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

My entire life I've always had my mind focused and collected. I've always known exactly what I want, I've always had the discipline to achieve goals, and I've always been the "responsible one" in my group of friends.

Nothing has ever come along that proves to be more than just a challenge to overcome- I've always had an endpoint in mind and how to get there. There's always been a solution. Always.

That's why I'd never been so perplexed in my life. I had no idea how to deal with Frank. For the very first time in my life, I didn't have a game plan, or even a small mock up version of one. My mind just didn't comprehend Frank Iero. That's what it came down to.

I could solve the quadratic formula after not using it for 3 years, yet not understand a single human being. Never has a person I'd met been so contradictory and unreadable. How was I supposed to react? Do I talk to him? Do I give him his space? Do I tell anyone else what he said to me?

To me, these were all rhetorical questions in need of an answer that just didn't seem to exist and no one was educated enough to create one.

When I reentered the Stop N Go several minutes after my tiny mental conundrum, the cashier had a nervous look on his face. I ignored him and proceeded into the store. I stopped in front of some chip bags that were on sale and picked up an armful. I had originally meant to be more varied with my choices but having Frank against me really takes a toll. And what's worse is it's only been two days. Is it going to be like this the whole tour? Dear Lord, I hope not.

I dropped the food onto the counter unenthusiastically then removed my wallet. The cashier cautiously began ringing up the bags, glancing to me and the door. I sighed, knowing he was nervous about Frank and his vicious outburst.

"He's not coming back," I murmured, taking out two fives. Immediately, relief swept over the cashier as he exhaled.

"What had him so riled up?"

"More than you'll ever know." I shook my head with a sigh, handing him the money. When I received my change, I mumbled a thanks then picked up the newly stuffed bag of chips and exited the store.

As I trekked across the parking lot, I decided being a bitch back to Frank only made things worse. Like, way worse times a degree of epic proportions. I considered my remaining options:

1. Avoid Frank the rest of my life

2. Try to find Frank and patch things up God-knows-how

3. Confront Frank after the long bus ride when he's cooled off (Hopefully)

4. Turn around and get the hell out while I still can

I seriously considered number 4, but my better judgment told me to go with number 3. Number 1 was hardly probable and number 2 shouldn't have even been an option because if he caught sight of me near him now, he'd probably shoot me with that glock 9 I mentioned earlier then bite my head off. I shuddered, actually able to create a mental image of my death by the hands of the man who hates me.

Gross.

I loosely decided on option 3 as I neared the bus, but it was still tentative, depending on how much I see him, what he's been saying, and not to mention my courage level. I shook my mind of the subject for now and entered to bus to find everybody was already inside and settled. I walked in, slightly embarrassed they all had to wait on me.

"Sorry," I apologized, biting my lip. The bus driver saw that everyone was accounted for and took off. I glanced around the room, noting the band and Shelly's placement- I wasn't surprised to see Frank didn't join us again.

Everyone tipped their head to the side in question, observing the extra baggage I gained, rather than greeting me. I held the bag up then dropped it on the table in the middle, causing each of their eyes grow wide in amazement.

"You're forgiven," Ray whispered with a tiny smile, reminding me of a kid on Christmas morning, ogling at all the presents under the tree.

"Don't eat them now." I slapped Mikey's hand away as he reached forward. "That completely defeats the point. They're for later so your stomachs don't collapse again, like you claimed earlier."

"Besides, didn't you just eat?" Shelly raised an eyebrow at Mikey, who was stroking his slapped hand with a frown.

"They're guys, Shelly," I reminded. "As in, bottomless pits for stomachs."

"It's true," Gerard agreed, nodding his head, eyeing the mounds of chips. "I can't contain myself."

"Play video games then," Shelly suggested, pointing to the TV. "Killing each other seems to keep you occupied."

"Sounds like a plan, Stan." Gerard smiled then got up, reaching for the Xbox.

"My name's not-"

"Dear Slim, I wrote you but you ain't callin'. I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone...at the...bottom..." Bob trailed off awkwardly, glancing around the room when he realized everybody, instead of joining in like he probably hoped, was eyeing him strangely.

"Damn Eminem and his catchy tunes," Bob cursed, backing out of the room, all eyes still on him.

"Oh-kaay," Gerard, who had frozen where he was, transitioned uncomfortably, turning his head slowly back to the TV then stretching the rest of the way to turn the Xbox on. The room was still tense, a couple of us still staring at where Bob exited with the same worried expression.

"New focus," Gerard said, throwing a controller at Ray, hitting him in the face.

"Dammit, Gerard!" Ray yelled, tearing his eyes from the doorway. Without thinking, he retaliated by chunking the controller back at Gerard, who ducked quickly, avoiding impact. As if in slow motion, I saw the controller get yanked out of the socket due to the force Ray threw it at, then fly across the room, and finally smashing through the side window.

Gerard shot up from his hunched over posture, staring at the broken glass with a mix of shock and humor. Mikey immediately cracked up as Ray's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped, an expression Shelly and I mirrored.

"What'd I miss?" Bob bounded into the room excitedly. He answered his own question when he spotted the gaping hole in the window and proceeded to laugh along with Mikey.

"My controller!" Ray exclaimed, rushing to the window then gripped the back of the couch, sticking his head out the hole. The group dashed to the window next to Ray, all of us watching his controller bounce humorously along the concrete as we drove away.

