Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Commit This to Memory
This Is How It Starts
The hours passed, the sky got darker and miles passed. Braelyn was still sitting in the corner now deeply entranced by her book. The rest of them were watching some horror movie from the eighties. Braelyn reached the end of her chapter and closed her book. She went to get a bottle of water.
“Can you grab me one?” Frank asked as she walked by.
“What’s the magic word?”
“Can you grab me one, now?” Frank said, a wicked grin on his face.
Braelyn spun around, walked a few steps back to Frank and hit him lightly on the top of his head, “Wrong. Try again.”
“Can you grab me one, pleeeeeeeeeeease?” There was a whine in his voice.
“I guess that will suffice.”
“You should come watch the movie with us!” Someone hit pause.
“Ok. Anyone else want anything?” It took her a few moments to gather the water and soda the boys asked for. After she passed it out, she sat on the floor, leaning against Frank’s chair next to Mikey. Gerard went to play the movie, “Wait! What have I missed?”
They took a few minutes to explain the plot of the movie. Satisfied, Braelyn settled back into her seat. Gerard pressed play. Braelyn spent the next hour or so squeaking and screaming, covering her eyes with her hands, but watching through her fingers anyway while the people on the screen got cut up and dismembered. The boys spent that hour making fun of her.
“That was awesome,” Braelyn commented as the credits rolled.
“Awesome?” Mikey said next to her. “From the way you just watched that movie, there is no way you enjoyed that.”
“No way,” she replied. “I love scary movies.”
Frank and Gerard shared a look and Frank laughed manically. Bob interjected, “You just said that in front of two people who are going to make you regret it.”
“Ya, that was probably a terrible choice,” Ray added.
Braelyn laughed at them. “What could they possibly do?”
“Trust me,” Mikey said, “Do not underestimate those two. I’d sleep with one eye open.”
“Whatever,” Braelyn said grinning. She leaned her head back and looked up at Frank, “You wouldn’t do something mean to me, right?” When Frank grinned evilly at her, she turned to Gerard with a little bit of panic in her eyes. “Right Gerard?”
He had a matching grin, but quickly wiped it off his face and said reassuringly, “Of course not, sugar. We wouldn’t do anything mean.”
“Right,” Frank said when she looked back up at him.
“Good,” she sighed. Then she asked, “What time is it?”
“Eleven thirty-ish,” Bob answered.
“When do we get to Atlanta? That’s where we’re going right?”
“Sometime early tomorrow morning,” Bob said.
“And yes, Atlanta is where we’re going,” Mikey added.
“Awesome.” Braelyn suddenly felt tired. She yawned and said, “I think I’m going to go to bed.”
“Me too,” Bob said.
“Probably a good idea,” Mikey added.
“Lammmmmme,” Frank said.
“You all have that radio interview tomorrow morning,” Topher said, coming back to sit with them. “I just talked to Steve, the driver, he said we’ll be there around seven in the morning. Your interview is at seven thirty, so maybe bed is the best plan.”
Braelyn, Bob, Mikey, and Ray stood up. Frank said, “You’re not my real mom!”
“Thank God.”
“Come on, Frankie, let’s play one more round then we promise to go to bed,” Gerard said. “Does that sound ok mom?”
“Don’t call me mom,” Topher said. “And I guess it’s fine, there’s nothing I can really do about it. You’re adults. Or at least you’re supposed to be.”
“Yay!” Frank bounced in his seat. “Mario Kart!”
Braelyn smiled and followed the others into the bunkroom, waving goodnight to Topher, Gerard, and Frank. She popped open her storage cubby and pulled out her duffle. She rifled through it to find her pajamas and tooth brush. She slipped into the bathroom first and changed and brushed her teeth. She stepped back out into the bunkroom. Her hand flew up to cover her eyes. “Oh my God this is scarier than that movie!”
The boys were all half dressed in the middle of the hall. Mikey turned red and quickly got dressed, Bob soon after. Ray, however, took his time. “You gotta get used to this sweetheart,” he said smiling. He tweaked her nose, “You’re touring with a bus full of guys. If you don’t see someone naked in the next three days, I’ll be amazed.”
Braelyn mimed vomiting.
“Besides,” Ray continued, joking, “You know you like what you see.”
Braelyn laughed and went to her bunk. She put back her tooth brush and tooth paste and pulled out her hair brush. She climbed up into her bed and sat with her legs dangling off her bunk and brushed her hair while she talked to the boys.
