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MOVE ALONG-The All-American Rejects

It was storming with dark clouds, driving rain, deafening thunder, and blue and white lightning. It was also late at night. He was also standing outside in all of it. All of his hair was plastered to his head, his clothes were soaked through, and his bag was slowly getting there, too. The only good thing about the torrential rain was the fact that it disguised any tears that might be leaking out of his eyes still.

There was a light on in the house that he was standing on the porch of, just like he expected there to be. Swallowing any hesitation he had, he reached out and knocked on the door, blinking in case there were tears. He could hear the sound of footsteps approaching and he braced himself, pulling his hood down over his head a little more.

Then the door opened and in the space it left, a tall, skinny boy with brown hair was standing there, obviously wondering what the hell he was doing on his porch. “Brendon, what do you think you’re doing?” he asked with concern apparent in his hazel eyes.

Brendon tried to answer but all that came out of his mouth was a choked sob and he felt a fresh wave of hot tears spill out of his eyes. Ryan didn’t ask another question. Instead, he pulled Brendon through the doorway and shut out the storm behind them. Without a word, he guided Brendon to the couch and sat him down, reaching out for the remote and muting the TV. “What happened?” he asked.

Once again, Brendon couldn’t make words come out; the tears just ran down, hot and wet. He wiped them away from his face, irritated that he was crying. At least it was just Ryan though, and he knew that the other boy wouldn’t judge him. It was their thing, apparently, to be able to cry in front of each other and not feel embarrassed.

Ryan got up, leaving him on the couch, and he went out to the kitchen. Brendon could hear the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing, then the sound of a drawer being opened and closed. The whole time, Brendon wiped his nose and breathed and tried to calm down.

When Ryan came back out, he was holding half a tube of cookie dough and a spoon in each hand. He gave Brendon one of each and kept the other set for himself. He simply sat there, looking at Brendon, waiting for him to calm completely down, getting a Kleenex box from under one of the tables and setting it between them.

Gratefully, Brendon used the Kleenexes and was able to calm down to the point where the tears stopped and he was able to breathe normally. The skin on his face was tight and his cheeks felt hot and his throat hurt but he was better.

“Do you want to talk?” Ryan asked, taking a bite of his cookie dough and looking at Brendon sympathetically. Brendon took another breath and nodded; he took a bite of the cookie dough and focused on breathing.

“M-my parents,” he took a breath, “kicked me out of the house.”

“What?!” Ryan asked indignantly, sitting up straight. That was obviously not what he thought he was going to hear. “Why?!”

“Because I’m not going to go to college and I’m going to be in a band instead,” Brendon answered, taking another bite of the raw chocolate chip cookie that he had in his hand. He’d been planning on going to college but the others kept talking about making the band bigger and trying to make it. At first he’d been hesitant, but they kept telling him how great it would be. They even went as far as to have a college intervention for him, to convince him to try it with them.

“I’m sorry Brendon,” Ryan said. Normally when people said they were sorry he didn’t believe them because he knew that they really didn’t mean it, but Ryan did, he could see and hear that.

“They asked me tonight what scholarships I’d applied for. I told them that I hadn’t yet and they said that I should get on it because college is expensive. Then, without really meaning to, I just kind of dropped the bomb and told them that I wasn’t going to college, I was going to pursue the band. I even told them about posting those two songs on the internet,” he paused for a second. This had been the part where things got really ugly. He took a breath and continued then.

“They sort of laughed and gave me all the shit about how hard it is and how it’s a one in a million chance that we’ll actually make it. Of course, I had to then point out the fact that there were people who made it and that we could be that one. That just kind of pissed them off. They didn’t want to be told that they were wrong and things got bad from there. Eventually it all ended with them saying that they weren’t going to support me anymore if I didn’t have a solid plan to support myself, that they’re going to show me what my life will be like without college,” Brendon finished. His eyes had teared up again and he shook his head, wiping his eyes.

“God, Brendon. I’m sorry,” Ryan said, he leaned forward and hugged him and Brendon hugged back but he pulled away quickly.

“I think that I’ll be okay. But, can I stay with you? I won’t stay for long; I’ll find somewhere else to live as soon as I can. Maybe I could even switch between yours, Spencer’s, and Brent’s for a while.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can stay with me. I don’t care and it’ll be nice to have someone else here,” Ryan said, looking sympathetic again and maybe a little offended that Brendon thought about going somewhere else.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am. Seriously Brendon, we’re band mates, we’ve got to stick together. And besides that, you’re one of my best friends.”

