From Under the Cork Tree

It was Spring; in the middle of a town somewhere in a New York suburb. My boss, Dora Freeman, had said this band needed us desperately, and was willing to shell out money to have the company fly from LA to this little nowhere town. I was down, but curious as to why they needed us so bad. I didn't ask, even though it did nag me.

After we had landed, gotten rooms in this cabin like motel nearby this little cornered off wooded area of homes, me and the crew went and set up our rooms for hair and makeup. My friend Rae worked the clothing department, shared a room with me, and had come in from our sleeping room to our dressing room where I was having lunch in.

"Who's Fall Out Boy?" She asked me; her light British accent surprised me, it was slowly slipping away since she moved to LA.

I shrugged as I are my potato chips, "Dunno, but I gotta say, I like the originality of their name."

Rae sat on the small couch with me, snagging my bag, "They're fuckin' late. I don't even know these dudes and I already hate them. All I got from Dora was "they're emo, think goth mixed with new wave. What the fuck?"

I laughed, "I was told one of them likes eyeliner, specifically from Mac."

Rae rolled her eyes, eating and swallowing before retorting, "I hope I never see 'em again after this. Like I said, don't know 'em, already hate 'em."

Before I could respond, there was a knock on the dressing room door; "Come in," I called.

Rae and I stood, she rolled up the bag, and the door opened. This big buff guy with a bald head and a walkie talkie came in; he wasn't intimidating, he had a friendly smile, "Hey. I'm Bob, I'm the band's tour manager and co-security. Sorry we're late, Pete was almost arrested."

Rae and I laughed, "Cool. Are they ready to go?"

"Yeah. You all looked over the treatment?"

I hummed, "Yep. We're all ready for the guys."

I had gathered, from the script and treatment, that there was four members of the band. None of them required any request makeup wise, except for Pete Wentz, the bassist, who required eyeliner pencils from Mac Makeup. It was a first from me, but I didn't knock it, because I have always been a big fan of the Cure, and Robert Smith used to wear eyeliner and red lipstick.

Before Rae and I got to meet the band, we all gathered outside to do so, but hear the instructions given. There was going to be five actors in total; two children, the two protagonist, and the female lead's father, along with the band, who would just be performing in one place. This would be one of the easier videos I would do, I was so excited.

As Matt, the director, started to talk, Rae and I stood side by side listening. I listened intently, as I always do so I wouldn't mess up, but I felt this nagging and heavy feeling on me. It was someone's glare, it make me uneasy, so I looked around, thinking it was probably one of the many girls that had been camped just outside the blocked off roads. I was wrong, it was a guy with a weird haircut and this dark stare; the stare wasn't in anyway scary or intimidating, it was more curious and playful, like a cat finding it's first mouse caught in a trap. I cocked a brow at him, earning a big smile from him.

He wasn't ugly, but he wasn't the most handsome guy, he was kinda cute. I wasn't into him, I thought he was just cute, a nice looking guy who I hoped wouldn't cause me trouble. I was actually wondering who he was, if he was the male lead, or a band member, or part of the Fall Out boy entourage.

I didn't ask, I continued listening to Matt until he was done and telling us all which scene we were doing first. All performance shots would come last, first would be the opening with "Antler boy" and his crush. I was excited, I love to work, so I got started, meeting everyone, first the actors, and then the band.

Dora introduced my crew and I, saving me for last, "This is Angelus Rush, she'll be doing your makeup. Ang, this is Fall Out Boy," Dora pointed to each of them, "Patrick, Joe, Pete and Andy."

Patrick was polite, shy and blushed when he shook my hand. Joe was straight forward and professional. Pete...he was the one staring, and he was staring now, but shook my hand nonetheless. Andy smiled, shook my hand as well; all said quick hellos and were gone within the first 5 minutes.

They were kind guys, I kinda just laughed thinking about Pete, the guy who was staring, and the fact he wanted eyeliner. I wouldn't be touching his face until later, so I had to make sure to keep all of his eyeliner safe.


The shoot went on as planned; nothing out of the ordinary; the Antler Boy flirted with me until I told him I had a boyfriend, which was true; he wasn't upset about it, instead, he turned into a good goofy friend, who made us all laugh.

