Someone Like You
Someone Like You
“Can you believe it?” He exclaimed, practically shaking from excitement, “This manager heard our band! OUR BAND! And he LIKED us!”
“It’s amazing that’s for sure,” she said. She felt small sitting on his gigantic bed. The room was perpetually a mess, but today it looked like a tornado hit it with the way he was swirling around packing a beat-up little duffel bag.
“I mean, we are leaving for tour TOMORROW! For TWO WHOLE MONTHS! God, we just graduated yesterday and now I’m hitting the road! And Jared, that’s the manager’s name, Jared said if we can scrounge up some new material we can have an EP recorded by September. September! It’s all happening so fast!”
“Yeah. It is. But…” She sighed. He jammed one last pair of boxers into his bag.
“But what?”
“What about school?”
He shrugged as he bounced up and down on the bag squishing everything down so it would fit.
“I can always do that later. This is a once in a lifetime shot I’m definitely not passing up… OK. I think I’ve got everything.” He said, quickly scanning the room before picking up his things and flying down the stairs. She had to practically jog to keep up.
“We’re taking the El Camino.” He explained as he flicked his keys into his palm. “I gotta meet up with the guys at Ray’s house. We leave way early tomorrow morning.” He spun around, almost hitting her right in the face.
“Holy fuck, can you BELIEVE all this?” He exclaimed.
“No. I can’t.” She replied honestly.
“Well, I gotta run. Catch ya later!”
And with that, he was running toward his car. She hadn’t even known it was storming until he was soaking wet, sprinting through it.
Her mouth was agape. So much had happened in the past day that her head was spinning. She gripped the door frame for support and tried to breathe.
“I almost forgot!” His voice rang out as he bounded back up the stoop towards her. “Hopeless records hooked us all up with cell phones. Here.” He scribbled a quick number on a little piece of paper in black permanent marker. “Hit me up. Whenever.”
And he was off again. She stared at the stupid piece of paper, ink running ever so slightly from the rain.
“Hey! Wait!” She called before she could stop herself.
He spun around. His blonde hair soaked down and whipping him in the face.
“What?”
She hesitated, “I… Well… Bye…”she shouted to him awkwardly. He waved, still super excited.
“Bye!”
----
And then six years go by, not a single word exchanged between the two former best friends.
That is, until a quiet night in an old hometown. A twenty-four hour laundromat holds a rock star with red, strangling locks and this mysterious woman from his past- her long, black hair straight and angular. This was Gerard Way and Gwenyth Trevena.
They stood across from each other, not sure how to react at first. Then, Gwenyth reminded him of a rainy day six years before.
The laundromat was quiet this time of night, the only people there being either elderly or college kids who were too drunk to recognize the famous frontman of My Chemical Romance. The yellow walls were chipping, quarters scattered the ground, and the ancient machines groaned under the wait of work. Gwenyth hadn’t known what motivated her to visit that dilapidated laundromat down her street, but the minute her eyes lands on Gerard’s signature shrug, she knew.
After she finished her story, Gwenyth dug deep into her pocket. From it, she revealed a small, crinkled up piece of paper. The ink had run so much by this point, you could barely make out the numbers, but they were there. Gerard looked at it intently, drawing a deep and careful sigh.
Gwenyth leaped off the washer and stood with her back facing Gerard. She clutched the decrepit piece of paper with her fist.
“How could you leave like that?” She said through gritted teeth. The elderly man leaving the store with his laundry basket quickened his pace. With the ding of the bell above the glass door, Gerard and Gwenyth were alone in the laundromat.
“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.” Gerard mumbled to his Chuck Taylors, swinging back and forth in front of the dryer door.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Gwenyth spun to face him. “You seriously threw your shit together and left without so much as a ‘I’ll miss you, Gwen,’ or a ‘have a nice life, Gwen!’ You just left! And then I never hear from you again-“
“Hey!” Gerard defended, jumping down to stare at Gwenyth eye to eye and gesturing at the piece of paper. “You’re the one who had my number! You had every opportunity to call me!”
“Why would I have wanted to?” Gwenyth yelled. “After that exit? I thought you were my best friend! I mean, did I really mean that little to you?”
“You know you meant the world-“
“Bullshit!” Gwenyth’s harsh remark echoed off the aluminum-lined walls.
“If I meant anything to you,” she started quietly, “then you wouldn’t have left. Not like that.”
For a few minutes, Gerard stared unfocusedly at the washers and dryers. Gwenyth relaxed her muscles and steadied her breathing.
Gerard cleared his throat. “Gwen, when I-“
“You know, just save it.” She threw up a silencing hand. “It doesn’t matter now. You went on and had your own separate life and I went on and had mine. Maybe… maybe we should just leave it that way.”
Her black, knee high, lace-up military boots rasped the floor as Gwenyth made her way to the exit.
“Are- are you sure?” Gerard’s choked voice breathed from behind her. Gwenyth didn’t dare look back into those eyes she had spent years trying to forget.
“I’m sure.” She whispered to the glass door, letting the empty room carry her breaths to Gerard. “You know... I was in love with you all those years and never said a word. Now I’m glad I didn’t. I never expected something like that. Not from someone like you.”
