GOLDEN DAYS - BRENDON URIE

one

"eve, as much as much as i would love to hear you discuss your boy problems, i've got to pick up Cali. Like right now" i spoke into my phone, speeding down to the only kindergarten in las vegas.

if there was one thing, i was a girl with too many jobs. besides being a full time single mom, i was a makeup artist, dance instructor, and even occasionally a model. i really just did whatever jobs came up that could help me pay my daughter and i's bills.

"alright, well, tell cali i said hi! come over later, for pizza!" eve said excitedly into the phone. "will do, eve" i said, then we said our goodbyes.

i pulled into Little Learners kindergarten, rushing into the kindergarten and already getting glares from the rich suburban moms. it was Cali's first day of kindergarten, and figures i hadn't met the teacher.

i walked into the room, being greeted by about 15 rambunctious children, all jumping around. i saw cali, clearly happy that she made new friends. she looked like me, but she had one feature i didn't. big brown eyes. i looked at her, squinting my hazel eyes. she had my long, brown hair and semi tan skin. all that she didn't have that was mine was her eyes.

at this point you're probably wondering who her father was. if i knew, i'd tell you. back when i was 5 years younger, i was a groupie. every single rock show id be at, making mistakes in moshpits and going home with greasy rocker dudes in exchange for a backstage pass.

its what eve and i did. that's how we bonded, best friends since our moms met in baby yoga. we started listening to rock music at a super young age, quitting gymnastics in favor of guitar lessons. eventually we started sneaking out, and finding ourselves at dive bars and concert halls.

the reason i went crazy was my love of the music. many would tell you different, but it's the truth. i grew up a dancer, my mom owning her studio my whole life. she pushed me, making me deal with so much damage of my own mother telling me that i wasn't good enough and making me practice countless hours. when cali was born, my mom already wanted her in classes. i refused.

i was in a daze over my past few years when a voice snapped me back into reality. "hi, are you here to pick up a kid?" i looked up quickly and into big brown eyes. except they weren't my daughters. a man stood in front of me, wearing a white button up shirt and a bow tie. he was admittedly handsome, his brown hair styled messily. i felt like i had seen him before.

"uh, yes" i said awkwardly, pointing to my daughter. she looked up and saw me, walking over and looking up at Mr. Urie.

"you're Cali's mom?" he asked, awkward as well. "yes" i said, smiling. "well she is an amazing student" he smiled back at me. "she's probably my favorite" he said, making Cali laugh and jump into his arms and hug him.

they began talking again as i signed the parent clipboard, handing it back to him. "here you go, Mr. Urie" i said as Cali put on her pink backpack. He laughed and shook his head, "You can call me Brendon." This made me smile as well, "Well Brendon, you can call me Lilly" i said, shaking his hand. as he was about to say something, a woman with a bob and glasses whisked him away, telling him all about how she thinks her son is a piano prodigy when the kid knew one song.

"mom, lets go!" Cali said, grabbing my hand and leading me to our car. "isn't Mr. Urie cool? he told me that if i lose a tooth a fairy will take it!" she said excitedly as she got in her car seat. "yup, he's nice, cal" i said. i couldn't shake the feeling i had met him before, tuning out Cali's raves about how cool she thinks he is.

I got to Eve's house, Cali next to me as we walked in. "Hey bitches!" Eve said excitedly, forgetting my child was 5 like usual. "Hey Eve!" i said, smiling as cali hugged her. "Pizza's on the table, let's eat ladies!"

-
My best friend shoved pizza in her mouth, her 5th slice in the past 3 hours. Cali was fast asleep on the couch. Eve's bright pink pixie cut and pale skin stood out, her black nail polish not chipping yet. "So, hows the teacher?" she asked casually. "well.." i trailed off, looking down at my plate. "what? is she a major bitch or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "its a he" i said back quickly. i looked over, Cali was still asleep as care bears played on the TV.

"oh, is he hot? or a old guy?" eve asked, clueless. "eve, have we ever met anyone by the name of brendon urie?" i asked. she thought about it, then ran and got her laptop. she opened it, punching in his name. after doing some searching we realized how we knew him.

"they opened for fall out boy, when we were groupies like 6 years ago" eve said, amazed. we literally just slept on their tour bus for over a month, on tour with the small band for as long as we could be. fall out boy still haven't made it big, so we consider them family friends. they even occasionally send Cali and I things.

"i wonder why he stopped touring, i remember them being good. why the hell did he give up and become a kindergarten teacher?" when she said that i felt like my head exploded. "we slept on their bus one night" i said, expressionless.

"yeah" eve said, giggling. my hands began shaking, closing my eyes and breathing in deeply. "eve?" i said, eve noticing i was freaking out. "what's wrong lilly?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

"are you sure it's 6 years ago?" i asked, pulling out my cell phone. that's when i realized, 6 years ago is when we went on that tour. 6 years ago i found out i was pregnant.

"one of the men in that band is cali's father"