Gerard P.O.V.

Lindsey sat by me while I waited for mom to come and pick me up. It was sweet of Lindsey to help me out there, but she doesn't know what the Traps can do. They may be stupid but they sure as hell make you regret a lot of shit.

"Thanks for helping me out there." I said.

"No problem. Those guys are total jerks. You don't deserve that, Gerard. And don't pay any attention to what they say, they're just stupid." Lindsey said.

Part of me just wanted to confess what I thought about myself to Lindsey. But the other half said not to. After all, I did just meet her today. But then again, she did help me with the Traps and tackled Troy down, which by the way I found awesome.

I couldn't just suddenly blur all of that out though. It was just a coincidence that Lindsey happens to be walking by and saw me get beat up and that her dad happen to own this place.

I took note of how her dad looked like, and she looked really different from him. Her dad looked the opposite of her. He had brown skin while Lindsey had pale skin color. Her dad has brown hair and Lindsey has raven colored hair, which reminds me so much of Snow White.

The point was that Lindsey is the opposite of her dad. I was curious about her relationship with dad. But it wasn't my business of what goes on in her family. Maybe her dad is her step-father and Lindsey grew up calling him dad.

'Dad' was an unfamiliar word to Mikey and I. Mom always said that our dad died and she always kept pictures of him away in a box in the attic. When I was twelve I was up in the attic and end up seeing pictures of my long dead dad, but when I saw him, I saw that it was the same guy who was married to this rich lady named Victoria, who also happens to live down the street.

We lived in a middle class house, the first class houses were literally down the street. And 'Dad' happens to marry Victoria the rich bitch.

I remember I would always see him in the morning's, watering the lawn and I would always have a feeling of betrayal and hurt. He never knew me. I rarely went outside at all. I stayed in the basement, drawing because I didn't want to make friends anymore.

Mom saw how I was acting and asked what was wrong. I told her nothing was wrong. That I was perfectly fine. But the truth was, I had started to hate myself. I hated myself because I looked a lot like 'dad' also known as Robert Williams.

Mom found out I saw those pictures when she found one in my room, all torn up. I remember her telling me how it was wrong that I went threw those pictures. And as she rambled, I asked her why he left us. Mom did tell me why, but while she did, she cried harder than when my grandpa died.

He left when he found out Mom was pregnant with me and Mikey was just two or three weeks old. He said he didn't want anything to do with our family. He said he needed a time out form the whole fucking family thing and from the fucking marriage because he needed to fucking figure shit out. Well, fucking piece of shit never came back.

He came back, but only to ask for a divorce, and mom was five months pregnant with me. Of course the law said he had to pay child support and what not. Since dad said he never wanted to see us again, mom changed Mikey's last name to hers, which was Way. She said it was tough but she did it. But a week later she finds out she married some other chick.

So after mom told be the story and how Grandma Helena was there by her side, I hated myself even more. Which then cause me to start cutting myself. I ended up in the hospital so many times that I had lost count.

Mom then bought a house in Belleville, New Jersey. She found out what cause me to harm myself and decided that we should move away from Robert and Victoria. We lived in another part of New Jersey, but I forgot the name of the town.

Before we moved the neighborhood had a little fair well party for us at one of the rich people houses. And you can guess who was fucking there. Fucking Victoria and fucking Robert.

Victoria never met us but she went for the party and Robert just joined her. An hour into the party Robert asked me who I was. I told him who I was and then mentioned how I was his son. Robert was surprised. The fucker didn't even know which address he was sending the child support checks to. Well Robert said how sorry he was and then I ended up kicking his balls. And then mom announce we were leaving fifteen minutes later. After that I promised myself I was never going to fall in love.

I pushed those thoughts aside. I always think of the stupid pass. It's not like I really want to forget it, but I just wish it really didn't bother me so much that it will put me in a negative mood.

"Whatcha thinking? If you don't mind me asking?" Lindsey asked.

"Nothing. Just wondering when mom will get here." I said.

Lindsey jump up to her feet. "Shit. I didn't call mom." Lindsey said. "I'll be back in a minute."