“Really? I am?”

Ryan smiled a crooked smile. “Don’t be stupid.” He leaned back, still smiling a little. “I really am sorry about your parents. Are you hungry?”

“Not really, the whole thing happened near the end of dinner and I don’t have much of an appetite right now. I am wet and cold though, so I’ll go change now and stop getting your couch wet.”

“It’s not really my couch anyway,” Ryan responded with a shrug.

Brendon got up and went to the bathroom, taking his nearly dry bag with him. He’d stuffed pretty much all of his clothes into the bag and he was hoping that they weren’t too affected by the rain. In the bathroom, he dug through it and found that his hopes paid off, none of the clothes were too wet. He changed quickly and went back out to Ryan.

The TV was still on mute and Ryan was writing in a notebook while eating more of his cookie dough. Brendon joined him on the couch and picked up his half-tube of frozen cookie, digging in and taking another bite. Ryan looked up. “Feeling better?”

“Yes actually I am,” Brendon said, surprised at the fact.

“Good. The cookie dough’s helping?”

“It is. It makes sense that cookie dough works as comfort food.” Brendon smiled a little and took another bite, truly surprised at how much better he was feeling.

Ryan shrugged again and dug into his half-tube. “I just figured it out one day. I like it better than ice cream.” He accentuated his point by putting the spoonful of dough in his mouth.

Brendon smiled a little bit and did the same, then he had a thought. “I have to call someone. I’ll be back, I just don’t know when because this conversation could take a while,” he said, reaching for his phone and standing. Ryan waved his hand, writing down some more words into the notebook on his lap.

While he stepped into the next room, Brendon dialed the familiar number of the person who he could talk about anything with. She was the person he’d wanted to call the whole first week of school those nights when he was up in his room alone.

“Brendon?”

“Kara,” he sighed happily. “Yeah, it’s me. Didn’t you recognize my phone number?”

“I did, I was just wondering why you were calling. It’s rather late on a Friday night.”

“Like you weren’t up anyway.”

“True. So what’s going on? You don’t generally call me for nothing.” From the sounds in the background he could hear that she was settling down on the couch.

He sighed, figuring that he should just get it out. “Mom and Dad kicked me out tonight.”

“What?! Are you serious?”

“Yeah I’m serious. It happened at the end of dinner.”

“Oh my God, why? Mom and Dad don’t act irrationally out of anger, or do things that they aren’t sure of. They must be really serious about this. What happened?”

“Well, we were talking about college scholarship applications,” he started, hearing her sigh on the other line. It was something that their parents had nagged her about, too. Then he recounted the whole story he’d told Ryan, putting in a few extra things that he’d left out before because it was something about their parents that Kara understood perfectly.

“Brendon,” she said in an exhale, she sounded sad and sympathetic. “Do you have some place to stay? I would come pick you up off the street right now if you tell me where you are. You can come stay here with me.”

“Thanks Kar, but I do have a place to stay and Seattle wouldn’t be a convenient move. I’m at a friend’s house.” He took a little breath and whispered, “Do you think they’ll change their minds? Let me come back?”

“I honestly don’t know Brendon. You’re the baby of the family, so maybe. Mom and Dad though, like I said, they don’t do thing rashly. I wish I could tell you better. If it was me or any of the others they probably wouldn’t but you’re the youngest, the last one of the five of us,” she said sadly, trying to sound comforting, but still giving him the truth. She was good at that. “I wish I was there so I could just hug you and maybe go plead your case to Mom and Dad.”

He smiled a little bit, wishing the same thing. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay. I’ll just have to show them that they’re wrong about it.”

“That’s the spirit Brenny. And if you want more truth, I believe in you guys. I think that it’s very possible for you to make it out there. Like you said, why can’t the one be you? Stay with it B, and stick with this friend of yours.”

“He is a great friend.”

“I’m glad. You haven’t really had friends before and it’s good that you found a great one right off the bat. What’s his name so that when I see you guys on magazines I can tell who he is?”

“Ryan Ross. He’s tall and skinny. You can’t miss him.” He wasn’t sure if the magazine comment was a joke or if she was being serious. He didn’t want to know though so he didn’t ask, in case she was kidding about it.

“Stick with Ryan then Brendon. You guys are going to make it, I know it.”

“Thanks Kar. I’m glad there’s someone in our family who supports me and the whole idea.”

“Of course I do, Brendon.”

“So how’s the baby? And how did Mark react?”

