No One Can Touch Us

Laughing, Elizabeth sipped on her drink while she stood outside on the deck of Zack and Gena’s house with Brian, Michelle, Val, Matt, and Gena. Brian was in the mists of telling everyone how his hat randomly flew out the window while he drove back to the house, though what he didn’t know was that it was all Jimmy’s doing. That simple fact alone made everything so much sweeter, making Elizabeth unable to control her giggles as Brian whined about his favorite hat now being gone.

“So fucking worth it,” Jimmy’s voice said inside Elizabeth’s head, making her chuckle lightly as she took a sip of her lemonade.

“That was fucked, you know,” Elizabeth thought, “isn’t that the second hat you throw out a window?”

“Why yes, yes it is,” Jimmy laughed.

Elizabeth only let out a small and inconspicuous sigh, smiling as she stood casually with her back leaning against the deck’s railing and one of her arms –sans cup of lemonade- resting on the railing. She let her eyes travel to Brian and Michelle who sat on a couch which was pressed up against a wall right besides the glass doors that lead into the kitchen, then to Matt, Val, and Gena who all sat comfortably on wooden chairs that were right across the backyard’s glass doors.

“Hey, where are Johnny and Zack?” Elizabeth asked casually during a pause in Brian’s story, “I haven’t seen them since I got here.”

Gena instantly looked down to her glass of vodka, chewing on her nude tainted lips nervously. Elizabeth arched an eyebrow in question, and right when she was about to ask Gena what she knew, the glass doors slide open, a girl with black short hair stepping out wearing a glare and being followed by Johnny, lastly Zack.

“I forgot my purse,” the girl said softly, the glare not once leaving her eyes. There was a table pressed up against the corner of the deck, separating Brian and Michelle form Gena, Val, and Matt. The girl’s purse -a small leather hand bag- lay on the table with a beer bottle resting besides it which belonged to Matt.

“Lacey can I just-“Johnny stopped talking as this new character –Lacey- turned on her heels after getting her purse.

“I don’t even wanna hear it right now,” Lacey said darkly, “Just leave me alone unless you want your upper lip to match the bottom.”

“Ooh, that was a burn,” Elizabeth thought, averting her gaze from Lacey to now look at Johnny, and indeed, his bottom lip was split in the middle, dried blood coating the edges.

Gena stood up, setting her drink on her seat before taking a few steps towards Lacey. She smiled apologetically, giving Lacey a look Elizabeth didn’t understand.

“I’m sorry things didn’t turn out as they should,” Gena said softly, placing a hand on Lacey’s lower back, “c’mon, I’ll walk you to your car.”

As Gena walked Lacey out, Johnny sighed and walked over to where Elizabeth was standing, leaning on the railing besides her. He tried to give her a small smile, though that only resulted in getting another bloody lip, which made Elizabeth giggle.

“So, I take it that’s your ex-girlfriend?” Elizabeth asked casually as Val stood up to hand Johnny a tissue.

Johnny only nodded, not being able to talk as Val had a hand placed on his forehead while her other hand gently pressed the tissue to his lip. Jimmy had already explained what had happened, so Elizabeth didn’t feel the need to question what just had happened any further.

“So, should we get this party started?” Zack offered with a small smile, one hand in his pocket while the other pressed a beer up to his lips.

“Gena said it was a sleep over, kind of,” Elizabeth informed receiving chuckles from everyone, even Johnny who winced slightly.

“Of course it’s going to be a sleep over,” Brian announced, kissing Michelle on the cheek before he stood form his seat on the couch, “we’re all gonna be too fucked up to drive home by the end of the night.”

“I see,” Elizabeth mused, “well, I guess I’ll be the odd-one out then. I can’t drink since I’m not 21 yet and-“

“Do you honestly think we’ll leave you out?” Matt questioned with a smile, “You’re an adult so you can make your own choices.”

“Well, if you would have let me finish my sentence,” Elizabeth said with a teasing glare, “I was going to say that I don’t like beer, whisky – that sort of stuff.”

“You’re joking right?” Zack asked with fake horror plastered on his face. “Is there anything you do like?”

“I like Smirnoff,” Elizabeth said with a cheeky smile.

“That’s perfect!” Michelle exclaimed, “I’ll go get you one.”

As Michelle stood from her seat, her destination being the kitchen, Elizabeth laughed lightly. She looked over to Val who still stood beside her, tending to Johnny’s lip. Val merely laughed and shrugged, stepping back and removing the tissue from Johnny’s lip to examine the damage.

“She loves vodka,” Val informed with a small chuckle. She then turned to look at Johnny and said, “Now you... don’t use your lips that much or else your lips going to split again.”

Elizabeth watched silently as Johnny mumbled a reply, making Val smile and then walk off to sit beside her husband. For some reason, she was slightly anticipating nightfall. She had a strong feeling that something was going to happen, whether it be getting drunk off of vodka or something else that had to do with Jimmy. There was just something that made her nervous as Michelle walked back onto the deck with two bottles in hand.

“Drink up,” Michelle smiled, “Think of this as your initiation into our small family.”

Elizabeth was eating, and eating a lot. She knew that was the only way she wouldn’t feel light headed, or that her sense of judgment wouldn’t get clouded and glazed by the alcohol. She needed something else in her system yet she knew she was bound to do something stupid. She and Michelle had practically drank about two boxes worth of Smirnoff, so it was only a matter of time before she did something on impulse.

She sat around the small kitchen table with a plate of hamburgers in front of her, the fries already cleaned off and only remnants of ketchup being left. The bottle of Smirnoff had been replaced with a glass of lemonade and she happily ate her second plate of food, ignoring the music and laughter that was coming from just a few feet away.

“If the vodka doesn’t make you throw up, all those hamburgers will,” Jimmy teased from across the room as he was sitting atop the kitchen island.

“Shut up, I just don’t want to get drunk off my ass,” Elizabeth shot back with a small smile, “besides, these hamburgers are the shit!”

Just then, a slightly drunk Val walked into the kitchen with a pen and paper in her hands. She smiled sheepishly, taking a seat besides Elizabeth. The plate of food had been moved to the side, the pen and paper taking up the space Elizabeth’s beloved hamburgers had been at.

“Pretty please...” Val smiled, “sign this.”

Grabbing the pen and looking down at the paper, Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and began to read. She only got past the first few words, everything else blurring her vision and making her squint her eyes as tears stung at her russet orbs. She was frustrated at the fact that what alcohol she’d taken in was already affecting her ability to see, and thus she shrugged and signed her name messily at the bottom of the paper.

“You’re a doll,” Val said softly, giving Elizabeth a genuine smile before taking the pen and paper back in her hands.

“What did I just sign?” Elizabeth asked curiously, pulling back her plate of food so that her hamburgers were in front of her once more.

Val merely walked towards the glass doors, pausing to think. The smile she gave Elizabeth freaked her out, and suddenly Elizabeth wasn’t so hungry anymore.

“It was a contract,” Val said followed by a hiccup. “You are officially part of Avenged Sevenfold, and not just the family, mind you.”

Jimmy screamed, “Fuck yeah,” while Elizabeth groaned and leaned her head on the table. She knew something had been bound to happen.

“I need a drink,” she mumbled, sighing as she stood from the table to get drunk off her ass.