Rock and Roll Ruined My Life
Danielle Meets the Band
Rock And Roll Ruined My Life- Chapter 6- Danielle Meets the Band
“Ok kids? Everybody have everything?” My dad stared at Sarah and me through the rear-view mirror.
“Yes, for the hundredth time we have everything,” I replied impatiently tapping my foot.
“Good let’s go!” My dad put the mini van in drive, turned on the radio, and started off down the parking lot ramp. I was bouncing with excitement. It was Friday, I was sleeping over my cousins’ house, and I was going to get a chance to hang out with My Chemical Romance and my cousin at the same time. ‘Oh my God life is so great right now!’ I thought to myself. ‘This is going to be the best weekend ever!’
I had been packed for this weekend since I got off the phone with the guys and I was so excited! I was prepared for everything! I had shoes, clothes, bathing suit, tooth brush, guitar picks, and even some granola bars and sun flower seeds for the ride. I knew I totally over packed, but I could really care less…
“Juliet were you listening?” My mom said loudly snapping me out of my day dream.
“Wha? Um no sorry say that again.” My mom clicked her tongue and said, “Make sure you look out for your sister.”
“Yeah, I will,” I replied looking out the window.
“I’m serious Juliet. You know how your cousins can be.” I sighed and rolled my eyes knowingly.
My dad is one of 8 children, so his side of the family is pretty spread out. We’re the only ones who live in Manhattan though. My dad’s other brothers and sisters reside in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island so we never really see one anyone too often. But somehow we find our way over to little Staten Island once every month and get together with my Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary who happen to have 4 girls.
Their first daughters’ name is Danielle. She loves to dance and sing and she’s actually really good. But beside from her good dancing skills she’s a total blonde and klutz. She can’t help it… Even though she’s two years older than me she’s definitely the closest to me out of all of them.
Their second daughters’ name is Melissa. In reality, Melissa’s only a year younger than me, but she looks like she’s five years older than me. She also cannot help it, it’s in her genes. She’s also the loudest one and quite sportsy. She’s played basketball since forever. She’s also a bit obsessed with boys but that’s ok. I don’t know what I would do without her. She’s super smart and even though she has her blonde moments, I love her just the same.
After Melissa, there’s Samantha Nicole who is my sister’s age. Even though she’s only a few days younger than Sarah, her height makes her look my age. Samantha is very, very funny. She takes right after Melissa in her style and humor, but has Danielle’s passion for singing and dancing. She’s also the only red head with freckles and green eyes in the family. If one things sure, it’s that Danielle and Samantha do NOT get a long the tiniest bit. I guess it’s because they have the same personalities. I’ve learned this from them: Opposite personalities attract not similar ones.
Lastly, there’s Victoria who is two years younger than my sister. Victoria and Sarah are very close and never seem to get bored when they’re together. Victoria is the only ‘geek’ of the family and I admire her for it. She’s the only one in her family that enjoys reading except for her parents who read books here and there… I couldn’t wait to see them all again!
We were just getting on the Verrazano Bridge when I felt chilly. I looked around for my hoodie. Crap where was it? Suddenly I gasped then started laughing. “Are you ok Juliet?” my mom turned around to see what was going on. “Yeah I just forgot my hoodie,” I smiled at her. “Do you want mine?” She held hers out to me.
“No, no, no I’ll live,” I laughed. I can’t believe I left my hoodie on the guys’ bus. “I knew I was forgetting something. Can you turn off the AC, Dad? I’m freezing!” I said.
As we went through the E-Z Pass my mom started to rummage through her bag for something. “Here,” she said sticking her hand out behind her. I looked at her hand and my jaw dropped. It was my phone.
“The only reason I’m letting you have this is because you’re staying over your Aunt’s house. Call us if anything happens ok? Will you take it already? My arms hurting!” I was honestly afraid to touch it. I reached out and took it slowly out of her hand.
“Thank you,” was all I could murmur. My mom never ever lifted her punishments early. I was in shock.
****************************************************************************************************
“JULIET!!!” I felt my feet loose their grip on the sidewalk as a mass of blonde and red hair attacked me. “Guys, guys! Get off me!”
“We haven’t seen you in so long!”
“Julie! Why haven’t you texted me?”
“Yeah or me?”
“I missed you Juliet!”
By now I was thoroughly crushed. There was only one way to get them all off of me. “Guys,” I said in a sing song voice, “you’re all embarrassing yourselves in front of a cute guy!”
“WHAT?!” All at once they all got up and I could breathe again.
“Julie there’s no cute guy here,” said Melissa in a serious voice.
“I’m aware,” I replied smiling as innocently as I could. She rolled her eyes and then joined in the attack of my poor little sister. I turned around to see my mom gaping unbelievingly at our lovely relatives. I laughed then opened our car’s trunk to pull out my bag. As I rested it down on the sidewalk the zipper came undone and half of my things fell out. “Fuck,” I muttered loud enough for only me to hear. I bent down and started to pick up my things.
“Good job Julie,” I heard an approaching voice say. I looked up to see Samantha bend down to help me shove my things back into my case. “Thanks Sammy,” I smiled.
“You know,” she said looking up at me.
“What?” I shoved the last shirt by me into the case and looked up.
“You’re the only one I let call me Sammy,” she started smiling but then stopped.
“What?” I asked.