When he had to put the antlers on, he was joking about the wig not staying on. Rae had me hold them up while she glued them to the wig. I don't think I ever had so much fun doing a shoot before.

And then, the next day arrived and all the fun went out the window.

The day started at 8AM, the crew got set up, while Rae and I woke up, got dressed, drank some coffee, ate donuts and I had a smoke, waiting for the band. Rae stood a few feet from me, where I sat out on the small porch leading to the dressing room.

"Where are these guys?" She murmured.

Rae's the type to be punctual; she hates to be late and to mess around on the job. She likes to have a good time, as long as she was getting the job done too.

"I'm sure they're probably bailing that Pete guy out of whatever mess he's in, again," I joked.

Just as I had spoken, the four men came walking up from a bus that was parked across the street. They were dressed in jeans, except for Pete, he was in pajama pants and a red hoodie with a black bat on it. I snubbed out my cigarette, stood with Rae, smiling nicely as the band approached, along with Bob.

"I'm sure you guys met yesterday," Bob said, smiling.

"Yep," I replied.

"The guys are pretty behaved," he looked down on them; they were short compared to him, they were definitely taller than Rae and I, though. "All I have to say is keep an eye on Wentz."

My eyes immediately scanned over to Pete, he looked deeply immersed into his sidekick cellphone. I shrugged, "He looks harmless. Ready guys?"

"Yes, ma'am," Joe grinned.

"Follow me and Rae."

The band followed us into the dressing room, where Rae immediately began to show Joe and Andy the choice of clothing. I led the singer, Patrick, to my makeup chair, "So, you're Patrick," I assured; he nodded, "you're really pale, man, where are you from?"

"We're from Chicago," he said chuckling. "Andy's from Milwaukee."

"Where are you from, gorgeous?"

My head snapped over towards the couch; Pete was sitting there with a satisfied smirk on his face. I fought the urge to roll my eyes; he was like a pre-teen boy.

"I'm from California, Rae's from the UK; we live back in Los Angeles."

"And your name is Angelus," Patrick said softly, I almost couldn't hear him.

"Yeah, but it's spelled A-N-G-E-L-U-S," I told him as I got my palette out, "my parents were into mythical names and fairies in the 70's and 80's."

"Me 'n Pete used to be in a band called Arma Angelus," Joe called over as I began to clean Patrick's face.

"Maybe it was fate," Pete said, his brow cocking.

I laughed, "Maybe. I mean, who would've known you'd become rock stars and sit in my makeup chair for a video."

As the conversation went on, with jokes included, I could feel Pete staring at me. He was the last to sit in my chair, and was definitely giving me that look. I wanted to laugh and tell him to dream on, but there was just something about his quiet and silent position in my chair. All afternoon, he had joked and laughed and even went out of the room to do something with this guy called "Dirty" and came back to take a shower, since he got muddy.

So, sitting in the chair, without the dark messy mascara, you could see the kindness of his hazel eyes, and the dark bags that could've been mistaken for eyeliner smudge. I was a bit intimidated by his gentle look, until he smiled and then opened his mouth.

"What's wrong, Angel, never seen a sexy beast before?"

I rolled my eyes, "Actually, I was wondering what kind of animal was sittin' in my chair."

He laughed and put a hand to his chest, "Oh, ow! Ouch, Angel Face, that hurt."

"Don't call me Angel Face. As a matter of fact, you can't call me anything but Angelus, got it?" I picked up an eyeliner pencil as he giggled some more.

"Aw, why not? How are we supposed to become friends?"

"By you being polite and not being a jerk," I gave him a faux smile. "Now sit still or I'll poke you in the eye."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" He grinned again.

"Take it as you want, it's your fuckin' eyeball, Princess."

He laughed again, "Okay, okay. I'm just kiddin'. I'll be still."

Pete sounded sincere, so I didn't think he was playing. As I began to apply the eyeliner over his left eye, he didn't do anything; I moved onto the next and accidentally dropped his phone that was on the arm of the chair, "Shoot, my bad."

As I bent to pick it up, his hand reeled back and smacked me on my ass.