Earth to Me

The end of summer 2013.

Andy told us in 2012 to save that date, because it would become very important in our lives, no matter where we were at that point.

After everything was in order, after storyboards were slaved over and cast members acted until their voices gave out, after animators painstakingly made sure that every frame was the best it could be, and right as Put’emup, Put’emup announced another full-length album due that fall, Johnny Cool and the Dudes was officially charging into Cartoonigans’ lineup of amazing artistic creations.

I couldn’t believe it. It had slipped my mind for a while despite the comic going strong alongside Put’emup, Put’emup’s effort to conquer the world, and when Andy called me a few days after the tour ended to invite everybody out on its premier night, I was snapped back to reality.

And man, reality was tasting sweet compared to the nightmares I was still getting. Me and Tegan slept over at each others’ houses pretty regularly already, but that summer, one of us was always spending the night, telling our parents it was to savor our free time. (Thank God Tegan was gay and had a girlfriend, or else her mom never would’ve fallen for that.)

Put’emup, Put’emup hadn’t even told the four of us about the album in advance, so when I saw it making headlines one morning, I freaked the hell out – it was gonna be called, “Epitome of Hyperbole,” and of course, one of the songs on it was bound to be, “Keep Around.”

And if a song that good was gracing this new album, the rest of it was bound to be just as incredible.

Even if my sophomore year of college was bound to suck, I knew I’d have one thing to look forward to, at least, and that still mattered.

First things first, though, and no matter how badly I wanted to hear what Put’emup, Put’emup had secretly been recording before their tour, there was another big event we had to power through first.

As it turned out, Andy had rented out the entirety of Pizza Plethora on Saturday, September 14th. It was just a separate party for us, since the actual cast and crew of the Johnny Cool cartoon was partying it up in California, but since Andy was the brain behind it all, how else would we have celebrated? Especially since a few of us in particular had followed the comic since its descent into fame?

It was the Pizza Plethora that Tegan worked at last summer, right down the sidewalk of the Subhero I made a few bucks at. It had a mini-arcade alongside a freakin’ pizza buffet, so even if the cartoon was a bust and disappointed everybody, well, hey, we got all the pizza we could’ve asked for.

Andy told us he had seen the first few episodes in advance, and man, he hyped them up so much. I guess I understood – if I was living his life, seeing my characters come to life on a TV screen would be a dream come true – but there was still that nagging nervousness in my spinal cord that told me that it wouldn’t be as great as I anticipated.

Well, to make a long story short, I was wrong.

In some ways, it was better than the comic. In the first issues, you could tell that Andy was still learning, since there were problems that any starting artist would have – anatomy issues, weird dialogue, off-model characters. That was fixed for the silver screen, and my God, it was glorious. Johnny’s backstory as a baby born in a bathroom at an Elvis concert was shown on Pizza Plethora’s big-screen TV in perfect high-definition, the colors and lines mingling with one another in a way I could only dream of mimicking.

There were only a few of us who sat with pizza in front of us while gawking at the screen, but even the ones who weren’t taken with the wonders of modern animation still appreciated it. I didn’t look at another soul during the premier of the first two episodes, and it’s safe to say that Tegan didn’t, either. Andy kept shouting, “This is the best part!” every two minutes before Anthony would tell him to shut up, and even Shira seemed entranced by it all.

Needless to say, once the first two episodes had gone by, I was still stuck in a trance.

With the nine of us huddled in one corner of the restaurant, the place felt empty for a while, but when it was all said and done, the applause that Riley jokingly started had made it seem like we were a sea of people. Before I knew it, we were standing up and clapping for the person who had made the whole night possible, and darn it if it wasn’t the cheesiest moment in my young life.

Andy stood in the middle of our conga line of tables, and right after he took a quick glance around, he ducked his head down and bit his lip.

“Oh my God, don’t start crying!” Anthony shouted, laughing all the while. “This is the last thing you should be crying about right now!”