“So what does one say in a radio interview?” She asked.
“Usually they ask about the tour we’re on and stuff like that. We don’t have a new album out so I’m not sure what else they’ll ask,” Bob answered.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous about it,” Braelyn said, now braiding her hair over her shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it,” Mikey said coming back from brushing his teeth. “They’ll probably be asking us most of the questions. I mean, no offense, no one really knows who you are.”
She sighed a little bit in relief and then laughed. She looked down at him. “Good. Thanks.”
He smiled back at her. She started making fun of Ray, who still didn’t have a shirt on, finishing her braid. Once she tied it off, she tucked her legs up under her and said goodnight to the others, pulling her curtains shut. She got under her blanket and put in her headphones. She closed her eyes and let the rocking of the moving bus lull her to sleep.
**
Light hit her face jolting Braelyn awake. She slowly opened her eyes to see someone had opened the curtain of her bunk. It couldn’t possibly be time for her to be awake yet. She rolled over and closed her eyes again.
A little while later she was woken up again by someone shaking her. She groaned and rolled over. Mikey was at her bunk.
“Time to wake up, Braelyn. Interview time.”
“Uggggh,” she moaned.
“You were excited about this yesterday, remember?”
“That was before I had to be awake.”
Mikey disappeared. He returned three minutes later. Braelyn hadn’t moved. “Seriously,” he said with a smile, “you’re as bad as Frank. Get up or I’ll make you.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, but never the less tore off her blanket and climbed out of her bunk.
“See that wasn’t so hard.” She grumbled at him and he continued, “We have to get off the bus in a half an hour.”
Braelyn gave the same squeak that she did yesterday when they told her she was taking pictures. The pace with which she was going through her suitcase quickened and she rushed into the bathroom which was mercifully empty. She changed quickly into jeans and a cute tank top, brushed her teeth and left the bathroom so someone else could use it. Back at her suitcase, she found her make-up case and her brush. She went out to the table to finish getting ready.
There she found Frank, dressed, but asleep on the bench seat. Gerard and Mikey were sitting at the booth talking. Braelyn went to join them, sliding into the seat next to Mikey. Braelyn listened to them discuss set lists and things while she applied her makeup. She was putting her eyeliner on when Gerard got her attention.
“What is that?” He asked.
“Eyeliner?”
“No, like what kind? I can never get mine to look like that.”
Braelyn looked into the mirror to examine the smooth black line that kind of flared at the outer corner of her eye. “It’s just regular eyeliner. It’s that liquid mousse thing? I don’t know, but it’s awesome.”
She lined her other eye. She put on eye shadow and mascara, then put away her stuff except for her lip gloss. When she finished she looked up and saw the boys still looking at her. “What?”
Gerard shook his head a little bit. “I don’t know, there’s something mesmerizing about a girl putting on makeup.”
Braelyn shook her head and smiled. The boys went back to talking. She unbraided her hair and was brushing it out when Topher came to ask her Starbucks order to put on the rider. She told him then fiddled with her hair for a good ten minutes before she sighed in frustration.
“What?” Mikey asked, looking at her after her outburst.
“My hair sucks today. I can’t make it look cute.”
“What was wrong with it before?”
“Before?”
“Ya. The braid.”
“I sleep in a braid. It isn’t exactly the cutest thing.”
“It looked fine,” Gerard interjected.
“One would go so far to say it was cute,” Mikey added. He looked down a little bit when he said it.
Braelyn didn’t notice, she was staring at her uncooperative hair in the mirror. “I do like the braid.”
“Then do the braid,” Mikey said. To Gerard, he continued, “Ray’s right. Girls and their hair.”
Braelyn laughed and shook her head. She started to braid her hair loosely and over her shoulder so it wasn’t just a boring straight down her back kind of braid. She finished and asked, “There, how’s that?”
“Great.”
“Good.” Now that she was done, she returned her stuff to her bag and pulled out her guitar. She went to sit in one of the chairs and she played through some stuff, practicing because she hadn’t played in a couple of days. In a few minutes it was time to wake up Frank and round up Ray and Bob and go into the radio station.
In the green room there were some delicious donuts and Starbucks. The boys already knew the radio personalities from a previous interview, so only Braelyn needed to be introduced. Then they were taken into the booth and the interview began.
