As Snow Falls on Desert Sky

I was woken by the sound of my cell phone ringing.

I am not afraid to keep on living. I am not afraid to walk this world alone. Honey if you stay I’ll be forgiving. Nothing you can say can stop me going home.

I groaned inwardly before searching for it. I found it hiding underneath a pile of crumpled up clothes that were lying on the floor.

“Hey Max,” I answered tiredly. “What’s up?”

“Whoa, you sound exhausted. Just waking up or something?”

“Or something, yeah?”

“Okay, cool, so do you wanna hang out today?”

“Yeah, I got nothing better to do. What do you have in mind?”

“Just wanted to go to the mall, probably go to the movies.”

“Okay, but we have to make a stop at Best Buy, Circuit City, or For Your Entertainment.”

“Why?”

“Do I really need a reason Max? That new Slipknot joint, ‘All Hope is Gone’, came out recently and I want to get it.”

“‘Slipknot’? That’s that band with like ten guys that wear the scary masks right?”

“Yes, that’s Slipknot and its nine guys.”

“Eww, what would you want to buy that for?”

“They have good music and this is their first new anything in some years. You should give them a shot.”

“No thank you. So, when you gonna come pick me up?”

“I can come right now if you want.”

“No, come in about a half hour, okay?”

“Got you.”

“Bye.”

“See you.”

I hung up the phone and looked at the clock. Eleven thirty. I sat upright on my bed. I noticed my TV was still on cartoon network and now “What’s New Scooby Doo?” was on. I decided to watch it until it was time to go get Maxine.

Once it hit noon, I got my jacket and headed towards my bedroom door. I walked out only to be stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the voices of my mother and her husband drifting up the stairs. Their voices were too muffled for me to hear distinctly what they were saying, but I could tell they were planning something.

I tried to sneak down the stairs and eavesdrop a little bit, but the house is old, and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was stepping. As soon as I hit the top step, it creaked and they fell silent. They looked at me as I walked towards the front door; my mother had a look if apprehension and Sid had a look of contempt. I disregarded both of them, took out my keys, and walked outside. My phone started ringing as soon as I hit the porch.

I am not afraid to keep on living. I am not afraid to walk this world alone. Honey if you stay I’ll be forgiving. Nothing you can say can stop me going home.

“Um, Hello Ricky? Did you forget something?” she said before I could say hello.

“No, I didn’t forget Maxine, I’m on my way right now.”

“Okay, I’ll be on the porch,” and she hung up.

I smiled to myself before getting in the car, pulling out of the driveway, and driving the five minutes to Max’s house. As promised, Max was sitting on the porch and she waved to me as she saw me pull up. She happily ran the few feet to my car and hopped in, riding shot gun.

“It’s about time you got here Ricky,” she said as she buckled her seat belt.

“Whatever,” I said as I began driving.

“So, Ricks where are we going?” she asked looking at me.

“I don’t know, this was your idea Max.”

She chuckled lightly. “Right, well, I’m kinda hungry.”

“Me too. I missed breakfast.”

“Where are we gonna get something to eat?”

“Starbucks?” I asked after taking a minute to think about it.

“Starbucks,” she confirmed.

I pulled into a parking spot at Starbucks and killed the engine. Maxine and I both got out and we made our way into the small shop.

"Ricky!" The boy behind the counter shouted.

"Hey, Damien! How's my favorite Starbucks employee?"

Damien was about nineteen, and had dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. He has been one of my good associates since we were both in middle school. He was in the eighth while I was in the sixth. He’s one of my good friends and is apart of the dance crew I’m in called “The Demolition Crew”. Damien’s nickname is “Phantom” in the crew.

"Good. How's my favorite customer and soldier of the MCRmy?"

"Eh, asi asi."

"Um... Random lapse into Spanish?"

"Yeah, sorry."

"It's okay. You haven't had your coffee yet. The usual?"

"Yes, please."

"And you, Max?" Damien addressed her.

"Mocha frap, please."

"Two mochas coming up."

We watched as he began making them.

"Wanna tell me why you're skipping school?"

"Er... It's still summer," I said in a ‘duh’ voice.