"What the hell happened back there?" the driver called back, looking at us in the rear view mirror.

"Ray broke a window, Ray broke a window!" Gerard chanted childishly, prancing back and forth, alternately poking at Ray with both hands.

"Shut up!" Ray retaliated. "This is your fault!"

"I see in no way how this is my fault," Gerard defended, placing a hand over his chest as if he were boasting, Mikey and Bob still laughing hysterically in the background. Ray furrowed his eyebrows and leaped at Gerard, who squealed then sprinted to me. He gripped my shoulders from behind, using me as a front-line human shield. Ray stomped over to me, to which I raised my hands in defense, showing I had no part of this.

"You owe me a new controller," Ray growled, pointing to Gerard threateningly.

"And you owe him a new window!" Gerard shouted with a grin, pointing to the bus driver who looked peeved. Ray grunted and lunged at Gerard, who ducked below my arm, laughing maniacally.

"You guys- I don't- Would you- Why-" I sputtered, trying to avoid Ray's grabs for Gerard he kept dodging. Shelly got up from the couch where she had been temporarily stunned since the window had broken right next to her and stepped toward me, holding out her arms. I latched onto them gratefully and she pulled me out of the line of battle, just in time for Ray to pounce on Gerard, who continued laughing like a hyena.

I glanced at Shelly who sported a bemused look as Gerard tried to wrangle out of Ray's death grip on the floor. I don't think Shelly literally meant for them to kill each other when she said her suggestion earlier, but this sure was an amusing replacement.

--

Before I knew it, Saturday rolled around again, making it officially a week Shelly and I had been on tour. We had all gotten to know each other pretty well and the rest of the week passed without much difficulty. There were no more broken windows, or bones for that matter, referring to Ray's threat to Gerard when he refused to buy a new controller for him. The hole simply got covered up, and might I mention badly, with the plastic Stop N Go bag and some duct tape. The driver said we could get another bus within a week, though, so we just tolerated the wind that blew in through the tattered window.

I still hadn't talked to Frank at all yet. He wasn't even taking stabs at my every faults anymore- He completely avoided me. He rode on a different bus than us, he left straight after a performance, and he slept in a different room than me. The closest I came to confrontation with him was when the room arrangement lots placed us together, to which he replied, "Fuck no," and snatched Bob's key, causing him to blink in confusion.

I hadn't told anybody about why Frank was being a total douche. However, he progressively distanced himself from his entire band, not just me. Because in doing the above listed, he avoided his band mates, too. The only time they were together was in the rooms at night and during a performance. They thought at first his attitude would blow over, but concern began to grow when he hadn't been himself for this long.

"I miss Frank," Gerard mumbled, his eyebrows drawn together in a depressed fashion as he slouched on the couch, on the way to our next desination. Ray refused to let anyone play Xbox until Gerard bought him a new controller (meaning the Xbox will have cobwebs by the end of the tour), so the only form of entertainment currently was some TV program blaring at us and Mikey plucking his bass absentmindedly, his eyes glazed over similar to his band mates.

"I know," Bob agreed, his arms crossed as he stared at the television. "He always knew what to do whenever there wasn't anything."

"Well, if somebody would get me a controller," Ray sent a glare at Gerard, "Then you'd have something to do."

Bob sighed heavily in response, in no mood to argue. This conversation was like beating a dead horse- The entertainment issue always revolved around some form of that sentence. I raised my eyebrow in curiosity, the topic of Frank being of interest to me.

"So, how is Frank usually?" I asked. Gerard laughed at my question.

"Frank's a crazy kid," he explained with a smile. "He's always thinking of some stupid plan that sounds so much better in his head than in real life."

"Like what?" I pressed on, my face brightening just thinking of all the funny things I bet he usually did. I couldn't help but feel like a child, running her grandparent's stories through her imagination, trying to picture what it was like.

"He was the one who came up with roof surfing, remember?" Mikey spoke up, pointing at Gerard gleefully. Gerard burst out laughing, clapping repeatedly, a reaction similar spreading through the room.

"And you fell into that ditch," Mikey continued, facing Bob, causing laughter to erupt through the room.

"Do you know what's happening?" Shelly whispered from beside me, watching them reminisce about "roof surfing".

"No idea." I shook my head. Even though I didn't fully understand the memory only they shared, I still listened to every word, soaking up information about what the real Frank was like.

"You seem oddly interested for someone who hadn't heard of these guys 'till a week ago," Shelly said slyly, nudging me. I turned to her with a confused look.

"I just want to know how Frank usually is so I can feel less bad about him hating my guts," I elaborated.

"That doesn't really make sense, just so you know."

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. "So anyway, I'm going to try and talk to him after the show tonight to see if I can help him out."

She arched an eyebrow, sending me a strange look.

"Uh-Why?"

"Because obviously something is wrong and maybe I can help or something."

"Oh yeah; you and your strange resolution issues. Well, what makes you think he's gonna want to talk to you of all people?" She asked skeptically, still not knowing I knew why he was so out of it. "Or anybody?" she added as an after thought.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "But I'm gonna try. I mean, it won't hurt since I never see him anyway."

"I suppose. Go for it, I guess." Shelly shrugged indifferently. I had hoped she wouldn't ask too many questions since it didn't really make sense from the outside looking in on the odd relationship between Frank and I. Hell, it barely made sense to me, but I finally had enough courage built up from the week to try and resolve this fiasco. I'll just hope he's ready to talk.