Gravity Don't Mean Too Much to Me

The next day at school was tough for Bandit. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t keep her mind from wandering to thoughts about her father’s return.

She could picture his arrival happening as though the scene were being played before her eyes, and she could picture herself running into her father’s welcoming arms. She could see the look of excitement on her own face, mirrored by her father’s. She could picture her mother running over to them to join in their reunion, and she could see a tear of joy escape from her mother’s eye.

Bandit smiled to herself, watching the scenes unravel in her mind. It had been two whole months since she had physically seen her father, and she remembered the last phone call he had made to her. He had promised her a surprise for when he came home, and Bandit’s grin widened as she pictured her father handing her an object which was wrapped in pink paper.

“Miss Way, do pay attention to me when I am speaking.” Mrs Hemmings’ voice interrupted her thoughts. There stood her teacher, Mrs Hemmings, glaring at her through her glasses.

Although Bandit was the most popular child in school due to the fact that her parents were famous, Mrs Hemmings treated Bandit completely normal, and did not fail to punish her when she had misbehaved. Bandit liked Mrs Hemmings, she may have been strict, but Bandit loved how she treated her. She didn’t want to be one of the spoilt, popular kids; she just wanted to be liked for her personality, not her fame or money.

Whenever a child would come up to her asking questions about her parents, she would later avoid them. She didn’t like when children only wanted to be friends with her because of who she was, so she had desperately avoided anyone who seemed clingy.

The young girl stared up at her teacher, still smiling. “Sorry, Miss. I was daydreaming for a minute there.” She sent the older lady an apologetic smile.

“Perhaps, you should copy from the text book, to keep you focused on your work?” The older woman replied, with an angry expression on her wrinkled face.

Bandit stopped smiling immediately as she took in her expression. This was no time for being sweet.

“Sorry.” She mumbled, sitting up in her chair to show she was now listening.

Mrs Hemmings gave her a warning glare and turned back to her board. The older woman was strict to everyone, so Bandit knew it was nothing personal. From then on Bandit was going to have to pay more attention to the lesson. Only two one lesson left until lunch. Then, she would only have to survive her last lesson and she could be back home with her mother, waiting for her father to come home and...

“Bandit!” Cried her teacher, causing Bandit to jump from her seat, leaving her blushing with embarrassment.

“Sorry!” She mumbled, taking a sip of water to help her concentrate.

By the time lunch had arrived, Bandit had been yelled at by various teachers for not paying attention and her friends had seemed to notice her edginess. Bandit had two best friends, Angela and Sam. Angela was shorter than Bandit, with long brunette hair that curled to the top of her head. Sam was slightly taller than Bandit, with straight black hair that was cut above her shoulders. Bandit knew that she could trust these girls, they had hardly ever asked any questions about her parents, and had never asked for concert tickets. They had become friends long before they had even known Bandit’s name, and so she knew that the two girls stood before her were truly her friends.

Angela was a quite girl, shy even, and she knew she could always trust her with any secrets. Angela wasn’t popular before she had met Bandit, and had been often bullied for reading whilst other children ran around playing. She was mature for her age, and wasn’t into sports.
Sam on the other hand, was the complete opposite to Angela. She liked to run around teasing them all the time, and never ran out of energy. She hated reading, and never did her homework. Although Bandit loved Angela for talking to, she loved playing games with Sam. She had a big imagination, just like Bandit, and she wished she could invite her around someday.

Bandit sighed. She couldn’t invite her friends round to her house; there were always too many cameras around the area, trying to figure out where her parents lived. Whether they were teenage girls or paparazzi, it was always too risky to be seen in the area. Her parents had to be extra careful when taking her home from school, after their address had almost been leaked onto the internet.

“Are you okay B?” Angela asked, showing genuine concern for her friend.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Mumbled Bandit, she was still thinking about her father’s arrival.

“You’ve been kind of off all day. What’s wrong?” The shorter girl pressed further. When Bandit didn’t respond, Sam clapped her hands in front of her face, startling her.

Bandit gasped at the girl in front of her and scowled. “You scared me Sam!”

Sam chuckled and began clapping her hands repeatedly. “Well, you weren’t answering us. She wasn’t answering us, was she Ang?”

The shy girl nodded and Bandit sighed. “My dad’s coming home today.” She informed them dully.

Angela smiled and Sam looked confused, asking; “Then why do you look so sad? Shouldn’t you be excited?”

“I am” She assured them. “I just can’t wait to get home. It’s been such a long day.”

A small voice interrupted them. “It’ll be worth it in the end B. When school is over, you can finally see your dad again. Why don’t you just think of something else to distract you? I find reading helps distract me.” Angela smiled and nodded towards her pile of books. “Why don’t
you read one? It’ll help, I promise.”

Bandit considered this for a moment. She enjoyed reading, but mostly comics. “Do you have any comics?”

Before the smaller girl could open her mouth, Sam skipped in front of the pile of books and began shuffling through them. “Ang, these books are so boring. There aren’t any pictures!” The girl gasped as she flicked through a thick book.

Before Angela could reply, Bandit replied; “No, it’s okay Ang. I can’t read in class anyway can I?” She sent the girl a sympathetic smile, in apology to rejecting her books.

The small girl smiled and resumed her reading, whilst Sam and Bandit began play fighting. Their lunch break flew by after she had begun playing, and she found herself feeling disappointed when lunch finally came to an end.

Her friends saw the disappointment on her face and reminded her of what was in store once school was over. She smiled.

Lindsey sat at home waiting for her husband to call.

She had become worried about her daughter lately, she had become obsessed with playing with the props her father had given her, and had been listening to his music constantly. Lindsey knew that it was only natural for Bandit to be proud of her parents, and she often boasted to Lindsey about how lucky she was to have them.

