Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Lifeline
Word of what happened in my gym class had reached the ears of most of the junior class, and it was mostly the same story despite the very subtle modifications that resulted from it being tossed around so many times between people. There were also a couple of rumors going around that claimed Bob had beat the crap out of Bianca and that I had gotten a fractured skull, but thankfully the rumors were short-lived and proven to be false. However people heard the story, they took two things away from it: I had friends after all, and, no one messed with Bob Bryar. In order to keep something like this from happening again to me, I had gotten switched into the alternative fitness gym class, which I liked so much more because we did things like yoga and aerobics and it wasn't competitive in any way.
Unsurprisingly, Katie and the guys had heard the rumors so naturally they wanted to know exactly what happened. After Bob and I told them, Gerard had been the first one to wrap me up in a hug, and as he did so he told me, "We're not going to let this happen to you again." At first, I thought that he was only saying that to comfort me, but then I realized he was serious because, from then on, the guys seemed to take me under their wing. They seemed to always look out for me. Maybe it was because I was a girl or maybe we were all extremely close by then.
A perfect example of them doing this was when they took it upon themselves to deal with the people who tried to hurt me emotionally. Some of the boys in our grade that had always given me a hard time in the past still taunted me, because they wanted to see if I was still as overly sensitive as I'd been when I was younger. I was still sensitive in high school to some degree, but by then I had learned how to control my emotions better. When that happened, the guys would go up to whoever wanted to start something and threaten to seriously hurt them if they did anything to me. Amazingly, everyone would always back off. The expressions the guys had when they said it made it clear that they were serious. It surprised me when they would stick up for me, but at the same time I appreciated how much they cared about me.
*
It was now the last day of school before we had Thanksgiving break, and I woke up that morning feeling really excited because that night was the night of the Coffee House. To be honest, I missed watching the guys play and I couldn't wait to hear the new songs they had been working on. I could tell just how nervous they all were because they didn't really say all that much that day, not even Gerard who was the most talkative one of them all. By the time lunch rolled around, they were back to their old selves and they were starting to feel excited about playing that night. Katie and I reminded them that we'd be in the audience cheering them on the whole time. That really seemed to erase any remaining traces of worry the guys had.
In the time I had between when I got home and when Katie was going to pick me up, I did my homework and listened to some music before I had to get ready. I put on a dark purple T-shirt, jeans and black flats. It was a little dressy for a Coffee House concert night, but it was all I had. I put my hair into a ponytail and tossed my coat on over it. I heard the doorbell ring and I saw that Katie's car was in the driveway.
Twenty minutes later, Katie pulled to a stop in front of the place the guys were playing at. As we walked inside I noticed that Katie was carrying a large black plastic shopping bag with her. Once we'd hung up our coats and gotten our hands stamped, she directed me into the girl's bathroom. It was still a while before anyone was really going to show up, so we were the only ones in there.
Katie quickly shut the door behind her and she thrust the bag at me with a grin. "Put this on. The guys will love it."
I looked at the clothes with uncertainty. The outfit consisted of a pair of black skinny jeans, a black and red horizontal stripe top with short sleeves and a scoop neck and a pair of red pumps. "But aren't you wearing almost the same thing?" I asked, looking over her green T-shirt, gray skinny jeans, pyramid stud belt and Converse.
"Okay, first of all, I normally wear this kind of stuff so it won't be a surprise, and I'm trying to surprise people in a good way by having you wear this." Katie explained. "Second of all, your outfit is a little more on the punk side than mine, so it won't look like you copied me. Third of all, the guys all told me that they'd love to see you in something like this, but only because they all think you could pull this look off. Besides," she smirked. "I don't think Gerard will be able to take his eyes off of you when he sees you in this."
"Oh, so you're playing matchmaker with us?" I laughed.
"Yeah, I'm playing matchmaker with you."
"Fine, I'll wear it." I sighed in defeat and went into one of the bathroom stalls to change. I was surprised but pleased to find that the clothes were my size. Once I was ready I modeled the clothes for her. "Well, what do you think?"
"Just needs one more thing." Katie reached up and pulled the hair tie out, setting my long hair free. "Perfect."
"Wow!" I exclaimed, stunned. The clothes really showed off my curves and I even seemed to look a little slimmer with them on. I looked so...different, but that wasn't really a bad thing when I thought about it. "You sure I won't be stealing the show away from you?"