“It’s so exciting. I’m definitely bigger, not much, but it’s noticeable. Mark was in shock and possibly a little denial. Then he started grinning like an idiot and kept repeating, ‘I’m gonna be a dad, I am going to be a father.’ It was sort of cute.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“Not yet. I’m not sure that I want to know, I think I want it to be a surprise.”

“What if I don’t?”

“You’re just going to have to deal with that then aren’t you?” she asked, teasing. He could actually hear her smile on the other side of the line.

Brendon smiled too and slowly made his way back to the living room. “Hey, Kar, do you want to talk to Ryan? Since he’s right here and all,” he asked quietly, looking at the back of Ryan’s head that was bent over, still writing.

“Really? Yes I want to talk to him, give him the phone,” she demanded.

With another smile, Brendon walked around the couch, sat down and shoved the phone into Ryan’s hands. He was jerked out of what he was doing and after the last letter there was a long line across the paper. He looked at the phone, bewildered, and looked at Brendon. “Who is it?” he asked, pressing the speaker to his chest.

“Someone who wants to talk to you. Just talk,” Brendon said, smiling a little bit. Cautiously Ryan put the cell phone up to his ear, looking at Brendon the whole time.

“Hello?” There was a pause. “Yes, this is Ryan Ross.” There was an even longer pause and Brendon could hear the sound of his sister’s voice just not the individual words. As the pause progressed, Ryan’s face relaxed and he just listened. “You’re welcome. It’s really nothing, he just showed up at my house. He’s nice to have around anyway.” Pause. “I will; thank you.” Pause. “Okay, here you go.” He reached out and handed the phone back to Brendon.

“I like him Brenny. Are you sure you’re going to be okay? You don’t need anything?”

He nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you again Brendon, bye.”

“Bye Kara.” He smiled and closed his phone, setting it on the coffee table in front of him.

“I can see why she’s your favorite,” Ryan observed.

“Yeah, I can tell her anything, it’s always been that way. And, Ry, she believes in us. She thinks we can make it and she told me that she’s going to be rooting for us.”

“I know, that’s what she told me. It was nice to hear, too. Sometimes it gets kind of hard to only rely on my own thoughts encouraging me. It’s nice to have someone else say it.”

“I know what you mean.”

“I like her.”

“She likes you too. You took me in and that’s a great way to get on her good side. Do something nice for her favorite brother and you’re golden,” Brendon said, smiling a little.

“It’s the least I could do Bren, I couldn’t turn you away when you were standing there, asking to be killed by lightning, not that I would turn you away anyway.”

“Thank you Ryan.” Ryan smiled and reached out to turn South Park back on.

***

An hour or two passed and eventually it was time to go to bed since Brendon was rather exhausted by the upturning of his life. Brendon made to stretch out on the couch but Ryan stopped him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m not sleeping on the couch?”

“Of course you’re not. This is a whole house with other rooms. You’ll stay in one. Come on,” Ryan motioned for him to get up and follow. Brendon got his bag and went up the stairs right after Ryan.

“This one’s mine. There are three others to pick from and then the bathroom down the hallway,” Ryan said, pointing each thing out. Brendon already knew all of this from the tour he’d gotten and the amount of time he’d already spent at Ryan’s house.

“I’ll take this one,” he said, gesturing to the room right across from Ryan’s. He didn’t want to be all alone all the way down the hall. He didn’t know how Ryan did it, living all alone every single night, but he had been doing it since he was fourteen.

Ryan nodded and opened the door. He turned the light on and looked around the room. “I think that it’s probably clean. There’s some dust but we can take care of it tomorrow. You don’t care for one night right?”

Brendon stepped into the room. “I don’t care period.” Cleanliness of his surroundings was never high on his priority list. As long as he was comfortable and not in danger of getting some kind of disease he didn’t care much about the state a room was in.

“Good,” Ryan nodded and stood in the doorway for a second. “So, I’ll, uh, see you in the morning I guess,” he said, straightening up and waiting for Brendon’s nod before leaving the room awkwardly. A few seconds later, Brendon heard the closing of the door opposite his.

It was a nice room. The walls were painted dark blue and gray. The bedding matched and there was a closet and a dresser. Brendon set his bag down on the surface of the dresser and took his shirt off. When he was changed into his pajamas he went down the hall to brush his teeth.

Ryan was already done with the bathroom and when Brendon went back down the hall he saw light coming from under Ryan’s door with music playing low. Brendon considered going in to say goodnight but Ryan had pretty much already done that so he went back to his room.

