Be My Emergency

A couple weeks later we had had our first band meeting/demo recording at the eyeball records house. Some friends of Matt’s helped us out on that connection. The lineup was me singing, Mikey on bass, Matt on drums, and my personal triumph, Ray on lead guitar. Getting Toro to join hadn’t been hard, but just knowing he wanted to write music with me lifted my spirits considerably. He was the best guitar player I knew, and I wasn’t letting him go. I was waiting in the studio on a chilly October afternoon when a loud crash came from the kitchen.

“Aw shit” a heavily accented New Jersey accent followed. I got up to see what was going on, only to come face to face with a small man, probably about 5’2, trying to clean up an ashtray that had broken on the floor. He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, dreadlocks masked most of his face, and a dopey smile.

“Man I’m sorry” He sniffed

“Its fine, not like its my house” he looked at me and burst into a fit of giggles

“Shit man you’re right!”

His laughter was contagious, and I found my self doubled over along aide him. Eventually we pulled it together and sat up straight.

“My names Frank. I haven’t seen you at the house before, are you guys a new band?” He took another drag of a cigarette he had started.
“Mines Gerard, uh yeah actually we are! I’m waiting for the rest of the guys in my band to show up. Are you just a friend of Jeff’s or are you in band?” I questioned.

“I’m in a little punk group called Pencey Prep”

“Aw shit yeah I’ve been to a show of yours before! I really dig your guitar playing-“

“Not my signing?” He smirked, knowing he couldn’t carry a tune. I wasn’t quite sure what to say, because I couldn’t bullshit this kid.

“I mean-“

“Hey don’t feel bad, I know I can’t sing to save my life, I just haven’t found the right fit for a band yet” he shrugged, finishing his cigarette, stomping it into the ground of the linoleum kitchen.

“Well if you ever want to jam with us, we’re a guitar player short. I can’t play guitar, so we only have one” he seemed to mull this over as the front door opening revealing my other three band mates, who Matt had been in charge of picking up.

“Dude, you met frank!” Mikey yelled as he pushed past me to give the small stoner a hug. Frank giggled as Mikey engulfed him, his tall gangly figure overtaking the small pudgy man.

“You guys mind if I sit on your practice session?” Frank asked. How could I say no him? He had such a calming air about him, just really chill. It might have been the pot, but this dude seemed really cool.

“Yeah absolutely!” I realized I hadn’t introduced him to the other member he didn’t know.

“Frank this is Ray, our lead guitarist, and matt, out drummer” frank waved at both of them, seeming to get shy when he realized there were strangers around. We all must have been at lease five years older than this kid, so I could see where his intimidation came from.
“It’s nice to meet you guys. Hey, I hope you don’t mind, but my cousin Stella is dropping by to lay down a track and hang out for a while, I hope that’s ok?” Frank seemed to be scared e would reject the idea, but all of us perked up a little at the idea of a girl coming by. “She’s really cool I swear, she’s in her own band in fact, they are all recording after you guys I think” the guys and I nodded to each other, trying not to give away that we were excited at the prospect ofa girl hanging around with us. As dudes who hung out at comic shops and spent our time playing Dungeons and Dragons, girls weren’t usually on the dance card.

With promise of chick, we all moved to sit on the couch in the basement to warm up our instruments and get ready to record our demo’s. Frank followed ray around, asking about his equipment and technique, Mikey and Matt talking about parts they had worked out on the phone, and I sat on the couch trying to not have a full on panic attack at the thought of singing in front of all these people. What if I wasn’t as good as the rest of the guys? What if they decided on the spot they didn’t want to be in a band with me?

In the middle of my torrent of anxiety, we all heard the back door slam.

“Oh that’s Stella” frank mumbled, getting up from his crossed legged position. He jumped up the stairs to greet her.

“Frankie!” We heard the girl yell.

“Yeah Yeah I’m coming stells” we heard some talking, him explaining that there was a rag tag group f losers in the basement probably.

The door opened and we all turned to see frank entering, with probably the most beautiful girl I had ever seen following behind.