"I'm positive. They already know what I'm wearing, but they're not expecting to see you in this. Don't worry, you'll be fine."
"Okay." I took a deep breath and we walked out to the part of the club that had the equipment already set up on the small stage where we found the guys checking their equipment. Katie gave me an encouraging smile and I walked up to them. "Hey, guys." Upon hearing my voice they all looked up to see me, and when they did, their jaws dropped.
"Whoa!" Ray exclaimed. The smile on his face was huge.
Frank whistled. "Look at you, gorgeous!"
Katie smirked and leaned closer to me and whispered. "I told you they'd love it!"
"Katie, I'm sorry I ever doubted you." I whispered back. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Gerard's reaction. His mouth was hanging slightly open, but he quickly came back to his senses.
"Wow." He smiled that sweet little smile of his. "You look beautiful, Valerie. Well, not that you didn't before..."
I laughed. "Gerard, I know what you meant, and thanks." I could feel myself blushing, and I was extremely thankful that the club was kind of dark.
"Um, Gerard, I think you're going to have to put the flirting on hold for a bit." Bob said, interrupting the little "moment" that Gerard and I were having. "You still have to warm up, right?"
"Oh crap, you're right! Valerie, I'll be back, I just have to find someplace quiet where I can do this." Gerard squeezed my hand and went off to warm up.
"Val, can I talk to you for a sec in private?" Mikey asked.
"Sure." I nodded. Mikey jumped off the stage and led me to an empty corner of the club. "So what do you want to talk to me about, Mikes?"
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I think Gerard likes you."
"What makes you say that?" I asked, startled.
"He talks about you a lot. Like, yesterday during band practice, he wouldn't stop obsessing over you. And I've seen the way he looks at you. By the way, you look awesome tonight."
"Thanks. How does he look at me, though?" Even though I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I couldn't help but feel hopeful about what he was telling me.
"Well, whenever you walk into the room his face lights up, and when you're talking to the rest of us, he's looking at you like a lovesick puppy."
"Wow..." I whispered and my voice trailed off. All this time I just thought he was just being nice to me, but I didn't think he actually had feelings for me. At that moment I felt my stomach churn and my heart start to beat faster. I realized that Gerard was what kept me going when I was having a bad day. Just seeing him walk by in the halls on our way to class was enough to cheer me up. A thought came to me, and I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before.
I liked him too.
"I don't think it's weird that my brother's in love with one of my best friends." Mikey said, as if he was reading my thoughts. "This was just something I could sense. So, if you guys end up as a couple I'll support you all the way."
"Thanks Mikey, but I don't think it'll happen."
Mikey shrugged. "You never know."
*
The guys were the second ones to play, so we all met up at the spot we had chosen to watch the first band play. The first band was okay. They had good songs, but they looked really bored and they didn't put any energy into their performance. The whole time they were playing, Gerard had his arms wrapped around my waist and was resting his chin on my shoulder. As surprised as I was at this particular display of affection, I wanted us to stay like that for a while. In Gerard's embrace, I felt loved.
Katie was right next to me, she kept grinning at me and Mikey was giving me thumbs up. The other guys either didn't notice or they just didn't want to say anything. I kept smirking back at Katie because Frank had his arm around her. Obviously there was something going on that she wasn't telling me, but it could wait. I'd get the details out of her later.
"Wish us luck out there." Gerard whispered when the first band finished playing. On stage, the guys picked up their instruments and Gerard went over to the mic. "Hi. We're My Chemical Romance and we're originally from Belleville, New Jersey. We decided that we're going to start things off by playing a little song of ours that expresses exactly what the five of us have been feeling since we came here. It's called, I'm Not Okay."
They were even better than I remembered, and they all put so much energy into their performance. Katie and I were dying to dance and jump around, but we knew that would freak people out so we just stayed put and watched. We were very pleased to see that people were watching them play and really taking in the music. During their performance, Gerard kept looking over at me, and every time he looked at me, I smiled. Hey, I couldn't help it. They played a total of five songs, but their part of the performance was over much too soon. They found us just as the last band was setting their things up and they were greeted by hugs from Katie and I.
"Sounds to me like you guys were well received out there tonight." Katie said.
