You Rock Like Escape The Fate

I sped off on my way to the office, praying there wouldn’t be much traffic to slow me down. I hated being late to work, because thank god, I had finally found the job that I loved. It was the best, and I felt so…special whenever I was there. And not in the retarded way, either.

No, I didn’t work at Hot Topic or Zumiez, nor was I an assistant at some big time record label. In fact, my job was really ordinary and maybe some would consider it boring…I taught at a local school; and not just any school. I taught the less fortunate kids and parents of our community to keep their families safe in emergencies, including First Aid, Burglaries, Fires, and even stranger danger. I was studying to be a paramedic, but I was also taking classes on the side to learn about criminal investigation. If you’ve ever watched something along the lines of CSI, Bones, or NCIS, then you know what I do.

I thought back to the two videos Hayley had shown me just about an hour ago. The first one was amazing, that Ronnie guy has an unbelievable voice. Something about that song just pulled me in and kept me there…it was freaking awesome. Then, I thought about the second one she showed me, The Flood. The style in music was definitely different, but I must say, Craig, that was a fantastic voice he had. He also knows how to draw in an audience, how to perform. Kid would’ve been a great actor. I didn’t think his talent was necessarily better than Ronnie’s, but I think he just fits my ‘type’ better. The moment I looked at him I almost passed out. The sleek, black hair, his flawless skin, that knowing smile, and the way he stood there with the mic…it was amazing. However, I still thought that the song Not Good Enough hit me a little harder. Either way, I loved both sides of the band.

I pulled up to the building and stepped out of the car, letting my black, silver, and blue converse land gently on the pavement. My black and blonde-streaked hair hung loosely over my shoulders as I opened the door and saw my new students for the week sitting on the chairs in the waiting room. I smiled at them and we went into the classroom, where we would spend the next six hours getting to know each other and preparing for four days of intense emergency preparation lessons.

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That day, after my students had left and I was packing up, a thought came to me. It was four in the afternoon, so I had one hour to do what I wanted, then I had from 5:00 to 7:00 a criminal investigations class, then I would go to the library to be tutored for an hour on Emergency procedures as a paramedic. What was I to do in that hour?

I could definitely learn more about that amazing band…so that was exactly what I planned to do. I headed for Hot Topic, entered the store, and smiled as the two albums I was looking for came into view. This War Is Ours and Dying Is Your Latest Fashion. Awesome. Then, I picked out two ETF shirts, one with a picture of the boys on it and the band name written really creatively, and another with escapethefate written in blue, while the rest of the decorations were a mystical purple. I couldn’t wait to show Hayley that one, she’d go crazy for it. Those were her favorite colors.

“Excellent choice, I must say,” the girl at the counter commented, grinning as I handed her my items.

“Thanks. I take it you know the band well?”

“I’m a huge fan, why?”

“Anything interesting you can tell me about it?”

“Well, there are two singers, Ronnie Radke and Craig Mabbitt. Ronnie just recently got out of jail for being at some stupid fight a few years back, and as you can imagine, Craig took his place while he was gone. Hmm…Craig has a little girl named Leila Rose and cares about her more than anything. Ronnie used to be brother-best-friends with the band’s bassist, Max…now they all hate each other. So, in my opinion, just to get back at them, Ronnie has started a new band, called Falling In Reverse. How’s that?” she answered, handing me the bag with the two CD’s and shirts.

“Excellent. But how could best friends just come to hate each other like that?” I questioned, already getting angry, as best friend fights are one of my greatest hates.

“Don’t ask me, ask the boys themselves,” she replied, looking slightly frustrated. Not that I blamed her.

“Well, thanks! I think I just might take your advice. You have a good one,” I said, going back to my car and waving goodbye to the girl who I just noticed was wearing an Escape The Fate shirt much like the one I bought.

I went straight home with twenty minutes to spare and read up on them. What I learned made me laugh. Not the band drama, no, that was sad, but the fact that they would be playing that Saturday night at the venue just six blocks from our house was just…awesome and creepy at the same time. I was the shy one of the two of us, but I did like taking chances. I also had this weird inclination to be a little more gangster than Hayley thought was normal. Gangsters like me did things spur of the moment. Like I was doing right then and there, buying two tickets to see a band I just heard about that day.

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That night, I walked in the door to find my best friend listening to some music on the computer while playing some kind of game. I smiled and gave her a hug, then set the bag in front of her on the desk. She obviously hadn’t noticed it hiding in the closet while I was out.

“What’s this?” she wondered, looking at it curiously.

“I don’t know! You tell me,”

She gasped dramatically as she pulled out the two albums and the first shirt, which happened to be the one I got for her.

“Oh my god! This is the awesomest band shirt that ever existed!” she squealed, jumping up to hug me. She then noticed I was wearing the other shirt I had gotten at Hot Topic, and she laughed and gave me a thumbs up. She ran to the stereo that sat on the mantle above the TV and put the CD in, bouncing anxiously on her heels. The music poured into the atmosphere, putting huge smiles on both of our faces.

“Oh and one more thing,” I said, reaching into my pocket to pull out two pieces of paper.

“What?”

“you’re gonna need to go shopping for another one of your concert outfits,” I whispered like someone might hear us, as her eyes went wide and she looked at me with an insane grin.

“Are you serious!? JESSI OH MY GOD!!! We just heard of the band today!!!”

“I know, but a good, fun concert never hurt anyone. Now stop calling me by my middle name, you know how I hate that. My name is Liesl,”

“Fine, but you and I both know that your name is Liesl Jessi James. Just ‘cuz you prefer your first name doesn’t mean we all have to zip the lip, but I will this time because I get to go to a concert this weeekkkk!!!!!!!” she giggled, grabbing the will call tickets out of my hands and running around our living room. I threw caution to the wind and ran around with her, screaming randomly like little children and then dancing to the amazing music that was pumping from our stereo.

This was going to be a veerryyy good Saturday night.