“Your face? What happened? Who did that to you?”
“People,” I replied standing up taking my tooth brush out of her hand.
I started to walk toward the house. I heard voices calling me from behind. I didn’t turn around to see who it was though. I just kept walking. Thinking about my bruised face made me angry for some reason. It was hideous and vile. It was like a mask I couldn’t take off. Every time I tried to talk to someone all they would do is stare at my face and not listen to what I was saying. Whatever, I just wish people wouldn’t notice…
“Julie what did I say?” I heard Samantha call after me. I opened the front door to the house and cut through the kitchen and put my stuff down on the dining room table. “Julie!” I heard Samantha in the kitchen. “Julie I’m sorry! I didn’t know you felt bad about your face!” She rushed over to me and put a hand on my arm. I sighed and looked up at her,
“It’s ok Sam, you didn’t know.” She smiled relieved then started to pull me towards the back door. “Come on lets go outside!”
I felt the bottom of my Converses become destroyed as she dragged me across the backyard to the pool where my aunt was relaxing. ‘Sam’s pretty strong for a 10 year old,’ I thought. When my Aunt saw me a smile formed on her lips. Too bad it didn’t reach her eyes…
“Juliet! Hello lovey!” She leaned over the side of the pool and kissed my cheek.
“Hi, Aunt Mary! How’s the water?”
“The water’s great! You guys should jump in!” She waved a manicured hand behind her towards the sparkling aqua water. I smiled and said, “Nah, I’m good for now. Where’s Uncle Joe?” I saw what ever light there was in her eyes fade.
“Your Uncle is at the grill.” With that she turned away and waded across the pool to the other side.
“Come on Sam, I want to say hi to your dad,” this time I pulled Sam away from the pool and towards the grill on the other side of the yard.
“Hey! Uncle Joe!” I felt relieved as I saw a true smile form on his lips and in his eyes.
“Juliet! What’s up?”
“Nothin’ much. Food smells good!” I laughed as I leaned over to kiss his cheek.
I guess I got along better with the guys in my family because my uncle and I were actually pretty close. Not as close as I am with my dad but close enough for people who only see each other once every now and then.
“You kids go have fun. I’ll call you when the food’s done,” he waved us away with a grin and we took off for the house.
“Juliet! Where have you been? Did you say hello to everyone?” my mother stopped me and Sam in our tracks.
“Yes mother, I have said hello to everyone,” I replied trying not to sound too annoyed.
“Good. You guys should go in the pool now before it gets buggy,” she told us.
“Ok!” We both replied walking away. As we were half way up the steps I realized I had forgotten my bag. “Oh crap. I forgot my bag in the dining room. I’ll just change downstairs ok, Sam?”
“Ok. I bet you I’m gunna be ready first!” She turned around and stuck out her tongue.
“You’re on!” I jumped down the last 5 steps and landed hard on my feet. I shook it off and kept running.
“Juliet, don’t run!” my mom’s voice reprimanded me as I raced through the kitchen.
“It’s a race!” I yelled back not stopping as I rushed to the first floor bathroom with my stuff. My cousins had a big house, but they aren’t as rich as they really seem. They just happened to have a little bit more than us in the bank, which apparently makes all of the difference.
I grabbed my bag and threw it on the dining room table again. No one really cared where I left my stuff…Just as I rushed out into the back, Sam appeared on the other end of the yard. We glared at each other one last time and took off running at full speed for the pool ladder. ‘Ugh, this would be so much easier if they had an in ground pool,’ I thought. I scrambled up the wooden ladder and threw myself into the sparkling chlorine filled water.
“I hate you!” Sam screamed as she jumped in. I ducked under water as she tried to splash me in my face. “Hey, that’s what happens when you’re on the track team,” I told her. She made a face at me then swam across the pool and grabbed a beach ball.
“Catch!” she screamed at me. I looked up a second too late and got hit square in the face.
“Ha ha ha! That’s what you get!” she laughed. I stuck out my tongue at her and smiled.
“Sam! What is WRONG with you?!” I looked up to see a fuming Danielle standing on the pool deck.
“What’s wrong with your face?” Sam retorted ducking underwater just in time. Danielle had jumped in- glasses and all- and started to chase her. I jumped in between them and held up my hands.
“Guys! Guys! Hello? Dan, Sam didn’t mean it ok? It was an accident, ok? Calm down please.” I looked Danielle in the eye until she calmed down.
“Ok, fine. But you better watch your back bitch!” Danielle warned Sam who in return pretended to be scared. She fake screamed and ran out of the pool. That was basically the last I’d see of Sam for the whole weekend. Danielle made sure I was off limits to everyone except her, Melissa, and their friends. ‘Oh well,’ I thought…
****************************************************************************************************
I was stuffed. “Dude I don’t think I’ve eaten that much in my entire life,” I told Melissa and Danielle. They both nodded in agreement. Today had been great. We spent the whole day outside. I wish we lived in Staten Island. ‘Um no you don’t!’ said a voice in the back of my head. ‘What? Yes, I do, because then I would be able to hang out with my cousins everyday.’
‘No you don’t because then you would have never met My Chemical Romance.’ I gasped suddenly remembering everything.
“Juliet! What’s wrong?” Danielle was staring at me with a look of concern. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her up the stairs. I didn’t stop running until we got to her room at the end of the hallway. “Juliet what happened? Did you forget something? What’s wrong?” I closed the door behind me.