"Yeah, people actually paid attention to us for once." Frank nodded, evidently happy that they had an audience that was more open in terms of music tastes.
"So, the audience tonight was nothing like it was back in New Jersey?" I asked.
"Definitely not." Gerard laughed.
"So, why did you get all dressed up tonight?" Ray asked me.
I shrugged. "To watch you guys play, I guess."
"You decided to dress up and look gorgeous just to watch us play?" Bob asked.
"I don't look gorgeous."
"Yes you do." They all said that in unison. I looked down at the floor in embarrassment.
"What's wrong?" Frank asked.
"I've been ignored and made fun of by people at school for most of my life, so being told that I'm pretty, beautiful or gorgeous feels a little weird."
"But it's true." Mikey said.
"Yeah, we wouldn't tell you that if it wasn't true." Gerard added. "We really mean it, especially me."
"Aw, man!" Mikey yelled when he saw what time it was. "Gerard, we gotta get going. Mom's going to freak if we don't come home at the time we agreed on."
"I'm taking Katie home, and Mikey's going to help Ray and Bob put away our sound system and the drum set." Frank explained. "And your mom already knows about this, Gerard."
"Okay, cool." Gerard then turned to me. "Valerie, do you have a ride home?"
"No, my parents are out seeing a movie and my sister's spending the night at a friend's."
He nodded. "Go get your coat, I'll drive you home."
*
The ride back to my house was pretty uneventful, but Gerard and I kept stealing glances at each other, only to look away when we made eye contact.
"You know what I just realized, Gerard? You're one of the only people who calls me Valerie instead of Val."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I don't really prefer one over the other, but most people call me Val so I find it unusual when someone calls me by my full first name."
"I like calling you Valerie, it's a pretty name." We smiled at each other.
Pretty soon we pulled into the driveway and slowed to a stop. Gerard and I got out of the car and walked up to the front door, with him holding my hand the entire time. Just as we got to the door it started snowing, the snowflakes gently floating to the ground.
"It's snowing early." Gerard remarked.
"Not really, it always starts snowing this time of year around here." I shrugged. "Well, I guess this is the right time to say goodnight."
"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for coming tonight." Gerard gave me a hug, and we just held each other for a little bit, with him gently stroking my hair. Eventually we pulled away. "I'd better go. Sleep well, babe."
"You too."
Just before he left, Gerard then surprised me completely by doing something that he'd never done before.
He kissed me on the cheek.
Unsurprisingly, Katie and the guys had heard the rumors so naturally they wanted to know exactly what happened. After Bob and I told them, Gerard had been the first one to wrap me up in a hug, and as he did so he told me, "We're not going to let this happen to you again." At first, I thought that he was only saying that to comfort me, but then I realized he was serious because, from then on, the guys seemed to take me under their wing. They seemed to always look out for me. Maybe it was because I was a girl or maybe we were all extremely close by then.
A perfect example of them doing this was when they took it upon themselves to deal with the people who tried to hurt me emotionally. Some of the boys in our grade that had always given me a hard time in the past still taunted me, because they wanted to see if I was still as overly sensitive as I'd been when I was younger. I was still sensitive in high school to some degree, but by then I had learned how to control my emotions better. When that happened, the guys would go up to whoever wanted to start something and threaten to seriously hurt them if they did anything to me. Amazingly, everyone would always back off. The expressions the guys had when they said it made it clear that they were serious. It surprised me when they would stick up for me, but at the same time I appreciated how much they cared about me.
*
It was now the last day of school before we had Thanksgiving break, and I woke up that morning feeling really excited because that night was the night of the Coffee House. To be honest, I missed watching the guys play and I couldn't wait to hear the new songs they had been working on. I could tell just how nervous they all were because they didn't really say all that much that day, not even Gerard who was the most talkative one of them all. By the time lunch rolled around, they were back to their old selves and they were starting to feel excited about playing that night. Katie and I reminded them that we'd be in the audience cheering them on the whole time. That really seemed to erase any remaining traces of worry the guys had.
In the time I had between when I got home and when Katie was going to pick me up, I did my homework and listened to some music before I had to get ready. I put on a dark purple T-shirt, jeans and black flats. It was a little dressy for a Coffee House concert night, but it was all I had. I put my hair into a ponytail and tossed my coat on over it. I heard the doorbell ring and I saw that Katie's car was in the driveway.
