#RIPFOB

As some of you may know, Fall Out Boy has been one of my favorite bands for a while. I, however, am not one of the fans that has been there since Take This to Your Grave. I never heard Take This to Your Grave until after I heard Infinity on High.

The first time I heard about Fall Out Boy, a friend of mine was telling me about "Sugar, We're Going Down," as she was looking for a copy of From Under the Cork Tree in FYE at the mall. I had never heard of Fall Out Boy and I had never heard of the song, so I didn't really care very much. Then, there was the explosion. "Sugar" was being played on Vh1 and MTV ad nauseam and I quickly resented Fall Out Boy for becoming so popular so quickly. I refused to like them because everyone else did. But, secretly, I loved them. I loved "Sugar, We're Going Down," "Dance, Dance," and "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me," but I could barely admit it to myself. I was going through that phase that all little alt-loving preteens go through, in which I loathed anything and everything mainstream. I was almost embarrassed to love Fall Out Boy as much as I did, so I hid my love and mocked those who obsessed over them.

Then came Infinity on High. I absolutely adored "This Ain't a Scene, it's an Arms Race" and "Thnks fr th Mmrs," and I bought the album from Best Buy along with Sick Puppies' debut, just to maintain my un-mainstreamness. I put Infinity on High into my boombox and fell in love. Every single song became my favorite as soon as I listened to it. The lyrics were amazing and deep and well-written and I became a fangirl so fast that my head spun. I read Pete Wentz's old blog posts on FueledByRamen.com and searched for every little detail about each band member.

For my eighth grade graduation from hell, my two best friends, Hannah and Jessica, my father, and I went to Hartford, Connecticut to see the Honda Civic Tour, which Fall Out Boy was headlining. There, I fell in love with Cobra Starship and The Academy Is.... But when Fall Out Boy began to play, I nearly died. They opened with "Thriller," the first track off of Infinity on High, and I screamed so loudly and sang along so loudly that I felt as if I was going to throw up or my throat would tear in two from the sheer force and volume of my voice.

I obsessed for two more years. I got every album (except for Evening Out with Your Girlfriend) and memorized all of the lyrics and defended their integrity to the death. I got the CitizensFOB Mixtape and Folie a Deux and loved them, but my fangirldom has been fading ever so slowly.

Now the news that they're over, at least for now, and my heart has broken a little bit. I didn't cry or anything--I'm not THAT crazy--but I am really sad and disappointed and just hoping that this is only temporary. Fall Out Boy was one of the only constants in a time of my life that was horrible and trying and torturous.

-xo