“Nothing’s wrong! Stop talking! Ok Dan you like the band My Chemical Romance right?”
She gasped and sent me an offended look,
“Yes, I love them. How could you not know?”
“I completely forgot sorry,” I sent her an apologetic look and continued. “Anyway, I know for a fact that they are staying at a hotel on Staten Island and I was wondering if you would want to go and check it out. I understand if you don’t but-”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! NO WAY! YOU’RE JOKING! ARE YOU SERIOUS? THEY ARE SO AMAZING! HOW DID YOU FIND OUT? YOU FOUND OUT JUST FOR ME? JULIE I LOVE YOU!!!” Danielle rushed forward and hugged me so tight that the blood was cut off at my elbows.
“Ow! Dan, get off of me! Please! DANIELLE!” She backed away at once and sat down obediently on her bed. “Sorry,” she apologized.
“It’s ok just calm down,” I said shaking my head disbelievingly. How could she jump around so much after we just ate all of that food?
“What the hell are you guys doing in here?” I turned around and saw Melissa standing in the door way with her hands in fists. “Thanks for including me in the conversation by the way,” she added before slamming the door. I flinched at the sound then rushed out the door and went across the hall to her room. I knocked on the door.
“Go the fuck away,” I heard her muffled voice.
“Melissa, please give me a chance to explain. I don’t want you to be mad. You know I would never want to hurt your feelings on purpose. I’m sorry,” I added.
After waiting for a few minutes I sighed and turned around. It was when I was about to walk into Danielle’s room I heard Melissa’s door open behind me. I turned around quickly and saw her standing in the door way.
“Come on,” she said half smiling. I grinned back at her, jogged into her room, and threw my self onto the spinning chair in front of her desk.
“So, what was all of that screaming about?” She gave me one of her annoyed/confused looks. I sighed,
“It’s a long story, but you know the band My Chemical Romance?”
“Yeah,” she said nodding her head.
“Well, I met them the other day and they told me that they were going to be staying at a hotel in Staten Island, and when I remembered that we were going to be staying over your house I told them that we should try to meet up. And when I told Danielle about it she started freaking out,” I stopped talking and let everything sink in.
“That’s pretty cool Julie, but I don’t understand why you totally forgot about me and just left me on the stairs,” she said in an annoyed voice.
“I didn’t know if you liked them or not and I literally just remembered five seconds ago that’s why I rushed off like that. I just got caught up in the moment sorry,” I apologized again.
“It’s ok. So what’s the plan? How are we going to get you to this hotel? Which one is it?” She asked.
“I think we should include Dan in the convo. Before I came over here she was hyperventilating,” I said chuckling. She laughed in agreement and we went across the hall to make a plan.
*******************************************************************************************************
“Danielle! Juliet! Wake up!” I propped my self groggily up on one elbow. 'Where was I?' I blinked a few times so that my eyes could focus. I stared around the blue room in confusion. 'Whose house was I in? This isn’t my room…'
“Juliet over here!” I turned my head slowly to the end of the air mattress I was sleeping on and saw Melissa standing over me. I jumped in surprise. What was she doing here? “Come on! We have to get going!”
“Why are you all dressed? What are you doing here?” I asked. She sighed impatiently, then began to refresh my memory.
“You and Sarah are staying over our house for the weekend, and we are supposed to get going other wise we will never be able to see My Chemical Romance. Do you remember the plan?” She stared disbelievingly at my confused expression.
After a few minutes everything made sense.
“Holy crap! Danielle wake up!” I stood up and rammed myself right into her. As painful as it was for both of us it was the only way to get her up. “
What the fuck Sam?” She turned around groggily and raised her hand threateningly. I stopped it from hitting my face just in time. I grabbed her glasses off the night stand and put them on her face.
“Dan, it’s me wake up. We’re going to meet My Chemical Romance, ok?” She stared at me blankly. Slowly I saw realization spread across her face. I laughed and said, “Come on.”
After we had all gotten dressed and mentally prepared to leave, we stopped in the kitchen to leave a note. Melissa asked me what to write. “Dear Mom and Dad, We are just getting an early start today- Um… Don’t write 'um'! - We are going to go to the mall after we finish hanging out with our friends. We took Juliet with us don’t worry about her. We all have our phones just in case, and we all have our own money. We will call you guys soon. Love, Melissa and Danielle. How’s that?” I asked.
“Good. Let’s go!” We tip toed to the front door and left making sure to lock the door behind us. We had a long way to go.
***************************************************************************************************
“South Avenue,” the bus driver said loudly. I sat up and shook Danielle and Melissa awake. We were the only ones on the bus. I was sure there had been more people on before I conked out. “Finally,” I heard Melissa mutter behind me. We walked down the center isle of the bus slowly. “Thank you,” I said to the bus driver as we got off.
“No problem,” he answered sounding surprised. I guess he hadn’t expected me to say that.
We stopped to stretch before we began to look for the hotel. The street was empty, but I still felt like we were being watched. “Come on guys, this place gives me the creeps,” I told them. We decided to walk to the left of the bus stop first. “What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s almost 10,” Melissa said.
“Do you think any of them are still down at breakfast?” I wondered.
“Maybe,” Danielle answered. She sounded much more awake now than she did before.