Twenty minutes later, Katie pulled to a stop in front of the place the guys were playing at. As we walked inside I noticed that Katie was carrying a large black plastic shopping bag with her. Once we'd hung up our coats and gotten our hands stamped, she directed me into the girl's bathroom. It was still a while before anyone was really going to show up, so we were the only ones in there.
Katie quickly shut the door behind her and she thrust the bag at me with a grin. "Put this on. The guys will love it."
I looked at the clothes with uncertainty. The outfit consisted of a pair of black skinny jeans, a black and red horizontal stripe top with short sleeves and a scoop neck and a pair of red pumps. "But aren't you wearing almost the same thing?" I asked, looking over her green T-shirt, gray skinny jeans, pyramid stud belt and Converse.
"Okay, first of all, I normally wear this kind of stuff so it won't be a surprise, and I'm trying to surprise people in a good way by having you wear this." Katie explained. "Second of all, your outfit is a little more on the punk side than mine, so it won't look like you copied me. Third of all, the guys all told me that they'd love to see you in something like this, but only because they all think you could pull this look off. Besides," she smirked. "I don't think Gerard will be able to take his eyes off of you when he sees you in this."
"Oh, so you're playing matchmaker with us?" I laughed.
"Yeah, I'm playing matchmaker with you."
"Fine, I'll wear it." I sighed in defeat and went into one of the bathroom stalls to change. I was surprised but pleased to find that the clothes were my size. Once I was ready I modeled the clothes for her. "Well, what do you think?"
"Just needs one more thing." Katie reached up and pulled the hair tie out, setting my long hair free. "Perfect."
"Wow!" I exclaimed, stunned. The clothes really showed off my curves and I even seemed to look a little slimmer with them on. I looked so...different, but that wasn't really a bad thing when I thought about it. "You sure I won't be stealing the show away from you?"
"I'm positive. They already know what I'm wearing, but they're not expecting to see you in this. Don't worry, you'll be fine."
"Okay." I took a deep breath and we walked out to the part of the club that had the equipment already set up on the small stage where we found the guys checking their equipment. Katie gave me an encouraging smile and I walked up to them. "Hey, guys." Upon hearing my voice they all looked up to see me, and when they did, their jaws dropped.
"Whoa!" Ray exclaimed. The smile on his face was huge.
Frank whistled. "Look at you, gorgeous!"
Katie smirked and leaned closer to me and whispered. "I told you they'd love it!"
"Katie, I'm sorry I ever doubted you." I whispered back. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Gerard's reaction. His mouth was hanging slightly open, but he quickly came back to his senses.
"Wow." He smiled that sweet little smile of his. "You look beautiful, Valerie. Well, not that you didn't before..."
I laughed. "Gerard, I know what you meant, and thanks." I could feel myself blushing, and I was extremely thankful that the club was kind of dark.
"Um, Gerard, I think you're going to have to put the flirting on hold for a bit." Bob said, interrupting the little "moment" that Gerard and I were having. "You still have to warm up, right?"
"Oh crap, you're right! Valerie, I'll be back, I just have to find someplace quiet where I can do this." Gerard squeezed my hand and went off to warm up.
"Val, can I talk to you for a sec in private?" Mikey asked.
"Sure." I nodded. Mikey jumped off the stage and led me to an empty corner of the club. "So what do you want to talk to me about, Mikes?"
"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I think Gerard likes you."
"What makes you say that?" I asked, startled.
"He talks about you a lot. Like, yesterday during band practice, he wouldn't stop obsessing over you. And I've seen the way he looks at you. By the way, you look awesome tonight."
"Thanks. How does he look at me, though?" Even though I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I couldn't help but feel hopeful about what he was telling me.
"Well, whenever you walk into the room his face lights up, and when you're talking to the rest of us, he's looking at you like a lovesick puppy."
"Wow..." I whispered and my voice trailed off. All this time I just thought he was just being nice to me, but I didn't think he actually had feelings for me. At that moment I felt my stomach churn and my heart start to beat faster. I realized that Gerard was what kept me going when I was having a bad day. Just seeing him walk by in the halls on our way to class was enough to cheer me up. A thought came to me, and I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before.
