After All These Years

While Cassandra was getting ready for the concert, she couldn’t help but think about what the guys were like. She was excited, and scared that she would meet them. She hoped it would be as easy like meeting Brian. She still couldn’t believe that she had met Synyster Gates and got backstage passes! “Cassie! Are you ready yet?” Mark asked. “Yeah! Almost done, hold on!” she hollered.

*

When they got to the arena, the saw a not so long line in the parking lot. There were lots of teenagers that looked to be skipping school. There we some cops here and there. The tour bus was there. It was huge, with a death bat on the side. Her heart suddenly stopped. They were all walking out of the bus with their girlfriends next to them. Cassandra ran out of the car to go catch up “Brian! Hey!” she screamed like a lunatic. She got his attention, and a lot of others.

“Cassandra! Where are you going!?” Mark screamed as loud as he could. He finally caught up to her. Brian waved to her and told her to go over to them. There were security guards all over the place. She walked over to them, feeling all the glares from the people in line. When she finally got to them, she waved hello to everyone. They all smiled and said hi or what’s up.

Mark was just standing there in an awkward state. He didn’t know what to do. He was astonished. “So you guys just follow us, and you can watch the concert backstage with the other boys and girls. They walked backstage, and Cassandra’s hand started getting cold and sweaty. She grabbed onto Mark, and he put his arms around her. “So, how was the 2 day wait?” Brian asked as they sat down. “It sucked. Time passed by so slowly!”

“Really, ha ha. It went fast for me, oh yeah. Time to meet the group!” he said grinning. Even though Cassandra already knew all their names, she didn’t mind the introduction.”Okay, well this is Matt, Val, Zacky, Gena, Jimmy , Leana, Johnny , Lacey, and Michelle.” Brian pointed to each one of them, who sent her smiles and hello’s. “Hi, I’m Cassandra. This is Mark.” She said. Mark waved and said hello to everyone. “Boyfriend?” Leana asked. “Oh, ha ha. No. He’s my bestfriend.” Cassandra explained.

Cassandra felt as if someone was watching her, so she looked around the room and got lost in these beautiful familiar hazel eyes. It was Matt, he had been staring at her with a confused face. She smiled at him awkwardly. “Well, we have to go on stage now. Enjoy!” Brian said. “Good luck. "Cassandra said. All the boys went to their girls and kissed each other good luck.

*

“WOW! That was great! So much better live, this is just a dream come true!” Cassandra yelled when they got back. “Yeah, that was awesome.” Mark said. The guys just thanked them and went into the bathroom to shower. When they got back, they were in new clothes and smelling fresh. They sat down with their girlfriends in their laps. “So, who’s down to party?” Jimmy asked. “After signing babe!” “Leana laughed. “Oh yeah . Okay then. Let’s get out there and get it over with!” Jimmy said again.

They all piled out into the hallway and outside the door where there where kids all ages in line waiting in back of the bars. When they saw the band, they went crazy. “Hey, want to come sell Avenged merch with us? We can get to know you better there!” Michelle suggested. “Oh, sure. Sounds great.” Cassandra followed them to a stand with Avenged shirts, hats, and even underwear were placed neatly on a table. There was already a line of teens with autographs in one hand and money in the other.

“Hey guys, want anything?” Val asked the group of people. “Oh my god! Your M. Shadows girlfriend right?” one girl screamed. Val just smiled and nodded.

*

“Oh my gosh! That took forever!” Lacey screamed when they got back to the room. “Now, we can party!!” Jimmy screamed. They got out all the beer, and hard liquor. “Who’s first?” Zacky asked with a shot glass in his hand. Cassandra took it and let the feeling of a good burn go down her throat. Mark was the next one, then everyone else. Cassandra only took one shot, she knew that Mark would probably get wasted and someone needed to take them home.

“Uh is there a bathroom here?” Cassandra asked. “Oh course sweety, it’s just out there and down the hallway to the right.” Gena said. While Cassandra neared the door, she heard arguing. “What the hell!” it was a deep voice, he sounded like Matt. “Why do you keep staring at her?!” the girl sounded a lot like Val. “What’s wrong with you!? I can’t stare at people anymore?!” he screamed.