The bed was comfortable when he sat on it. It was soft but not too soft, and the comforter wasn’t scratchy but smooth. The pillows were sort of flat, but not too bad. He could definitely live here. It was later than he’d thought and he wondered where the hours went as he turned off his light and got under the blanket.

As soon as he’d been out of the house with his bag packed and all of his things, Brendon had walked down the street to make it look like he knew exactly what he was doing and didn’t care that he wasn’t allowed in the house anymore. It was all just a show for his parents though. When he got to the end of the street, he sat down on the corner with his bag beside him and he thought about where he could go.

He didn’t want to call Kara right away; he decided that it was about time that he figured out how to live without her holding his hand. When they were younger and their parents had gotten mad at him he would go to her room and she would let him in and hug him and tell him that he would be okay. It was time that he learned to deal with his parents on his own. That was all fine and good but he also knew that he needed a place to stay and he didn’t have one.


Without another thought he’d gotten up and started to walk, unsure of where he was going, just thinking for the moment. The thought struck Brendon somewhere in the middle of his pointless walk, when it had started to rain and he’d hurried to the familiar location that was his second home. At the end of the street, he’d hesitated and wondered if he really wanted to bother Ryan. Then it started to thunder and lightning and he ran down the street to make the decision under shelter.

When Brendon had knocked on the door, he realized that he was crying and he realized that he couldn’t stop no matter how hard he tried. Then the door had opened and Ryan had let him in.

There in the dark, Brendon couldn’t keep pretending like he didn’t care. In reality, the fact of it stung and it made him feel empty. His parents, the people who were supposed to love and support him through everything, had turned their backs on him. There was a part of him that wanted to rush back and tell them that he would do whatever it took to get their love back. He knew that they hadn’t stopped loving him, though, they were just disappointed and they wanted to bend him back to his approved path. Brendon couldn’t let that happen because, for once, he was absolutely sure of his decision and something felt right about following this new path that he’d found for himself. Besides, Brendon had to stay strong and stick with the band. It was what he wanted to do and it was what everyone else in the band wanted and he couldn’t let them down.

He wondered how long the emptiness would last; how long the stinging would go on. There in the soft bed that was his now, he whispered a little prayer to a god that he was still hoping for—something that he never did—in case it might work for him.

Brendon stared at the ceiling and listened closely. He could still hear music playing from under the door opposite his and he wondered how long Ryan was going to stay awake. As for him though, he was drained, so he rolled over and closed his eyes, curling up and letting consciousness melt away.

***

Brendon jolted awake sometime in the middle of the night. He had no idea what time it was and he had no idea what woke him up. All he knew was that something didn’t feel right. Brendon reached over and looked at his phone. It was about two o’ clock in the morning and after a few more seconds he realized what woke him up.

Slowly he got up and got out of the comfortable bed. He walked across the floor to the door and stepped out into the hallway. At the door across the hall he leaned in and listened. He was almost sure that it had been a yell from this side of the hallway that woke him up. Sure enough, from inside the room he heard whimpers and the sound of thrashing around. Occasionally Ryan cried out, quieter than before and sometimes Brendon was able to hear strings of seemingly nonsensical words.

He hesitated, his hand a few centimeters away from the doorknob, debating whether he should go in and see if Ryan was okay or not. With a heavy heart he pulled his hand away from the door and stepped back. Whatever demons Ryan was facing, Brendon figured he had to deal with them alone. He didn’t like it but he didn’t think that Ryan would appreciate him walking in and getting into his business. It was probably just a nightmare anyway. So Brendon stepped back again, back to his own room and he went back to bed.

***

The next morning, he woke up and rolled out of bed. Of course he remembered where he was, and he didn’t care, he was used to waking up in Ryan’s house.

He opened the door and saw that Ryan was leaving his room, going to the bathroom by the looks of the clothes in his arms. There were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept for days, and it looked like his hair was stuck to his forehead, his clothes were a mess and there was a dark spot on the front of his shirt, like a sweat mark. He looked like he might drop dead on the spot.

He didn’t of course. Ryan nodded at Brendon and went down the hall to the bathroom. It wasn’t long before Brendon heard the sound of the shower turning on and he was satisfied that Ryan wasn’t going to collapse. He went downstairs to get breakfast, resolving to take his shower when Ryan was done.

It took a while, longer than he expected it to take, and when Ryan came out of the bathroom he looked completely different. His clothes were all in order, his hair was straight and kind of spiky as usual, and his eyes seemed brighter now and there was a thin line of black eyeliner around them.

