Far And Away.

Andy watched from across the street as Flora ran at her little friend, tossed her arms around his neck and then did the unthinkable-they kissed. He was disgusted, disappointed and kind of pissed off. He couldn't put his finger on why he was pissed off by them kissing, but he was and as Andy walked down the sidewalk and bumped into some meat head, he felt a pleasure in knowing that at least someone else was now feeling just as pissed as he was. A pair of hands reached out, grabbing both of his shoulders and Andy felt himself being slammed up against the side of a bus, his head hitting the soft metal and he could hear it clang loudly in his ears.


"Watch where you're going shit stain..." The blonde haired football player growled at him, his letterman jacket a shining beacon of his status. Andy only smirked, reached up and removed the hands from his shoulders before clenching his fists.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand in the exact middle of the sidewalk. I mean I get you guys are so big and tough on the field, but out here you just look like a bunch of cattle." Andy quipped and then ducked out of the way as a fist came flying at him. He was skinny, which made him fast and Andy was able to duck and swerve out of the way as two more blows came at him.


Andy only laughed lowly as he got in his own punch and caught the moron on the right side of his face before walking off in the direction of the closest neighborhood. He could hear the screaming and the shouts from people and as he looked over his shoulder, Andy wasn't shocked to see that they were all still standing there, not even bothering to come after him. It had felt good to punch that ape-he wished it was Bret, but some stupid jock would do in a pinch. Andy looked down at his boots, worn and torn with broken laces and his Rancid shirt had a hole in it. Oh well, he thought as he pulled his leather jacket around his shoulders more and stopped at the end of a familiar drive way.

The ranch style house that sat before him, which he had found out was Ashley's house, was alive with the music that was blaring out of the open garage doors. The guys were practicing already, which made Andy smile as he had hoped they would all already be here. The guys-his bandmates-were all already out of high school and so Andy was the youngest, but they never really treated him that way. Andy smirked at Jinxx, who was doing some sick guitar work, as he passed him and tossed his bag on the ground in a corner. He walked up to the mic and joined in, harmonizing with Ashley just as the right part in the newest song that they had written.


What you became
Some things never change and so we

We learn from All Your Hate
We are lost in your mistakes
Play our hymn for the brand new day
We burn, we learned


This was a song that Andy had written for several different reasons-mostly it was for people like those jocks who thought that they were beating Andy down by physically holding him back, but really they were just making him stronger. Deep down Andy knew though-this song was kind of about Flora. She hated him, there was no doubt about it and he hated her right back, but there was something else in their hate, something that he couldn't put his finger on. She didn't trust him, he thought she needed to loosen up a bit and they both had attitudes that bashed in to one another. As he sang, Andy closed his eyes and could just see Flora and that jackass-what were they doing right now?


We learn from All Your Hate
We are lost in your mistakes
Play our hymn for the brand new day
We burn, we learned


Andy screamed into the mic one last time as he stopped and grabbed a bottle of water from one of the speakers and chugged it. He had never been the best singer, but years and years of practice in his bedroom, singing along to KISS and Alkaline Trio had made him pretty decent and he was developing his own sound. Andy was just thankful that he had found the guys when he did, otherwise he probably would have been shipped out to military school, which were his parents next option if he got kicked out of any more schools. His parents were pretty cool about the whole thing, but they were growing tired of having to move all around the state of Ohio just so that Andy could finish getting his education.


"You sounded pretty pissed there at the end Andy...everything cool man?" Ashley asked as he joined Andy in drinking some water. The bassist had become one of Andy's closest friends and the singer was thankful that the older guy always seemed to know what was going on with him.

"Yeah, just shit at school...like always." Andy said before draining the water bottle and turning to face the others. Jinxx was changing out some strings on his guitar, Jake and CC were both laughing at something that was on Jake's phone and Andy just smirked.

"You and Chicken get into another pissing contest?" Ashley asked and Andy tried as hard as he could to hide his blush. He completely regretted giving Flora that nickname because he knew how much she hated being so skinny.

"Of course. She's got Shrimp wrapped around her perfect little finger and they were flaunting their new relationship in front of everyone today in the lot." Andy growled as he walked towards the mic and adjusted it slightly.

"Someone's jealous..." CC laughed as he came up and tossed a skinny arm around Andy's shoulders. The young kid only huffed, his black bangs moving out of his face so the guys were able to see both of his bright blue eyes for once.

"I am not. I just don't like seeing people hanging all over one another. Come on-lets get a few more songs in before I have to head home." Andy said and all of the guys just smirked at one another before getting in to place. They knew that Flora and Andy were perfect for one another-it was just going to take some time for the stubborn teens to see it themselves.


They got a few more songs done before Andy, Jinxx and CC decided that they were going to head out. Jinxx was coming over for dinner that night and CC lived in the building beside his, so Andy actually had some company while they walked the three miles towards his building. He only hoped that Flora wasn't around-he vaguely remembered her saying something about going to a show tonight with Bret and at the thought of the two of them Andy began to see red once again. He shouldn't care and no matter how many times he told himself he didn't care, Andy found that he was becoming more and more agitated.

Not even the conversation that Jinxx and CC were having about moving out to LA was distracting him, but it should because it had been Andy's plan. He had told the guys that if they wanted to make it big then they were going to have to move out to a bigger city and get the fuck away from Ohio. So it was decided that on the day of his graduation and as soon as Andy walked across that stage and got that stupid piece of paper-they were out of there. The thought of LA and making it big was the only thing that kept Andy sane and as they walked up the steps of his building and he caught site of two people walking out of the condo across from his, Andy needed every sane thought he could get.

It was Flora and Bret and Andy couldn't help but lose his breath when he caught site of the girl before him. She had never looked sexier in her tight black pants, boots and tight MCR shirt with the leather jacket just draped over her shoulders. Andy felt something down south come to attention and as he locked eyes with Flora and she just looked at him blankly, Andy knew he had blown it. That could be him with his hands on the small of her back, leading her down the stairs and off to a rock show. It could be him tonight, holding her hand and smiling while she sang along to the songs of the band loudly. It should be Andy kissing her goodnight tonight.

But it wasn't, it couldn't and it never would be him. They hated one another and he had made damn sure that she would probably hate him for the rest of her life.


"Come on man...get inside before you die of depression." Someone said from behind him and Andy only smirked as he noticed that both Jinxx and CC had entered his house, while Andy still stood out in the hallway.

"No one's dying of depression. She's just a girl..." Andy growled as he walked inside and shut the door behind him. CC and Jinxx were both smirking at him and Andy only shook his head, his long black hair falling in his eyes as he pushed past the two and headed back towards his room.

She was just a stupid girl...who was absolutely fucking perfect.

Notes