“I can’t help it,” Andy defended. When he looked back up, his face was blotchy red and his eyes were puffy, and even though he was surprisingly well-dressed for a cartoon premier at a pizza place, there was something slightly disheveled about his appearance. There had to be some stress with him that day. “Christ, this is the kind of thing I used to dream about when I was a kid.”

We all went silent. Andy certainly liked to talk, and I think all of us were expecting a big monologue, but the way his voice wavered would’ve made it painful for all of us.

“I wanna thank all of you, ‘cause you’re all big reasons why tonight has happened. If it weren’t for all of us working together last year, the planet would be destroyed and we wouldn’t be standing here today, watching some dumb bug-eyed kid save the world on TV,” he whispered, holding Anthony’s hand tightly. “Every single one of you has inspired me to keep on moving with this stupid comic, even if it’s caused a ton of hell in the process.”

He pursed his lips and hung his head again, wiping his eyes. Next to him, Anthony rubbed his back.

“So, I’m gonna try to tone back the mushiness here, but the point is, I love all you guys and you’re all responsible for this. So go get some more pizza and shit before I start crying again!” he finished, forcing out a laugh and shooing us away.

Even if the premier was over, the party definitely wasn’t. I consumed more pizza in one night than I probably did for a whole year, and part of me was tempted to get a doggy bag and bring some home for an…emergency. Most everybody else was in the arcade (Shira was learning the ropes of racing games pretty quickly, for one thing), though a few of us were still sitting in the main lobby with Cartoonigans still playing in the background.

Mick and Chance were talking at the table about something that sounded private, so I got up to use the bathroom. When I came back out, I barely made it two steps before somebody was squeezing me into a tight hug, and once I got a grip, I realized it was Andy and hugged back.

“Dude, congratulations!” I smiled, even though he couldn’t see me.

He groaned happily before letting go, still holding me by the shoulders. “Thank you so much, that means a lot coming from you.”

“Well, you’re the one livin’ the dream here,” I laughed. Even if I was still sort of jealous for such a dumb reason, my Internet-dork-preteen-self still admired him to hell and back, and so did my current self. “It turned out awesome. You must be really proud, man.”

“It’s people like you that let me know I’m doin’ something right, and it’s the best thing ever to hear it,” he beamed right at me, still bright red all over. He shook me, and yet again, my face was buried in his neck. “Thanks for not getting mad last year when everyone found out I was the creator. I, uh…yeah.”

“Why would I get mad about it?” (Seriously, I couldn’t think of a reason.)

He sighed and let go again. “I dunno, I was just worried you thought I was an asshole for keeping a secret like that.”

“God no, I understand why you did it,” I assured him.

“Plus it was all Anthony’s fault, but I don’t care now,” he shrugged. As he said that, Anthony emerged from the arcade room and sat over near Mick and Chance, who were huddled together over Mick’s phone and laughing about something. “If anything, my life is better now because of that.”

“I’m glad.” I spoke the truth, too; his happiness was contagious.

Andy didn’t say anything. He just planted his hands on either side of my face, got on his tiptoes, and smooshed my cheeks together as he planted a stupidly loud kiss on my forehead, even nudging my hair over to make room for it.

Of course – it never failed – I turned cherry, even though it was a simple form of human affection, and out of instinct I just itched my nose and laughed. “Your boyfriend is literally right over there,” I said, pointing at Anthony, who had his back to us. (I don’t even know why I said that. To this day I still stay up at night, thinking about how stupid it was.)

Andy snorted and looked back at his beau, but before he could speak, Anthony did it for him.

“I don’t care, that’s just who he is and how he shows affection, babe,” he said casually, smirking directly at us. “I’m the same way.”

I was tongue-tied for the millionth time of my life, and even if Andy punched my arm to make sure I was alright, it was still really strange to hear. I guess that whole summer had been strange in general, but that was definitely one of those take-the-cake moments. Still, it was also the perfect night to go along with the feeling of nostalgia I had to keep under wraps for so long. Somebody else on the planet had made it and achieved their dreams, and they were right in front of me. If nothing else, it gave me hope that I could someday do the same.