The Water In My Lungs

Andy Biersack walked through the big neighborhood surrounding him. A cigarette lit between his white teeth and his hands stuffed in his jean pockets. This wasn't his neighborhood, no.
His neighborhood, if you could call it that, was a trailer park. A run down old yard with weeds growing on the siding of any building on the lot.


He often walked through this big neighborhood, his boot heels clicking on the cement as he took his long strides. He looked around in lust wishing he hadn't been born into trailer park trash. He loved his mother to death but his father? Nothing but a drunkard fuck. His brother, Daniel, was the only other person able to understand him.


Andy graduated high school last year and was now eighteen years old and still living at home. He worked three jobs and it still wasn't enough to move out.


Bringing his hand up to his fag, he exhaled the smoke he'd been holding in. He hadn't even noticed the toxic action he was doing..


Maybe it was because he had the desire to harm himself.


Subconsciously, inner Andy was screaming, get me the hell out of here, without outer Andy even knowing.


He sighed and shook the cigarette out, before stomping it into the sidewalk. He walked along, his breath appearing before him in little puffs of heat. A waning sign of warmth in the cold wasteland of Hadley Falls, Colorado in December.


All of the sudden, he heard the familiar tune of a My Chemical Romance song. He looked up in the window of the house he'd been standing by and noticed a beautiful girl sitting on her window sill.
She had a guitar in her lap and she was strumming away. Her beautiful voice carried through the windy night and her eyes were closed leaving her face in a state of bliss that was undeniable perfection. Her cheeks were rosy, no doubt from the cold blasting into her large home, and her tiny arms looked so right curled around her cherry-oak colored guitar.


Andy was captivated and couldn't help but lean against the side of the house and listen to the gorgeous girl sing. He didn't recognize her, which must have meant she was too young to have been in Andy's class.


"...the light behind your eyes.." The girl sang the last note melodically and she immediately went into another My Chem song called Helena.


A small smile was still gracing her lips, until andy accidentally stepped on a bush outside of her house. She stopped playing and looked around.


Clearly not seeing anything, she began her strumming again, this time a little more cautiously.


The more Andy listened the more he felt his heart start to soar. He was obsessed with her voice and the small gravel she had in it. If she worked hard enough she could probably even scream a bit. He looked up at the girl again trying to familiarize himself with her perfect face and padded away softly from her window.


As if on cue, she flicked the light off in her room, and assumably crawled into bed. Andy let out a breathy sigh, whoever she was, he was going to find out.


He had the night shift at the old music store he worked at and realized he had to get over there or here was going to be late. He raced to the end of the neighborhood and climbed atop of his old Indian motorcycle. It was beat up and Andy had to work on it every week but it ran and that's all that mattered.


He swerved onto the road and sped all the way to the music store. He parked his bike in the back and slipped in the employee entrance. His boss, Derek Summers, was waiting for him.


"Ten minutes late, Biersack." He sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry sir." Andy replied. He saw no use in coming up with excuses.

"Of course you are, lucky for you we don't have any inventory so just sit at the register and man the store. I'm leaving." Mr. Summers said.

"No problem." Andy moved over to the counter and sat on the old stool.

"See you tomorrow, Biersack." With that he left, leaving Andy all alone.


He sighed and looked around the many rows of CDs. No one was coming in the store, it was almost midnight for crying out loud! Andy didn't understand why the store was even open twenty-four hours but he got paid none the less.


He noticed a flyer tacked to the bulletin board by the entrance to the store. He didn't know why but it certaintly caught his attention. So, he walked over to it and examined the poster closer.


It was a small piece of paper with the words 'The Nutcracker' on the top. It looked like he had missed it already since the dates were scheduled for last weekend but something about this poster caught his eye.


One girl, was delicately leaning over her shoe. Her arms extended out and her fingers were full of that same pristine energy. She had on a tight purple unitard that made her look very snake like, and upon a closer look he saw she was wearing a diamond tiara.


He was stuck until it came to him: It was the girl from the window! He couldn't get over how pretty she looked plastered on the center of the poster, several other people posed in different shots around her but Andy couldn't keep his eyes off of this girl.


He took the poster down and flipped it over. On the back were the names of everyone in the photos. He eagerly scanned looking for that special name and then he saw it. Imogen Bradley was her name.


His mouth formed into an 'o' shape as he realized she was the sister to Brooke Bradley. She was a class below him, but he would know that last name anywhere.


They were the richest family in the county and Brooke looked like god himself sent her down to be the crown jewel of Hadley Falls. Every boy followed her around like lost puppies. Andy had never done such a thing but he'd be lying if he didn't say he got tight in the pants just thinking of Brooke Bradley.


Now all he could see was the gorgeous girl who shared her last name. Why hadn't anyone taken notice to her? The way she sang, the way she smiled. It was like his own personal Heaven just thinking of her.


Andy stuffed the flyer in his pocket and walked back to the counter. He clicked on some music and leaned back with thoughts of tiny dancers in his head.

Notes