Cassandra opened the door, and the arguing suddenly stopped. She was looking at the floor, and when she looked up, both Matt and Val were staring at her. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry, I was just going to the bathroom.” Val scoffed and Matt just nodded. As she walked away, she heard Val whisper, “I don’t like her.” Matt said, “Shut the hell up! You don’t even know her!”

Cassandra went into the bathroom, and she was so confused. ‘What did I do?’ she asked herself. ‘Why does she not like me?’ All these thoughts were running through her mind. She went back into the room, and sat down on the couch watching the others have fun, all she wanted right now was to be alone. She felt someone staring at her again, she looked around and Matt was staring at her again. He got up from his seat and walked to her.

“Sorry about that, she’s just crazy. I’m sorry if you heard anything. It’s just… I feel like I’ve met you before.” He said. Cassandra just smiled sadly. “I think I would have remembered if I met you, but I don’t know. You do seem a little bit familiar.” She said looking into his eyes. His voice was soft. They were the only sober ones of the group. All of them were drunk off their asses. “So, tell me. How did you meet Syn?” he asked.

“Oh well, uh. I work in this music store, it’s not that popular, but it’s fine. I guess that’s why he came in. But anyways I was just there waiting for the day to end, or waiting for a customer, when this man walked in, he looked like her was trying to stay hidden, but yeah. He came up to me and asked for guitar strings. I only noticed that he was him when I saw his knuckles.” She said laughing. “That’s totally like him. He’s smart.” Matt said.

“Why is he smart?” she asked. “Well, if he didn’t go to the store, we wouldn’t have met you.” Matt said. “Or, I wouldn’t have been so lucky to meet you boys!” she grinned. “Yeah, that too, so…Tell me about yourself.” Matt suggested. “Well, my name is Cassandra. I’m 20 years old. Schooling and working right now. That silly man over there has been my best friend for forever now. My favorite color is turquoise. I am open minded when it comes to music and…I’m very small. Obviously.” She told him. “Oh, wow. That’s interesting. So what are you going to school for?” he asked. “Photography and I want to open up my own clothing store.”

“Oh yeah? What’s it going to be named?” he asked. “I haven’t thought about that. Maybe Cuppycake. Ha ha…that’s really cute.” She smiled. “Oh god, girls and their girly things!” he whined. Val was glaring at both of the two. Matt noticed her glaring. “Please just ignore her, she’s not herself today.” He said sighing. “Well, it’s getting late, and Mark is pretty trashed. I should get going.” She said.

Cassandra got up from her spot, and walked over to Mark. “Are you ready to get going?” she asked him. “No! I’m having fun!” he slurred. “Boo, you’re drunk, if you drink anymore you’ll pass out.” She reasoned. “How am I gonna get you out of here then? I can’t carry you by myself!” she whined. “Okay, I guess...Let’s just say goodbye to everyone.” He slurred again.
“Uh, well it was nice meeting you all. Thank you for inviting us Brian. It’s really late, and we have to drive back home, so…thank you for everything.” Cassandra said. She went to Brian and hugged him. “No problem, here. Put your number in my phone, so we can talk again!” he said.

She just laughed and get his phone while he put his number in his phone. They hugged again, and that happened with everyone except Val. The last person to get her number was Matt. She hugged him the tightest, and he told her he wanted to see her again. “Well, maybe you guys should come over one day. That would be really fun.” She suggested. “Oh yeah, that’d be really fun.” Everyone said. “Just give me a call one day, and we’ll set up the date.” She said.

“Goodbye everyone. I’ll hope to see you soon.” She waved goodbye. “I’ll walk them out just in case Mark falls or something.” Matt said. They walked out and Mark was about ready to pass out. When they put him in the passenger seat, he fell asleep. There was a comfortable silence between Matt and Cassandra. “Well, thanks again. It was really nice meeting you.” She smiled. “No problem, don’t even worry about it. Uh, sorry again for Val. It was nice meeting you too. Have a safe drive home, and I’ll see you soon.” He said. They hugged again. She got into the passenger seat and drove off.

Matt walked back to his group with a big smile on his face. “Dude, why are you so happy, you aren’t even drunk.” Johnny slurred. “Nothing man. You’re just crazy.” He said. The smile never left his face for the whole night.