Seize the Day

The college dorm room pulsated, making it impossible for Lacey Young to concentrate. The music sounded familiar. She knew it was an Avenged Sevenfold song- her favorite - but she didn’t know who was playing. Whoever it was had put together an awesome band.

“X minus the square root of y…Shit!” she shouted, slamming her pencil down. “Cade! Who the hell is playing downstairs?”

“I didn’t know someone was supposed to play today,” said Cadence DeSalle. “There weren’t any posters around campus.”

Lacey stood up. She wasn’t very tall, only about 5’ 2”, with dark brown hair hanging by her shoulders in layers. Her eyes were bright green, and they stuck out like emeralds against her pale skin. She cracked her knuckles loudly and looked out the window. There were a few people outside, but none looked too interested in whoever was playing. She looked at Cadence.

Cadence was almost a head taller than Lacey, with black hair and blue eyes. She had high cheekbones, making her smiles absolutely gorgeous. Her tan skin made Lacey’s look even paler when they stood together, which was often, because nobody could separate the pair.

“I’m going to go check it out,” sighed Lacey. “Want to come?”

Cadence shrugged. “Sure. Can’t hurt.”

Lacey opened the door. They were on the second floor of the dorm rooms, right by the balcony leading downstairs. Cadence followed her to the lounge, holding Lacey’s elbow so she wouldn’t lose her in the tight-packed corridor. There was no one outside because they had all come inside.

They got down to the lounge, but they were at the back of the group. The music was louder out here, and Lacey swore she knew that voice. But why couldn’t she put a name with the voice? She stood on her tip-toes to see over the crowd, yet she could only see the top of a head bobbing around on the stage.

She looked back at Cadence. “Let’s get closer!” she shouted. She grabbed her friend’s arm and began to push to the front of the crowd. A few people gave them dirty looks for shoving, but Cadence flipped them off and nobody said anything more.

When they were finally at the front, Lacey gasped. It not only sounded like Avenged Sevenfold. It was Avenged Sevenfold. Lacey gripped Cadence’s arm tightly, and Cadence squealed in delight. Their favorite band? It couldn’t possibly be happening!

One of the guitar players, Zacky, made eye contact with Cadence. He threw her a smile, and she blushed. She heard Lacey singing along at the top of her lungs, but the longer they stood there, the more faint she felt. She felt her face growing hot, and she looked up at Zacky again. Zacky had gone over to the other guitar player, Synyster, and was whispering something in his ear. Syn smiled and nodded, and they both looked over at Cadence.

“Isn’t this great!” shouted Lacey.

“Is it hot in here?” gasped Cadence. “I think I need to sit down”-

“You can’t sit down, Cady!” laughed Lacey. “It’s great in here! Come on!” She looked at Cadence and stopped. “Cady, you look pale. Are you okay?”

“No…I-I can’t”- Cadence’s eyes rolled back, and she fell onto Lacey.

“HELP!” screamed Lacey. “Someone call 911!”

Immediately, the music ceased. The lead singer, Matt, grabbed his cell phone and dialed while Zacky and Syn set their guitars to the side and jumped off the platform to help. Two more figures came to move people away.

“Keep back, she needs air!” said one of them. He was tall and lanky, but he was muscular. His hair was dark brown and spiky with long pieces of hair hanging down in the front. His eyes were dark green. This was The Rev, Jimmy, the drummer. He kept ushering people away to very little avail.

Lacey was bent over Cadence. “Cady! Cady, come on, girl! Wake up!” she shouted as Zacky and Syn approached her.

Zacky knelt down close to Cadence and said, “She’s still breathing. She’s just fainted, I think.” He turned to Lacey. “Matt’s calling an ambulance right now. Is she diabetic or something?”

“No, I don’t know what’s wrong. She just looked at me and then”-

Lacey slumped over, her face in her hands, and began to cry. Zacky looked over at Syn. Both were confused as to what they should do in this situation. They didn’t know this girl. Should they comfort her anyway? Syn was about to say something when another man put his hand on Lacey’s shoulder.