“Thank God we don’t have to go back the other way,” I said as I saw a Hampton Hotel sign sticking out of a bush at the end of the block.
“Yay!” Danielle squeaked as we made our way across the parking lot which was surprisingly full. ‘Who stays at a hotel in Staten Island? I thought. ‘MCR,’ my brain answered. We walked up to the big automatic doors and stopped.
“What are we waiting for?” I asked. They shrugged at me and continued walking, I was in the lead.
“What the hell Juliet?” Melissa said rubbing her shoulder. I had stopped us from walking right in front of the concierge’s desk.
“What do we do? They don’t know we’re here,” I said stating the obvious.
“Well, it’s breakfast time right? Let’s get some breakfast,” Melissa said leading the way into the dining area. The room was oddly covered in horses. I wondered why…
“Juliet! Over here!” I heard Danielle say. I turned around to see them waiting on the breakfast line. I walked over to them and said,
“Guys, we can’t wait here forever. We need a plan!”
“Julie, right now I just want some food okay? Let’s eat THEN think of a plan,” Melissa said. ‘Oh my God they don’t get it!’ I thought. I grabbed a bagel, put some cream cheese on it, then got off the line and sat down at a table by the elevator. ‘Think! Think!’ I told my self. As soon as Danielle and Melissa sat down it came to me.
“Oh my God guys come with me quick and act really excited just follow my lead. Come on!” I pulled them over to the concierge’s desk.
“Um, excuse me?” I asked in a really bubbly voice.
“How can I help you?” answered the concierge returning my smile.
“Um, I was just wondering, is the band My Chemical Romance staying here? We were here with our parents checking in and we thought we saw them. It would be like, so cool if they were, right?!” I said turning to Melissa who immediately caught on and began jumping up and down and squealing.
“I’m sorry I’m not aloud to give information like that out. Please go back and enjoy your breakfast,” the concierge said in an annoyed voice flipping her hair.
“Oh Miss! Please just let us know! We won’t bother them or anything we just want to know!” I pleaded.
“I told you I’m not aloud to give information like that out, now please go away!” She yelled shooing us off with her hand.
“Aww!” we all said in unison and rushed back to our table.
We all sat down and Melissa was just about to speak when I held up my finger and hushed her. I turned around to see what the concierge was doing. I saw her glance at our table with a worried expression then pick up the phone on her desk and begin dialing. I waited for a few seconds then got up and pretended to make my way to the bathroom which was right next to her desk. As I passed the desk I listened to what she was saying.
“Good morning, is this Mr. Way? ... I would just like to inform you that there are three girls here who know of your whereabouts…Why does it matter what they look like? ... Oh fine, the one that asked me has brown hair with bangs… Yes, she has brown eyes and glasses. What does it matter to you? ...” I rounded the corner and continued to listen. “What? You know them? ... They told me they were here with their parents…. Oh, you know their parents? ... Would you like me to send them up? ... No? ... Okay… Thank you. Good bye.” I heard her put down the phone and sigh in exasperation.
“Yes!” I whispered to myself. I walked back to our table and sat down.
“Did it work?” Danielle asked excitedly.
“Yeah!” I answered with the same enthusiasm.
“Hey guys I’m sorry to interrupt and everything, but there are some really hot guys over there and I’m gunna go talk to them ok? See ya’!” Melissa said standing up. We watched her walk over to a table with four guys sitting at it. They were definitely attractive, but not something I would waste my time on…
I turned back to my bagel and took a bite. It was terribly dry and stale. I reached over and grabbed Danielle’s orange juice and took a sip.
“Yuck that was gross,” I said wiping my mouth with a napkin and handing the glass back to her. “It looks gross,” she said taking a sip and putting it back on the table. “I guess we just wait now right?” she asked. I nodded and took another bite of my bagel. Even though it was gross, I was still hungry.
*************************************************************************************************
(20 minutes later)
I heard the elevator doors open behind me. I didn’t turn around I just continued talking to Danielle, who also ignored it. After a while the excitement wore off and we stopped turning around every five seconds to see if it was the guys. The breakfast crowd was thinning and now only a few sleepy heads were scattered around the dining area.
“How long does it take to come down stairs?” I said out loud to no one in particular.
“It takes forever when you have these idiots with you,” answered a familiar voice.
Before I could turn around, a pair of hands covered my eyes and I heard Danielle scream.
“Ow,” I muttered. My face was still bruised from the many impacts it had taken.
“Guess who,” said the voice. I furrowed my brow in thought.
“Um… Frankie?”
“ Damn it,” I heard him say. I smiled in triumph and turned my uncovered eyes to Danielle who was in total shock.
“Danielle?” I asked tentatively.
“Julie you weren’t joking,” she murmured. I laughed.
“Why would I lie about something like this?” I asked her waving a hand in the direction of the guys who all waved back.
“I don’t know,” she said in an awed voice.
I made sure my bangs were covering the bruised part of my face before I turned to face them.
“Guys, I would like to introduce you to my cousin: Danielle,” I said standing up. I looked behind me to see her sitting there staring at Gerard. I took her hands in mine and pulled her up from her chair. I let go of her hands and she began to sway to the left. I caught her and looked at them pleadingly. “Say something before she blacks out guys,” I murmured. Gerard stepped forward and put his arm around Danielle.
“Want to come hang out with us on our bus?” he asked her.
“Eak,” was all she could muster.