She had shoulder length ashy brown hair, against pale skin and striking blue eyes.Her build wasn’t skinny, but she definitely wasn’t fat, like me. She seemed to hold herself like she was ready for someone to jump out at her at any second. She scanned everyone from right to left, her eyes landing on me last, and a smile spread on her lips, revealing straight teeth that were coffee stained. She was wearing a smashing pumpkins tee shirt covered by a giant hoodie,, and ripped blue jeans. I felt myself staring at her for too long and noticed she was speaking.

“I’m Stella! Frank was just telling me you guys were in a band and recording with Jeff??” She looked from each of us, and we all seemed to nod our heads. We were all slightly taken aback by how pretty she was, but she didn’t seem to notice, or if she did she wasn’t bothered by it.

I managed to open my mouth and make words come out “Yeah, We’re My chemical romance, I’m Gerard, that’s Mikey, my brother, Matt our drummer, Ray our guitarist.Mikey plays bass”

“Um dude when did I say we could use My Chemical Romance as our name???” Mikey finally squeaked punching me in the arm.

“Yeah we all kind of voted on using it when you weren’t here” Matt mumbled..

“I was saving that name!” I rolled my eyes.

“I think it’s a damn good name. Ours is the catalysts. I’m the singer” she smiled at me “I’m assuming you’re the singer for My Chem??” She gave me a curious look to which I only nodded my head.

“Do you guys mind if I sit on your practice?” She was so polite? How was she from the same planet as any of us?

“Yeah no problem” we all agreed to some form or another, but I could feel the tension in the room escalate. We had barley let anyone listen to us, let alone a cute chick. This was going to be stretch. I sat back down on the couch, looking down at the book of lyrics I had set down earlier. I opened it up and started reviewing the song we were recording first, Skylines and turnstiles. As I was soundlessly mouthing the words, I felt a small body sit next to me and begin to lean near me. I looked up Stella looking over my shoulder reading the lyrics.

“Do you mind?” I jokingly snatched the book away from her.

“Actually I do” she giggled, reaching over me and grabbing the book out of my hands. I felt mouth drop her boldness absolutely intriguing. Who was this girl?

She read the pages with the lyrics for skylines on and then began flipping through it. I held my breath; scared she would look up at any second and laugh in my face. In stead, she very sincerely handed me back the book, looking up at me with knowing gleam in her eye.

“This is really good Gerard, do you know how good this is?” He whole face began to light up. “I haven’t even heard the guys play yet, but I want to write a song with you guys. This shit” she held the book up “is something really special” she smirked and pushed the brown journal into my chest, which I grabbed, accidently holding my hand over hers, which caused my cheeks to heat up. I looked away from her intense blue eyes, and cleared my throat, moving my hand out from underneath hers. I looked back to up to realize she had no idea the power she held over me, much less any boy. She was completely unaware of the light she gave off.

Before I could make a fool out of myself by continuing to stare at her, Jeff walked in and gathered us all up into the glass room made for recording. I refocused on why we were here, even though it was hard with a very attractive girl in the room.

“Ok, so we’ll lay down rays parts first then, we can either do Matts or Mikeys, whatever you guys prefer, and then we’ll lay over Gerard’s part, sound good? This is only a demo to present to Alex, just so he gets a feel for what were recording. We’ve got about four hours until Stell’s band comes in and is laying down a couple parts” We all turned around and waved at the small girl, who waved back. “So lets get this started!” we all separated, ray grabbing his guitar, and the rest of the guys going back on the other side of the glass.

“I’m going to go grab some snack, you want to come with me mikes?” Frank asked. Mikey shook his head, all of us shouting something we wanted at them. I sat back down on the couch next to Stella, matt sitting next to Jeff.

“So how long has your band been together?” I asked, trying to make sure I wasn’t leaving an awkward silence between Stella and I.

“About two years. We’ve only been seriously recording and playing since I graduated this year”

“I just graduated art school! Where did you go?”

“Oh I just graduated High school. Frankie and I are the same age, so we commute everywhere. We’ve been like best friends since we were little” I nodded; kind of surprised she wasn’t older.

“Why not be in a band with frank then?”

“I’m in an all girl punk band. As stupid as it sounds we’re trying to make a statement, like ‘We don’t need a cute boy to be successful!” She seemed to be embarrassed.

