Reach Out For The Sunrise

Two weeks after the Jersey Devil incident, it was just a joke among everyone in the house. Every now and then, someone would flap their arms like wings, or just randomly spout out "Devil" and everyone would break out in laughter. Of course, Bob, Gerard, Ray, Mikey, and Frank would be totally confused and that would make everyone laugh even harder. One morning Rose woke up and looked at her calendar. Three days till my sixteenth birthday. She thought to herself. She knew that with the sixteenth came a little more power, a little more independence, and a little more responsibility, but much more freedom. She was awoken from her thoughts by the phone ringing. She could faintly hear Mikey answer it. She listened to his half of the conversation.
"Hello? Oh, hey Christine! How is...everything? Really? A boy? That's fantastic, now I have the full set. Niece and nephew. Haha yeah. So what's up? Oh, you finished synthing it? Awesome Rose will be so excited! Launch party? Wow when? Three days? Okay did you know that's Rose's birthday or just by chance? Oh, okay. Alright I'll go tell her right now. Okay bye Christine." he hung up and came bouncing down the stairs. "ROSE! Honey great news!" he said, coming into her room.
"What's up Mikey?" asked Rose. He smiled.
"Christine just called. She said that they finished synthing the last song on your album. They're completely wrapped. Nothing left." he was smiling, and now so was Rose. Hearing that her first ever CD was complete was just crazy.
"Anything else?" she asked. Mikey smacked his forehead.
"Cancel all birthday plans. Your launch party is on your birthday, it just kinda happened that way." he said. Rose shrieked in excitement.
"I have a launch party! Yay!" She squealed, hugging her uncle tightly. "Gotta go tell...everyone!" she said. She turned around to wake the girls up, to find them all sitting bolt upright, huge smiles on their faces. Amy spoke first.
"SHOPPING!" she shrieked happily. Rose smiled and ran across the basement into the boys room. She jumped onto Shawn's bed and kissed him. He smiled at her.
"Not that I don't love the randomly jumping on top of me and everything..." he said. "But what the fuck is going on?" he asked. Rose kissed him again, and Alex moaned.
"Can't you wait till we're out of the room?" he groaned. Rose glared at him and said.
"For your information, Joust has a launch party in three days. On my birthday. And you, Josh, and Dylan are officially invited." she said, putting on her "so there" face. Shawn sat bolt upright and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Launch party? You mean with loud music, lots of people and general chaos?" he asked. Rose laughed and nodded before Shawn pulled her into a kiss. Rose pulled away, a thought crossing her mind. She pulled back and Shawn tried to keep kissing her. Rose laughed.
"Shawn you horny bitch!" shouted Josh. Shawn growled and chucked his pillow across the room. Josh shrieked as the pillow beaned him right in the head and he fell backwards.
"Shawn baby, we only have a few days before we go, and we need to go shopping because there's gonna be crazy paparazzi." she said.
"Mmmm you're right." said Josh. He leapt out of his bed and started getting dressed. "Well? Coming?" he asked, turning to his friends still trying to get back to sleep. "Come on boys, we have to look fabulous!" he exclaimed, striking a pose. Dylan snorted with laughter as Jordan, Amy, and Jamie walked in.
"Joshee?" said Amy.
"What's up sweetie?" he asked, pulling a t-shirt over his head.
"You wanna be the fashion coordinator for the boys? I already called the girl's outfits." she said. Jordan and Jamie rolled their eyes at each other. Rose smiled. Of course Amy was going to be making the final call on every one's outfits, she was like, the be-all-end-all of fashion queen bees. "Well? Why are you all just standing around? Come on we have nine people to shop for and only seventy two hours to do it in so lets GO!" she shouted. Rose smiled and jumped off Shawn, running back into her own room. She pulled on a pair of jeans with a studded belt, and her Broken Heart Demolition Lovers My Chemical Romance shirt. She topped it off with some pink and black checkered slip on vans, a ponytail, and black out makeuped eyes. Everyone else was ready when she ran upstairs, and they ran out the door immediately. Gerard came running out of the house as they strapped on their seatbelts.
"Where are you going?!" he shouted. Jordan rolled down the windows and they all shouted
"THE MALL!"
"Oh, Okay. I assume you stole my debit card then Rose?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Rose smiled.
"Yeah, but I've got mine too incase we go over the limit!" She shouted out the window as Jordan pulled out of the driveway. Gerard's jaw dropped and everyone laughed as they sped off towards the Garden State Plaza mall, because that has everything.