Brendon went into the bathroom and set his clothes down on the counter. Ryan had left a towel for him on the back of the toilet and the consideration made Brendon smile a little bit. He had a comfortable home now and he was with someone who truly accepted him and actually wanted him around. It was a little strange, but Brendon really liked it and he figured that he could get used to it.

When he left the bathroom, he went down the stairs to see Ryan sitting at the table, slowly stirring his cereal around in the bowl. He looked sad, but indifferent at the same time. Brendon remembered earlier that morning when he’d left Ryan in his room and he felt guilty so he sat down across from Ryan, making the older boy look up.

“Hey Ry, thanks for the towel,” Brendon said. Ryan nodded, still looking at him, his expression was more covered up now and Brendon had to look harder to see what he’d seen before. “Are you okay?”

Ryan let go of his spoon and sat up straighter as if that would fool Brendon. “I’m fine. How did you sleep last night?” Brendon knew exactly what Ryan was doing and he went along with it, making a mental note to watch the other boy.

“I slept well. The bed’s really comfortable. Again, thanks for letting me stay with you.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t need to thank me? I’m glad to have you. I’m helping one of my best friends in his time of need. I’m sure that you’ll repay the favor someday, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time I help you.” His eyes were warm and soft, but Brendon still thought he detected that sadness.

He smiled and nodded. “I’m here for you too buddy.” He knew that Ryan was right. If Ryan needed him, Brendon would be there to help him out, whatever it was. It was a nice feeling to have, to know that there was someone who had his back. Ryan smiled back.

After Ryan’s breakfast they went into Brendon’s room and cleaned up a little. There was a lot of dust, but Brendon still didn’t mind and he had to tell Ryan that three times before the eighteen year old believed him. When that was done, they went back downstairs to relax on the couch. It was a Saturday morning and for some reason there hadn’t been a big sleepover like there usually was, so it was just Ryan and Brendon.

“So what do you do when no one else is here?” Brendon asked. It had to get lonely and boring being all alone in a big house like this one.

“I revel in the peace,” Ryan said sarcastically, looking amused at the light scowl that Brendon sent in reply. “I write or I read. Sometimes I play video games. I play music or I listen to it. I don’t know, whatever I feel like doing I guess,” Ryan replied.

“What are we going to do now? I assume that I’m messing up your plans.”

“Yes, you totally crushed them and now I have no idea what to do with you here. It’s probably rude to read while someone else is with you.”

“Yes it is rude. And now you’re just going to have to strain that eighteen year old brain of yours and think of something else to do.”

Ryan fake glared at him. “We could always play video games. Or we could mess around with music. I guess now you won’t be missing any rehearsals anymore.”

Brendon shuddered at the thought of that weekend three weeks ago. “You’re right, we could maybe work on that song that you showed me, get it all worked out so that when Spence and Brent see it all we have to do is play it and they don’t get the chance to sit down and really look at it.”

“That’s a really good idea. Come on,” Ryan said, getting up. Brendon got up too, but he had the feeling there was something he was forgetting to do, then it hit him.

“Shit,” he muttered, dashing to the stairs and up to his room. He hoped that he’d put the pill bottle in his bag when he’d left. After a few seconds of digging, he found it. Triumphantly he opened it, popped a pill, and calmly put it back in the bag. A few seconds later, he walked back down the stairs to where Ryan was waiting, looking confused.

“What just happened? Where did you go?”

Brendon hesitated, he wasn’t sure that he wanted Ryan to know about the Ritalin and the ADHD and the fact that his brain didn’t function normally. Then again it was Ryan, Ryan would understand, he wouldn’t care, and he probably wouldn’t make fun of Brendon for it. He especially wouldn’t say anything after that whole speech about being there for Brendon. “I was taking medicine,” he said.

Ryan tilted his head to the side. “For what? Are you sick?”

“No, I just have this thing that I have to take medicine for.” So much for just telling Ryan and trusting him to be cool about it.

“What is this thing?” Then, there was Ryan asking anyway so it was going to come out sooner or later. They’d started slowly walking to the music room, slow enough that their conversation would be dragged out a little longer.

“Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD for short,” Brendon said. “The Ritalin calms me down and lessens the symptoms. I still have them though. The medicine just lowers the intensity so I just seem like a hyper teenager and that’s all.”

Ryan nodded. He didn’t start laughing or asking questions about it, and he definitely didn’t look at Brendon like there was something wrong with him. “That’s kind of cool.”

