"Mikey, wake up, you're going to be late!" the now fifteen, almost sixteen, year old woke up. He lazily fell out of bed and wondered if it was even worth moving from his spot on the floor. He checked his phone and saw that it was already seven o'clock.

He slipped on whatever was closest to him in his closet and went down stairs quickly so he could at least have a little breakfast before he went to meet up with his friends. The little things mattered to Mikey Way in the morning, like coffee. He didn't need no girl in his life, he just needed coffee.

"Did you finish your homework last night?" His mom asked as she set down a plate of waffles.

"Not really," he confessed, earning a disappointed glare. "I know I said I'd do it all but I was so tired. Recently, it feels like I haven't slept for a lifetime and I think I might be dying."

"You're not dying, Mikey."

"How do you know?" Mikey asked. "I haven't been to an actual doctor in two years. My friend Frank is convinced that you're an anti-vax mom."

His mom rolled her eyes playfully, "I know because you're a teenager, and at this time in your life, your body goes through some changes—"

"Oh wow look at that!" Mikey was quick to shut down the talk his mom was ready to give him. "I'm done with breakfast, got to go!" He kissed his mom on the cheek and went over to his backpack.

"I'm working later today so you need to clean your room before Gerard gets here?"

Mikey stopped, "Wait, he's coming? Actually?"

His mom nodded, "Your sixteenth birthday is on Thursday. Do you really think he would miss that?"

Mikey shrugged, "I haven't had an actual conversation with him in years." He grabbed his backpack, thinking back to the last time he saw his older brother. He was over for winter break but he didn't spend much time socializing. Mostly sneaking out at night and sleeping away in the late morning. Though Mikey never thought of his brother being irresponsible, he believes that Gerard has definitely been hiding something.

Mikey was one step out of the door when he saw his friends lingering by his mailbox. "He's alive!" One cheered, throwing up his hands like it was some obvious miracle.

"Good morning, Patrick." Mikey laughed. He looked over to his other friend that lacked the cheery enthusiasm that Patrick was so full of. "Is Frank okay?"

Patrick waved him off, "He's Frank, he'll be fine once he has lunch."

Mikey frowned, "He forgot to eat breakfast again?" He asked. Patrick nodded awkwardly.

"You guys forget that I'm right here," Frank spoke up. "And just saying, I did not forget it. I just decided that getting five extra minutes of sleep was more important than food."

Mikey rolled his eyes and unzipped his backpack, handing Frank a granola bar from his lunch. Frank gladly took the granola bar. He looked at Mikey smiling. "So, are you getting a car for your birthday?"

Mikey shook his head, "I think I'm just going to be driving my mom's minivan till college."

The edges of Patrick's lips twitched upward as he thought of a funny memory. It was around the time where he became friends with Mikey and Frank. It involved the minivan a nest of bees. Many good and bad memories have come from being friends with them.

"Nice," Frank said. "Are you doing anything special on your birthday? Cause, Patrick and I were thinking..."

"Anything illegal, we are not doing." Mikey spoke quickly, knowing only one way Franks mind could go.

Frank pouted and Patrick smiled. "We were thinking, maybe we sneak out and go to the park at night?"

Mikey thought about it, that could be fun. There was a chance of him getting in trouble for sneaking out on a school night but did he actually care? No. Then, he yawned. He remembered that he has been extremely tired all week. Would he even be awake enough to sneak out. Either way, he was still going to make some new memories with his friends. He nodded.

***

"Pete, you need to calm down."

The seventeen year old sat in his school chair, biting his nails until they were too short to bite anything. "I can't believe I did that," he groaned, putting his face in his hands. "I did the wrong thing, the wrong thing that will ruin my future and leave me without a job."

"Pete, you're overreacting—"

"No, Ryan, you're underreacting. You didn't see what I did there. You didn't see the confusion on my teacher's face," Pete shook his head. "And I'm always the demonstration student. I'm the one who always knows what to do. What I did in that classroom, that was not the right thing."

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Is it really bad enough that you can't tell me?"

Pete shook his head. "I failed the exam. I studied all summer for this. That test basically decides where we're placed this upcoming term."

"Okay, but it's school," Ryan said, "You're the top in our grade, I don't think they'll be too harsh on you."

Pete frowned, "What if I get sent to the herbology class? What if I get placed into the anatomy of magical creatures?" He sighed, "My life is over."

Ryan put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Pete, everything will be okay. Just trust me—"

"Peter Wentz?" Pete's eyes darted from his hands up to the old woman peeking from behind the door. "We need to talk about your placement exam." She said with such calmness that it almost reassured Pete that he'd be okay.

***

Frank and Mikey were walking home. Frank was talking about how he hated his science class or whatever. Mikey wasn't really listening, he was a bit distracted thinking about his bed. Oh how great it would feel to go lay down in it.

"Woah," Frank said, "Who's at your house?"

Mikey looked up and saw a black car, parked in the driveway. He remembered his mom mentioning that Gerard was coming by. "My brother?" Mikey said, not intending to make it sound like a question. Of course it's not weird to have your brother come home from college to celebrate his little brothers birthday, but Mikey couldn't really remember the last time he and Gerard had a non awkward conversation. He didn't really feel like they had that brotherly bond anymore.

Frank stopped, Mikey looked back at him confused. "You're brother?"

Mikey nodded, "Yeah, you okay?"

Franked nodded quickly, "Yeah, of course! It's not like your brother was the coolest person ever or anything." He laughed nervously, causing a little suspicion in Mikey.

"Right, I forgot that you had a crush on him." Mikey rolled his eyes.

Frank glared at him. "I don't have a crush on some twenty year old in college! Pfft. I just admire him from afar..."

Mikey shook his head, smiling slightly. "You're so weird."

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