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"I'm not wearing this Amy!" shouted Jamie from behind the dressing room door.
"Oh Jamie at least come out and let us see!" shouted Rose.
"NO!" shrieked Jamie. "I look like a total slut!"
"Honey that skirt comes down to your knees!" said Jordan.
"I'm not coming out!" said Jamie definitely.
"Fine." said Rose. "Then we're coming in." she said as she turned the knob. Amy, Jordan, and Rose filed into the little stall, ignoring Jamie's indignant shrieks.
"Oh my God Jamie you're a BABE!" laughed Jordan. Jamie's shoulders slouched.
"See! I told you it looked terrible!" she whined. "Please get out so I can take this off!" she added.
"No...Jamie..." started Rose. "Hun, you actually look really really good. Just...wait one sec!" she had an idea. She ran out of the dressing room and up to the front of the store where the hats where. She grabbed one and came back to the dressing room. She put the hat on Jamie's head. "There! Perfect!" she said, standing back. Everyone smiled and Jamie looked in the mirror.
"Okay...I guess it's cool. I'll buy it." she said smiling. Amy squealed with joy and hugged her sister. "Okay, okay, who said hugging me was allowed?" she asked, pushing Amy off. Everyone rolled their eyes and walked out of the stall to let Jamie change. When she came back out of the stall, they set off to Hot Topic to search for an outfit for Jordan. That took all of ten minutes, seeing as Jordan fell in love with a dress as soon as they walked into the store. Amy wanted to get her outfit from Hot Topic as well, so Jamie and Jordan decided to go find the boys, and Rose waited with Amy, wandering the store. Rose loved everything they had, but none of it was launch party fabulous. Rose wanted to stun the crowd; she wanted to look so stunningly beautiful that even Josh would want her. She finally got tired of wandering Hot Topic and stood in the front of the store, waiting for Amy to ring up her incredibly slutty outfit. A bright pink neon sign caught Rose's eye as she stood there. She waved to Amy and they walked over to the store. The sign read "Torrid. Clothes for plus-sized teens." Rose looked down at her body. She'd definitely lost weight, but this store had some more formal stuff, and maybe she'd fit into some of the smaller sizes. She and Amy walked throughout the store and Rose was beginning to think the store was a lost cause.
"Oh, hey, Rose I see some dressed back here." said Amy, motioning to a single rack by the changing rooms. They began to rifle through the dresses and skirts. "Oh my GOD! Rose try this on!" said Amy, shoving a lot of red fabric in Rose's face. Rose walked into the changing stall just as Amy's cell phone started to ring. "Oh, hey Jordan. Yeah we're in Torrid, right across from Hot Topic. Kay the guys are back at the car? Okay well come here I want your opinion on something I found for Rose. Yeah bring Jamie too. Kay bye." she hung up. "ROSE!" she shouted.
"Yeah?" shouted Rose back as she pulled herself into the dress. "Stay in there, I don't want to see how it looks until Jamie and Jordan get here okay?" shouted Amy.
"Okay." said Rose, tying the dress. Her jaw dropped when she looked at herself in the mirror. I actually look pretty! she thought to herself. Just then she heard Jamie and Jordan walk in.
"Mkay Rosie come out!" said Amy. "I want to see." she added. Rose opened the door and stepped out into the store. Jamie's, Jordan's, and Amy's eyes all got wide.
"Oh..." said Amy.
"My..." said Jordan.
"GOD!" shouted Jamie. "Rose! Do you have any idea how gorgeous you look?" she asked as Rose smiled and spun around, letting the dress flare out.
"So should I get it?" she asked, walking back into the dressing room.
"Hell yes!" said Amy.
"You totally should." Added Jamie. "But beware, that horny son of a bitch Shawn is probably gonna try everything he's got to get you to fuck him." she said, laughing. Rose came out of the changing room and paid for the dress. They walked back to the car and climbed in with Josh, Troy, Dylan, Shawn, and Alex.
"How'd you do?" asked Alex as Jordan pulled out of the lot.
"Really good. How about you guys?" asked Rose.
"Just as well." said Dylan.
"Great." said Amy. Now we all look Ghetto Fabulous." she said, laughing a little. Shawn chimed in with a
"Yeah yeah! A concida dis a invitation, a to my gansta nation!" he said. Everyone laughed like crazy imitating rappers for the whole ride home. They pulled into the driveway and they walked through the front door to see Gerard and Christine cuddling on the couch, watching an old movie. Rose took her father's debit card out of her walled and flicked her wrist so it spun and landed on his leg. Gerard picked it up, then looked at all the bags everyone was carrying. He examined the card closely.