“Sure, you can put it that way. It’s really a pain in the ass because sometimes I forget to take my Ritalin, and then people get pissy with me because I’m being annoying. Not a lot of people know that I have it, just my family and you.”

“Well I’m honored.”

“You should be.”

And that was that. They were at the music room and they sat down to work out the music for the song about Ryan’s shitty childhood. Unsurprisingly they made a lot of progress and Ryan seemed relieved that they’d gotten it done. Throughout the whole thing he’d been solid. He hadn’t wavered once or shown that side that Brendon had seen the last time. Ryan Ross was back to being unbreakable, Brendon could see a few cracks now, though. It was amazing, once he knew of their presence he was able to see little things much clearer, to the point where he wondered how he’d missed them before.

The rest of the day went smoothly, they talked and Brendon got to know a little bit more about the eighteen year old that he was living with. That night was much the same as the last one, but there wasn’t any crying out from Ryan in the early morning. Brendon thought he heard the same thrashing around, though.

On Monday they woke up in time for school, showered, had a quick breakfast; and Brendon got in the car with Ryan. They were running late because neither of them factored in the time for two people to do everything. It didn’t matter much because they did make it, and that was a good thing because apparently it was another part of Ryan’s emancipation to have to be on time to school and any job he might have.

School went by normally and after school Spencer went back to Ryan’s house with Ryan and Brendon. Neither of them had told him about Brendon living there yet. Brendon didn’t because he didn’t want to talk about it at school and Ryan because he probably figured that it was Brendon’s news to tell.

Brent missed rehearsal that day—a fact that Brendon didn’t fail to notice and record in his mind—so he missed the news when they told Spencer. Spencer was outraged and sympathetic when Brendon recounted the whole story. For a while he didn’t actually say anything, and then he let loose.

“You’re better off without them anyway Bren. If they’re going to kick you out just because you’re not going to go to college and you want to pursue something you’re good at, then I say fuck them.”

“Spin,” Ryan warned quietly from the chair he was sitting in. “They’re still his parents.”

“Not very good ones if they’re just going to make him fend for himself in the wicked world if he doesn’t do what they want him to,” Spencer defended.

Ryan was about to say something in response to that but Brendon spoke up first. “Thanks Spencer for your support.” Insulting his parents was a little touchy but Brendon couldn’t say that he didn’t feel the same way. Some of his first thoughts when it had happened had gone along those same lines. “Thanks both of you actually.”

And just like that they moved on to the music, to the reason that the whole thing had happened. “So, have you heard anything about the songs?” Spencer asked, relaxing back into his chair.

“Yeah, people really like them. They keep listening and leaving comments saying that they want more and they would buy an album if we put one out,” Ryan said calmly but Brendon could see the spark of excitement in his eyes. This was almost exactly what Ryan wanted, what they all wanted.

“How about the name; what do they think of the name?” Brendon asked. He loved the name that they’d come up with one day while listening to some of the old records that Ryan had.

“They love the name. A lot of people say that the reason they looked at the music was because of the name.”

Then came the question that they were all nervous about and it came from Brendon. “So, what did Pete Wentz say? Has he replied?”

Ryan did something on the computer, probably getting into his livejournal to check. After a certain point he simply froze and stared at the screen. Impatiently, Brendon and Spencer moved and looked over the oldest boy’s shoulder.

There it was, the reply from the bassist of Fall Out Boy, and it said that he would love to come out and hear them play live because he really liked the songs they sent him. There it was, the message that told them that they had a chance, the message that told Brendon that all of this might not be for nothing.

After they all got out of their shock they discussed where they should have Pete meet them for a “show”. Ryan didn’t want it at his house for reasons that he wasn’t sharing, though Brendon thought it probably had something to do with the fact that the house wasn’t exactly humble and he didn’t want to explain it. Eventually they decided to have it at Spencer’s grandma’s house, in her garage.

It was interesting to Brendon. That was where it all started for him and that would be where everything started for the whole band if Pete liked what he heard. That would be where Brendon found out if his parents were right or wrong.

YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/8o9llbb Hope you liked it, let me know.

Oh, and my mom just got home from a business trip in New Orleans, guess what she got me. That's right, a mask. According to it, I'm a Head. The only problem is that it's black and gold, but there's a little bit of silver and white everywhere and the whole thing has a greenish tint and the feathers on top are black. So I'm assuming I'm the Head of Heads. All in all it's beautiful, not necessarily with my face under it. (If you're confused, check out my other chaptered story and it will make sense)