Sing It for the World

“While we’re here, we should go to the Six Flags Park, guys,” Mikey said from the hotel bed he was laying on, looking up at the four others with a small smile. “We could do it this afternoon and then grab some food before coming back here. Then we can head out for Birmingham tomorrow morning sometime.”

Frank nodded absently, not caring where they went as long as Aurelia was with them. He slid his fingers through her dark hair, wondering how she felt about that, and then smirked when she looked up at him. “I think it sounds fun,” she told him quietly. She still hadn’t talked a lot individually to the others, because she was still getting to know them. They were all friendly though, and she had a feeling that soon, they’d be just as close of friends to her as they were with Frank. He squeezed her hand with a smirk, and then licked over his lips as he nodded at her, looking back up at Mikey.

“I think it’s a good idea too,” he told Mikey. The older Way brother grinned and nodded and then looked over at Ray and Gerard, who both thought it was a good idea too. It didn’t take long for the group to get their stuff situated after that, and within an hour, they’d paid for their passes at the amusement park and were walking through the gates into the park. Immediately, Gerard let out an excited yelp, and looked over at them.

“Guys, we have to go on that!” He said, pointing across the amusement park to a ride on the other side from everything. Aurelia looked where the red-haired man was pointing, and smiled with a giggle when she saw that he was pointing at a ride advertised as being called “Batman: The Ride.”

“Batman? Seriously, Gee?” Frank asked with a chuckle of his own, wrapping his arm tightly around Aurelia’s waist before pressing his lips to the top of her head. Gerard scoffed, and then looked at Aurelia.

“Tell your boyfriend it’s a good idea, and he’ll go along with it,” he said excitedly to Aurelia, who giggled at the man’s playfulness before looking up at Frank. He was watching her with an amused smirk, glad that she seemed to be having a good time with his friends. They could sometimes be seen as a hard group for outsiders to befriend, and Aurelia seemed to be warming up to them immediately.

“I think it might be kind of fun,” she told Frank, squeezing his hand before biting her bottom lip. Gee let out a loud ‘yes’ and then Frank rolled his eyes before hugging his girlfriend again.

“If you think so, then we should do it,” he agreed. Gerard smirked and then pulled Aurelia away from Frank, slinging his arm across her shoulder.

“Aurelia is my new best friend, bitch, go find your own,” he told Frank before looking at Aurelia with a smile. “I knew you were a good chick when I saw you. I said to myself, ‘now that’s a girl for Frank.’”

Aurelia giggled at Gerard’s friendly words, and the group started to make their way towards the roller coaster. Ray had them stop once so that he could get some popcorn, even though Mikey warned him not to eat before the ride. The afro-haired guitarist didn’t listen to the slighter man, however, and everyone just muttered that they were going to not sit by him if it came down to that.

Once they reached the ride, Aurelia found herself having second thoughts. The ride was a lot bigger and wilder looking than she’d originally thought, and she’d never been on a roller coaster before. Frank sensed her apprehension and moved to stand beside her, taking one of her hands into his own and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Baby, you’ll be fine, this ride can’t take somebody as amazing as you down,” he grinned at her before pressing his lips to her forehead. “And you’ll have me right there, holding your hand.”

Aurelia continued to look at her boyfriend, and then nodded before giving his hand a squeeze. In leaving Belleview, she’d left to tell the world who she was. She’d left to sing her heart out; to become someone she’d never thought she could be. She couldn’t chicken out now just because the ride looked a little intimidating. She took a deep breath and then nodded, looking back up at Frank with a smile.

“Alright,” she told him, making him smile. “But you better not make Ray sit next to me, I don’t want him to spray projectile vomit on me,” she joked. Ray made a sour face, though he knew she was joking, and everyone else chuckled and high-fived her as they got in line for the ride.

The closer to the front they got, the more butterflies formed in her stomach. She’d never done something this intense, and it was frightening in a powerful sort of way. By doing this, she’d be taking that one step closer to becoming the Aurelia she wanted to be. Finally, the ride attendant seated them, and Frank grabbed her hand over the center divider of their seats. Gerard took a seat in the third seat in their row, and he also grabbed her hand, his vibrant hair already in his eyes as he looked at her with a friendly smile.

“When we get to the top, scream it out,” he grinned at her before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Me and Frank won’t let you go. If this seat breaks and you go, we go too.”

His words made her stomach do a somersault of nervousness, but she gave him a smile as she nodded. The ride slowly started to ascend upwards, and she felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach as they finally got to the top. She didn’t know what was happening next, but a loud scream fell off of her lips as suddenly they descended into a downward spiral, making adrenaline pump through her veins. True to their word, Frank and Gerard didn’t let her hands go as they did another corkscrew and then several more vertical loops. She smiled in spite of herself and opened her eyes when she heard Gerard scream out his name, and then Frank. She smiled and as she saw the seats reaching the top of the next section of the ride, she too yelled out her name.

It didn’t matter if no one else had heard her. She had sung it for the world to hear her; she’d said it at the top of her lungs, and it made her feel that much closer. She knew that they weren’t done with this trip yet. She didn’t know where they’d end up or how much further it would take for the world to know their names. But for those brief two minutes on the Batman ride, Six Flags knew their names. And it made Aurelia feel amazing. She felt like she was on top of the world, like she was a superhero.

Once the ride ended, Ray darted as quickly as he could away from the exit point and kneeled over before emptying out the food he’d eaten beforehand, with Mikey chastising him for eating in the first place. Aurelia stayed with Frank and Gerard, who just grinned proudly at her. She knew that she’d made them proud by screaming her name along with them, and when Frank squeezed her hand before pressing his lips to her cheek, she knew that he felt prouder than he ever had before of having her as his girlfriend.

“That was amazing, baby,” Frank whispered into her ear, turning her to look at him, his hazel eyes shining brightly as he grabbed her other hand. “You sounded so fucking amazing when you said that.”

Aurelia’s face flushed as he leaned in to cover her lips with his, and she grinned before wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, not wanting to let him go. Frank just grinned and lifted her off of the ground, and then broke the kiss just after the flash of a camera went off. Aurelia looked over to see Gerard holding a camera, a guilty smile on his face.

“What?” He asked defensively before putting the camera away. “It was an adorable fucking moment. Now it’s captured forever. You should thank me, Rel and Frank.”

Aurelia giggled at his playful tone, and then walked over to him to give him a tight hug. She had so much to thank Gerard for, and he didn’t even know it. She knew that he had been a major part of getting her out of her claustrophobic life back in Belleview, and he’d never know how much it meant to her that he’d helped get her out of there.

He returned the hug and then gave her a cheeky grin before looking around them. “Well,” he started before clapping his hands. “If Frank’s not too much of a pansy to eat, I’m freakin’ starving.”

Aurelia smirked, and then felt Frank slip his hand into hers again. Ray complained the entire way to the restaurant they’d decided to eat at, but in the end, he decided to eat anyway. Aurelia had never really known how fun life could be until now, and she was beginning to realize that there was more to it than just going through the motions. Because of Gerard and Frank’s other friends, she was beginning to truly live life. And because of them, she was learning that she could sing.