"I'm shocked it's not melted." he said. Christine laughed.
"Oh come on dad we didn't even go over the limit!" whined Rose.
"Alright alright." said Gerard. "Now go downstairs and leave grownups to grownups business." he said, nodding towards Christine. Rose rolled her eyes.
"Okay we're gone. Just...don't hurt the baby." she said, smiling a bit. Christine threw a pillow playfully at Rose as she walked down into the basement. She felt Shawn come up behind her and he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"So let me see what you got." he said. Rose shook her head.
"Nope, I wanna surprise you." she said. Shawn pouted. "Believe me baby it's worth it. I promise." she said walking away and closing the girl's bedroom door behind her.

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"Rose?" her father called from upstairs.
"Yeah dad?" she shouted back.
"Me and all the boys are going to get going. Me, Frank, Mikey, Ray, Bob, Shawn, Dylan, Troy, Josh, and Alex are all heading over to the launch party now. You guys are taking Jordan's car right?" he asked.
"Mhm." said Rose. "We'll see you guys there!" she said. She heard the front door open and close, the car start, and then back out of the driveway. "ALL CLEAR!" She shouted. Jordan, Amy, and Jamie came out swinging; pulling on clothes and brushing and spraying hair like wildfire. They wanted to finish A.S.A.P. because they knew Rose was going to take the longest and was going to need the most help. Rose pulled on her tights and her dress. Jordan started working on her hair while Amy went for her makeup. In fifteen minutes Rose was completely transformed and being told how amazing she looked by everyone. All the girls hopped into the car and drove like crazy to the studio, where the launch party was being held in the banquet room.

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Rose was standing behind a curtain at the top of the stairs. She was looking through the folds down at the room below. There had to be at least two hundred people, a mix of friends, paparazzi, and other music artists. Rose was more interested in the door on the right. She saw Dylan, Alex, and Josh standing near it, and the arrangement was that Shawn and Troy were going to walk through the door, where Dylan, Josh, and Alex would join them to meet the girls when they came down the stairs one at a time. Christine had arranged it as the Joust Grand Entrance. Suddenly the lights were dimmed, except for one over the door. The door opened with a bang to reveal Shawn and Troy who had kicked it open, just for effect. Rose blushed like crazy when she saw Shawn. He was dressed in a tight black polo shirt with a red tie, black denim girl pants, and his eyes were blacked out and his hair was spiked in a million different directions. God dammit he's hot. She thought to herself. Troy looked good too. He was wearing baggy blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt under a black blazer, and a blue tie. Rose heard Amy squeal at the sight of her boyfriend. Alex was wearing a standard black and white suit, Josh had on red plaid girl pants with a white t-shirt and a denim jacket, and Dylan was dressed pretty much like Troy, except his shirt was red. The four boys stood at the foot of the stairs and it was time for Jamie to go down. The DJ turned the song to "Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued" as she pushed through the curtain. Jamie was wearing a knee length patent-leather skirt with black hiking boots and black fishnet stockings. She had a white button down shirt that was cuffed to the elbows. Her blonde hair was dyed black and straightened within an inch of its life and topped off with a black Fedora. Jordan was equally stunning as she walked down the stairs behind Jamie. She was wearing a black dress that was covered in lace, and the sleeves were of the shoulder, with holes for her thumbs. She also wore black fishnet stockings with her black stiletto heels. Her long black hair was straight and her bangs were perfectly curved. Amy walked down next, and her outfit was much brighter. Rose thought she heard some whistles, and more camera clicks than Jamie or Jordan had gotten. Amy had found a shocking pink strapless dress that came down to a few inches above her knee. She partnered this with pink tights under neon green fishnet tights and mid shin length patent leather platform boots. Her hair was in loose beachy tendrils that fell in her eyes and across her face. Jordan linked arms with Dylan, who she was still dating, Amy went with Troy, and Jamie paired with Alex, just to even it out. Josh stood on one side of the stairs and Shawn stood on the other, just for symmetry's sake. Rose's heart beat faster as the light on the stairs turned pink and the song changed. The opening to "Perfect Situation" started to play and Rose knew that was her cue. She took a deep breath, pushed her shoulders back, and pushed the curtain open. She could have sworn she heard the whole room gasp, and camera flashes began to blind her. She looked down at Shawn and almost broke out laughing at his expression. His eyes were about to pop out of his head and his jaw was about to hit the floor. Even Josh was looking impressed. Who wouldn't be? Rose did look incredible. She was wearing a bright red dress that tied at the top in a halter behind her neck. The hem of the dress was a handkerchief hem with more layers of red and pink fabric below the top red layer. She wore black fishnet stockings and platform sandals that wrapped halfway up her shin. Her hair was tied back in a half pony and in waves like Amy's. She was wearing loads of black eye make up, and blood red lipstick. She reached the bottom of the stairs, thanking her feet for not letting her fall, and Shawn took her hands. He looked her up and down for a second, before stuttering out
"You...you look incredible Rose...I...you...look so...oh man..." he started rambling and Rose put a finger to his lips.