“Welcome back to Wild 100.7, Atlanta’s hottest station. I’m your host Tony the Man. I’m here with my usual suspects, Gina and Eric. Also with us today are the men of My Chemical Romance and the young lady they are touring with, Braelyn Porter. How are you guys doing today?”
“We’re great, Tony,” Gerard answered for all of them.
“Awesome. For those of you who don’t know, these fine people will be playing tonight at the Roller Lounge. The show is all sold out except for the four tickets we have here at Wild 100.7 and we’ll be giving those away after the interview. So let’s get right down to it.” Tony and the other radio host asked the boys several questions like how did it feel now Black Parade was over and what was next for them. Then the conversation turned to Braelyn. “So,” Tony drawled, “Ms. Braelyn Porter. How did you come by this opportunity?”
Braelyn gulped a little, but answered in a steady voice. “I was playing in my favorite venue at home and these guys happened to be there.”
“That seems like a big coincidence,” Eric pointed out.
Mikey to the rescue. “Braelyn’s home is the Rover in Frisco, Texas. Once when we were in town a long time ago we played there and we fell in love with the place and the owners, so we play there every time we’re in town.”
“We got to see Braelyn play her normal set,” Frank put in. “She sang a bunch of covers, including one of our songs, and a lot of her own stuff. We really liked what she did, so we asked her to come along with us.”
“What’s that like?” Gina asked, her voice breathless.
“Crazy,” Braelyn answered with a laugh. “It happened so fast. Within two days, I had a spot on a national tour with one of the biggest bands in the country, an appearance in an internet video announcement with them, and my own website that crashed within six hours of being operational. The attention was crazy, but it’s been a fun ride so far.”
“That’s so exciting. I really like your top by the way,” Gina said.
“Oh, thanks,” Braelyn said, smiling.
“Seriously, kids,” Gina said, “This girl’s got style.”
Braelyn blushed. Tony asked, “So Braelyn, tell us about yourself and your music. Why do you play? Who influenced you?”
“Well, like Mikey said, I’m from Texas, just a little bit north of Dallas. I’ve been playing piano since I was four and guitar since I was about twelve. I started playing the Rover when I was fifteen. I play because my brother played. He definitely is the reason I got into music,” she paused to think for a second. “As far as my influences, first I played what I listened to, so my influences were bands like Sum41 and Simple Plan, Blink-182, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Billy Joel, 90s music. I was really kind of all over the place. I mostly play covers when I play at the Rover, we take requests. There’s a lot of Piano Man, Deathcab and My Chemical Romance music. I actually play a lot of country too.”
“What about your original stuff?” Eric asked.
“I’d say it’s a little bit of everything. There’s some punk, some emo, some pop, some alt acoustic. Just a lot of different stuff. I think someone classified it as ‘alt-indie’ even though I’m not quiet sure what that means. Everything’s acoustic though.”
“Her sound is unique,” Gerard said, “And it’s fantastic. She’s got a great thing going on.”
“Well maybe we can hear some, after you guys perform?” Tony asked.
The boys looked a Braelyn who looked through the window at Topher who shrugged. Braelyn said, “Sure, sounds fun.”
“I want to know what it was like to play My Chemical Romance for My Chemical Romance,” Gina said.
“It was really strange,” Braelyn responded. “I was really nervous about it. It wasn’t planned, someone literally yelled it out in the audience. But it was actually a really cool thing to perform.”
“We used it as a lead into our set,” Ray explained. “We were standing in the back of the room, and Gerard started singing the harmonies and stuff making his way through the crowd to the stage.”
“The rest of us snuck around and started playing our instruments. By the end, it was My Chemical Romance with special guest Braelyn Porter.”
“It was so cool to get to sing with them,” Braelyn said, beaming at the memory. “It’s probably my favorite performance.”
“That’s amazing,” Gina said.
“Alright with that, we’re going to start our contest for tickets to the show tonight.” It involved two people calling in and answering questions about the band that Gerard and Frank took turns asking. Whoever had the most points won the tickets. Once the game was over, they all left as the show went to a commercial and a stretch of music. In the other room where the boys’ instruments were, someone had brought up her guitar from the bus. She was shown to a room where she could warm up. She was nervous as she did so, she kept messing up chords and her voice was shaky. She tried to get herself under control as she was beckoned to the place where they would play.
The boys went first. They did “I’m Not Okay.” Afterwards there was another commercial break. The boys came over to her.
“Braelyn, are you ok? You’re shaking.” Bob said, noticing the way she was clutching her guitar.