The man was much shorter than the rest of the band, but still taller than Lacey. He had black and blond hair sticking out randomly, and he, too, had green eyes. Lacey looked up as he bent down to her.

“Hey, sweet thing,” he said. “You’re going to be alright. Matt’s got it handled, and the medics should be here soon.” He gave her an encouraging smile.

Lacey took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. “I don’t know,” she said. “She’s never done this before. I didn’t know if I…if I…”

“Shh, you’re fine,” comforted the man. “I promise your friend will be alright.”

Lacey tried to smile. “I’m Lacey,” she said.

“Johnny,” he replied.

“I know who you are,” Lacey said. “You play bass. How could I not know?”

“Johnny, are you gonna flirt with her or try to help?” snapped Syn.

“Shut up, Brian, at least I’m doing something,” Johnny said. He turned back to Lacey. “I’m going to go ask Matt if he knows when they will be here. I’ll be back.”

He stood up, and Lacey watched him leave. She looked at Zacky, whose face was close to Cady’s. He was counting silently to himself while watching the clock. Lacey studied him, no knowing what he was doing or why; but if it was helping Cady, she didn’t care about the details. So she sat there, her eyes moving from Cady to Zacky and back to Cady.

Johnny came back to Lacey. “Matt says the ambulance should be here in a few minutes,” he said. He brought his hand up to her shoulder, where it rested for a moment before touching her hair. “You probably get this a lot, but you have amazing eyes.”

“No, actually, I don’t,” said Lacey quietly. “Get…get told a lot, that is.” She laughed a little. “Sorry. I’m not used to compliments.”

“Why? Doesn’t your boyfriend tell you how beautiful you are?” asked Johnny. “That’s what boyfriends are supposed to do.”

“Oh, I don’t- I don’t have a boyfriend,” stammered Lacey, caught a bit off guard that Johnny would think such a thing.

“How does such a pretty girl end up alone?” Johnny looked into her eyes. His hand brushed her cheek.

“I- I don’t…I don’t,” she breathed. Lacey’s pulse was racing. Her face was only a fraction of an inch away from Johnny’s. She looked into his bright eyes, slowly parting her lips. “Want to be- alone,” she said. She could feel his breath against her lips and-

Suddenly, Cady gave a loud gasp and opened her eyes. She looked up and stared into the two most gorgeous hazel eyes she’d ever seen. They were only a few centimeters away from her face, but she resisted reaching up and touching them.

“She’s up!” said Zacky. Lacey and Johnny looked away from each other toward Zacky. He put his hands on Cady’s shoulders and sat her up. “Hey, gal, say something.”

Cady looked around. She was surrounded by celebrities. And staring into her eyes was- thank God!- Zacky Vengeance. She opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a squeak. Zacky chuckled and took her hand.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I- I- I”- mumbled Cady.

Lacey crawled over to her friend. “Cady, you’re alright!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Cady’s shoulders. “The paramedics will be here soon to check on you. God, woman! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Lacey…” said Cady. “Lacey, am I dead?”

“No, you’re in the lounge. Why?”

“Why is Avenged Sevenfold helping me? Are you sure this is real?

“Yes, Cady, yes, it’s all real,” sighed Lacey. “They want to help fans, and you’re a fan. We’ll get you back on your feet soon.”

The doors to the lounge opened, and a man and woman in uniform entered. The gathered crowd parted a bit to let them through, but the woman shouted, “Back off! There’s nothing to see here! Go back to your duties!”

The medics sat down beside Cady. They began talking with her, and the woman shot evil looks at the guys. Zacky looked around at everyone else.

“Let’s give the professionals some room,” he said, much louder than necessary.

He stood up, followed by Lacey and Johnny. The trio walked over to the stage and sat down. Matt, Brian, and Jimmy did the same. Lacey closed her eyes and rocked back and forth. She felt five pairs of eyes staring at her, but she didn’t care. She was thinking, and nothing else mattered when her brain was at work.

A long time passed before anyone spoke. It was Jimmy who broke the silence.

“So this was fun,” he said, standing up. “A little detour, but a lot of fun.”

