added, blushing.
“Yeah, but there were also bills to pay, groceries, insurance, and I had to do everything for myself that I had never even thought about. Still are, and still do. It’s tough. I thought it would be cool, too, but it wasn’t.” Gerard shook his head, remembering how stupid he’d been then. Just as much as Mikey had needed him, he realized, he had needed Mikey.
“What was wrong with it? I mean, you got used to the tough stuff, didn’t you? What about the freedom?” Sarah begged him to tell her how amazing life alone was. Gerard sighed and shook his head again.
“Sarah, freedom? I mean, yeah, I was my own boss, but it wasn’t what you think. I had to work two jobs just to make rent, and when I wasn’t working, I was at school, or drinking my problems away, or doing drugs to forget what kind of shitty situation I was in, and what I’d gone through with my insane mother. I’m sure Harper didn’t tell you about any of that, did she?” Gerard was losing his temper, and Sarah shook her head slowly, looking frightened.
“No…she didn’t…”
“Do you know how many different drugs I tried, Sarah?” Again, she shook her head. “Neither do I. Heroin, coke, acid, ‘shrooms, ecstasy; you name it, I’ve probably done it. I’d drink until I blacked out. There are whole periods of my life--days, weeks, even a month--that I don’t remember what I did, or what happened to me. I would wake up in my own vomit, I’d think about killing myself, Sarah. I’d forgotten I had a brother. I skipped school, I failed classes, classes that I made up over this past summer so I’d be able to graduate on time and go to college so I could get a good job to support Mikey. The people I ran with then were a lot different, and Ray and Harper are the only ones who stuck with me when I got out of it. I got fired from one of my jobs and would go days without eating, just to pay the bills and support whatever habit I was rocking at the time. If you want to call that freedom, then be my guest, but it was anything but easy, Sarah. Keep your childhood as long as you can. Given the choice, I would not just willingly have given mine up as early as I did.” Gerard realized he was gripping the steering wheel tightly, so tightly that his knuckles were white. Unwillingly, he glared over at Sarah, who looked like she was going to cry.
“I--I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I didn’t know.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you,” Gerard told her, reaching over and rubbing her arm lightly. “It’s just…It kinda gets to me when people think I just have this easy life where no one tells me what to do.”
“I’m sorry, Gerard,” Sarah said, beginning to compose herself. “I mean--I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant…I don’t know what I meant…” she admitted.
“Look,” Gerard said, feeling like a total asshole. “Let’s just pretend this whole thing never happened, you know?” Sarah nodded. “Okay. Let’s jut have fun. Opening night is over!” Sarah smiled appreciatively and nodded again. “Good.”
When they got to the restaurant, everyone had already ordered, so Gerard and Sarah caught the waitress and placed their food. It was a great night, and Gerard felt like he let off a lot of steam that had been building up. The group was there for a lot longer than they probably needed to be.
“So then--” Gerard said once they were finally getting up to leave, about to deliver the punch line to a joke he’d been telling. However, his phone ringing cut him off. Curious, he checked the caller ID and saw that it was a call from the Bryar household. Before answering, his heart dropped. There were only so many reasons Bob Bryar’s mother would be calling him when Mikey was at her house. Shakily, he answered. “Hello?” He waved his arm at his friends to quiet down so he could hear every word.
“Gerard?” Bob’s mother. She sounded upset. Her tone did nothing to ease the sinking feeling in the pit of Gerard’s stomach. “Honey, it’s…it’s Mikey. I think--” She stopped, unsure what to say.
“Mrs. Bryar, just tell me what’s wrong.” The panic was evident in Gerard’s voice, and the wait for a verdict was killing him.
“I think you should go meet Mikey at the emergency room,” the woman whispered.
So...this is too long. Then again, it's been a month since I've updated, so maybe the length is good. Umm...I feel like I might get death-threats for ending the update-drought with a cliff-hanger. I bet you can only imagine what's wrong with Mikey...Umm...yeah...So...Go comment/subscribe/tell me how much you hate me for making you wait for another update. Oh, and if anyone cares, I went to see MyChem last Tuesday night at Revolution Live. It's too much to go into here, but if you really want to know about my...crazy night, you can read about it "here":http://insertsarcasticremarkhere.tumblr.com/post/5625518008/my-chemical-romance-at-revolution-in-ft-lauderdale-fl. Warning, if you like the band Circa Survive and get offended easily, I would not recommend reading this. I was pretty angry at the lead singer for being a huge dick at the time, so...yeah. Also, I took a few pictures, "but here are the best ones I got.":http://insertsarcasticremarkhere.tumblr.com/post/5684326081/some-of-the-better-photos-i-took-at-the-concert So...yeah. Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the next update. OverAndOutxx
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