Next Thursday

Taking my inhaler out I use it quickly before nodding to Amber to let her know I’m ready. With a wicked smile she walks forward towards the boy that is always in the front office. As she distracts him I sneak past, clutching the recording of our song in my hand. We are so getting in trouble for this.

Breathing quickly, my fingers tremble as I unhook the cassette player from the loudspeaker system, remove the normal national anthem recording and pop ours in. Re-plugging it in, I sigh. I’ve done the hardest part. Now, I just have to get back out into the hall and wait for the principal to play the morning announcements.

Walking out of the office I come up behind Amber, wrapping my arms around her, glaring at the office assistant through my glasses, which are on the edge of my nose. Amber pushes them up a little before kissing the bottom of my chin and winking at the office aid.

“Nice talking to you, Johnny,” smiles Amber before walking out of the office, elbow linked with mine.

As we enter our first period English class, eyes meet us with unfriendly looks. I’ve gotten used to this and it’s stopped bothering me. Let them look, let them see me, happy with one of my best friends. Let them see a perky red head hanging on my arm, me wearing a big, dorky smile; happy for the first time in what feels like years.

“Thank you, Mikey,” Amber whispers kissing me on the cheek before talking her seat across the isle from mine.

It’s weird to think that just a few months ago I had a panic attack and was thankful that the red head didn’t turn and question me; that she just gave me her inhaler and left me alone. Then as I left class and the jocks attacked me and I was pleased that the same red head came to my rescue. I wouldn’t want to call anyone else my best friend.

As the Principal’s voice sounds over the loud speaker, Amber looks over at me, smiling. She’s just as excited for this as I am.

“…Can we all stand for the Pledge?”

Here it comes…the moment we’ve been waiting for. I hear the sound of Ray and Frank on the guitar and Amber’s drums and then there it is, my older brother’s voice belting out our anthem…the anthem of the underdog.

Well if you wanted honesty, that’s all you had to say
I never want to let you down or have you go, its better off this way
For all the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took
Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor

Amber and I smile, singing along to the chorus, as everyone else looks confused. There is shuffling around through the speakers, the principal apologizing over and over. In truth I’m a little surprised that the principal is letting this play for so long. Maybe he’s curious, or maybe he’s just too stupid to know how to unplug the system.

I’m not okay
I’m not okay
I’m not okay
You wear me out

What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems?
I've told you time and time again you sing the words but don't know what it means
To be a joke and look, another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook for the last time take a good hard look!

I'm not okay
I'm not o-

“That will be all, have a good day students,” the principal says before the announcements stop.

I can’t help but beam. He let a good majority of the song play and no one really knows what to say about it. I can picture Gerard and Frank in chemistry, both going wild right now. I wish Ray had been able to stay long enough to hear it play. I never thought we’d be able to do anything like this, but we did. Now we’ve just got to make sure we can get the second part of our plan done properly.

“Dude, that was fucking epic,” Gerard says as we sit on the steps outside, eating a cake that Amber had gotten from the grocery store just down the street from the school.

“You guys, we sounded absolutely amazing,” Amber says before shoving a bite of cake into her mouth.

I can’t stop smiling long enough to form a proper sentence so I just sit there, grinning, taking bite after bite out of this cake that no one bothered to cut. We’re all just eating off of the big thing; even Bob joined us in our celebration.

“Our teacher thought we where crazy when we started jamming out in Chem.” Frank says.

“We pulled it off really well,” Amber muses, dropping her fork onto the half of the platter that has already been eaten, whipping her mouth on the back of her blazer sleeve. “We’ll just have to make sure tonight goes just as well.”

“Dude, it’s gonna be awesome,” Frank replies with a smile just as Amy and her stupid boyfriend, Adam, walk towards us.

“I know you pulled that stunt this morning you losers,” Adam says, looking right at Frank.

I notice Amber stiffen as Adam continues to look at Frank. She feels like she needs to protect Frank just because, well she does. I continue to watch her; ready to stop the redhead if she tries to have a go at either Amy or Adam.

“You just wish you’d though of it, cunt,” Amber replies bitterly, clenching my hand.

“No, if Adam had done something like that he would have come up with a better song,” Amy shoots back, looking like she’s about to claw my friend’s eyes out.

“You’re just jealous because you know that for the rest of the day people will be talking about the song and wondering who did it, you bitch,” Amber says before launching herself at an inspecting Amy.

Gerard, Frank, Bob, and I watch in amazement as Amber pulls at Amy’s curly blonde hair, her nails running across her fellow cheerleaders face. Even when Adam tires to help his girlfriend, Amber reaches her fist up, hitting him in the crotch before turning back to Amy.

In the end it takes Bob, Gee and Frank to get Amber away from Amy, whose hair is now messed up, a little trail of blood coming from her lip, and quite a few red marks across her face where Amber’s nails got her. It’s nothing makeup can’t fix.

Amy glares at all of us before her piercing eyes come to rest on Amber who is being held back by Frank and I, “You’re insane. They should have locked your emo ass up a long time ago!”

“Fuck you, you whore!” Amber yells as Adam pulls Amy back towards the school.

The few other kids who had been standing around watching begin to clap, smiling at the five of us. Shouts of ‘the bitch is slain’ and ‘way to go’ can be heard as they disperse, heading back towards the school. I had no clue that that many people disliked Amy.

Once it is only us again, everyone else had gone inside to finish up lunch, and Amber has calmed herself down, we just sit there; staring off into the sky.

“Frank,” Amber starts, turning towards him, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Frank shakes his head, “That was fucking hot.” With that he crashes his lips onto hers.

Notes

Song: I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance (even though it's not at the top lol)
There is only two more chapters guys, don't fret though, I'm still actively working on Life On The Murder Scene and I have another story pretty much ready to go. :)