Note: Thank you guys so much for your patience and all the reviews, they really keep me writing, even if it is at a snail's pace! Quickly: I usually don't change or take away any of the lyrics in my SongFics, other than only using the chorus once, but this song had major romantic undertones, and as that wasn't the direction I wanted to go with it, I tried to take out all the romantical lyrics... Don't know if it worked, but just a heads up!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yellowcard, their songs, lyrics or music, or the names, characters and settings of School of Rock. As well, I cannot say I own Mary Poppins or Disney, so darn.
Empty Apartment
Dear Mr. Dewey Finn,
I can't believe I'm even bothering to make contact with you. It's not like you seem to care, the way you left.
Called me out, you stayed inside
You might not remember who I am. Let me refresh your memory: ten years ago, you may recall, you illegally impersonated a substitute teacher to collect rent money when the principal of Horace Green Prep called your place of residence. You proceeded to dress in the ugliest threads possible, with a greasy mop and a stupid bow tie, and came to our school to teach the fifth grade for a number of weeks.
One you love is where you hide
You were the best thing that even happened to us, though. You taught us everything we ever really needed to know. You taught us how to live life, you taught us how to treat each other, ourselves, authority - everyone. Your weeks at HG gave us a "how-to" for absolutely every situation possible.
Shot me down as I flew by
It would've been great if it had been left at that: if you had done your bit with the whole sub teacher thing, got caught, had the movie-esque comeback at the Battle of the Bands, and then gone off again. But no, you stuck around.
Crash and burn I think sometimes
You forget where the heart is
So, with that, this is Zack Mooneyham. The guitarist. The "Next Hendrix." "Step Off" and all that. Ringing any bells?
Answer no to these questions
So… Maybe we were just your little flavour of the month and you got bored, or something. That's what we've decided, anyway. But someone's got to tell you, for future reference, I guess for the next time you decide to start up an elementary school band: you can't just walk in and out of a ten-year-old's life like you did. You have to forgive them; ten-year-olds are trusting - they really think you actually care.
It's not me you're not listening
Can't you see something's missing
You told me how to live my life properly, how to be proud of who I am and to not let anyone boss me or push me around. You showed me that life was really worth living. It's sad to say that I needed to hear that at age ten, but I did, and that's the tall and short of it, I guess.
You forget where the heart is
Waking up from this nightmare
I don't know if you realize what it's like standing with your friends, waiting for your total idol to pick you up for band practice after school, like he had been for a couple weeks. And then, suddenly, after waiting for three hours, it dawns on you that he's just not going to come. He doesn't care. He doesn't want you.
How's your life? What's it like there?
We heard No Vacancy wanted you back. Is that where you went? Is that why you dropped us like a clump of dirt filled with worms? Because that bunch of no-good, wannabe, corporate sell-outs decided that you were good enough for their band, and so you went crying back to the guys that dumped you like a bag of garbage in the first place?
Is it all what you want it to be?
You know how some people joke around and say that they were glad they never were a kid? Well, I never thought it possible until that day when we stood out in the cold waiting for your stupid brown van to pick us up. You don't seem to remember how much stability a kid needs in their life. You obviously don't remember how much stability I was lacking either. You were the only part of me that was normal, which is weird in itself, seeing as you were far, far, far from ordinary.
Does it hurt when you think about me?
I think one of the reasons I bonded so well with you was because we were feeling the same emotions. You were feeling left out of your best friend's life because that cow had come in and had overtaken everything. I was feeling left out because I was a loner at school and no one seemed to care. You were feeling unstable because you were just kicked out of your band, the only thing that held meaning in your life anymore, and I was feeling unstable because my family, the only thing a kid really knows, was anything but the rock my life should be built on.
It's okay to be angry and never let go
It only gets harder the more that you know
We clicked, man. And I think that's hard for you to take because of the age difference between us. How old are you, anyway? You were, what, thirty when we met? I guess it's hard to swallow, finding a kindred spirit in a kid twenty years younger than you. I understand you, believe it or not. Well, I did. I understood you better than Ned, or Mullins, or Summer or Freddy or anyone. You can't just ignore that bond.
When you get lonely and no one's around
You know that I'll catch you when you're falling down
It's not cool when you're ten and thinking about killing yourself, and suddenly this guy comes into your life and pretty much saves you.
It's like saying "I love you" and the other person doesn't reply, you know? I was able to admit that I needed the bond me and you had, but you couldn't handle it. Is there a problem with depending on someone? Are you too "macho" to have to have someone there?
We came together but you left alone
When you left, things went back to normal. Everyone went back to their old friends: Summer was the class know-it-all, Freddy, the class asshole, Marta was the snooty bitch she'd always been… You get it. I, of course, went back to having no friends.
And I know how it feels to walk out on your own
You're probably asking yourself why I'm sending you this. We're twenty now, and we should be over the whole fiasco, right? Well, whatever. In my head, you're the still the hero that the young Zack Mooneyham had seen. You're like Mary Poppins, man: the one that comes in, changes everything, and then just leaves. And everyone wants to see Mary Poppins again, 'cause she's awesome. We all want to see you again too.
Maybe someday I will see you again
And you'll look me in the eyes and call me your friend
We want to know that you're not some ghost that we all imagined. So, if you really do exist, don't be afraid of a bunch of kids half your age, because that's what it seems like to us, that's for sure. You make it seem like you're this huge coward who only has something to say when they're mad at someone. But once it's okay again, you drop everything, take everything back.
Take you away from that empty apartment
You stay
Look. This whole thing is really lovey-dovey, but that's because that's what it's like when you're ten. Don't be afraid of us, don't be afraid of this letter, don't be afraid of the situation.
Forget where the heart is
Someday
Just try to get in touch with us, we're all still in the Long Island area, except for Summer. She's going to school on the West Coast, but still comes back here on holidays, so she can still see you too.
We've all forgiven each other, forgotten the past, except for you. We just can't do that.
It's okay