She ran where the cash register was as picked up her bag as sat next to me. "Well, looks like she called me..." Lindsey gave a nervous laugh. I don't blame her. When you have missed calls from your mother you know you're fucked.

"I think your dad will help you out with that." I whispered. Not trying to sound mean when I said 'dad'.

"Yeah. He always has my back." Lindsey smiled. "I just wonder when my brothers will come. " She said more to herself than to me.

"I'm sure they're on their way." I said.

"Yeah, but Turtle stayed back to do extra credit for Spanish." Lindsey said.

I can tell Lindsey is really close to her brothers. When we were walking down the hallway, she saw Vladimir and hugged him. Vladimir looks like he really does love his sister just by the way he hugged her back.

Vladimir does look like his dad, except he looked lighter than him and was taller too by four inches.

I only saw Turtle once, and that was because of drama club. Vladimir also had drama club too.

I remembered Lindsey had invited us to see her play on Wednesday and I had to ask Mikey if he wanted to come. If Mikey doesn't come I will be so scared.

"Your game, it's on Wednesday, right?" I asked Lindsey.

"Yeah. We're playing against Tobanoxi." Lindsey said.

"Tabanoxi. Isn't that the school that is next to the mall?" I asked her.

"Yeah. They have a good volleyball team, but we can beat them." Lindsey smiled.

She seems so confident in herself, I wish I was like that. No, I wish she can teach me to be confident like her.

"Well I wish you luck." I said.

Mom came in. You can tell she was worried about is. She scanned the restaurant until she saw us.

Mom ran to where I was.

"Are you okay? What did they do to you? Do I have to take you to the hospital again?" Mom kept asking me bazillions of questions, until Mikey calmed her down.

"We don't need to go to the hospital. Our new friend, Lindsey helped Gerard out with the Traps." Mikey explained.

"Thank you so much." Mom said to Lindsey.

"It's not a problem. Those guys are idiots." Lindsey said.

"Thanks for tackling Troy too." I said.

"You tackled Troy?" Mom asked her.

"Yeah."

Mom chuckled. "Thank you so much." She said again.

"No problem."

"Well, lets go home. Gerard, you need to get clean." Mom said.

I nodded my head and got up from my seat. Mikey and mom started heading out the door when Lindsey called me.

"Wait Gerard!" Lindsey said.

"Yeah?" I had now stopped my tracks and turned around to face Lindsey.

Lindsey hugged me. At first I tensed up because I wasn't used to people giving me hugs.

"Take care, okay." Lindsey said.

"Okay." I said. Lindsey gave me a warm smile before I left the building.

"Are you sure you're not hurt, Gerard?" Mom asked me.

"I'm fine, mom. Just a couple of bruises, that's all." I said.

"You can use my foundation." Mom said as she parked the car in our driveway.

"Mom. I am lighter than you so it won't work." I informed her.



"Are you sure about this?" I asked Lindsey. We were in the senior hallway because Lindsey wanted me to meet a couple of friends.

"They're nice, Gerard. Don't worry." Lindsey smiled as she took my hand and led me the way. I felt butterflies in my stomach. I didn't know if it was because I was meeting new people or because Lindsey was holding my hand.

"Hey guys!" Lindsey waved to a group of senior kids.

There was about six of them. Four girls and two boys.

"You're Gerard Way, right? I'm not confusing you with your brother?" One of the girls asked and did hand motions, I guess she was doing sign language, but who was the one deaf?. She had brown hair and it was up in a ponytail.

"Yeah." I whispered.

"Gerard, I would like you to meet my friends. That's Jennifer Dunn." Lindsey said and sign at the same time. The brown-haired-ponytail girl waved. "That's Guadalupe Zapata." A girl with brown hair came forward and waved. "The other girl is Antonya Fernandez." A girl who was as tall as Frank came out and waved at me.

"Jaime Diaz and Daniel Smith." Lindsey pointed out. Jaime, who had on his beanie said a hello to me while Daniel waved to me.

