Calibrations

New Jersey 2001

"Hey Gerard, I listened to your CD," Mikey said. The Way brothers were having dinner at their parents' house, and somehow, the conversation had shifted to My Chemical Romance, much to Gerard's chagrin.

"So?" Gerard said. "What did you think?"

Mikey took a while to answer, and while Gerard waited for him to say something, he became more and more convinced that his brother had hated it. Maybe it was to be expected: Gerard, Ray, and Matt had recorded it in Matt's attic over the course of a few afternoons. The sound quality wasn't great, especially in comparison to most of the bands Mikey listened to, and some of the songs were still a little rough around the edges. Maybe giving those demos to everyone he knew wasn't a good idea after all.

"I loved it," Mikey said. "Between the drumming, the guitars, and your singing, it was just incredible. Are you ever going to record more songs?"

"I don't know," he said. "I really think there's something missing from our sound right now. It's probably because we don't have a bassist yet."

It was December already. All of the leaves had fallen to the ground, the first frost had come and gone, and My Chemical Romance still didn't have a bass player. They'd held auditions a few times, but they hadn't found anyone who clicked with the rest of the band yet. Sometimes, Gerard worried that his band would die before it had really gotten started just because they couldn't find a bassist.

"I'll do it," Mikey suddenly volunteered.

"Do you even know how to play the bass?" Gerard asked.

"Kind of," Mikey said as he adjusted his glasses. He didn't know how to play at all - in fact, he had only ever touched a bass guitar once before - but Gerard didn't need to know that.

Gerard shrugged. "I mean, I'll talk to Ray and Matt, but that's probably good enough," he said. "They both know you already, and we are kind of desperate right now."

"Thanks, Gee," Mikey said, smiling. "I really can't wait to be a part of My Chemical Romance. You guys are such a great band."

"Don't get too excited yet," Gerard said. "We're probably just going to have you come to our next practice, and then we'll decide whether this is going to work or not. Also, you're going to have to get better at playing the bass."

"I can do that," Mikey said.

"Great," Gerard said. "I'll see you at band practice then."

All of a sudden, Gerard and Mikey's mom jumped into the conversation. "Mikey, it's great that you want to be in Gerard's band, but school comes first."

"Oh yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that," Mikey said.

"What is it, Mikey?" his mother asked.

Mikey went quiet and put on his best poker face. After a few minutes, he finally said, "I dropped out of college."

There was an awkward silence at the dinner table. Both of Gerard's parents looked furious, like they might snap at any moment, while Mikey just looked like he wanted to disappear. Gerard sat quietly and ate his dinner, glad that it wasn't him that they were mad at this time.

"You dropped out?!" Gerard's dad screamed. "We invested so much money and time into our education, and this is how you repay us?"

"Listen, it's not that big of a deal," Mikey said. "I was failing most of my classes anyways, and now I can pick up some more shifts at Barnes and Noble..."

"Do you want to work at Barnes and Noble forever?" Gerard's dad shouted. "Because if you want to be stuck in a minimum wage job for the rest of your life, then keep doing what you're doing!"