Lawrence looked down at his hands, neatly folded in his lap. He was coming to New York on his own, and he doubted the rest of the band would miss him. Everyone always seemed to forget about him, just because he was quiet. Dewey had said that when he was in a band all this would change, but he'd been in a band for nearly nine years now, and nothing had changed, apart from the way he looked.
He was taller, and his hair was darker. He had contact lenses instead of glasses, and he wore gray pants and a white shirt. It was what he usually wore, except sometimes he'd have a different colored shirt. He sighed. It was no wonder no one talked to him, as he was boring, but it would have been nice if they'd tried to find that out themselves instead of just ignoring him.
He'd just got the contacts before he'd gone to the train station, and they were irritating him a bit, as he wasn't used to them. He didn't know what he was doing here, Zack probably wouldn't even know who he was, never mind talking to him. He hadn't brought a change of clothes, as he didn't think he'd be here over a day. Now, however, he was regretting it.
The train stopped and he slowly got off, still lost in his thoughts. He bumped into someone.
"Sorry." He mumbled, and then looked up. It was a beautiful Chinese girl, but as he'd thought she didn't even look at him, just walked off. He sighed, and headed into the city with no idea how he was going to find Zack. He only had ten dollars left, and he needed to eat. He checked his watch – it was nearly ten p.m. The train journey had taken longer than he thought.
He went into the nearest café called The Green Tea, or something weird. He sat down and ordered a black coffee and a ham sandwich. When his order came the coffee had milk. He started to say something, but the waitress moved off without even looking at him. He sighed and began to sip his coffee. A girl came and sat next to him. He glanced up in surprise.
"Hi. My name's Jayne, and I couldn't help noticing you. What's your name?"
"L-L-L-Lawrence." He stammered, and she laughed.
"Look, Lawrence, I don't have a crush on you, but you look like you're here to do one thing, and then go. Now, seeing the way you handled that waitress, or should I say, the way that waitress handled you I think you need a bit more confidence, am I right?" He nodded dumbly, unable to speak.
"Look, it's late, and I have a spare room. Do you want to stay over?"
"Uh, sure, I guess. If it's okay with you." She laughed again.
"If it wasn't I wouldn't have offered. Now come on!"
The next day she took him out shopping. He wondered why she was doing this, but she just laughed. He suspected she was a little crazy, but he couldn't say anything or she'd leave him, and he had no idea where he was, except in New York.
"Now, Lawrence, what kind of style do you want to be? Like, name an idol."
"Ray Manzarek." She raised her eyebrows.
"Really? You're into rock?" He nodded.
"What other bands do you like?"
"AC/DC, The Who, Led Zeppelin..."
"I see..."
After an expensive (he guessed) day, she told him that lately on 42nd Street there had been a new busker, playing guitar, and that she thought it might be his friend Zack.
"Do you know how to get there?"
"No."
"You'd better ask someone, then. See you, Lawrence."
"Goodbye Jayne." He walked off, glad to be away from her. Sure, she was nice and all, but she'd just done all that for a complete stranger. He headed towards 41st Street, then asked someone.
"Excuse me sir, where is 42nd Street?" The guy just gave him a nasty look then walked off. Lawrence was about to let him go when...no! He would not let anyone else walk all over him. He ran after the man.
"I asked you a question! Now I would like an answer! Where is 42nd Street?" This time the man looked at him with a bit more respect, before giving him directions. Lawrence walked off, dazed. What had just happened? This wasn't him! But...was it? He did feel happier, and better. He could do this! Before long he heard strains of music, and followed them to find Zack sitting there.
"Hey, Zack." Zack looked up in surprise. "It's me, Zack. Lawrence." Zack slowly took in Lawrence's gray but baggy pants, his Doors shirt and his contact lenses.
"Whoa, it is you! You look totally different, but still...kinda the same." Lawrence smiled.
"Are you coming home, Zack?"
Lawrence sat and listened as Zack told him what had happened.
"So you ran away?"
"Yes! It was all I could do."
"And I thought I used to be dumb."
"What!?"
"Zack, you should have stuck it to the Man." Zack smiled, remembering that time after Battle of the Bands. "I'm not kidding, Zack. You should have said no, you wouldn't talk about it later, you would talk about it now! You should have explained your point of view, and then listened to his." Zack listened in disbelief. Was it really Lawrence saying this? And then he realized; Lawrence hadn't tried to be someone he wasn't, but this was who he is!
"Okay." said Zack. "I'll do it."
Zack went back and lived at home for a while, but his father wouldn't listen, and Zack ended up moving out.