“I think that’s a yeah,” Mikey laughed.
“Ok kids? Everybody have everything?” My dad stared at Sarah and me through the rear-view mirror.
“Yes, for the hundredth time we have everything,” I replied impatiently tapping my foot.
“Good let’s go!” My dad put the mini van in drive, turned on the radio, and started off down the parking lot ramp. I was bouncing with excitement. It was Friday, I was sleeping over my cousins’ house, and I was going to get a chance to hang out with My Chemical Romance and my cousin at the same time. ‘Oh my God life is so great right now!’ I thought to myself. ‘This is going to be the best weekend ever!’
I had been packed for this weekend since I got off the phone with the guys and I was so excited! I was prepared for everything! I had shoes, clothes, bathing suit, tooth brush, guitar picks, and even some granola bars and sun flower seeds for the ride. I knew I totally over packed, but I could really care less…
“Juliet were you listening?” My mom said loudly snapping me out of my day dream.
“Wha? Um no sorry say that again.” My mom clicked her tongue and said, “Make sure you look out for your sister.”
“Yeah, I will,” I replied looking out the window.
“I’m serious Juliet. You know how your cousins can be.” I sighed and rolled my eyes knowingly.
My dad is one of 8 children, so his side of the family is pretty spread out. We’re the only ones who live in Manhattan though. My dad’s other brothers and sisters reside in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island so we never really see one anyone too often. But somehow we find our way over to little Staten Island once every month and get together with my Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary who happen to have 4 girls.
Their first daughters’ name is Danielle. She loves to dance and sing and she’s actually really good. But beside from her good dancing skills she’s a total blonde and klutz. She can’t help it… Even though she’s two years older than me she’s definitely the closest to me out of all of them.
Their second daughters’ name is Melissa. In reality, Melissa’s only a year younger than me, but she looks like she’s five years older than me. She also cannot help it, it’s in her genes. She’s also the loudest one and quite sportsy. She’s played basketball since forever. She’s also a bit obsessed with boys but that’s ok. I don’t know what I would do without her. She’s super smart and even though she has her blonde moments, I love her just the same.
After Melissa, there’s Samantha Nicole who is my sister’s age. Even though she’s only a few days younger than Sarah, her height makes her look my age. Samantha is very, very funny. She takes right after Melissa in her style and humor, but has Danielle’s passion for singing and dancing. She’s also the only red head with freckles and green eyes in the family. If one things sure, it’s that Danielle and Samantha do NOT get a long the tiniest bit. I guess it’s because they have the same personalities. I’ve learned this from them: Opposite personalities attract not similar ones.
Lastly, there’s Victoria who is two years younger than my sister. Victoria and Sarah are very close and never seem to get bored when they’re together. Victoria is the only ‘geek’ of the family and I admire her for it. She’s the only one in her family that enjoys reading except for her parents who read books here and there… I couldn’t wait to see them all again!
We were just getting on the Verrazano Bridge when I felt chilly. I looked around for my hoodie. Crap where was it? Suddenly I gasped then started laughing. “Are you ok Juliet?” my mom turned around to see what was going on. “Yeah I just forgot my hoodie,” I smiled at her. “Do you want mine?” She held hers out to me.
“No, no, no I’ll live,” I laughed. I can’t believe I left my hoodie on the guys’ bus. “I knew I was forgetting something. Can you turn off the AC, Dad? I’m freezing!” I said.
As we went through the E-Z Pass my mom started to rummage through her bag for something. “Here,” she said sticking her hand out behind her. I looked at her hand and my jaw dropped. It was my phone.
“The only reason I’m letting you have this is because you’re staying over your Aunt’s house. Call us if anything happens ok? Will you take it already? My arms hurting!” I was honestly afraid to touch it. I reached out and took it slowly out of her hand.
“Thank you,” was all I could murmur. My mom never ever lifted her punishments early. I was in shock.
****************************************************************************************************
“JULIET!!!” I felt my feet loose their grip on the sidewalk as a mass of blonde and red hair attacked me. “Guys, guys! Get off me!”
“We haven’t seen you in so long!”
“Julie! Why haven’t you texted me?”
“Yeah or me?”
“I missed you Juliet!”
By now I was thoroughly crushed. There was only one way to get them all off of me. “Guys,” I said in a sing song voice, “you’re all embarrassing yourselves in front of a cute guy!”
“WHAT?!” All at once they all got up and I could breathe again.
“Julie there’s no cute guy here,” said Melissa in a serious voice.
“I’m aware,” I replied smiling as innocently as I could. She rolled her eyes and then joined in the attack of my poor little sister. I turned around to see my mom gaping unbelievingly at our lovely relatives. I laughed then opened our car’s trunk to pull out my bag. As I rested it down on the sidewalk the zipper came undone and half of my things fell out. “Fuck,” I muttered loud enough for only me to hear. I bent down and started to pick up my things.
“Good job Julie,” I heard an approaching voice say. I looked up to see Samantha bend down to help me shove my things back into my case. “Thanks Sammy,” I smiled.
“You know,” she said looking up at me.
“What?” I shoved the last shirt by me into the case and looked up.
“You’re the only one I let call me Sammy,” she started smiling but then stopped.
“What?” I asked.
“Your face? What happened? Who did that to you?”
“People,” I replied standing up taking my tooth brush out of her hand.