"And guys, this is Gerard Way." Lindsey smiled and signed.

"What's your favorite drink?" Antonya asked me.

"Coffee." I replied.

"Oh! Coffee! I love coffee! Coffee makes me a little bit hyper but that's okay! Coffee is good!" Antonya kept rambling about her love for coffee.

"Antonya, don't scare the poor kid away!" Jennifer said.

"Ops!" Antonya whispered. "Sorry."

"How much coffee did you have this morning?" Lindsey asked Antonya.

"F-five..." Antonya muttered,

"That explains so much." Jaime said and signed.

"Have you guys met Mikey?" Lindsey asked them.

"Yeah. Frank brought him here like a couple of minutes before you came. By the way, your brother likes Fall Out Boy and that is awesome." Jaime said. He was looking at Daniel's hand movements, so I quickly realize that Daniel was deaf and Jaime was just translating for me.

"Yeah. He like more bands. His favorite is Joy Division." I said and Jaime translated it to Daniel.

Before Daniel or anybody can sign or say anything, the bell rang.

"Dammit." Lindsey cursed. "Well, I have a volleyball game tomorrow."

"Oh yeah. We're playing against Tobanoxi." Guadalupe said.

"Dude how are you forgetting about it? Your ass is in the varsity volleyball team!" Jennifer said.

"Well see you." Lindsey said.

"Nice meeting you guys." I said before Lindsey and I walked to Foundation.

When we walked inside, the bell had rung.

"You guys were so close!" Rena said.

"Way to point the obvious, Rena." Robie said.

"Robie, be nice to your sister." Lindsey said.

"But she took my hot Cheetos!" Robie pointed out.

"You guys were seven when that happened." Lindsey said.

"But still!" Robie complained.

Lindsey gave a dramatic sigh, which caused me to giggle. "Robie be nice to your sister and Rena be nice to your brother." Lindsey said in monotone.

"Whatever you say, mom," Rena crossed her arms and leaned back at her chair.

"Whateves." Robie said.

"Thank you." Lindsey said and sat down.

The morning announcements came.

"Good morning! Today we're on a non-block schedule." The female voice said. "Varsity volleyball girls play tomorrow at 3:30 and it's a home game. JV volleyball girls play today at Belleville High School at 6:30" I saw Robie giving a thumbs up to Lindsey and flipped off Rena, who returned it to him.

The announcements went on. When it was finally over, Mr. Hathaway began our lesson.



"I have a question." I whispered to Lindsey at lunch time. "Does Rena play volleyball?"

"Yeah. We're both in varsity." Lindsey said. "And so is Simon."

"What?" Simon said as she looked up from To Kill a Mockingbird."Simon, forgot to do English homework?" Frank said.

"Yeah."

"I actually like that book." Lindsey said. "Do you guys have a favorite book?"

"We both like comics than books." Mikey said.

"Just don't tell that to Mrs. Reed of she'll flip." Simon laughed. Mikey gave a small laugh too. I can tell Mikey has a little crush on Simon.

"Are you guys going to come and see us play?" Simon asked us.

"Sure. I'll ask mom." Mikey said.

"Awesome." Simon said.

"You guys can sit with my mom." Lindsey began. "She's nice don't worry. She is the older version of me, but she has light auburn hair."

"Your mom doesn't have light auburn hair color, she has it black." Frank said.

"Not since yesterday she doesn't." Lindsey said. "Anyways, older version of me with light auburn hair color."

"Who else plays volleyball?" I asked.

"Guadalupe plays varsity with us and so does Sarah. Antonya plays JV." Lindsey says.

"Are you going to see them tonight?" Simon asked Lindsey.

"I can't. I have to go help dad with the restaurant." Lindsey said.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you that I'm going to see you guys tomorrow, so Mikey and Gerard just look out for me. I'm going to be next to Lindsey's mom." Frank said.

I don't know why, but I smiled. It's weird for me to smile. Really. Is it because I actually made friends? Is this what it feels like to have friends? Wow... I sound like a loner.



