So...Who Are You Again? My Chemical Romance? Never Heard of You.

Honestly, my first thought was, "What's a My Chemical Romance and why do I care if I go on tour with it?"

"Um..." I began, looking around the room for comfort. The nurse had long since left.

"Don't tell me..." Shelly trailed off then sighed disappointingly.

"Would you be mad?" I smiled, hoping she wouldn't scream too much about my lack of music, pop culture, and anything I dubbed unimportant.

"How can you not know the band My Chemical Romance?!" she demanded. I winced at her sudden outburst, which was not the reaction I wanted.

"You know that I don't keep up with this. It's just not worth it," I reminded her of my views, like I did every time she spazzed when I was supposed to remember something "important" she yelled at me that I refuse to retain.

"Well it's obviously worth it if I just won a contest to go on tour with them."

"And how exactly did you do that?"

"Alright," she took a breath and continued, "I saw in one of those teen magazines I was flipping through a while ago at the store that there was a contest to design something to do with the band and the prize was to go on tour with them. So, I had you buy all those magazines a couple months ago so that-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I cut Shelly off. "Why exactly did I, specifically, have to buy them?"

"That's beside the point." She waved her hand in the air, avoiding an answer, and then resumed her story. "So, anyway, I had you buy those magazines so I'd have a bunch of pictures of them. And I, being the brilliant designer and mastermind I am, made a bulletin board cleverly and wonderfully made. The airfare was expensive as hell, but I already knew I would win."

"Wait. If this was awhile ago then why’d I have get those useless magazines yesterday?"

"I wanted to see if they’d print it before they called me," she answered with a shrug.

"You should really stop doubting yourself so much," I advised sarcastically, rolling my eyes at my friends’ ego, which happend to be the size of Mt. Rushmore. She glared at me a couple seconds.

"You're ruining my good mood," Shelly replied flatly.

"I apologize." I nodded my head, not really meaning it. "So, how exactly did you make a bulletin board without me knowing? I never noticed it."

"You're not very observant," she told me bluntly, already back to her usual upbeat attitude.

"While that may true," I admitted, holding up a pointer finger, "where did you keep it?"

"In the kitchen; it was next to the cabinets as you walk it."

"...Really?" I furrowed my eyebrows in thought, wondering how I could miss a freaking bulletin board.

"Yes."

"Oh..." I didn't recall her storing a bulletin board in the kitchen. I did, however, remember spending about $25 for those magazines. "How much time did you even spend on it? I mean, didn't it take awhile since you've been busy at Starbucks?"

Shelly had been working at the local Starbucks for a bit now as the official drink maker. I had actually found the job for her when I noticed a help wanted sign outside as I strolled in during break from the pizza deli where I worked at across the street. I figured it would be simple enough (She wasn't really the greatest employee, per say) and we could have lame jobs right next to each other.

"Oh, uh...About that..." Shelly looked down uncomfortably, twiddling her thumbs.

"Shelly, you're kidding." I looked at her unbelievingly, my turn to be disappointed in her. She kept her eyes anywhere but me. "How long have you been jobless?"

"Only a couple…Three months," she mumbled the last part, glancing away awkwardly.

"Three months?!" I repeated loudly, my eyebrows shooting up.

"Julie, that job wasn't right for me," she immediately defended. "I kept doing everything wrong! It was always, 'Too much pump', or, 'Too little pump', 'There's not enough drink', or 'Ma'am, why's there a hair in my whipped cream?'"

"You got hair in their whipped cream?" I whispered slowly, but sharply, narrowing my eyes.

"Julie, I was just getting the nerve to tell you, I swear. I was on my way, then this guy came out of nowhere, and-"

"Its okay, Shelly," I cut her off before she could get hysterical. She always had a habit of hamming things up, but I'd never really seen it as a problem...simply an inconvenience. "No damage is done- At least none that wasn't already there."

"Nothing you can say will bring me down." She smiled joyously, then shook her head. "Not today."

"Shelly, that's fine and dandy for you that you don't have a job and can pick up and go on random vacations now, but me, the responsible one, actually has one. Mind you, it is just at a little pizza shop, but I have a commitment there I have to uphold. I can't just go on a whimsical tour with some random band for three months." I was getting slightly impatient. From work, I went straight to the hospital to see Shelly where she would ask me to buy things for her in the mornings, and it was really starting to wear me down.

"But it's not just any band, Julie." Shelly squirmed out of the layers of blankets hugging her so she was on her knees. She overdramatically placed her hands on my shoulders for emphasis and practically yelled, "It's My Chemical Romance! Get with the program!"

"Excuse me for not caring about the program."

"Come on," she pleaded, sitting back in her bed. "You're my best friend. Six years, count them, six years we've done everything together!" She held up her fingers to amplify her point.

"We're not in high school anymore," I reminded. But who was I kidding? She'd probably be this over the top 'till the day she died.

"Exactly- We can go now! C'mon Julie, I already won and everything," she pleaded, motioning toward the magazines. "Your stupid pizza dreams can wait- They'll be here when you get back."

I raised an eyebrow then frowned at her for criticizing my job, when she had none at all.

"Besides, who else am I gonna take?" Shelly asked, then rambled, "My sister's halfway across the world with God-knows-who; my cousins all moved to North Dakota or some shit up there which, in case you haven't noticed, isn't anywhere close to Rhode Island; and I would die before I offered to take my mother with me."

"Don't you have other irresponsible friends to take?"