She mumbled, “Nervous.”
Frank put his arm around her. “Nah. Don’t be. You’ll be awesome.”
“Plus,” Gerard added, “There’s less people in this room than there were at the Rover. And you love playing there.”
Braelyn was still looking at the floor. Mikey put his hand on her shoulder. “Just relax. You’ll be fine. I promise.”
Braelyn nodded, but she was still shaking. She was called over to the stool and microphone they had set up for her.
“You have about two minutes,” a sound engineer told her.
She nodded and took a couple of deep breaths before starting to play something. Her fingers were more sure. She sang a couple of notes. Her voice was only wavering a bit. Then the On-Air light came on.
“Welcome back listeners! You’re listening to Wild 100.7 in the morning. And right now we’re going to hear from a new artist. She’s touring with My Chemical Romance. Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Braelyn Porter.”
She began to play the intro. It was almost time to sing and she could feel herself freaking out. She looked up at the five boys leaning against the wall in front of her. They all smiled. Frank gave her a thumbs up. She smiled and started to sing.
The hours turn to days
And it’s hard enough not to blink
When I close my eyes
All I see is your face
And I’m sorry love
I’m not sorry love
I’m sure you’ll feel the same
Oh I’m bending, I’m not breaking.
And I’m here to give love, not to take.
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you.
And the hours turn to years
And it’s hard enough just to say
As I’m pullin’ and you’re pushin’
All this back in my face
And I’m sorry love
I’m not sorry love
I’m sure you’ll feel the same
Oh I’m bending, I’m not breaking.
And I’m here to give love, not to take.
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you.
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you.
The song ended. The radio host did a little blurb and then played some music. Braelyn got up of her stool and walked over to the boys.
“See,” Mikey said. “Nothing to worry about.”
“It was awesome,” Ray said.
“That was great,” Tony said coming over. “We look forward to hearing more from you.”
“Thanks,” Braelyn said blushing.
Their time at the studio was over. They said goodbye to everyone, packed up their stuff and headed back to the bus. The driver found a Waffle House and they went to breakfast before going to the venue.
A/N: hope you like this one too! review! haha ((the song is More Than You Know by Shorelines End)
The hours passed, the sky got darker and miles passed. Braelyn was still sitting in the corner now deeply entranced by her book. The rest of them were watching some horror movie from the eighties. Braelyn reached the end of her chapter and closed her book. She went to get a bottle of water.
“Can you grab me one?” Frank asked as she walked by.
“What’s the magic word?”
“Can you grab me one, now?” Frank said, a wicked grin on his face.
Braelyn spun around, walked a few steps back to Frank and hit him lightly on the top of his head, “Wrong. Try again.”
“Can you grab me one, pleeeeeeeeeeease?” There was a whine in his voice.
“I guess that will suffice.”
“You should come watch the movie with us!” Someone hit pause.
“Ok. Anyone else want anything?” It took her a few moments to gather the water and soda the boys asked for. After she passed it out, she sat on the floor, leaning against Frank’s chair next to Mikey. Gerard went to play the movie, “Wait! What have I missed?”
They took a few minutes to explain the plot of the movie. Satisfied, Braelyn settled back into her seat. Gerard pressed play. Braelyn spent the next hour or so squeaking and screaming, covering her eyes with her hands, but watching through her fingers anyway while the people on the screen got cut up and dismembered. The boys spent that hour making fun of her.
“That was awesome,” Braelyn commented as the credits rolled.
“Awesome?” Mikey said next to her. “From the way you just watched that movie, there is no way you enjoyed that.”
“No way,” she replied. “I love scary movies.”
Frank and Gerard shared a look and Frank laughed manically. Bob interjected, “You just said that in front of two people who are going to make you regret it.”
“Ya, that was probably a terrible choice,” Ray added.
Braelyn laughed at them. “What could they possibly do?”
“Trust me,” Mikey said, “Do not underestimate those two. I’d sleep with one eye open.”
“Whatever,” Braelyn said grinning. She leaned her head back and looked up at Frank, “You wouldn’t do something mean to me, right?” When Frank grinned evilly at her, she turned to Gerard with a little bit of panic in her eyes. “Right Gerard?”
He had a matching grin, but quickly wiped it off his face and said reassuringly, “Of course not, sugar. We wouldn’t do anything mean.”
“Right,” Frank said when she looked back up at him.