“That’s badass!” she glowed at my approval

“Thank you! Most guys just kind of laugh when I say that”

“Nah, I’m a feminist, always have been. My grandmother really drilled that into me and Mikey when we were younger, that girls could do anything boys could do and probably better”

“I like your grandma!” she beamed. “So how did you go from art school to rock band?” She crossed her legs under her, her eyes boring into me.

“It was always something I wanted to do, I just never had the guts to do it I guess. Then I was in New York when the towers went down and I just though ‘Fuck if I don’t do this now, I’m never going to be happy” I couldn’t believe I was saying any of this, but something about her made you want to spill your guts. She gently placed her hand on my arm.
“I am so sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine what seeing that must have been like” I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was enchanting.

“As horrible as it was, something good came out of it. I got brave enough to do something that could help people. I still love art, but this band… it could change things for someone you know?”

“I know exactly what you mean. That’s why I always wanted to do music. I was in theater for so long and I wasn’t helping anyone, It just was such a waste, I wanted to take over the world and this is the way for me to escape from everything and do that I guess” There was more behind that, but I was too enthralled with her to push. We obviously both had problems and secrets, but I could tell we would be friends long after this encounter. I just had that feeling. I had never felt at ease with a girl as I did in this moment.

An hour passed, and everyone else had played his parts, and now it was my turn. I nodded at Stella, to which she responded by grabbing my hand and pulling my arm, I turned around and she said, “Don’t be nervous, it’s not as scary as you think. You actually sound better in there” I felt my self breathe a small sigh of relief as she let go of me. I walked in to the room and donned the headphones. Before I knew it Jeff was giving me the thumbs up and the pushing of the guitar, the loudness of the drums was ponding through my ears.I let go, I let go of the pain that I had been holding up for a month, I let go the fear, the prejudice. I let go of those nights wasted with Natalie, drunk out of my mind. I felt the emotion leave my body, I put everything I had in me on that track. When the first cut was over, I pulled the head phones off my head and opened my eyes. Everyone was smiling, and Stella stood up and clapped.

“Gerard, I think we got it” Jeff buzzed in, a smug look on his face. I walked out of the room and was greeted by pats on the back by my band mates, and then fast moving small body slammed into me, pulling me into a hug. She knocked the wind out of me, but I looked over her shoulder at the boys, who all smiled a knowing smile at me, ray even thumbs upping me.

“Oh my GOD! You said you were a singer but the emotion! Your sound is so unique. Gerard we have to sing together!” She let go of me and was almost jumping in excitement. I laughed, her youth shining through. I hadn’t seen anyone this ecstatic about me since my grandmother after peter pan, and honestly, it felt completely amazing.

We were all sitting around talking about when we wanted to come back in for the second demo, not having enough time to do it today, when we heard the door open. Stella perked up, jumping up and running up the stairs. “Sorry guys the girls are here be right back” she shouted as she ran.

I watched her as she went and turned back to a group of expectant faces.

“What” I asked

“You totally like her” frank pushed

“Frank I don’t even know her-“

“That doesn’t matter! You are totally into her. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her.You’re lucky she’s so insecure or she would have noticed it was so obvious” He seemed to glide over the insecure part, as if it was so normal it wasn’t something to be worried about.

“Dude we could all tell you were into her. It’s fine she was really hot. I can’t wait to see the rest of the band” The other guys nodded their heads in agreement with Matt.

“Oh they do not disappoint” frank laughed

“Are you dating any of them?” I asked frank

“Oh no, I’m in love” he stated matter-of-factly “In fact, she should be with the girls” He got up at this realization, and walked up towards the chatter that was coming from upstairs. We all looked at each other weirdly. He wasn’t dating any of them, but he was just in love? What the hell was that suppose to mean.

No longer had the thought crossed my mind was an adorable black headed girl running down the stairs “Frank can you let me live for five seconds without confessing your love for me?” the girl turned on him as he followed behind her

“I jut don’t want you to forget” he whined

“How could I? You don’t let me go one encounter with out letting me know” she feigned annoyance, but I could tell she secretly enjoyed the attention. Frank just sighed, still staring at her.

“I apologize for this nerds rudeness, I’m Jamia, and I am NOT his girlfriend” she looked at frank during the last part, sticking out her hand to each of us, each man muttering his name, afraid to cross the loud women.