I liked him too.
"I don't think it's weird that my brother's in love with one of my best friends." Mikey said, as if he was reading my thoughts. "This was just something I could sense. So, if you guys end up as a couple I'll support you all the way."
"Thanks Mikey, but I don't think it'll happen."
Mikey shrugged. "You never know."
*
The guys were the second ones to play, so we all met up at the spot we had chosen to watch the first band play. The first band was okay. They had good songs, but they looked really bored and they didn't put any energy into their performance. The whole time they were playing, Gerard had his arms wrapped around my waist and was resting his chin on my shoulder. As surprised as I was at this particular display of affection, I wanted us to stay like that for a while. In Gerard's embrace, I felt loved.
Katie was right next to me, she kept grinning at me and Mikey was giving me thumbs up. The other guys either didn't notice or they just didn't want to say anything. I kept smirking back at Katie because Frank had his arm around her. Obviously there was something going on that she wasn't telling me, but it could wait. I'd get the details out of her later.
"Wish us luck out there." Gerard whispered when the first band finished playing. On stage, the guys picked up their instruments and Gerard went over to the mic. "Hi. We're My Chemical Romance and we're originally from Belleville, New Jersey. We decided that we're going to start things off by playing a little song of ours that expresses exactly what the five of us have been feeling since we came here. It's called, I'm Not Okay."
They were even better than I remembered, and they all put so much energy into their performance. Katie and I were dying to dance and jump around, but we knew that would freak people out so we just stayed put and watched. We were very pleased to see that people were watching them play and really taking in the music. During their performance, Gerard kept looking over at me, and every time he looked at me, I smiled. Hey, I couldn't help it. They played a total of five songs, but their part of the performance was over much too soon. They found us just as the last band was setting their things up and they were greeted by hugs from Katie and I.
"Sounds to me like you guys were well received out there tonight." Katie said.
"Yeah, people actually paid attention to us for once." Frank nodded, evidently happy that they had an audience that was more open in terms of music tastes.
"So, the audience tonight was nothing like it was back in New Jersey?" I asked.
"Definitely not." Gerard laughed.
"So, why did you get all dressed up tonight?" Ray asked me.
I shrugged. "To watch you guys play, I guess."
"You decided to dress up and look gorgeous just to watch us play?" Bob asked.
"I don't look gorgeous."
"Yes you do." They all said that in unison. I looked down at the floor in embarrassment.
"What's wrong?" Frank asked.
"I've been ignored and made fun of by people at school for most of my life, so being told that I'm pretty, beautiful or gorgeous feels a little weird."
"But it's true." Mikey said.
"Yeah, we wouldn't tell you that if it wasn't true." Gerard added. "We really mean it, especially me."
"Aw, man!" Mikey yelled when he saw what time it was. "Gerard, we gotta get going. Mom's going to freak if we don't come home at the time we agreed on."
"I'm taking Katie home, and Mikey's going to help Ray and Bob put away our sound system and the drum set." Frank explained. "And your mom already knows about this, Gerard."
"Okay, cool." Gerard then turned to me. "Valerie, do you have a ride home?"
"No, my parents are out seeing a movie and my sister's spending the night at a friend's."
He nodded. "Go get your coat, I'll drive you home."
*
The ride back to my house was pretty uneventful, but Gerard and I kept stealing glances at each other, only to look away when we made eye contact.
"You know what I just realized, Gerard? You're one of the only people who calls me Valerie instead of Val."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I don't really prefer one over the other, but most people call me Val so I find it unusual when someone calls me by my full first name."
"I like calling you Valerie, it's a pretty name." We smiled at each other.
Pretty soon we pulled into the driveway and slowed to a stop. Gerard and I got out of the car and walked up to the front door, with him holding my hand the entire time. Just as we got to the door it started snowing, the snowflakes gently floating to the ground.
"It's snowing early." Gerard remarked.
"Not really, it always starts snowing this time of year around here." I shrugged. "Well, I guess this is the right time to say goodnight."
"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for coming tonight." Gerard gave me a hug, and we just held each other for a little bit, with him gently stroking my hair. Eventually we pulled away. "I'd better go. Sleep well, babe."
"You too."
Just before he left, Gerard then surprised me completely by doing something that he'd never done before.
He kissed me on the cheek.
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