Until We Meet Again

June 23rd 1998

“Finally, I can have a break!” A very relieved Mikey dumped his body next to his brother’s on the sofa. “I thought school would never end.”

Gerard looked at him only for a second, before turning back his attention to the television. “You’ve just graduated from high school, the worst part is about to begin.”

“That’s fine with me, I’m tired of going to school and I don’t want to go to college either way, so…” Mikey sat straight, giving him a serious look.

“Mom said you were going to.”

“No I’m not. This is my life, not mom’s.”

Gerard’s face twisted in laughter. “Keep telling yourself that.”

A loud knock on the door had both staring at it. “Oh great, that's got to be Sam and Jordan!” Mikey walked toward the door, without Gerard’s interest for the strangers who were at the door.

Girl voices and laughter soon filled the doorway. Gerard looked in its direction. Sam and Jordan were girls.

“Hey, I was talking to you! Don’t you guys see I’m here?”A blonde haired girl stormed into the living room, not seeming to acknowledge Gerard’s presence. “You know, it’s not nice that you guys keep on sucking each other’s faces while I’m trying to have a decent conversation!” She sat on the same sofa Gerard was on.

“Sorry!” Another blonde, but shorter haired girl peeked out the door, before giggling and disappearing again.

“Seriously, one day those two are going to eat one another up, and I mean in the literal way!” The girl rolled her eyes. Gerard didn’t know if she was talking at him. She laughed once she saw the look on his face. He looked at her like if she was the crazy lady that approached strangers on the street. “Sorry about that.” She extended her hand for him to shake. “I’m Jordan Forester. And you must be Mikey’s brother, Gerard, right?”

Gerard simply nodded, still processing everything that had just happened. Since when did Mikey have a girlfriend?

“So your brother tells me that you’re in a band…”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“That’s cool.” She got more comfortable on the sofa. “So tell me, is Mikey in your band as well? Because he keeps telling us that he is, but I don’t believe his ass.”

Gerard chuckled. “We’re just a bunch of guys that like to play together, so I wouldn’t call it a band, but yeah… he is.”

“Nice.” She smiled at him and he returned the smile.

Gerard took a better look at her. Her blonde hair was wavy, like if she kept it braided most of the times. “So you’re from Mikey’s class?” He decided to ask.

“Yeah, me and Samantha.” She nodded without looking at him. She was already interested in what he was watching on television. “You’re in college right? Your brother told us you were studying art.” She looked at him and Gerard nodded. Mikey seemed to be telling his friends at lot of things about him. “That’s interesting.” Jordan continued to stare at the tv. “I love art. I mean, I can’t draw, but I like it.” She giggled and that made him smile.

“Hey, are you guys gonna stay there all day?” Jordan suddenly shouted and Gerard couldn’t help but laugh.

“So they’re dating, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess Mikey found out what girls were meant for and now he doesn’t want anything else.” Both laughed.

“Hey Jordan, we’re going out! I’ll see you later!” Samantha shouted.

“What? Wait! What about -” they heard the door close with a loud bang. “-me?” Her lower lip pouted slightly, while her eyes still stared at the living room entrance, as if still expecting them to come back. “Well, I guess it’s time to go home then.” She got up.

“You can stay if you want to,” Gerard suggested, more out of politeness.

“You’re sweet, but no thank you. It was nice meeting you.” She waved and walked out of the room. “Hey, do you like Iron Maiden?” She suddenly asked him, turning around just as she crossed the doorframe.

“Yeah, they’re one of my favorite bands. Why?”

Jordan leaned against the doorframe. “Well, I bought two tickets for the Virtual XI World Tour and Mikey was supposed to come with me, but now he doesn’t want to go because of Samantha,” she sighed. “It’s not really her type of music and he doesn’t want to go without her.”She rolled her eyes. “So, if you like them maybe you could come with me. I don’t think my parents would let me go on my own, anyway.”

Gerard lifted an eyebrow at her. Was she inviting him to go to a show? Just the two of them? He was practically a stranger to her.

“Have you ever seen them live?” She suddenly asked.

“Yeah, but -”

“Then you must know how amazing they are. The show’s in New York and if I don’t have anyone to go with, then I won’t go at all.” She crossed her arms. “Now, would you do that to someone who has never seen them live?”

Oh, she was good. “I guess not.”

“Great! Thank you for doing this, you won’t regret it.” She winked at him before turning around and leaving. “I’ll see you around!”

July 7th 1998

Gerard glanced at the kitchen’s clock before leaving. He didn’t want to be late, but Mikey had decided to start interrogating him before he left.

“Listen, Jordan really wanted to go to the show and you’re not going with her. You’re just lucky I’m going instead of you, or she wouldn’t forgive you for ditching her. Besides it’s Iron Maiden. I would never say no to that.” Gerard turned his back on his brother and left.

He didn’t understand why Mikey had suddenly become all defensive. Was he jealous of them going out together? Since Gerard had met Jordan, they had seen each other a couple more times and Mikey hadn’t cared about it. So why now?

As he reached Jordan’s house Gerard decided not to think about it anymore. She was closing the front door when he stopped the car, wearing her hair in a high ponytail and an Iron Maiden t-shirt which sleeves had been obviously cut off by her.

“Hey!” The way she excitedly waved at him made him smile. “We’re finally going to the show! Woohoo!” She threw her fists in the air before jumping inside his car.

The drive to New York was short, with Jordan making him talk about anything that came up to her mind; from favorite bands and favorite Iron Maiden’s songs, to what he did in college and his hopes for his band.

“Oh come on! I want to hear you sing!” She asked for the third time, now that they were arriving at New York. “What if I sing with you?” She started to the sing one of Misfits’ hits.
Slowly, Gerard joined her and, without realizing it, soon he was the only one to sing, as Jordan looked at him mesmerized.

“You’re great!” She complimented him and nudged his arm. “I cannot believe I’m friends with someone who’s going to be famous!”

“You don’t know that,” he laughed.

“Oh yes I do. With that voice I’m sure you’ll be famous one day, or my name isn’t Jordan Melody Forester!”

“Melody?” Gerard joked.

“Don’t even start!” She tried to sound serious, but failed miserably.

Gerard shook his head. He had never bonded so quickly with someone else like he had with her. She was fun to be around and with her he found himself laughing most of the times.

“What about you? What do you want to do now that you finished high school?”

“Oh,” she clapped her hands together “I would love to go to London and study there. And I’ve always wanted to become a writer.”

“Really? That sounds amazing.”

“But that will only happen if I get a scholarship, which I applied to but I’m still waiting for the answer.”

“I’m sure you’ll get one.” They smiled at each other.

Once they got to the venue, he could see that she was getting eager. Jordan grabbed him by the arm, her voice now higher as they crossed the street and she talked about how long she had waited for this show.



Jordan was voiceless. Gerard laughed every time she attempted to talk, owning him a few jabs on his arm. The show had been amazing, with Jordan’s energy infecting him and making him jump and sing as loud as she, but now as he drove back home a feeling of sadness washed over him. He didn’t want to leave her just yet, she had been the best company he had had in months.

“So Jordan, what kind of movies do you like?” He broke the silence.

Jordan coughed before answering. “Almost any kind. But I love horror movies,” she stopped for a while as her voice was failing again. “Oh and the ones about superheroes.” She laughed.

Gerard’s smile grew bigger. He parked the car in front of her house and she stepped outside after saying goodbye.

“Hey, do you wanna go catch a movie one of these days?” He asked just before she closed the door.

“I’d love to, Gerard.”