"How the heck can you favor your kids?" Ray asked Lindsey, Sarah, Mikey, and I.

"You're telling me. I think Rebekah should never trick Isaac and Jacob is the worst brother ever for taking Esau's birth rights and-," Sarah turned around and look to see if Sister Mary was near. "The fucking blessing too." Sarah whispered.

"Sister Mary was right when she said this was like a novela." Lindsey muttered.

"Yeah, and where did she learn that Spanish word?" Ray asked.

"Dude, do you really need to ask that question?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. Or did you forgot that it's a mixing pot in this school." Lindsey said.

"Oh, yeah."

We continued filling out our worksheet she gave us and took turns reading the Bible. The words are so tiny and sometimes I confuse myself the way Sister Mary writes the chapters and verses on the white board.

We finish our worksheets and had ten minutes to spare before the bell rang.

"What type of music do you guys like?" Sarah asked us.

"We mostly like rock and alternative bands." Mikey said.

"Oh. Ray, Frank and Lindsey likes those bands too. I like more pop, but rock is pretty good too to keep you motivated." Sarah smiled.

"I also like metal bands." Ray said.

"Do you guys like Iron Maiden?" Lindsey asked us.

"Yeah." I responded,

"Yes! We should see them when they come!" Lindsey said to us. "Can we be concert buddies?" Lindsey asked me.

"What? You're replacing me?" Ray said with a fake hurt look.

"Ray, your concert buddy is Frank, so don't you dare give me that look." Lindsey said.

"Okay, okay!" Ray said.

"Yeah, I'll be your concert buddy," I said and Lindsey smiled.



It was Wednesday. The last bell rang.

Everyone wished Lindsey good luck on the game. She must be extremely good at playing volleyball, considering she is in varsity.

"Remember: next to my mom, she has light auburn hair and if you can't find her, find Frank, Ray, Jennifer, Antonya, Jaime, and Daniel." Lindsey told me as we both walked to the gym.

"Is it okay if we wait in the gym?" I asked her.

"It's fine. Just sit where the home sign is." Lindsey said.

"Come on Lindsey! Couch Kelly wants to see you receive a spike," Guadalupe said. She was in her volleyball uniform which consist of a green shirt that says Bishop Peter and with her number on the back. She had her hair in a ponytail and was wearing spandex and Nikes with her kneepads.

"Alright. Wish us luck, Gee." Lindsey said before she hugged me and walked into the gym. I stood there, realizing she called me 'Gee'. Normally mom or Mikey will call me that.

"Hello, Earth to Gerard! Can you hear me?" Antonya waved a hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh, hey." I said.

"Antonya said if you wanted to walk with them to the gas station to go get some snacks." Mikey said.

"Yeah. But I don't have money." I said.

"That's okay! I can give you a five." Antonya said.

"You don't have to do that. It's fine, really." I said.

"No I insist. Consider it as a welcoming present!" Antonya said as she handed me five dollars.

"Thanks."

We all walked to the gas station that was up the street. The workers knew who the guy's were. I guess they come here a lot. We made it back in time to see the girls practice.

"Audrey!" Frank said as she saw a woman with light auburn hair.

"Frank, how's my boy? Are you doing well in school?" Audrey asked Frank. This must be Lindsey's mom.

"Psh! You know it!" Frank said.

Lindsey's mom saw me and Mikey standing next to Frank.

"You must be the boys Lindsey talks to me about! I'm Lindsey's mom but you may call me Audrey." Audrey shook our hands.

"I'm Mikey and this is Gerard." Mikey said.

"Lets go get a seat before they're taken." Audrey said to all of us.

We went inside the gym. The Tobanoxi volleyball team was walking into the gym. Ray came in a little bit later. I knew a little bit about volleyball. The only thing I really do know is that there's six players on the court.

"So... we're kind of new to the sport... what are the rules?" Mikey asked.

"Well two teams play against each other. There's six players on the court. You basically want the ball to hit the other team's side and in the court too, and you want to avoid the ball landing on your side." Audrey explained to us. "To volley it over you either bump, set, or spike. A person can only hit it once, but the whole team have to get it over with three or less hits."

