The Wild Escape

Part 6- The Kids From Yesterday, Today

~One Month Later~

We're now in our "seats" for the MCR concert. I can hardly stay still, as I'm standing and jumping up and down like a little kid. We are seeing the band that saved my life, Sam's life, and Keeley's life, live and in person! The three of us (which I'm calling "The Fam") all have meet and greet passes to meet the band after the show, which were included in the ticket package Keeley ordered. We're only five rows back from the stage in the huge outdoor stadium.
          At seven p.m, the band came out and greeted us all warmly and with humor. The crowd, The Fam, and I all cheered rambunctiously, then they opened with a song I related to (on an extremely personal level) just over a month ago, "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)."
          The entire three-and-a-half hours was the most fun I've had all my life. It felt so good to jump and dance around with the best people (The Fam and a few other people we became friends with), sing (more like scream) the lyrics back with the band, record some of the best moments of the show, cry along to the sad songs, and laugh at the funny inappropriate jokes Gerard made in between.

At ten-thirty p.m, it was time for the meet-and-greet. The Fam and I waited in line for forty-five minutes for our turn, as we were in the middle of the line when we got in line. It led to a backstage room set up with a camera and photographer, some couches, and the perfect backdrop for photos.
          "That was amazing!" My first concert was the greatest night ever," I said.
          "Mine too, Kat. It felt so nice to finally be in this extremely safe and caring environment," Sam replied.
          "That's awesome, you guys. I feel the same," Keeley said.

It's finally time. Instead of screaming and fangirling loudly, we walked up to the band, smiled, waved, and awkwardly said "Hi." None of us wanted to bother them that much with screaming and crying and fangirling (like some others did), so we decided to stay calm. We've noticed that the band was annoyed by how most others reacted by fangirling and being loud and obnoxious. They still, however, were respectful and kind to them. That's one of the main reasons I love My Chemical Romance so much.
          The band was so nice and pleasant with us, greeting us back with smiles, waves, "hi"s, and handshakes. We did introduce ourselves with our names to the band, too.
          "Thank you all so much for coming tonight," Gerard said, adorably smiling.
          "Yeah, we're so glad you're here," Ray added, also smiling big.
          "Thank you so much! This is my first concert ever, so thanks for making it amazing," I replied, all smiles.
           "I'm glad to hear it," Mikey gushed. It's nice to see him smile once in a while.
           "It's the first concert for all three of us. I drove us all here," Keeley explained.
           "Oh, well, thank you!" Frank exclaimed, being cute as always.
           I just remembered-- I wrote them that letter a couple weeks ago. It's the one about the years of abuse I received, especially about THAT NIGHT, and about how much they and their music helped me through my toughest times (including THAT NIGHT), inspired me to want to sing and play guitar and be in a band, and basically saved my life. So, I pulled the letter out of my leather jacket pocket, handed it to Gerard, and said, "So, I wrote this letter for you guys. What I wrote in it is too much for me to speak in words right now."
          Gerard took it and said, "Wow, thank you so much." He unfolded it and gathered the rest of the band around him to read it with him. For that minute, The Fam and I talked about it:
          "They're so nice," Sam whispered.
          "Yes, they are! I just appreciate how they're taking the time to read it. That is an amazingly sweet letter. They deserve it," Keeley whispered back.
          "Thank you, sis. I appreciate it, too," I replied.
          After another few seconds after we talked, the band finished reading the letter. I turned around and saw them all almost in tears. Still holding the letter, Gerard hugged me. I hugged him back, in real tears now over the band's amazingness.
          "Thank you so much, Katrina. We're so sorry to hear what you've been through," Gee replied, letting go of our hug at the end of his sentence.
          We all then hugged the rest of the band. I love these boys so much. "We are so glad to hear that we helped you a lot. That's what we're here for," Mikey said while I was hugging him.
          Frank said something unforgettable to me while we hugged each other: "Thank you for staying alive for us. We love you, so keep it up." That gave me even more courage to keep going. Even with the happy life I'm living with The Fam, I may still have some rough bumps on the road in the future. Frank reminded me then that I should still keep going. He loves me. He loves all of us fans, so we love him. I stayed alive all this time because I knew that MCR wouldn't have wanted any of their fans gone. I stayed alive because of this possibility, of seeing them in concert and meeting them.
          "We'll keep the letter forever," Ray said. He is a cinnamon roll.

After our small cry-and-hug fest (after The Fam and I all hugged each member), it was time for our picture session. Sam stood between Ray and Mikey, I stood between Mikey and Gee, and Keeley stood between Gee and Frank. We all put our arms around each other and smiled. I finally feel confident enough to do that, thanks to the band reminding me of my worth and teaching me to love myself through their music. The photographer snapped the perfect picture, then The Fam and I each gave the photographer our email addresses so she could email the photos to us. She allowed us to take selfies, so each of us took a selfie with each individual band member. I can't wait to look through them later tonight when I get home.
          After that, it was time to say our goodbyes. So, we quickly hugged the band members again, saying "goodbye" and "it was awesome meeting you all" on the way out. Smiling and waving (and as the band said those things and smiled and waved back), The Fam and I hesitantly left the room. It's hard to leave the room from the people who saved my life...

On the way home (one hour), The Fam and I just had nice, chill, and casual conversations about the night, laughing and listening to quiet and mellow music (both by MCR and some other bands). The stars were burning bright and the night sky was beautiful, just like my new real family, the concert, meeting the band that saved my life, and my future visions are. Arriving home half an hour after midnight, I looked through the selfies I took with the band and the picture we all took together (the photographer was efficient and quick in emailing the picture to each of us) just before falling asleep.
          The Fam and I, along with the rest of the MCR fan-base, are the kids from yesterday, today. Thanks to this band, I have my motivation. Thanks to Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, and Ray Toro, I had the motivation to even decide to be here now, to find and live with The Fam, my real family. Thank you, Keeley, for being the best sister-- being there for me through it all. I am not afraid to keep on living. No one will ever take me alive any longer.

I can run away with them any time I want now.