“Good,” she sighed. Then she asked, “What time is it?”
“Eleven thirty-ish,” Bob answered.
“When do we get to Atlanta? That’s where we’re going right?”
“Sometime early tomorrow morning,” Bob said.
“And yes, Atlanta is where we’re going,” Mikey added.
“Awesome.” Braelyn suddenly felt tired. She yawned and said, “I think I’m going to go to bed.”
“Me too,” Bob said.
“Probably a good idea,” Mikey added.
“Lammmmmme,” Frank said.
“You all have that radio interview tomorrow morning,” Topher said, coming back to sit with them. “I just talked to Steve, the driver, he said we’ll be there around seven in the morning. Your interview is at seven thirty, so maybe bed is the best plan.”
Braelyn, Bob, Mikey, and Ray stood up. Frank said, “You’re not my real mom!”
“Thank God.”
“Come on, Frankie, let’s play one more round then we promise to go to bed,” Gerard said. “Does that sound ok mom?”
“Don’t call me mom,” Topher said. “And I guess it’s fine, there’s nothing I can really do about it. You’re adults. Or at least you’re supposed to be.”
“Yay!” Frank bounced in his seat. “Mario Kart!”
Braelyn smiled and followed the others into the bunkroom, waving goodnight to Topher, Gerard, and Frank. She popped open her storage cubby and pulled out her duffle. She rifled through it to find her pajamas and tooth brush. She slipped into the bathroom first and changed and brushed her teeth. She stepped back out into the bunkroom. Her hand flew up to cover her eyes. “Oh my God this is scarier than that movie!”
The boys were all half dressed in the middle of the hall. Mikey turned red and quickly got dressed, Bob soon after. Ray, however, took his time. “You gotta get used to this sweetheart,” he said smiling. He tweaked her nose, “You’re touring with a bus full of guys. If you don’t see someone naked in the next three days, I’ll be amazed.”
Braelyn mimed vomiting.
“Besides,” Ray continued, joking, “You know you like what you see.”
Braelyn laughed and went to her bunk. She put back her tooth brush and tooth paste and pulled out her hair brush. She climbed up into her bed and sat with her legs dangling off her bunk and brushed her hair while she talked to the boys.
“So what does one say in a radio interview?” She asked.
“Usually they ask about the tour we’re on and stuff like that. We don’t have a new album out so I’m not sure what else they’ll ask,” Bob answered.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous about it,” Braelyn said, now braiding her hair over her shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it,” Mikey said coming back from brushing his teeth. “They’ll probably be asking us most of the questions. I mean, no offense, no one really knows who you are.”
She sighed a little bit in relief and then laughed. She looked down at him. “Good. Thanks.”
He smiled back at her. She started making fun of Ray, who still didn’t have a shirt on, finishing her braid. Once she tied it off, she tucked her legs up under her and said goodnight to the others, pulling her curtains shut. She got under her blanket and put in her headphones. She closed her eyes and let the rocking of the moving bus lull her to sleep.
**
Light hit her face jolting Braelyn awake. She slowly opened her eyes to see someone had opened the curtain of her bunk. It couldn’t possibly be time for her to be awake yet. She rolled over and closed her eyes again.
A little while later she was woken up again by someone shaking her. She groaned and rolled over. Mikey was at her bunk.
“Time to wake up, Braelyn. Interview time.”
“Uggggh,” she moaned.
“You were excited about this yesterday, remember?”
“That was before I had to be awake.”
Mikey disappeared. He returned three minutes later. Braelyn hadn’t moved. “Seriously,” he said with a smile, “you’re as bad as Frank. Get up or I’ll make you.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, but never the less tore off her blanket and climbed out of her bunk.
“See that wasn’t so hard.” She grumbled at him and he continued, “We have to get off the bus in a half an hour.”
Braelyn gave the same squeak that she did yesterday when they told her she was taking pictures. The pace with which she was going through her suitcase quickened and she rushed into the bathroom which was mercifully empty. She changed quickly into jeans and a cute tank top, brushed her teeth and left the bathroom so someone else could use it. Back at her suitcase, she found her make-up case and her brush. She went out to the table to finish getting ready.
There she found Frank, dressed, but asleep on the bench seat. Gerard and Mikey were sitting at the booth talking. Braelyn went to join them, sliding into the seat next to Mikey. Braelyn listened to them discuss set lists and things while she applied her makeup. She was putting her eyeliner on when Gerard got her attention.