She had known that her daughter owned both parent’s band’s songs on her iPod, and she was fine with that, proud even. But when Bandit had begun constantly listening to My Chemical Romance songs, she had grown worried.

Lindsey jumped at the sound of her phone.

“Hello?” She asked, although she already knew who she was talking to. A smile began to set on her lips.

“Morning, sugar” Chimed Gerard’s musical voice, and Lindsey was now grinning from ear to ear.

“How’s the trip going? I hope you’re getting your sleep.” She warned jokingly.

She heard Gerard’s laughter from the other end of the phone. “I’m sleeping fine, although I’m missing you like crazy.” There was no laughter after he had said this.

“Well, I’m missing you too, baby.” She replied; “And it seems I’m not the only one. Lady B has had me worried.”

Gerard could hear the concern in her voice and he responded immediately. “What’s wrong with B? Is she okay?”

Lindsey sighed. “She’s been missing you so much. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been woken up to hear her screaming to her iPod.”

Gerard laughed, obviously not understanding why Lindsey was so worried. “She is getting older now, sugar. Maybe it’s just a phase? What time has she been waking you up?”

Lindsey hesitated; he was not going to be happy. “She woke me up at four o’clock this morning. She wasn’t only singing; she was playing with some of her toys.”

There was a pause, and she could hear her husband’s gentle breathing. “Four o’clock? That’s pretty late. What toys was she playing with?”

“The props you’d given her. She’d also been listening My Chemical Romance.” Lindsey told him, hoping he’d understand why she was so worried. “She misses you.”

Gerard sighed. “I’m gonna be home as soon as I can tonight. As soon as the gig is over, I’m gonna drive home as fast as I can.” There was a pause. “Unless, you want me to cancel? I don’t mind, as long as B’s happy. I don’t like leaving you behind like this.” She could hear the sadness in her husband’s voice.

“What about your fans? You can’t let them down, or the guys. I’m sure Bandit can wait a few hours, she’s been waiting a while anyway.” Lindsey quickly interrupted before Gerard could protest. “But we’re fine baby. It’s all gonna be worth it when you’re back here tonight, and then you’re all ours for a few months.” She was trying to comfort him.

“Only for a few months and even then I have to go out for interviews and you’ll need to go for yours with MSI...” She could hear her husband growing more anxious by the minute.

“Don’t worry. This is our job. You can’t help it if you have to go away every now and then, I’m sure Bandit understands. She’s a smart girl, our little Lady.”

Gerard chuckled; he seemed to be cheering up. “B is very smart. I can’t wait until tonight, I -” Lindsey could hear Frank’s voice from the other end of the line. “I’m sorry sugar, I have to go now. I love you and I can’t wait to see you again.”

She smiled as the butterflies in her stomach began to flutter. “I love you too. I’ll be here waiting for you to come home. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Tell B I said hi will you? Tell her I love her and can’t wait to give her the present I have for her.”

“Present?” Lindsey asked in confusion. B hadn’t told her about a present.

“Yeah, I’ve got her the sweetest thing sugar; I can’t wait for you to see it.” His voice was buzzing with excitement. “But I can’t tell you, even if I had the time. It’s a surprise.” He teased, and Lindsey could hear Mikey shouting for him to get off the phone.

Lindsey chuckled. “Sounds like you’re needed. I can’t wait to see you and this mysterious present of yours. Say hi to the guys for me, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Goodbye sugar.”

“Love you.” Lindsey replied, and her husband repeated the words back to her, quickly hanging up.

Lindsey couldn’t wait to see her husband again, being away from him for two months was agonising. Although she didn’t show how much she missed him around the house in case Bandit saw how much she was affected by his absence. She looked up at the clock, three o’clock already; it was time to collect Bandit from school.

Bandit waited patiently for her mother to arrive. She was always picked up earlier than the other children, who finished at half four. She smiled to herself as she watched the other children through the classroom window; at least there was a benefit to having to sneak back home.

Her mother came running down the corridor, hair messed up, and she sighed with relieve once she saw Bandit.

“I’m so sorry I’m late B, I was on the phone to your father.” Lindsey watched as her daughter’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Did he say anything about me? Can I talk to him?” She asked her mother excitedly, as she skipped by her side to the back of the school. They had to leave from the back in case they were spotted by someone, although Bandit was registered under a false name at the school, there were always fans around the area who were at risk of spotting them and going crazy, spreading the news on the internet.

Her mother grinned back at her and grabbed her hand as they crossed the road to get to their car. “He misses you too Lady B. He told me to tell you that he loves you and he can’t wait to give you you’re present. You’re gonna love it.”

Bandit smiled with glee as she was strapped into the car by her mother. What could her father be giving her? She hoped it was another prop for his latest tour.

“Tell me what it is mommy, please?” She pleaded, batting her eyelashes at her.

“Mommy? You sure are desperate to know aren’t you?” Chuckled Lindsey, as she started the engine. “I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted, your dad wouldn’t tell me.” She looked in her mirror to see Bandit’s disappointed face in the mirror.

“Can’t you just give me a hint?” Pouted Bandit, she obviously hadn’t listened.

“B, I don’t know what it is. I’m serious.”

The windows to the car were tinted so that no prying eyes could see through and know who was driving. Lindsey kept her head down anyway and sped towards the house as quickly as she could.

Then, Bandit asked the question that Lindsey had been hoping she wouldn’t ask. “What time will dad be home? Is he already there?” Her daughter was now bouncing around with excitement.

“Bandit, sit down properly.” Her mother instructed, and she obeyed. “He’ll be home at seven.”

The disappointment in her daughter’s face hurt Lindsey. She wanted to wipe that look from her face immediately.

“I can’t wait to get my present.” Bandit responded later brightly, but Lindsey knew that Bandit wanted to see Gerard more.