Gerard (narrate):
I never thought she'd actually leave. My best friend and playmate, Sam Whitley was never afraid to have her voice heard if it was for a cause, otherwise, she rarely spoke to anyone besides my brother and I. She told me many years ago that just telling me her name made her nervous. She was so sweet then, when we met in second grade. The longer I knew her, the more independent and outspoken she became. Very brave of her. My parents always approved of her, she was always so polite. One time, she was over at our house for the weekend and I let her have my bedroom while I shared with Mikey. I went in to wake her the next day and found my entire room cleaned and organized, a pile of grocery bags filled with trash sat by the door. When i asked her about it, she simply replied, "I couldn't sleep and your room was nasty, so I just tidied up a bit." My mother thought nothing of it. But I saw that she was troubled, even then purple sacks lined the belly of her eyes.

Gerard (August 1984):
Life is difficult when your small and quiet. It doesn't help much when your a doodling introvert either. I used to play on the playground with the others. That is, until Joseph decided against it. Yesterday he dropped a textbook on my foot. I feared what was next as I walked pout the heavy metal doors, moving slower than the other kids. I clutched my book in my hand, my knuckles turning white each time I heard a voice from the metal jungle gym. I quickly walked to my hiding place, a small space between two walls of the school. It was further from the teachers than I was comfortable with, and the lighting was less than satisfactory, but it kept me hidden from the menace known as Joseph. I had been alone for a good ten minutes and began to hum a tune I heard on the radio. Suddenly the small amour of light that I did have was blocked by a tall figure. I looked. Up to the figure, it's mouth was curled into an evil smile.
"H-Hey Joseph." I whimpered.
"Whatchya readin' there Way?" he hissed, using my last name like a cuss-word.
"N-nothing." I slid the book behind my back and up my jacket. The cold cover sent chills and flinches up my spine.
"oh really? Well, I think your lying." he held his fist up and let it come down hard on my arm . Again, on my cheek this time. I saw a girl a few feet away,then I heard her yell.
"Hey you leave him alone he didn't do anything to you!" within seconds she was standing between Joseph and me, hands on her hips. "Leave him alone, you have no right to do this to him!" she yelled at Joseph again.
"What? Why should I leave little Way alone?"
"Because I said so!"
"Wait, he's a fourth grader, he could really hurt you." I squeaked. She held her hand out in front of my, signaling me to be quiet.
"Oh, are you Gerard's little girlfriend?" He made kissy faces at her. Her expression didn't change.
"No I am not. I don't even know a Gerard. I just don't think you have any right to treat anybody this way. He hasn't done anything to you and you keep on hurting him." I saw a few teachers come towards us, but still keeping their distance. Joseph looked dumbfounded. A girl was telling him off, and he couldn't stand it.
"I think you need to know when to leave me alone. Just go play jump-rope or something." he tried to push her aside, she didn't budge.
"No. I'll stay here until you leave him alone. You can't do this to kids who haven't done anything. Or to kids who have. It's the teacher's job to take care of punishments. Not you Joe. So you go play jump-rope or hopscotch, I don't really care. Just stop hurting people." with that Joseph turned and walked away, only to be greeted by our teacher, who grabbed him by the arm and took him inside. The girl turned around to face me. Her thin blonde hair was put in loose pig tails near the back of her neck. A smile spread over her face slightly,but then faded to almost nothing.
"Hello... I'm ...I'm Sam." She held out her hand to help me up. "You must be Gerard. Sorry Joseph is such a jerk to you. he should leave you alone." I didn't say anything. I looked at her for a second, trying to get the cogs in my brain to understand what just happened. My eyes blinked and I remembered she wanted me to talk.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks, I think I'd be in the nurse's office with a broken jaw if you hadn't helped me." she smiled more now.
"Okay, well it was nice meeting you Gerard!" she called back to me as she ran to a teacher. I sat back down and continued reading, humming louder now.

The next day she sat next to me at lunch.
"Hey Gerard? Can I sit with you?" I nodded and she sat down nervously. Nobody sat with us, I was surprised she didn't have another person with her. " I'm new here. I just started school yesterday." she choked out after a few awkward minutes.
"Oh really? Where did you move from?" I didn't make eye contact. I looked slightly over to her tray. An open milk and half eaten sandwich lay motionless.
"I'm from northern Virginia." I giggled at her response.
"What's the difference between northern and southern?" she huffed a a bit at my mockery.
"Northern is closer to D.C and is more city and outer suburbs. Southern is more farmland and less people." I finally looked at her. Yellowy-green eyes stared at me.
"That makes sense I guess. Have you met any friends?" I sounded like a mother worried about her child, but it kept the awkwardness at bay.
"Nope." she sighed. " I am kinda quiet and I've only really talked to you." We both sat there in the silence until I spoke up.
"So, you into anything? Hobbies? Habits or anything?"
"Well I love to read and I kinda draw, but mostly just doodles on my homework. I paint with my mom sometimes." I craved to know more about the pig-tailed mystery.
"What kind of books?" I had finished my lunch and played with what mashed potatoes were left on my plate.
"Well, I'm not real big on comics, but I read some batman and spider-man my brother let's me borrow. But besides that, I like to read mostly mystery and horror." She looked at me embarrassed. I can understand why, not many girls our age even read books, little lone horror and mystery. Sam seemed like a very odd, but interesting friend.
"Cool, me too. I love comic books though. It helps me picture what I'm reading." We both stood up with our trays and took them to the wash window,still talking.
"Well they are picture books." she said matter of factually.
"That's the point." I smiled and made her giggle. Our conversation continued down the hallway and to our classroom. By the end of the day I had found out so much about her. She was very honest and open. I found that she too, loved music, although we didn't agree on our favorites. She told me of her life in Virginia, how she used to play soccer and was a gymnast. She also told me about how her parents divorced and that she was now being forced to live with her dad. She sounded less than thrilled. She showed me some of her drawings, they were mostly squiggles meant to represent something. She was excited to show me, like fresh gossip. At the end of the day a teacher came over to us while we were working on our math problems.
"Sam, I would just like to say that it was a very nice thing you did yesterday. And that I am proud of you for using your words and not violence. It was very brave of you to stand up to Joseph like that." The teacher beamed at Sam and placed a small golden star on her hand. When the teacher walked away, Sam turned to me and smiled. I smiled back and continued my work. she took the sticker off her hand and placed it on a piece of lined paper. She circled the small figure with a red crayon and next to it wrote in messy handwriting: "This is for helping my new friend Gerard Way. Will you be my best friend Gerard?" she handed it to me so I could reply. At this stage in our life it was not odd to ask such questions. In a black crayon sitting on the desk, I simply replied: " Yes Sam I will."