I started to walk toward the house. I heard voices calling me from behind. I didn’t turn around to see who it was though. I just kept walking. Thinking about my bruised face made me angry for some reason. It was hideous and vile. It was like a mask I couldn’t take off. Every time I tried to talk to someone all they would do is stare at my face and not listen to what I was saying. Whatever, I just wish people wouldn’t notice…
“Julie what did I say?” I heard Samantha call after me. I opened the front door to the house and cut through the kitchen and put my stuff down on the dining room table. “Julie!” I heard Samantha in the kitchen. “Julie I’m sorry! I didn’t know you felt bad about your face!” She rushed over to me and put a hand on my arm. I sighed and looked up at her,
“It’s ok Sam, you didn’t know.” She smiled relieved then started to pull me towards the back door. “Come on lets go outside!”
I felt the bottom of my Converses become destroyed as she dragged me across the backyard to the pool where my aunt was relaxing. ‘Sam’s pretty strong for a 10 year old,’ I thought. When my Aunt saw me a smile formed on her lips. Too bad it didn’t reach her eyes…
“Juliet! Hello lovey!” She leaned over the side of the pool and kissed my cheek.
“Hi, Aunt Mary! How’s the water?”
“The water’s great! You guys should jump in!” She waved a manicured hand behind her towards the sparkling aqua water. I smiled and said, “Nah, I’m good for now. Where’s Uncle Joe?” I saw what ever light there was in her eyes fade.
“Your Uncle is at the grill.” With that she turned away and waded across the pool to the other side.
“Come on Sam, I want to say hi to your dad,” this time I pulled Sam away from the pool and towards the grill on the other side of the yard.
“Hey! Uncle Joe!” I felt relieved as I saw a true smile form on his lips and in his eyes.
“Juliet! What’s up?”
“Nothin’ much. Food smells good!” I laughed as I leaned over to kiss his cheek.
I guess I got along better with the guys in my family because my uncle and I were actually pretty close. Not as close as I am with my dad but close enough for people who only see each other once every now and then.
“You kids go have fun. I’ll call you when the food’s done,” he waved us away with a grin and we took off for the house.
“Juliet! Where have you been? Did you say hello to everyone?” my mother stopped me and Sam in our tracks.
“Yes mother, I have said hello to everyone,” I replied trying not to sound too annoyed.
“Good. You guys should go in the pool now before it gets buggy,” she told us.
“Ok!” We both replied walking away. As we were half way up the steps I realized I had forgotten my bag. “Oh crap. I forgot my bag in the dining room. I’ll just change downstairs ok, Sam?”
“Ok. I bet you I’m gunna be ready first!” She turned around and stuck out her tongue.
“You’re on!” I jumped down the last 5 steps and landed hard on my feet. I shook it off and kept running.
“Juliet, don’t run!” my mom’s voice reprimanded me as I raced through the kitchen.
“It’s a race!” I yelled back not stopping as I rushed to the first floor bathroom with my stuff. My cousins had a big house, but they aren’t as rich as they really seem. They just happened to have a little bit more than us in the bank, which apparently makes all of the difference.
I grabbed my bag and threw it on the dining room table again. No one really cared where I left my stuff…Just as I rushed out into the back, Sam appeared on the other end of the yard. We glared at each other one last time and took off running at full speed for the pool ladder. ‘Ugh, this would be so much easier if they had an in ground pool,’ I thought. I scrambled up the wooden ladder and threw myself into the sparkling chlorine filled water.
“I hate you!” Sam screamed as she jumped in. I ducked under water as she tried to splash me in my face. “Hey, that’s what happens when you’re on the track team,” I told her. She made a face at me then swam across the pool and grabbed a beach ball.
“Catch!” she screamed at me. I looked up a second too late and got hit square in the face.
“Ha ha ha! That’s what you get!” she laughed. I stuck out my tongue at her and smiled.
“Sam! What is WRONG with you?!” I looked up to see a fuming Danielle standing on the pool deck.
“What’s wrong with your face?” Sam retorted ducking underwater just in time. Danielle had jumped in- glasses and all- and started to chase her. I jumped in between them and held up my hands.
“Guys! Guys! Hello? Dan, Sam didn’t mean it ok? It was an accident, ok? Calm down please.” I looked Danielle in the eye until she calmed down.
“Ok, fine. But you better watch your back bitch!” Danielle warned Sam who in return pretended to be scared. She fake screamed and ran out of the pool. That was basically the last I’d see of Sam for the whole weekend. Danielle made sure I was off limits to everyone except her, Melissa, and their friends. ‘Oh well,’ I thought…
****************************************************************************************************
I was stuffed. “Dude I don’t think I’ve eaten that much in my entire life,” I told Melissa and Danielle. They both nodded in agreement. Today had been great. We spent the whole day outside. I wish we lived in Staten Island. ‘Um no you don’t!’ said a voice in the back of my head. ‘What? Yes, I do, because then I would be able to hang out with my cousins everyday.’
‘No you don’t because then you would have never met My Chemical Romance.’ I gasped suddenly remembering everything.
“Juliet! What’s wrong?” Danielle was staring at me with a look of concern. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her up the stairs. I didn’t stop running until we got to her room at the end of the hallway. “Juliet what happened? Did you forget something? What’s wrong?” I closed the door behind me.