“What is that?” He asked.
“Eyeliner?”
“No, like what kind? I can never get mine to look like that.”
Braelyn looked into the mirror to examine the smooth black line that kind of flared at the outer corner of her eye. “It’s just regular eyeliner. It’s that liquid mousse thing? I don’t know, but it’s awesome.”
She lined her other eye. She put on eye shadow and mascara, then put away her stuff except for her lip gloss. When she finished she looked up and saw the boys still looking at her. “What?”
Gerard shook his head a little bit. “I don’t know, there’s something mesmerizing about a girl putting on makeup.”
Braelyn shook her head and smiled. The boys went back to talking. She unbraided her hair and was brushing it out when Topher came to ask her Starbucks order to put on the rider. She told him then fiddled with her hair for a good ten minutes before she sighed in frustration.
“What?” Mikey asked, looking at her after her outburst.
“My hair sucks today. I can’t make it look cute.”
“What was wrong with it before?”
“Before?”
“Ya. The braid.”
“I sleep in a braid. It isn’t exactly the cutest thing.”
“It looked fine,” Gerard interjected.
“One would go so far to say it was cute,” Mikey added. He looked down a little bit when he said it.
Braelyn didn’t notice, she was staring at her uncooperative hair in the mirror. “I do like the braid.”
“Then do the braid,” Mikey said. To Gerard, he continued, “Ray’s right. Girls and their hair.”
Braelyn laughed and shook her head. She started to braid her hair loosely and over her shoulder so it wasn’t just a boring straight down her back kind of braid. She finished and asked, “There, how’s that?”
“Great.”
“Good.” Now that she was done, she returned her stuff to her bag and pulled out her guitar. She went to sit in one of the chairs and she played through some stuff, practicing because she hadn’t played in a couple of days. In a few minutes it was time to wake up Frank and round up Ray and Bob and go into the radio station.
In the green room there were some delicious donuts and Starbucks. The boys already knew the radio personalities from a previous interview, so only Braelyn needed to be introduced. Then they were taken into the booth and the interview began.
“Welcome back to Wild 100.7, Atlanta’s hottest station. I’m your host Tony the Man. I’m here with my usual suspects, Gina and Eric. Also with us today are the men of My Chemical Romance and the young lady they are touring with, Braelyn Porter. How are you guys doing today?”
“We’re great, Tony,” Gerard answered for all of them.
“Awesome. For those of you who don’t know, these fine people will be playing tonight at the Roller Lounge. The show is all sold out except for the four tickets we have here at Wild 100.7 and we’ll be giving those away after the interview. So let’s get right down to it.” Tony and the other radio host asked the boys several questions like how did it feel now Black Parade was over and what was next for them. Then the conversation turned to Braelyn. “So,” Tony drawled, “Ms. Braelyn Porter. How did you come by this opportunity?”
Braelyn gulped a little, but answered in a steady voice. “I was playing in my favorite venue at home and these guys happened to be there.”
“That seems like a big coincidence,” Eric pointed out.
Mikey to the rescue. “Braelyn’s home is the Rover in Frisco, Texas. Once when we were in town a long time ago we played there and we fell in love with the place and the owners, so we play there every time we’re in town.”
“We got to see Braelyn play her normal set,” Frank put in. “She sang a bunch of covers, including one of our songs, and a lot of her own stuff. We really liked what she did, so we asked her to come along with us.”
“What’s that like?” Gina asked, her voice breathless.
“Crazy,” Braelyn answered with a laugh. “It happened so fast. Within two days, I had a spot on a national tour with one of the biggest bands in the country, an appearance in an internet video announcement with them, and my own website that crashed within six hours of being operational. The attention was crazy, but it’s been a fun ride so far.”
“That’s so exciting. I really like your top by the way,” Gina said.
“Oh, thanks,” Braelyn said, smiling.
“Seriously, kids,” Gina said, “This girl’s got style.”
Braelyn blushed. Tony asked, “So Braelyn, tell us about yourself and your music. Why do you play? Who influenced you?”
“Well, like Mikey said, I’m from Texas, just a little bit north of Dallas. I’ve been playing piano since I was four and guitar since I was about twelve. I started playing the Rover when I was fifteen. I play because my brother played. He definitely is the reason I got into music,” she paused to think for a second. “As far as my influences, first I played what I listened to, so my influences were bands like Sum41 and Simple Plan, Blink-182, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Billy Joel, 90s music. I was really kind of all over the place. I mostly play covers when I play at the Rover, we take requests. There’s a lot of Piano Man, Deathcab and My Chemical Romance music. I actually play a lot of country too.”