Gerard (narrate):
Over the next few months we became thick as thieves. We played at each others houses constantly. In March her father had to leave on a business trip, so she stayed with us. This was when she cleaned my room and I noticed something troubling her.

Gerard (March of Second Grade):
I lay on the floor next to Mikey's bed. Silence filled the air and a night light projected the shapes of the moon and stars on the ceiling. Sleep wasn't coming and I knew it. I grabbed a comic off the book shelf and began reading about one of Batman's adventures in Gothem city when I heard a faint sobbing sound. I stopped reading and listened for a few more moments as the sobs grew slightly louder. I crawled over to the wall opposite Mikey's bed. My room was just behind this wall, where the crying was coming from. I stood and quietly snuck out into the hallway. I cracked the door to my bedroom slowly. In the dim light I could just barely see the outline of Sam huddled on the floor, her knees pressed to her chest and her head buried behind her loose hair and arms. I closed the door and went back into Mikey's room. I laid back down and refused to shut my eyes until I could no longer hear her cries,which eventually happened around 1 or 2 in the morning. The next morning I walked downstairs groggily to the smell of pancakes. I sat in one of the chairs in the dinning room. My mom poked her head around the corner.
"Gerard! Don't be rude! Go wake Sam and Mikey up." I nodded and headed back down the hall, first to Mikey's, then my own room. When I opened the door, what I saw was almost scary. My entire room was spotless. A pile of grocery bags lay next to the door. Sam slept in my bed, huddled against the wall. All books were neatly placed on their shelves, my clothes were intricately folded and put into organized drawers. I opened my closet and saw all my jackets and shirts hung and color ordered. I closed the closet door and Sam stirred out of sleep.
"Gee? Whatchya doing?" Gee? This was new. She'd never called me that before. Then again, she was still half asleep and probably didn't realize where she was.
"Sam? Did you clean my room?" she nodded and then shrugged her shoulders as she made her way to the door.
"um, yeah. It was dirty and I couldn't sleep." she walked slowly into the kitchen, I followed, still dumbfounded. Sam and Mikey sat at the table, piling pancakes onto their plates. I grabbed my mom and pulled her into my room.
"Gerard? What's going on? Oh my..." she gasped at the state of my room. "your room hasn't been this clean since we moved in! I'm proud of you for cleaning it hon'." she began to walk out when I held on to her arm.
"But Mom, I didn't clean it. Sam was up very late cleaning it for me." she pulled my hand away.
"That was a very thoughtful thing of her to do, now will you please join us for. Breakfast?" I followed her top the dining room and took a seat across from Sam.
"Good morning Gerard."
"Morning Sam." I Studied her eyes. Dark purple circles had formed underneath each eye socket. We ate and helped clean up, just normal chit chatting and then Sam and I went downstairs to watch Saturday cartoons.

Then, after my parents had gone to bed, I heard Sam crying again. I snuck out into the hallway again, careful not to wake anyone. I slowly walked into my room and found Sam on my bed in the same position as before, he head leaning against the wall.
"Sam? Are you alright?" she looked up at me, her eyes puffy and red. "Not really." She repositioned herself on the bed as I walked closer to her.
"What's wrong?" I sat next to her and hugged her. She cried harder now.
"I miss my mommy. Gee, I haven't seen her in almost year. And my dad is mean to Drake and I." I released her from the hug, but she continued to cry.
"What do you mean he is mean to you?" she sniffed and wiped away a few tears.
"Be yells at us over the littlest things, and he doesn't read to me like my mom did. I just miss her a lot." I didn't really know what to say, but somehow I still spoke.
"It's Okay Sam. You have me, And Drake. And you can always cal l your mom. Do you want me to sleep in here?" she nodded and I left her alone for a moment so I could go collect my bed stuff from Mikey's room. She laid down underneath the comforter on my bed and I laid under a quilt on the floor next to her. I left the door open so a breeze would pass while we slept. I fell asleep that night to the sound of Sam sniffling and yawning.