“Nothing’s wrong! Stop talking! Ok Dan you like the band My Chemical Romance right?”
She gasped and sent me an offended look,
“Yes, I love them. How could you not know?”
“I completely forgot sorry,” I sent her an apologetic look and continued. “Anyway, I know for a fact that they are staying at a hotel on Staten Island and I was wondering if you would want to go and check it out. I understand if you don’t but-”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! NO WAY! YOU’RE JOKING! ARE YOU SERIOUS? THEY ARE SO AMAZING! HOW DID YOU FIND OUT? YOU FOUND OUT JUST FOR ME? JULIE I LOVE YOU!!!” Danielle rushed forward and hugged me so tight that the blood was cut off at my elbows.
“Ow! Dan, get off of me! Please! DANIELLE!” She backed away at once and sat down obediently on her bed. “Sorry,” she apologized.
“It’s ok just calm down,” I said shaking my head disbelievingly. How could she jump around so much after we just ate all of that food?
“What the hell are you guys doing in here?” I turned around and saw Melissa standing in the door way with her hands in fists. “Thanks for including me in the conversation by the way,” she added before slamming the door. I flinched at the sound then rushed out the door and went across the hall to her room. I knocked on the door.
“Go the fuck away,” I heard her muffled voice.
“Melissa, please give me a chance to explain. I don’t want you to be mad. You know I would never want to hurt your feelings on purpose. I’m sorry,” I added.
After waiting for a few minutes I sighed and turned around. It was when I was about to walk into Danielle’s room I heard Melissa’s door open behind me. I turned around quickly and saw her standing in the door way.
“Come on,” she said half smiling. I grinned back at her, jogged into her room, and threw my self onto the spinning chair in front of her desk.
“So, what was all of that screaming about?” She gave me one of her annoyed/confused looks. I sighed,
“It’s a long story, but you know the band My Chemical Romance?”
“Yeah,” she said nodding her head.
“Well, I met them the other day and they told me that they were going to be staying at a hotel in Staten Island, and when I remembered that we were going to be staying over your house I told them that we should try to meet up. And when I told Danielle about it she started freaking out,” I stopped talking and let everything sink in.
“That’s pretty cool Julie, but I don’t understand why you totally forgot about me and just left me on the stairs,” she said in an annoyed voice.
“I didn’t know if you liked them or not and I literally just remembered five seconds ago that’s why I rushed off like that. I just got caught up in the moment sorry,” I apologized again.
“It’s ok. So what’s the plan? How are we going to get you to this hotel? Which one is it?” She asked.
“I think we should include Dan in the convo. Before I came over here she was hyperventilating,” I said chuckling. She laughed in agreement and we went across the hall to make a plan.
*******************************************************************************************************
“Danielle! Juliet! Wake up!” I propped my self groggily up on one elbow. 'Where was I?' I blinked a few times so that my eyes could focus. I stared around the blue room in confusion. 'Whose house was I in? This isn’t my room…'
“Juliet over here!” I turned my head slowly to the end of the air mattress I was sleeping on and saw Melissa standing over me. I jumped in surprise. What was she doing here? “Come on! We have to get going!”
“Why are you all dressed? What are you doing here?” I asked. She sighed impatiently, then began to refresh my memory.
“You and Sarah are staying over our house for the weekend, and we are supposed to get going other wise we will never be able to see My Chemical Romance. Do you remember the plan?” She stared disbelievingly at my confused expression.
After a few minutes everything made sense.
“Holy crap! Danielle wake up!” I stood up and rammed myself right into her. As painful as it was for both of us it was the only way to get her up. “
What the fuck Sam?” She turned around groggily and raised her hand threateningly. I stopped it from hitting my face just in time. I grabbed her glasses off the night stand and put them on her face.
“Dan, it’s me wake up. We’re going to meet My Chemical Romance, ok?” She stared at me blankly. Slowly I saw realization spread across her face. I laughed and said, “Come on.”
After we had all gotten dressed and mentally prepared to leave, we stopped in the kitchen to leave a note. Melissa asked me what to write. “Dear Mom and Dad, We are just getting an early start today- Um… Don’t write 'um'! - We are going to go to the mall after we finish hanging out with our friends. We took Juliet with us don’t worry about her. We all have our phones just in case, and we all have our own money. We will call you guys soon. Love, Melissa and Danielle. How’s that?” I asked.
“Good. Let’s go!” We tip toed to the front door and left making sure to lock the door behind us. We had a long way to go.
***************************************************************************************************
“South Avenue,” the bus driver said loudly. I sat up and shook Danielle and Melissa awake. We were the only ones on the bus. I was sure there had been more people on before I conked out. “Finally,” I heard Melissa mutter behind me. We walked down the center isle of the bus slowly. “Thank you,” I said to the bus driver as we got off.
“No problem,” he answered sounding surprised. I guess he hadn’t expected me to say that.
We stopped to stretch before we began to look for the hotel. The street was empty, but I still felt like we were being watched. “Come on guys, this place gives me the creeps,” I told them. We decided to walk to the left of the bus stop first. “What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s almost 10,” Melissa said.
“Do you think any of them are still down at breakfast?” I wondered.
“Maybe,” Danielle answered. She sounded much more awake now than she did before.
“Thank God we don’t have to go back the other way,” I said as I saw a Hampton Hotel sign sticking out of a bush at the end of the block.