"Thank you." she whispered. "Let's dance." she said, leading him into the middle of the room where Jordan and Dylan were already dancing, along with Amy and Troy. Rose noticed that Jamie and Alex were standing against the wall, both dateless. Rose laughed as they both glanced at each other, and looked quickly away. Rose wrapped her arms around Shawn's neck and they danced to the end of the song, then another slow song began to play. "Hey There Delilah started coming through the speakers and Gerard and Christine joined the three couples on the dance floor, all being snapshotted by the paparazzi. They all danced until about eleven fifty, when Christine glanced at her watch and shrieked. She broke away from Gerard and ran up to the DJ, telling him to stop the music. The record cut and Christine grabbed a microphone.
"Um, excuse me, excuse me, its almost officially June first, which is the release date of Joust's first American release! In ten minutes, we can send the trucks off, and Joust will officially be on the map in the U.S.! If everyone will follow me to the loading dock..." she said. Everyone cleared out of the banquet room and headed outside towards where the trucks full to bursting with Joust CDs were running and waiting for the clock to strike twelve. "Two minutes everyone!" shouted Gerard. Rose, Amy, Jordan, Shawn, and Troy were shoved up to the closest truck as people started counting down. It felt to Rose like New Years Eve, because once this album hit stores, Rose new she's never be the same. Suddenly Gerard started to count and Shawn squeezed her hand.
"TEN. NINE. EIGHT. SEVEN. SIX. FIVE. FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE!" everyone counted and once they hit one the cameras started flashing as Rose, Shawn, Troy, Amy, and Jordan started pulling the truck's hatch closed. Troy banged the closed door and the truck set off. Everyone cheered and Rose and Shawn started to kiss, along with Jordan and Dylan, and Amy and Troy. When Rose broke away from Shawn she gasped with joy as she saw another kissing couple. Jamie and Alex. This was not something anyone expected. Rose smacked Jordan and Amy's arms and pointed to Jamie and Alex. Their jaws both dropped. They stopped, realizing they were being stared at and just gave everyone a look that said "What's your problem we can date too!" all with one stare. Gerard tapped Rose's shoulder.
"They want you all inside, Demolition Lovers and Joust, sitting on the big couch in the lobby for photos. Is that cool?" Rose nodded and they all headed inside. Everyone sat down and posed on the couch for the photographers. After about a half hour of this, everyone was really bored. Shawn yawned.
"Oh man, I am sooo tired." he said. Rose pushed him.
"Well I hope you still have some energy for me." she said seductively. Shawn smirked at her and said
"Do you mean what I think you mean?" he asked, getting really close to her face.
"Absolutely." whispered Rose.
"I suddenly find I'm wide awake." responded Shawn, turning back to the cameras with a wider smirk. Rose settled into the back of the couch, not doubting her decision at all.

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In the car on the drive home, no one was talking, simply because all the kids, except Josh were very busy with one another. Amy and Troy occupied the trunk, Rose and Shawn the backseat, Jordan and Dylan the front passenger seat, and...Who knew where Jamie and Alex had hidden themselves, but they were somewhere in the car making out. Ray was driving, the other four adults had taken Gerard's car. Ray glanced at the entwined couples in the rear-view mirror, trying to find something to say. Finally he spoke.
"Um...I know you guys might um...well because you're all so...happy...I suppose some things might happen...are you all...does everyone have...ah screw it. Do all the guys here have condoms?" he finally asked. Every boy's hand shot up, not letting go of their girlfriend. "Alright, as long as that's clear, do whatever you want, just don't let Gerard hear you. No screaming orgasms." said Ray, rolling his eyes. Rose broke away from Shawn for a minute in sheer disbelief at just hearing Ray say "screaming orgasm". She shrugged it off and went back to Shawn. Once they got home the whole basement went crazy. But more fun was had then ever the Way house saw.
"Happy Birthday." whispered Shawn as he untied her dress.