Battle of the Bands

-Julie's Point Of View-

Once we were back in the backstage area both Bill and Gerard stripped off their 'disguises.'

Bill turned toward me, grabbed my shoulders, and bombarded me with questions, "Are you alright? Did that guy hurt you? Do you need any medical attention?"

I smiled and giggled, "It's okay Bill, I'm fine. But thank you for finding me, and thank you too, Gerard."

"It's no problem. C'mon, let's get you back to the green room." Gerard said quietly.

"Wait. I'm not going anywhere without Melissa. We got seperated and we have to find her before something bad happens." I said quickly.

"No, no, it's alright. We found her already." Bill said just as quickly.

"Is she okay?" I questioned.

"She's fine. Frank and Tom already found her. Now c'mon. let's go." Gerard said with hardly any emotion. He began to walk in the direction of the green room with Bill and I following behind him.

Well damn.

What happened to Gerard?

He was so happy and hyper earlier.

But now he seems so cold and distant.

I wonder what changed.

We enter the green rooom and nearly every head in the room shot up and most had huge smiles on their faces.

I quickly noticed all the bands were crowded and cramped in the fairly small green room which included: Linkin Park, I Set My Friends On Fire, Simple Plan, The All American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, Forever The Sickest Kids, My Chemical Romance, and Tokio Hotel.

Yeah.

That's a lot of people.

I was side tackled which caused me to yelp until I saw who it was which caused me to smile.

Melissa.

"Oh my God! You're here!" I shouted.

"Yes! I'm here!" Melissa shouted back.

I then whispered so quietly I was surprised Melissa could even hear me, "Are you okay?" I asked, reffering to back when we were seperated by the glass bottle.

But somehow Melissa managed to hear me and answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?"

I nodded and answered, "Mhm." which Melissa knew actually meant something happened but I don't really want to talk about it right now.

Everyone in the green room began to talk all at once except for one voice rang out the loudest and that voice belonged to Tyson Ritter.

"I've got the most perfect idea ever!" Tyson shouted, making everyone else shut up.

"Julie, Julie, Julie, do me and my band the honor of singing with us before we have to go." Tyson said as he smiled like a cheshire cat.

Now my fear of singing in front of others was practically gone.

After singing in from of my favorite bands and a venue full of screaming people, I had nothing more to fear.

So I figured sure.

Why not?

"Yeah, sure. What song are we singing?" I asked as Tyson and his band began to set up on the music equiptment.

"You'll see." Tyson answered as he smiled.

The band started up on the instrumentals and Tyson grabbed the microphone and started to sing.

I wake up every evening
With a big smile on my face
And it never feels out of place

I smiled at Tyson because he had chosen to sing one of my favorite songs by his band. I began to sing right along with Tyson, making his solo a duet.

And you're still probably working
At a 9 to 5 pace
I wonder how bad that tastes

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

Nick, Mike, Chris, and I all clapped once which caused Tyson to smile brighter than ever before.

When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

Now where's your picket fence, love?
And where's that shiny car?
And did it ever get you far?
You never seemed so tense, love
I've never seen you fall so hard
Do you know where you are?

And truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I'm lying

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

Tomorrow you'll be thinking to yourself
Yeah, where'd it all go wrong?
But the list goes on and on

Truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I'm lying

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well
Then he's a fool, you're just as well
Hope it gives you hell

Now you'll never see
What you've done to me
You can take back your memories
They're no good to me
And here's all your lies
You can look me in the eyes
With that sad, sad look that you wear so well

The other bands were dancing around enjoying us singing.

Everyone knew what was coming up next in the song - the group chant - and it was only fitting to have everyone join in.

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell

If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well
Then he's a fool you're just as well
Hope it gives you hell

When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
(Hope it gives you hell)
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell
Hope it gives you hell
(Hope it gives you hell)

When you hear this song and sing along, well you'll never tell
And you're a fool, I'm just as well
Hope it gives you hell
When you hear this song I hope that it will give you hell
You can sing along, I hope that it puts you through hell

As the song ended everyone clapped and smiled.

Kyle ran up on the make-shift stage, wrapped his arms around me, and hugged me tight.

Tyson followed in suit, forming a group hug.

"That was awesome!" Kyle shouted as he smiled.

I smiled back, "Glad you liked it." I said a bit awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.

Kyle was about to say something else, but paused when he noticed the head security guard walk into the green room and said something about the busses being ready.

My jaw slightly dropped.

That security guard was the same one who kicked Melissa and I out earlier.

His eyes scanned over the green room and locked with mine. He made his way over to me and came to a dead stop directly in front of me with his arms crossed.

"Didn't I kick you out already?" he questioned.

"Uhm. . ." I started.

He sighed and grabbed my arm, "C'mon, let's go." he said as he began to escort me out of the room.

We almost made it to the door but Gerard, Georg, and Caleb blocked the doorway.

"Please don't remove her." Georg said.

"Yes, we asked for her and her friend to stay with us." Gerard added.

The security guard turned and glared at me for a moment before he let go of my arm, grunted, and walked out of the room.

Okay, was it just me or is that unusual behavior for a secuirty guard?

I turned to face the bands to see most of them smiling like idiots.

"Uhh, okay. . .When did I say Melissa and I were going to stay here? I mean, it's getting kind of late." I said quickly.

"Awh, but we're going out for pizza!" Bill pouted.

"Please come with us! Please, please, please!" Mikey begged, "Melissa already said she would come."

I glanced over at Melissa to see her standing next to Frank holding his hand. She smiled and nodded to confirm what what Mikey had said.

I took a deep breath before I smiled and nodded, "Okay, when do we leave?"