Tiara Bickens was a peculiar girl, always had been. She was the type of child who collected both Batman action figures and My Little Ponies. She’d preferred dinner to dessert, and loved to mix sour and sweet things together, much to the disgust of others (For instance, ice cream and pickle juice). Her favorite color was brown, and she actually ate the mud pies she created. However, Tiara was bad at handling things. For instance, her parents’ divorce when she was 11 forced her into therapy because she was under the impression that it was her fault, and she had no idea how to fix it. She simply couldn’t cope. When she was in her last year of middle school, a girl had called her fat and ugly. This was a shock, as most people generally ignored her. All through the summer before freshmen year she’d cut down on serving sizes, stacked up on workout time. Fruits and Pilates were her new favorite favorite things, goodbye ice cream and pickle juice. Once she was thin and toned, she had to work on her appearance. She purchased bottle upon bottle of acne medication and diligently made her skin perfection. She grew her hair out and began styling it in sock buns, and high ponies. Her nails were always polished, and never bitten. No one except for her mother saw her without makeup on. That school year, no one dared call her fat or ugly. People still ignored her though, and that simply would not do. She bided her time and money and once school was again let out for summer she shopped, and shopped, and shopped. All of her savings were spent on clothes, and shoes and accessories. Now, she worked on her personality. She read countless magazines and discovered how she should talk to certain people to get them to like her. For the cheerleader types, she gushed over boy bands and hair products. New friend gained. For the losers, she geeked out over comic books and old movies. New friend gained. For the jocks, she provided stats over games of every sport and player. New friend gained. New friend gained. New. Friend. Gained. She was finally beginning to feel accepted, and she was obsessed. Obsessed with being skinny, pretty, liked and accepted. She hardly even remembered what she did before freshman year. Who she was. She didn’t care. Who was she back then? Nobody. She was obsessed with being /somebody,/ even if only to a handful of people. For everyone else, she was only obsessed that they liked her. Regardless, she was obsessed. And obsession is always dangerous. For everyone involved.
~
On the other side of the spectrum, Gerard Way had always been more of the quiet type. He kept to himself and preferred his own company to others’, but never denied an invitation to hang out with someone because, though he kept to himself, he was lonely. When he was younger, and when Mikey, Donna and himself had lived in Monroe, Michigan, the boys had had tons of friends. Most of that was because on Donna. Once Gerard had been comfortable in his new home with her, she’d set him up with play dates and always took him to social areas like the park. When Mikey had become settled, the same happened to him. As the boys grew older, friendships and tight bonds were made, much to Donna’s delight. But more than his friends, and more than Donna, Gerard loved hanging out with Donna’s mother, Elena, the most. She told him stories, and sang songs with him and taught him to draw and paint. She played with him when Donna was too busy or Mikey was sleeping. She sang him to sleep every night with a soft lullaby she’d created just for him. And then, when he was 13, Elena died from severe brain cancer. Gerard grew depressed. His friends stopped asking him to hang out after a while, to which, he was greatful. He didn’t need them breathing down his neck with their sympathies or ‘I’m sorry’s anyway. For a year, Gerard stayed inside and drew and painted. He often grew frustrated. The pictures never seemed to turn out right, despite his many attempts. Donna took him to therapy. Therapy didn’t work. Then Gerard heard the news: Donna had received a job offer in New Jersey. They were packed up and moved in a week. Gerard had to admit, the scenery of his new home in Bellevue did improve his mood, even if it was just from the window. When he started school, most people stayed away from him. He was dark, different. He’d tried to be friendly, really he did, but people still shied away. It was like he had unknowingly sprayed Human Repellant on himself, and it worked great. Worth every penny. Then, around 6 months later, Donna adopted a new baby girl, Rose. For the first time in a while, Gerard smiled. He was more social. He was always playing with Rose. He would read to her, and sing to her. As she grew, she grew attached to Gerard. When the family was watching TV together, she climbed into his lap and played with his almost shoulder length hair he had refused to cut during his depression. He would chase her, and volunteer to take her to the park, or to feed the ducks near their home. He even saved up all the snipets of money he received to buy her small Christmas gifts. Rose had turned his life around, and Donna couldn’t be happier. Mikey didn’t feel as strong about Rose. She was just kind of /there./ Then Michael came along. He stole Donna from the kids. Always taking her out, or simply just occupying her time. When Donna was at work, and he was home, Michael was a total dick to Gerard and Mikey. He always made snide, hurtful comments, but when Donna walked in the door, he was the ‘perfect’ step dad. Gerard hated him.

Notes

A little background on our characters.
It's funny, on another website, someone read the chapter before this and said Tiara sounded like a Mary Sue, and all I could say was "Boy, just you wait. Trust me, there's a reason."