“It’s amazing that’s for sure,” she said. She felt small sitting on his gigantic bed. The room was perpetually a mess, but today it looked like a tornado hit it with the way he was swirling around packing a beat-up little duffel bag.
“I mean, we are leaving for tour TOMORROW! For TWO WHOLE MONTHS! God, we just graduated yesterday and now I’m hitting the road! And Jared, that’s the manager’s name, Jared said if we can scrounge up some new material we can have an EP recorded by September. September! It’s all happening so fast!”
“Yeah. It is. But…” She sighed. He jammed one last pair of boxers into his bag.
“But what?”
“What about school?”
He shrugged as he bounced up and down on the bag squishing everything down so it would fit.
“I can always do that later. This is a once in a lifetime shot I’m definitely not passing up… OK. I think I’ve got everything.” He said, quickly scanning the room before picking up his things and flying down the stairs. She had to practically jog to keep up.
“We’re taking the El Camino.” He explained as he flicked his keys into his palm. “I gotta meet up with the guys at Ray’s house. We leave way early tomorrow morning.” He spun around, almost hitting her right in the face.
“Holy fuck, can you BELIEVE all this?” He exclaimed.
“No. I can’t.” She replied honestly.
“Well, I gotta run. Catch ya later!”
And with that, he was running toward his car. She hadn’t even known it was storming until he was soaking wet, sprinting through it.
Her mouth was agape. So much had happened in the past day that her head was spinning. She gripped the door frame for support and tried to breathe.
“I almost forgot!” His voice rang out as he bounded back up the stoop towards her. “Hopeless records hooked us all up with cell phones. Here.” He scribbled a quick number on a little piece of paper in black permanent marker. “Hit me up. Whenever.”
And he was off again. She stared at the stupid piece of paper, ink running ever so slightly from the rain.
“Hey! Wait!” She called before she could stop herself.
He spun around. His blonde hair soaked down and whipping him in the face.
“What?”
She hesitated, “I… Well… Bye…”she shouted to him awkwardly. He waved, still super excited.
“Bye!”
----
And then six years go by, not a single word exchanged between the two former best friends.
That is, until a quiet night in an old hometown. A twenty-four hour laundromat holds a rock star with red, strangling locks and this mysterious woman from his past- her long, black hair straight and angular. This was Gerard Way and Gwenyth Trevena.
They stood across from each other, not sure how to react at first. Then, Gwenyth reminded him of a rainy day six years before.
The laundromat was quiet this time of night, the only people there being either elderly or college kids who were too drunk to recognize the famous frontman of My Chemical Romance. The yellow walls were chipping, quarters scattered the ground, and the ancient machines groaned under the wait of work. Gwenyth hadn’t known what motivated her to visit that dilapidated laundromat down her street, but the minute her eyes lands on Gerard’s signature shrug, she knew.
After she finished her story, Gwenyth dug deep into her pocket. From it, she revealed a small, crinkled up piece of paper. The ink had run so much by this point, you could barely make out the numbers, but they were there. Gerard looked at it intently, drawing a deep and careful sigh.
Gwenyth leaped off the washer and stood with her back facing Gerard. She clutched the decrepit piece of paper with her fist.
“How could you leave like that?” She said through gritted teeth. The elderly man leaving the store with his laundry basket quickened his pace. With the ding of the bell above the glass door, Gerard and Gwenyth were alone in the laundromat.
“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.” Gerard mumbled to his Chuck Taylors, swinging back and forth in front of the dryer door.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” Gwenyth spun to face him. “You seriously threw your shit together and left without so much as a ‘I’ll miss you, Gwen,’ or a ‘have a nice life, Gwen!’ You just left! And then I never hear from you again-“
“Hey!” Gerard defended, jumping down to stare at Gwenyth eye to eye and gesturing at the piece of paper. “You’re the one who had my number! You had every opportunity to call me!”
“Why would I have wanted to?” Gwenyth yelled. “After that exit? I thought you were my best friend! I mean, did I really mean that little to you?”
“You know you meant the world-“
“Bullshit!” Gwenyth’s harsh remark echoed off the aluminum-lined walls.
“If I meant anything to you,” she started quietly, “then you wouldn’t have left. Not like that.”
For a few minutes, Gerard stared unfocusedly at the washers and dryers. Gwenyth relaxed her muscles and steadied her breathing.
Gerard cleared his throat. “Gwen, when I-“
“You know, just save it.” She threw up a silencing hand. “It doesn’t matter now. You went on and had your own separate life and I went on and had mine. Maybe… maybe we should just leave it that way.”
Her black, knee high, lace-up military boots rasped the floor as Gwenyth made her way to the exit.
“Are- are you sure?” Gerard’s choked voice breathed from behind her. Gwenyth didn’t dare look back into those eyes she had spent years trying to forget.
“I’m sure.” She whispered to the glass door, letting the empty room carry her breaths to Gerard. “You know... I was in love with you all those years and never said a word. Now I’m glad I didn’t. I never expected something like that. Not from someone like you.”