“You college girls are so unpredictable,” laughed Brian. “Just when you think you know them- Wham! Things change again.”

“How come this event wasn’t posted anywhere?” asked Lacey.

“It was spontaneous,” replied Matt. “We had a week off so we decided to stop here on the way to Milwaukee because kids from Iowa are always complaining how we never come here. So we decided to give it a shot. I’m sure you don’t have a problem with that.” He winked at Lacey, and she blushed.

Johnny touched her elbow. “Do you want to get some air?” he asked.

“Um, yeah, I could use some air,” said Lacey. She stood up and turned to Zacky. “Can you tell Cady I’ll be back here later?”

Zacky nodded.

“Also, you guys are welcome to anything in our dorm,” she added. “Thank you so much.”

“We’ll see you two lovebirds soon,” said Brian, nudging Johnny and winking.

Johnny rolled his eyes, and he and Lacey began to walk away.

Outside, the air was chilly. It was mid-October, and the leaves were beginning to change to their vibrant reds and golds and oranges. Students were beginning to don jackets and hats, some even wearing gloves. Lacey looked around campus, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. It wasn’t too bad outside, considering she didn’t have a coat yet. Normally she would just put on a sweatshirt, but today she wasn’t expecting to be outside.

She wasn’t expecting any of this. Or Johnny.

“Iowa looks best in the fall,” said Johnny. “I’m surprised we don’t add more Iowa dates to our tours. It’s a nice place.”

“I’ve lived here all my life,” replied Lacey, nodding. “It is rather nice, but it’s a lot less exciting than, say, California. Hell, the only state worse than us is Nebraska. Sometimes, I…I wish I didn’t live here.” She looked down at her hands.

“Well, if you didn’t live here, how would you know your friend? Cady, was it?” asked Johnny. “You two seem pretty close.”

“We’ve been friends for ten years,” Lacey confirmed.

The wind whistled past them, and she shivered. Johnny, noticing her change in temperature, took off his flannel over shirt and offered it to her. She took it, thanking him quietly, and put it on.

“If I can convince the guys, we’ll be in town for a few days,” said Johnny. “Would you, um…would you like to go on a date sometime this week?”

“Oh,” said Lacey, a bit startled. “Oh, uh, sure. Here”- she took a pen out of her pocket and grabbed his hand- “is my number.” She wrote down her number on the palm of his hand. “Text me, and let me know when you want to do it or if you’re even staying.”

Johnny smiled at her. “Can I ask you something?” he said.

“Shoot for it,” Lacey answered.

“Why are you single? I mean, you just seem like the kind of girl that’s so laid back and upbeat. How come nobody’s picked you up yet?”

“Well,” said Lacey, chewing on her bottom lip. “I don’t really talk about it much. It’s kind of”-

“Johnny!” shouted someone. “Johnny Christ!”

They turned around and saw Matt running toward them. He stopped about a yard from them. He nodded at Lacey and then turned to Johnny.

“JC, we got a problem,” he said. “Sorry, girl, but I’m going to have to steal the big man for a minute.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll just go wait over there,” replied Lacey. She walked away from the pair, sitting down on a bench under a large sycamore tree. She watched them exchanging words, and she saw them both turn to look at her for a second. Matt said something to him, and Johnny cursed. His expression changed suddenly, from happy to pissed then back to happy.

Matt patted Johnny on the shoulder. He walked past Lacey on the way back into the building. “See you around, Miss Young,” he said, winking at her.

Lacey stood open-mouthed as Johnny approached her.

“Lace, looks like we’re going to be staying a bit longer than usual,” he said. “Someone broke into the bus and stole a bunch of our shit. Not a terrible thing, I suppose. I get to stay longer with you.”

“Why?” asked Lacey. “Why you have to stay, I mean.”

“Matt filed a police report, so we have to stay here until all of our stuff is found,” replied Johnny.

Lacey nodded and said, “Let’s go back inside. I want to check on Cady.”

Spending a long time with Johnny Christ, the man of her dreams, was enough to send Lacey’s head in circles. She was smiling, inside and out. But there was something still haunting her.

Someone was still haunting her.