Just then Stella reentered the room, followed by three very attractive girls, two with brown hair and one with a striking pink pixie cut. The two with the dark hair were obviously twins, and the one with the pink hair was striking, totally the opposite of Stella’s type of beauty, soft and endearing.

“Guys, this is my band, Pinkie is Rachel, and the twins are Janet and Sandy” she pointed to each girl, the three all waving shyly at us, they seemed older than Stella, but more reserved. It was obvious she was the lead singer for her personality.

“So I get to hear you sing now?” I turned to her

“Yeah! GUYS, you have to hear their demo! They are so fucking brilliant! We have to write a song with them!” Stella grabbed my arm as she rapid fired at the girls. They seemed used to her enthusiasm, especially Rachel. She let go of my arm, and Jeff reentered the room with some tapes from upstairs.

“Ok girls, I’ve got the parts from last time, are we ready to lay down the final vocals and then Rachel can go and lay down her harmonies?” The minute Jeff brought up the music, Stell’s whole composer changed. She was serious, focused. She didn’t acknowledge anyone else in the room as she entered the small glass room, putting on the same headphones I hade worn earlier that evening.

Jeff played back what they had so far, with scratch vocals on this track. Even these samples were fucking amazing; how girls this young were kicking this much ass was unbelievable.

“Ok Jeff, I’m ready” she said into the microphone after a couple listens. He put on the regular track and she took off. I’ve never heard someone sing like she did. Her voice was light at the beginning, but had this intensity behind it that was astonishing.

“She’s really good huh” Rachel came up next to me, beaming. “We’ve been best friends for years. I’ve never seen her so excited or ready for something in her life like she has been with this band” she seemed to be saying it more to herself than to me, but I nodded my head

“She seems like she’s never not acted that way” I observed

“She puts on a good face” Rachel said this absentmindedly, but I noted that this first impression was only one facet to this girl. Rachel was beaming the entire time, as were the twins. These girls had a deep love and respect for each other. I could only hope my band would grow to feel the same way.

After her first take she had Jeff rewind it to places she didn’t like. She spent another hour almost redoing the whole vocal part before she said, “I think that’s as good as its going to get” she sounded almost disappointed.

She walked outside, Rachel passing her giving her a squeeze on the shoulder.

“That was great! I mean I didn’t expect any less” I smiled at her.

“Yeah it was alright” the shift between the girl I had met and this girl was weird. I realized she wasn’t just a perky ball of energy. She thinks she did poorly.

“No, it was incredible. Not to mention your attention to detail. When I first heard it I thought you were done, but the way you fixed it, its spectacular” she looked up at me, finally revealing a blush, a bashfulness.

“Thank you” she almost whispered. She then went and sat with Jamia and leaned on her shoulder, watching Rachel do her harmonies. She would get up every five minutes or so and tell her a critique, which usually would earn her a middle finger, but they seemed to work very well together, all of them did.

“Hey guys, I’m fuckin beat” Jeff yawned. we realized it was around seven, and he must have been doing this since early this morning.

“Yeah, we’ll get out of here” I shook his hand, the guys all following suit. The girls all hugged him, and then we mad our way out of the basement.

Outside the house everyone was saying goodbye, and Stella came up to me to say “Hey Gerard, we’re playing a show tomorrow night at the bar on abbey street, I’ll pick you up if you want to come” she seemed hopeful, her breath looked like smoke. She had a beanie on now, framing her already round face.

“Yeah that sounds great!” I said, maybe too enthusiastically

“Maybe if you’re not busy tonight we could work on something, a song or I don’t know” She seemed to take my enthusiasm for tomorrow as a good sign, letting herself indulge in the idea of writing something tonight. I had never seen someone so eager to hang out or work with me, especially not a girl.

“Yeah! I’ll drop mikes off at my parents and we can meet at your place?”

“Works for me!” she gave me a quick hug and ran off toward her car parked on the side of the road. Frank was already loaded in, and he said something that earned a smack from her. I laughed as I jumped in my car with my brother.

“So I guess Natalie is history?” Mikey smirked

“Shut up” I mumbled, trying to keep the hope from invading my chest.

Notes

Ok, so I double posted in one night! Buuuuuutttt I would still love to hear your thoughts, concerns, comments, rude remarks ect... ok maybe not rude remarks lol. But just talk to me. please.
xoxo char