“Yay!” Danielle squeaked as we made our way across the parking lot which was surprisingly full. ‘Who stays at a hotel in Staten Island? I thought. ‘MCR,’ my brain answered. We walked up to the big automatic doors and stopped.
“What are we waiting for?” I asked. They shrugged at me and continued walking, I was in the lead.
“What the hell Juliet?” Melissa said rubbing her shoulder. I had stopped us from walking right in front of the concierge’s desk.
“What do we do? They don’t know we’re here,” I said stating the obvious.
“Well, it’s breakfast time right? Let’s get some breakfast,” Melissa said leading the way into the dining area. The room was oddly covered in horses. I wondered why…
“Juliet! Over here!” I heard Danielle say. I turned around to see them waiting on the breakfast line. I walked over to them and said,
“Guys, we can’t wait here forever. We need a plan!”
“Julie, right now I just want some food okay? Let’s eat THEN think of a plan,” Melissa said. ‘Oh my God they don’t get it!’ I thought. I grabbed a bagel, put some cream cheese on it, then got off the line and sat down at a table by the elevator. ‘Think! Think!’ I told my self. As soon as Danielle and Melissa sat down it came to me.
“Oh my God guys come with me quick and act really excited just follow my lead. Come on!” I pulled them over to the concierge’s desk.
“Um, excuse me?” I asked in a really bubbly voice.
“How can I help you?” answered the concierge returning my smile.
“Um, I was just wondering, is the band My Chemical Romance staying here? We were here with our parents checking in and we thought we saw them. It would be like, so cool if they were, right?!” I said turning to Melissa who immediately caught on and began jumping up and down and squealing.
“I’m sorry I’m not aloud to give information like that out. Please go back and enjoy your breakfast,” the concierge said in an annoyed voice flipping her hair.
“Oh Miss! Please just let us know! We won’t bother them or anything we just want to know!” I pleaded.
“I told you I’m not aloud to give information like that out, now please go away!” She yelled shooing us off with her hand.
“Aww!” we all said in unison and rushed back to our table.
We all sat down and Melissa was just about to speak when I held up my finger and hushed her. I turned around to see what the concierge was doing. I saw her glance at our table with a worried expression then pick up the phone on her desk and begin dialing. I waited for a few seconds then got up and pretended to make my way to the bathroom which was right next to her desk. As I passed the desk I listened to what she was saying.
“Good morning, is this Mr. Way? ... I would just like to inform you that there are three girls here who know of your whereabouts…Why does it matter what they look like? ... Oh fine, the one that asked me has brown hair with bangs… Yes, she has brown eyes and glasses. What does it matter to you? ...” I rounded the corner and continued to listen. “What? You know them? ... They told me they were here with their parents…. Oh, you know their parents? ... Would you like me to send them up? ... No? ... Okay… Thank you. Good bye.” I heard her put down the phone and sigh in exasperation.
“Yes!” I whispered to myself. I walked back to our table and sat down.
“Did it work?” Danielle asked excitedly.
“Yeah!” I answered with the same enthusiasm.
“Hey guys I’m sorry to interrupt and everything, but there are some really hot guys over there and I’m gunna go talk to them ok? See ya’!” Melissa said standing up. We watched her walk over to a table with four guys sitting at it. They were definitely attractive, but not something I would waste my time on…
I turned back to my bagel and took a bite. It was terribly dry and stale. I reached over and grabbed Danielle’s orange juice and took a sip.
“Yuck that was gross,” I said wiping my mouth with a napkin and handing the glass back to her. “It looks gross,” she said taking a sip and putting it back on the table. “I guess we just wait now right?” she asked. I nodded and took another bite of my bagel. Even though it was gross, I was still hungry.
*************************************************************************************************
(20 minutes later)
I heard the elevator doors open behind me. I didn’t turn around I just continued talking to Danielle, who also ignored it. After a while the excitement wore off and we stopped turning around every five seconds to see if it was the guys. The breakfast crowd was thinning and now only a few sleepy heads were scattered around the dining area.
“How long does it take to come down stairs?” I said out loud to no one in particular.
“It takes forever when you have these idiots with you,” answered a familiar voice.
Before I could turn around, a pair of hands covered my eyes and I heard Danielle scream.
“Ow,” I muttered. My face was still bruised from the many impacts it had taken.
“Guess who,” said the voice. I furrowed my brow in thought.
“Um… Frankie?”
“ Damn it,” I heard him say. I smiled in triumph and turned my uncovered eyes to Danielle who was in total shock.
“Danielle?” I asked tentatively.
“Julie you weren’t joking,” she murmured. I laughed.
“Why would I lie about something like this?” I asked her waving a hand in the direction of the guys who all waved back.
“I don’t know,” she said in an awed voice.
I made sure my bangs were covering the bruised part of my face before I turned to face them.
“Guys, I would like to introduce you to my cousin: Danielle,” I said standing up. I looked behind me to see her sitting there staring at Gerard. I took her hands in mine and pulled her up from her chair. I let go of her hands and she began to sway to the left. I caught her and looked at them pleadingly. “Say something before she blacks out guys,” I murmured. Gerard stepped forward and put his arm around Danielle.
“Want to come hang out with us on our bus?” he asked her.
“Eak,” was all she could muster.
“I think that’s a yeah,” Mikey laughed.
.
2/7/15