Holiday From Real

Mary Jane Carter flopped down on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table that sat in front of her. As sad as she was to see the tour come to an end, she was excited just to be able to rest in her living room. She had just finished a six month tour with most of the bands from the Decaydance label, and it had been exhausting.

Mary Jane had just turned on the television when she heard her doorbell ring. She reluctantly got up to answer the door seeing her boyfriend, Gabe Saporta, standing there. “Hey,” he said giving her a kiss as he walked in the door. Her and Gabe were still together, having finally professed their love for each other two and a half months ago. Their relationship had its ups and downs, but they were still going strong. Mary Jane was slowly but surely getting over being raped by Chris while on tour in Chicago. She would still have nightmares, but not nearly as often as before.

“What are you doing here?” Mary Jane asked.

“Isn’t a guy allowed to come see his girlfriend?” Gabe joked as he sat down on the couch.

“Of course,” Mary Jane replied. “But usually you’re hanging out with the guys. So, why the sudden visit?”

“Brendon’s new girl,” Gabe answered.

“Oh,” Mary Jane said. Brendon Urie and Victoria Asher had an on-off relationship, which was currently off. They had broken up most recently about two weeks ago. Since then, Brendon had brought home nearly four different girls. “What’s this one like?”

“Another complete opposite of Vicky. She’s got light brown hair, as thin as a rod, and she giggles. At everything,” Gabe added.

Mary Jane couldn’t help herself as she burst into laughter. “I’m sorry,” she said through her laughter.

“Well I’m glad you find some humor in this, but just wait until you have to hang out with her,” Gabe told her.

“I probably won’t ever even meet her. By the time I see Brendon next, he’ll probably already have a new girl,” Mary Jane said.

“The sad part is that’s probably true. I don’t know what happened with him and Vicky, but he’s seriously screwed up right now. He’s never been like this before.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mary Jane said.

All of a sudden, Mary Jane’s door burst open and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz came walking in.

“MJ!” Ashlee exclaimed.

“Thanks for knocking,” Mary Jane said sarcastically.

Ashlee stuck out her tongue before saying, “Do you want to see the baby?”

Mary Jane immediately stuck out her hand to get the pictures. Ashlee was now five months pregnant, and she had just gotten the sonogram pictures. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Mary Jane asked.

“No,” Ashlee replied. “They could have told us, but Pete didn’t want to know right now.”

“What are you hoping for?” Gabe asked her.

“I don’t know. I guess either one,” she said with a smile.

“I can’t believe it! In four months, there’s either going to be a little Pete or a little Ashlee here,” Mary Jane said.

“It’s weird thinking about it, isn’t it?” Ashlee asked.

“Yeah, but you and Pete are going to be amazing parents,” Mary Jane said smiling.

“I hope so,” Ashlee replied.

“You will be,” Gabe agreed.

“So, the reason I came here was to ask you if you wanted to go shopping with me. I think Pete’s had enough shopping for a while, and I thought it would be fun to go out with the girls,” Ashlee told her.

“Yeah,” Mary Jane said getting up off the couch. “Oh, can we invite Vicky, too?”

“Already a step ahead of you. I called her on the way here. I’m meeting her at her apartment in a half an hour.”

“Sounds like fun,” Mary Jane told her.

“Well, I guess I’ll be heading back to Brendon’s, then,” Gabe said standing up.

“Oh, how is Brendon?” Ashlee asked. “Pete said he’s not his normal self.”

“He’s not anywhere near his normal self. He brought home a new girl last night. I think her name was Diamond or Ribbon or something. I can’t remember,” Gabe admitted. “Anyways, this thing with Vicky has messed with his head.”

“Well, maybe we’ll talk some sense into her today, and maybe you can talk some sense into him,” Ashlee told him.

“Yeah, I’m sure that will work,” Gabe replied sarcastically.

“We’ve got to do something. Those two are miserable right now,” Mary Jane said.

“I know,” Gabe said. “I’ll try talking to him again, but it probably won’t help. Maybe you should try talking to him,” he suggested to Mary Jane.

“I can try, but let me try talking to Vicky again today,” she said.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Gabe said kissing her and walking out the door.

“So, everything’s going well with you two?” Ashlee asked Mary Jane once Gabe had left.

“Yeah, it is,” Mary Jane said smiling. “He’s been great after everything that’s happened. He hasn’t pushed me into anything.”

“He did say he’d wait for you,” Ashlee replied.

“I know. He’s been great. I don’t know if I would have gotten through the rape without him.”

“I can imagine,” Ashlee told her. “Now, let’s go. Vicky’s waiting on us,” she said as she grabbed her arm.

Mary Jane grabbed her keys off of the table as Ashlee dragged her out of the apartment. She locked the door behind her, as the two girls went off to pick up their third friend.