"Wait. I thought school went back early this year. " he laughed.

“It does,” said Max. “But we still have about a week left.”

“Yeah, and we go back to school as soon as summer job ends.”

“Didn’t summer job start as soon as school ended?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Max and I answered at the same time.

“Dang, they not trying to give y’all anytime to have fun.

“I know right, and plus I heard we gettin’ a buttload of new rules this school year. You have no idea how lucky you are to done with that school.”

He chuckled. "Do you want this for here or to go?"

"To go."

"You're going to just leave me here then?"

"We'll be by later, promise. We’re gonna need more coffee."

"Okay, you better come back. I got something for you.”

“Really? What?”

“You’re gonna have to wait. You’ll get it later.”

Damien handed us our coffee, and we said our goodbyes and got back into the car. I set my drink in the cup holder next to Max’s, and started the car, backed out, and pulled onto the highway.

“Okay Max, so where are we going?”

“I thought we were going to the mall.”

“Fine. Let’s go to the movies.”

I pulled into the parking lot of the mall and we exited the car and went directly to the movie theater. As soon as we made it to the ticket taker, I heard someone call my name.

“Sorrows?!”

I turned around to look who had called my by my nickname and I was surprised by who I saw.

“Bullet?” I asked in response. “Bullet!!” I screamed when I realized who called me.

She ran up to me and enveloped me in a hug. We were both squealing the whole time. Once we calmed down enough to talk, I was the first to speak.

“Bullet, what the hell are you doing here?” I asked her.

Carrie “Bullet” Adams is one of my good friends who enjoy the band My Chemical Romance just as much as I do. She has blonde hair with pink and purple streaks running through it and clear, sparking blue eyes. She is the founder of our group of friends and our dance crew called the “Demolition Crew”. She is a proud soldier of the MCRmy, just like am (and just about every other member of the DC), and she supported the Black Parade (while it was alive at least), while I never supported it.

“I’m just hanging out, Sorrows. What about you?”

“I’m about to go the movies with Max,” I said while pointing to her. Bullet looked at Max and frowned.

“Hello Max.” Bullet said curtly.

“S’up?”

“How have you been since you left the crew?”

“I didn’t leave the crew. I was kicked out.”

“You were only kicked out because you sold us out.”

“Okay!” I screamed trying to stop the oncoming fight. “Bullet, what are you doing later?”

“I was thinking about getting the dance drew together to practice or something. You can come too Max,” she said in false sweetness.

“I’d rather not,” Max said rudely. “C’mon Rick. The movie is about to start.”

“I have to go Bullet.”

“It’s cool. Hey, I’ll call you later alright?”

“Bye Bullet,” I said as I was being dragged away by Max.

“See ya, Sorrows!” she called after me.

Once we were safely in our seats waiting for the movie to start, she sat brooding. Max isn’t one to just sit and let something happen if she had something to say, so I just waited for her to bring it up. I glad I didn’t have to wait long.

“What the hell is her problem coming up to us like that?!” she exclaimed.

“She wanted to talk to me.”

“Whatever, and did you see the way she was looking at me when she said ‘Hey Max’, and how she was like ‘How are you since you left?’ knowing full well that her ass and those carbon copy followers kicked me out and decided to not associate with ever again.”

“Hey!” I said. “You were kicked out because you stopped hanging around us when that dumb Disney band came into the picture. You stopped listening to MCR and started listening to only the Jonas Brothers. You started changing the way you were and the way you acted just so you could be accepted at their concerts and by the other JB fans at school.”

“What?” she said somewhat shocked.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t notice I was doing that,” she said quietly.

“I know. But Bullet and the others didn’t. They saw it as you trying to find a way out, so they thought that they’d save you the trouble by kicking you out and stop talking to you.”

“What? They did that?”

“Well, yeah. We had to do something to prove that we weren't a gang.” I said with a slight chuckle. “I still stuck with you because I’ve known you longer than the rest and I knew you weren’t totally conscience of what you were doing.”

“Well, I’m glad I still have you as a friend,” she said and sat down as the lights started to dim and the opening credits to the movie started playing.