This Moment was Held for Me

And soon enough the weekend rolled around and it was time to visit Frank at The Cave. Amanda and I were getting ready excitedly. Frank had also invited the rest of the gang along.
“I think I’m ready!” yelled Amanda from the bathroom. She walked out and twirled in front of me before asking, “How do I look?” She wore a fitted black dress with cheetah print jewelry and shoes.
I smiled, “So beautiful! I bet Gerard will try and kiss you tonight.”
She grinned slyly at me, “He fucking better!”
Whilst laughing and stumbling around, we grabbed our bags and headed out the door. When we arrived at The Cave, I noticed that I could hear the music from the street. There were a lot more people here compared to Rics.
Amanda pulled me aside before we entered the club and whispered in my ear, “Do you want some more vodka before we go in?”
I nodded and sneakily took a few sips of straight vodka. We giggled together, brushed our hair off our faces, and straightened up before flashing our fake ID’s to the security guard. I held my breath while he examined my card. With a nod, we were both accepted inside.
“This place is amazing!” I yelled in Amanda’s ear.
She nodded excitedly but said nothing. I guess that was because whenever Amanda drunk alcohol she struggled to talk coherently. Hand in hand, we walked over to the bar.
“We shouldn’t have drunked that vodka straight!” yelled Amanda.
I laughed, “You mean, we shouldn’t have drunk that vodka straight?”
She nodded, “Exactly.”
I shrugged, “It does the job.”
She giggled, “A little too well, I think.”
Amanda began looking around the room for Gerard. I couldn’t seem to see them anywhere yet. My search job was made harder by the fact that the lights dimmed and someone started talking on the microphone.
“Where are they?” I yelled to no one in particular.
Amanda was now standing on her tip toes trying to look over the sea of people. The man at the microphone distracted our efforts, so we were forced to stop and listen to him.
“Alright listen up people,” he said charismatically. “We have two bands playing tonight. The first is a local band and they have agreed to play us a few songs for tonight. They didn’t plan on playing tonight so you guys will need to really put your hands together for them. Please welcome to the stage, My Chemical Romance!”
Both Amanda and I looked at each other in surprise.
“Isn’t that their band name?” Amanda said dumbly.
“My Chemical Romance,” I simply repeated. I watched my five new friends walk out onto the little stage. They all look extremely nervous, particularly Mikey and Gerard. I realized how exciting this must be for them and decided I should kick into action. I dragged Amanda along with me so we could get closer to the stage. It was a difficult task seeing as there were so many people packed into the club. Amanda and I cheered as they quickly set up their stuff.
Gerard walked nervously up to the microphone while Frank and Ray fiddled with their tuning.
He coughed into the microphone, “Thanks for listening to us. We are My Chemical Romance.”
“What a babe!” I heard when girl say behind me.
Amanda threw her a glare before turning her full attention to the stage.
Bob started thrashing on the drums, then the guitars came in, and then the bass. Gerard’s voice brought all of the instruments together beautifully. His voice was rough yet melodic at the same time. I was stunned at how good they really were.
Amanda and I held hands tightly as we listened and moved to the music.
“They fucking rock!” she screamed in my ear.
“I can’t believe they’re playing!” I said back to her, “This is their first major gig!”
After they played three more songs, they thanked the audience and left the stage. I felt like I was even more attracted to Frank. He had so much energy and passion for what he was doing on stage. It just looked so natural. They all did amazingly well.
“C’mon let’s go back to the bar and hope that they meet us there!” said Amanda. We were both getting sweaty from dancing along.
After ordering a few drinks, we finally spotted Gerard in the crowd and waved him over. Amanda ran up to him and gave him a hug.
“You were incredible!” we both yelled.
He looked so proud, “Really? You think? It was fucking great being up there.”
We both nodded eagerly.
“So where is everyone else?” I asked.
“They’re coming,” Gerard said as he downed a shot with Amanda. After waiting a few more minutes, I decided not to stand around like an idiot. I’d get into the party too. I didn’t need to wait around for Frank. I joined Gerard and Amanda at the bar. Amanda was leaning on Gerard for support and was giggling.
“Did you find him?” she gasped as I walked over.
I looked warily at Gerard, “Um, no I don’t see any of them just yet.”
Gerard cackled, “You don’t have to hide your feelings Mia! I can tell you have the hots for Frankie.”
I bit my lip and smiled at Gee, not wanting to confirm anything. I was scared that Frank was off talking to other girls. No doubt many of the girls were excited by a hot new guitarist. But I decided not to dwell on being alone for the moment.
“Excuse me,” I asked the bartender when he looked at me, “Two shots of tequila please?”
As soon as he gave them to me, I downed them without a chaser.
“Well someone isn’t taking it easy,” a familiar voice muttered in my ear.
I turned around to face Frankie.
“Frank! You were seriously amazing up there. I loved every minute of it!” I praised him.
He grinned happily, “Thanks Mia. I was so excited, I had no idea we’d have the chance to play.”
“Shot?” I offered him.
He shrugged his shoulders, “Sure. You really shouldn’t be drinking though.”
“Pfft, as if you didn’t drink at my age.”
He laughed, “You’re right.”
“Do you wanna go listen to the other band?” I asked whilst nodding my head in the direction of the stage.
Without saying a word, he nodded and took my hand. Gently, he led us closer to the stage. The crowd was tighter now because the band that was playing was quite well known. I noticed people singing along to the lyrics and getting really into the hardcore bits. I started to regret wearing high shoes and drinking so many shots in such a short amount of time. I wobbled a bit in my shoes but Frank’s grip tightened to support me.
“You okay?” he asked as he looked back at me.
I nodded, “Thanks.”
We were quite close to the front now and had a good position. Despite a lot of crowd pushing, it was nice to be in close proximity to Frank.
“Here, maybe you should stand in front of me. That way I can look out for you,” he yelled over the music.
After reshuffling, I now stood in front of him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear, “Is this okay?”
It was more than okay.
I settled on just saying, “Yeah, thanks.” I was trying to contain my excitement. I swear if Amanda saw me right now she would be grinning madly for me.
We continued to watch the band until they finished their set.
“They were pretty good,” mused Frank.
I turned around to look at him now that the crowd had spread out more. “Yeah, but not as good as you guys,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I guess the alcohol made me more confident. Then again, I wasn’t shy if I genuinely liked someone. Frank’s arms were still snaked around my waist. For people that didn’t know us, we would look like a real couple.
“This is nice,” I said softly.
“The club,” smirked Frank, “or you and me?”
I arched one of my eyebrows, “Are you always so cheeky?”
“Are you always so beautiful?”
“Are you always so corny?”
“Are you always so witty?”
“Are you always so…cheeky?”
Frank laughed, “You already said that.”
“Shut up!” I moaned.
“But seriously, Mia. You look beautiful tonight,” Frank said.
I looked down slightly. I wasn’t used to boys declaring that. “Thanks,” I eventually said.
Frank gently used his finger to lift my chin up so that I’d look into his eyes.
“This really is nice,” he said seriously looking into my eyes.
“Being together?”
He nodded, “Yeah. I feel like this moment – right now – is perfect. I feel like this moment was held for me.”
I smiled slowly before saying, “Maybe it is.”
And with that, I slowly leaned in to kiss him on the lips. And then it was my turn to wish that the moment would freeze, just for me.