"And you play up to 25 points and you have to win by two points." Antonya said.

I saw Lindsey, Simon, Rena, and Guadalupe come out of the girls' locker room. Lindsey had her hair up in pig tails while Guadalupe had her hair in a braid, Rena and Simon had their hair in ponytails. I noticed Lindsey had on a different colored shirt than the rest of the team. Instead of having green ones she had black shirts.

"Why does Lindsey have a different colored shirt?" I asked Audrey.

"She's the Libero of the team." Audrey said.

I was going to ask her what that was but Antonya started to explain. "She can't play the front row, she has to play the back row. Lindsey is the defense captain. So that means she runs fast, has the fastest reaction in the team, and has the hardest hits. Plus you have to be energetic."

"Plus, you have to be strong too." Jennifer said. "And with those thighs that Lindsey has, she's pretty strong. That's why the couch chose her to be the Libero of the team."

Before the girls played, we had to pray the Hail Mary. Not surprised thought.

Lindsey, Simon, Rena, Guadalupe, and Sarah were the only five people I knew that was on the court playing. Guadalupe was in the front center, Simon was back center, Rena and Sarah were sitting out while Lindsey was getting ready to serve the ball.

The ref whistled. The room was silent as Lindsey threw the ball in the air and hit it with her palm. The ball went over the net to the back row of the other team. One of the girls went to get it, but the ball hit the ground in the court.

"You go, girl!" Ray and Frank cheered at Lindsey. Lindsey smiled and picked up the ball that was being rolled to her.

Lindsey gave the team five points before the girls on the other team actually bumped the ball into the air and into our side. "I got it!" Simon said. She passed it over to Guadalupe and she served it over to the other team. It was like this until the ball hit the line on our side and the ref called it in,

The other team served the ball over the net. Lindsey bumped it up and moved out of the way before the girl next to her set it to Simon and then Simon spiked it. The other team missed the ball.

Frank, Antonya, and Audrey cheered the most out of all of us. Mikey and I were actually into the game.

It was our turn to serve the ball. The girl who was serving was short. I'm pretty sure she was shorter than Frank, but who knows. She served the ball and one of the girl in the center received it. The ball went back and forward, which cause a lot of tension and cheers from the crowd.

"Holy crap." I heard Mikey muttered as the ball was about to hit the ground on our team. But Lindsey dived for the ball and it was bumped into the air. Lindsey rolled to the side as Guadalupe set it over. As the other girl set it over, Lindsey yelled something. "Don't give it to the Libero!" But the girl on the other team with the different jersey ended up getting the ball.

You couldn't hear Lindsey curse, but you know she did. She quickly got up and ran to the ball and bumped it up, giving it to Guadalupe and she spiked it over as Lindsey fell to the floor. It looked like it hurt and I was worried about her, but she quickly got up and went to her spot.

"That's my baby girl!" Audrey cheered.

The ball came back to our side, but Simon spiked it and it hit the other team's side.
After three sets, Lindsey diving the ball, spikes, whistles, line judges calling outs or in, Mikey and I sitting at the edge of the seats, Sarah and Lindsey making a great duo on the court, and Audrey, Frank, Antonya,, Ray, and Jaime cheering for the girls, the game was over. We won Tabanoxi in all three sets.

Lindsey came up to us with a huge smile on her face. "How'd you like the game?" She asked Mikey and I.

"Dude, that was such an intense game." Mikey said.

"Yeah. But it was fun," Lindsey smiled.

Audrey came to Lindsey and gave her a big hug.

"Good job! Are your knees okay?" She asked her.

"Yeah. I'll have a couple of bruises but that's just it." Lindsey said.

"Are you sure?" I asked her. Lindsey smiled and hugged me. "I'm sure."

Notes

Daniel is deaf and whenever the guys are around him, just know that someone is translating what Daniel is saying. I'll say 'Daniel signed' but it won't be until a certain chapter when Gerard and Mikey will learn sign language and are able to properly communicate with him.