“What about your original stuff?” Eric asked.
“I’d say it’s a little bit of everything. There’s some punk, some emo, some pop, some alt acoustic. Just a lot of different stuff. I think someone classified it as ‘alt-indie’ even though I’m not quiet sure what that means. Everything’s acoustic though.”
“Her sound is unique,” Gerard said, “And it’s fantastic. She’s got a great thing going on.”
“Well maybe we can hear some, after you guys perform?” Tony asked.
The boys looked a Braelyn who looked through the window at Topher who shrugged. Braelyn said, “Sure, sounds fun.”
“I want to know what it was like to play My Chemical Romance for My Chemical Romance,” Gina said.
“It was really strange,” Braelyn responded. “I was really nervous about it. It wasn’t planned, someone literally yelled it out in the audience. But it was actually a really cool thing to perform.”
“We used it as a lead into our set,” Ray explained. “We were standing in the back of the room, and Gerard started singing the harmonies and stuff making his way through the crowd to the stage.”
“The rest of us snuck around and started playing our instruments. By the end, it was My Chemical Romance with special guest Braelyn Porter.”
“It was so cool to get to sing with them,” Braelyn said, beaming at the memory. “It’s probably my favorite performance.”
“That’s amazing,” Gina said.
“Alright with that, we’re going to start our contest for tickets to the show tonight.” It involved two people calling in and answering questions about the band that Gerard and Frank took turns asking. Whoever had the most points won the tickets. Once the game was over, they all left as the show went to a commercial and a stretch of music. In the other room where the boys’ instruments were, someone had brought up her guitar from the bus. She was shown to a room where she could warm up. She was nervous as she did so, she kept messing up chords and her voice was shaky. She tried to get herself under control as she was beckoned to the place where they would play.
The boys went first. They did “I’m Not Okay.” Afterwards there was another commercial break. The boys came over to her.
“Braelyn, are you ok? You’re shaking.” Bob said, noticing the way she was clutching her guitar.
She mumbled, “Nervous.”
Frank put his arm around her. “Nah. Don’t be. You’ll be awesome.”
“Plus,” Gerard added, “There’s less people in this room than there were at the Rover. And you love playing there.”
Braelyn was still looking at the floor. Mikey put his hand on her shoulder. “Just relax. You’ll be fine. I promise.”
Braelyn nodded, but she was still shaking. She was called over to the stool and microphone they had set up for her.
“You have about two minutes,” a sound engineer told her.
She nodded and took a couple of deep breaths before starting to play something. Her fingers were more sure. She sang a couple of notes. Her voice was only wavering a bit. Then the On-Air light came on.
“Welcome back listeners! You’re listening to Wild 100.7 in the morning. And right now we’re going to hear from a new artist. She’s touring with My Chemical Romance. Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Braelyn Porter.”
She began to play the intro. It was almost time to sing and she could feel herself freaking out. She looked up at the five boys leaning against the wall in front of her. They all smiled. Frank gave her a thumbs up. She smiled and started to sing.
The hours turn to days
And it’s hard enough not to blink
When I close my eyes
All I see is your face
And I’m sorry love
I’m not sorry love
I’m sure you’ll feel the same
Oh I’m bending, I’m not breaking.
And I’m here to give love, not to take.
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you.
And the hours turn to years
And it’s hard enough just to say
As I’m pullin’ and you’re pushin’
All this back in my face
And I’m sorry love
I’m not sorry love
I’m sure you’ll feel the same
Oh I’m bending, I’m not breaking.
And I’m here to give love, not to take.
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you.
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you more than you know
More than you’d ever thought I’d show
I need you.
The song ended. The radio host did a little blurb and then played some music. Braelyn got up of her stool and walked over to the boys.
“See,” Mikey said. “Nothing to worry about.”
“It was awesome,” Ray said.
“That was great,” Tony said coming over. “We look forward to hearing more from you.”
“Thanks,” Braelyn said blushing.
Their time at the studio was over. They said goodbye to everyone, packed up their stuff and headed back to the bus. The driver found a Waffle House and they went to breakfast before going to the venue.
A/N: hope you like this one too! review! haha ((the song is More Than You Know by Shorelines End)
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