The most part of the next week seemed to fly by in a blur of excitement and school shopping. New clothes, new shoes, new supplies. New life even. Everything had a sense of brightness wrapped around it. My razors had been locked into a small box, the key wrapped rightly around my wrist, hidden under the sleeves of the hoodies I now always wore to hide the scars that were all too evident to the naked eye. No one would find out, no one would know. That's what I told myself the day I got out of that sterile, white hell-hole, and I was determined to have it stay that way.

The first day of school hit me like a fucking brick to the sternum, making it hard to breathe. Did my clothes look right? Was my hair okay? Were my sleeves long enough? Were my pants tight enough? My shoes weren't out of style already, were they? Mass hysteria ensued until I reminded myself that Gerard and the rest of My Chem would be coming back in a matter of nine days. Everything would be okay then. I would meet Frank then. He would take one look at me, realize I was his Kayla, and my life would fall right into place. No more feeling like I didn't belong. Just home with the guys, maybe going on tour. I could be home schooled. Being on tour and being home schooled sounded much more interesting than going to lame old Bergen High.

My classes were a torrent of repeated rules and regulations. Things I already knew, already had heard. At lunch all of my friends seemed to have heard about the break up. I have no idea how they would've found out. I wasn't in contact with anyone all summer, and I don't have a Myspace or Facebook, seeing how technologically challenged I am. The mostt I could do with a computer was buy music of iTunes and sync my iPod. Not much, compared to my friends, who would probably hack a computer in a matter of ten seconds if they wanted to.

"Daniel Jacobs is such a dick, he didn't deserve you in the first place."

"I hear he's already got some slut dangling off his arm."

"Should we pound him into the ground?"

"I'm sure we could rearrange his face quite nicely."

I was already over it. I had already had a month. I had other things to worry about in that month. Daniel Jacobs was the furthest thing from my mind. The whole first day of school I worried about details of the break up leaking to the public. They never did. I should've figured they wouldn't. No one we had known was at the concert or at the hospital. Even if they were, they would've been the kind of people who wouldn't tell about my passing out in front of the venue.

The only time I even SAW Daniel that day was as I was leaving the school grounds. It was true about the slut danging off his arm. Jennifer Potter, the school's male population's reason to have wet dreams, looked as if she was attached to his face by her lips. It was sickening. I wasn't going to let it get me down though. I popped in my ear buds, cranked Mindless Self Indulgence to an ear splitting volume, and practically danced my whole way home.

The next eight days passed at an alarmingly slow pace. I felt like I was going insane, waiting for the call telling me they were back. I checked my phone every hour or so, even though I knew Gerard wouldn't have called. It was almost a repeat of that night in my room --it seemed years ago-- except slowed down so it lasted for practically a week.

It was lunch on Thursday of the next week when I finally felt the tell-tale signs of a call vibrating in my back pocket. I was so shocked and excited I almost jumped to my feet before I answered.

"Guess who's back in town," said the sleepy voice of Gerard Way.

"The boys are back in town?" I mentally slapped myself for such a stupid reference. It almost sounded like word vomit when I replayed it back in my head. That is, until I heard soft laughter from my phone. I smiled widely. He thought it had been funny. I almost couldn't believe how eager I was for praise from my hero and almost-uncle. My friends stared at me from across the table, hissing at me to tell them who I was talking to. I waved them off as I listened to the voice from my phone.

"Feel like getting sick tomorrow? I'll pick you up from school. About....eleven-ish? We could go to lunch."

I searched my brain, trying to figure out what class I had around eleven. Algebra II. Math wasy not my forte. "Uh, sure. Sounds awesome. Should I call, so you know when to get me?"

"Yeah, that's great. I'm totally jet lagged, so I'm gonna grab some sleep so I'm ready for tomorrow. Oh, what school do you go to, just so I know?"

"Bergen High."

Gerard gave a mumble of understanding before he hung up. I took my phone away from my ear and smiled at it. Tomorrow was the beginning of my new life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I glanced at the clock. 10:50. Time for the show to begin. I raised my hand, as if to answer the question my teacher had just asked, opened my mouth, then fainted.

Well, not really [i]fainted[/i]. It was more of a roll-your-eyes and fall-to-the-floor sort of thing. Teachers didn't know the difference. I discovered this in sixth grade, when I got tired of science class and didn't want to take a test. I was sent straight to the nurses' office without question and my parents were called to take me home. Now that I was in high school, they never called my parents. That was my job. Usually I actually called my parents. They thought the whole thing was quite funny, actually, when I told them what I was doing. They didn't care as long as I kept my grades up and made up any missed work. Other times I called up a friend from another district who skipped school and we drove around town, maybe went to see a movie.

This time it almost felt different. Like it wouldn't work, because of the events that were lying on my faking.

The whole thing went off without a hitch though. I was 'awoken' and taken to the nurses' office, then asked to call someone to pick me up. It was routine. Easy as hell. As I was calling Gerard one of the younger nurses came in to give the other nurse a brake. She looked at me and grinned. I almost broke out in a cold sweat as I told Gerard I 'fainted' and needed a ride home. As soon as I hung up the nurse spoke.

"A bit early in the year to skip school, huh?"

I just stared. This had to be a jokie. She couldn't know, no way. She laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't rat you out. I did the whole 'fainting spell' thing too."

I looked her over. She couldn't have been too far out of school, especially looking that young. I finally made a decision. Gerard was on his way anyway, I'd be out of here soon.

"I'm only skipping to see someone."

"Who? A boyfriend? Seems a bit silly. Though of course, I did that too..."

"More of a....father-figure, if you will," I said. I wasn't about to tell her I was going out to meet my biological father who was the rhythm guitarist from My Chemical Romance. Like she would know who they are anyway. The nurse shrugged and the room grew silent. Minutes seemed to pass like hours did on a particularly slow clock. Finally a knock came on the door. I sat up as the door swung open to reveal Gerard, looking just like I remembered him.

He looked at the nurse, who showed no signs of recognition, then signed me out with a small grin. "Ready to go?"

I nodded eagerly and picked up my back pack. Stepping out into the hallway, I felt like I was stepping into a new life.