"Yes, but I want to take you," she said sincerely to which I looked at her face stoically. I had a decent job that I would surely get fired from if I went, and yet I was considering it. I never did anything compulsive if I could help it and anytime I did, it was always on request of my silly friends. But then again, I couldn't suppress this giddy feeling of adventure building in me that I so rarely got to listen to.

"You know what?" I asked suddenly, not believing what I was about to say. "I think I want to go."

"Yay!" Shelly rejoiced throwing her arms around me. I felt exhilarated, even just saying I was defying many of my principles.

"When do we leave?"

"This Saturday," Shelly informed with a smile.

"What?!" I yelped quickly. "It's Wednesday!"

"And...?" She looked at me confused, not sure what the problem was. She had no problem with anything spontanious.

"They sure took their sweet time to tell you," I huffed, silently criticizing them for not giving us a sooner notice. "At least I have three days to totally throw my life away for My Chemical Reaction."

"It's My Chemical Romance, Julie," she corrected, growing serious. "And if you say that anytime we're near them, I swear to God I'll throw you out a window and never talk to you again."

Once again- So much for that friendship award I’ve deserved.

--

"That was the most boring flight I've ever been on. Who knew flying across the country would take that long?" Shelly complained as we left security after getting off our plane that had just landed in Washington, the first state on the tour.

"Well, what did you expect?" I asked, glancing at her as I readjusted the bag hanging from my shouler.

"I dunno." She looked up in thought then sighed. "I thought maybe there would be some faulty wiring in the plane and it would drop sharply, and the only one who could help was a strong, yet kind man who would burst in and save the day with his uncanny ability to fly planes."

I stared at her with a raised eyebrow. I couldn't think of words to form together as a response. All I could think of, or rather worry about, was how these guys were going to react to her rather off-the-wall personalty. That led me to think about how they'd like me, which made me slightly uneasy. It'd be just my luck they turned out to be jackass that all hated me.

"Oh, look! There we are!" she suddenly exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pointing to a man outside holding a sign with our names printed on them professionally. "This is so exciting, Julie." She burst through the door to the man while I casually followed, not nearly as eager.

"Julie Reynolds and Shelly Mathews?" the man asked as we approached.

"Yep," we answered in unison, showing him our IDs to inspect.

"Very good; the band is in the limo waiting."

Shelly grinned madly as we followed the burly man. I, on the other hand, had an expressionless face, not really sure what to feel. The driver stopped in front of the sleek black limo then politely opened the door for us and we slid in, joining five other males who looked a little older than us already seated and comfortable. I had never seen them before, which now that I think back on, wasn't the greatest idea to not look them up.

As the limo took off, I quickly noted features about each of them- one had white short-cut hair, one had think rimmed glasses with bony features, one had a slightly amazing afro, one had messy blonde hair that fell around his piercing blue eyes, and the final was scowling out the window, so all I could really see was the side of his face. Shelly let out a small squeak when she sat down next to the one with white hair who sported an amused smile. I took a seat next to her, across from the one scowling. I could see him roll his eyes, making me wonder what his problem was.

"Nice to meet you, too." The man next to Shelly chuckled.

"That was a really kickass board you two designed," 'Fro complemented. "You outdid Gee by a landslide."

"It was mostly me, but I don't think I'd go as far to say that." Shelly smiled, soaking in the glory. I was completely and utterly, for lack of a better word, confused. Who was Gee and what are we outdoing him with?

"So, what are your names?" glasses asked, glancing back and forth between us. "No one ever took the time to tell us."

"Oh right! I'm Shelly and this here is Julie," she introduced warmly.

They all smiled and greeted us, saying how great it was to have us on tour with them, except for the one who'd been ignoring us, which Shelly didn't even seem to notice since all her attention was on the one with white hair. 'Fro, who was sitting next to Mr. Antisocial, nudged him in the side.

"Yeah, we're excited and shit," he mumbled, but I could barely understand him due to his low words being strung together.

Shelly dominated the next few minutes of small talk with four of them. They were going on and on about nothing I would understand, and believe me, I tried. At least she got along with them.

I noted after a bit, the man across from me averted his gaze from out the window toward us- Well me, specifically. I was slightly intimidated by his cold stare, so I looked the other way uncomfortably, trying my best to ignore him.

"So, I really am truly in love with your new album," Shelly complimented. "It's so inspirational and the lyrics are-"

"Why don't you talk?"

Everyone in the car tensed and any conversation was smothered. All eyes drifted to the man across from me, the source of the unpleasant tone, whose narrowed hazel eyes bored into me as he frowned. I could ask him the very same thing, but I was intimidated. Hell, maybe even scared.

"I, um, actually don't know who any of you are..." I admitted a little embarrassed, glancing around nervously as I shrunk back in my seat.

"You don't know who we are but you're going on tour with us?" he asked, still sounding bitter.

"It would seem so."

"That's really stupid," he remarked flatly then resumed scowling out the window.

"Frank!" 'Fro hissed punching, I assume, Frank on the shoulder while the other guys cast disappointed and put out looks.

"Well, in that case, I'm Gerard," the man next to Shelly introduced nicely, breaking the silence. The other three said their names accordingly.

"Excuse Frank, he's been a jackass the past couple days and really needs to get over it." Gerard gritted his teeth and emphasized the last three words, shooting a glare toward Frank, who rolled his eyes, earning him yet another jab to the side by Ray.

Great- My first five minutes with them, and one of them already hates me.

What did I say about my luck?