Seize the Day

We all piled back into the cars, went to the gas station down the street, picked up some 40s, and headed toward the park. Of course, Alex wouldn’t let Johnny go in, so Matt and I were elected as the carriers of the tasty adult beverages. We made it to the park, picked a great spot near the lake there, and sat, drank, and told stories - about touring, about high school, about Jimmy. It was nice to get to hear about him. All the time I’d spent in Huntington Beach with these guys, I couldn’t ever bring myself to ask about him. Finally, after three hours of hanging out, chasing the stallion ducks and dodging crazy looks from mothers whose children were trying to mimic our actions, we decided to head out.

“Ok, guys, I’ve got to meet up with the team for our walkthrough. You wanna tag along, or you want to hang out with Alex until I’m finished?” I asked he group, as we once again stood in the parking lot next to the cars.

“I can entertain them,” Alex piped up. Ah, there’s my girl, I thought. Had her chance to get used to them.

“Oh, really?” Johnny asked with a grin.

“Really,” Alex challenged back. I could pretty much hear the gears grinding in her head.

“Now, now, children.” I motioned at the guys. “It’s up to you all. I’ll be out of commission for about an hour, hour and a half, so if you want to go hang with the kid, that’s fine.”

“I’m not,” Alex started, growling.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not a kid, I know.” I patted the top of her head, even if she is a good two or three inches taller than me. “What do you think?”

“That’s fine, we’ll hang with her, and then call us when you’re done and we’ll meet back up,” Matt said.

“Whoa!” Brian stared at Matt. “I didn’t think there was any chance in the world you’d let her out of your sight this weekend!” Michelle landed another backhand to his gut.

“You do that a lot, don’t you, Michelle?” Alex asked with a grin. “That looked very practiced.”

“You have no idea,” Michelle answered with a grin of her own.

“Hey. That’s enough,” Brian scolded.

“You’re right. That is enough,” Michelle shot back, glancing over his shoulder at Matt and me.

Matt and I, however, were cracking up. “Anyway,” I continued, “that’s fine. Alex, you take them and do something, that doesn’t involve showing them off to crowds of people - We get to do that tomorrow and Saturday.” I winked at Matt. “Then I’ll call you when our meeting is finished, and we’ll go out.”

“YES! Let’s get schwasted!” Zack yelled.

“HEY FUCKER!” I couldn’t tell if Alex was screaming at Zacky or at me, but since the second option was her precious Zacky, it was more likely at me. Sure enough she spun around to face me. “You taught them my word?”

“Yeah, but believe me, it was necessary at the time. I was trying to make everyone happy and laughing again, after I stuck my foot in my mouth.” I squeezed Matt’s hand. “Right?” I asked him.

“Yep. And it worked. And Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dickhead over there decided they liked the word and that they’re keeping it.” He bobbed his head toward where Zack and Brian were standing

“Whatchu gonna do ‘bout it, huh?” Zack teased, in his best white-boy ghetto voice. He winked at her, emerald eyes shining like Alex’s own form of Kryptonite.

“Oh, nothing, I guess,” she murmured, turning her gaze to her toes. I could see from where I was standing that her ears were starting to burn red, an involuntary reaction she’s always had to being around cute boys.

I elbowed Matt and giggled. “Aw, lookit! She’s all Zacky-struck!” She slowly turned up her face to glare at me. “Ok, fine. Whatever. I have to get to my walkthrough now, and make sure we’ve got everything set up to accommodate all these fucking diva celebrities.” Of course, that statement earned me glares from Zack, Brian, and Johnny, a snicker from Mike, and an elbow from Matt. Gena and Michelle, however, nodded in agreement with me.

“Mission accomplished, sis,” I said to Alex with a grin. “Now they’re not paying attention to you.” I turned my focus to the boys. “And I didn’t necessarily mean these divas I was standing with,” I said flapping my hand at them. “I’ve got nearly 35 celebrities on their way into this city as we speak. Some of them have reps for being a little difficult to deal with, so I need to make sure my team is doing everything we can to prevent that.” Zack and Johnny relaxed a bit at my explanation. “However, many more outbursts like that, and I have to say, I’ll have to lump the mighty Avenged Sevenfold into that category too,” I said, beaming, as I climbed into the Escalade.

Matt looked at the ground, shaking his head and rounded the bumper to get into the driver’s seat. “You really like to push their buttons, don’t you?” he asked, as Gena, Zack, and Alex got into the back seat, Vengeance still glaring.

“I sure do!” I chimed. “But only because they do it to me! That’s what they get for not ever letting me spend time alone with you.”

I heard a smack behind me. “You said you weren’t going over there!” Gena almost screeched. “Have they really been going to your house, Matt?”

Matt’s eyelids lowered to almost slits, while Zack’s grew wide. “Zack,” Matt almost growled. “You said the girls were shopping.”

Zack started fumbling for words. “Well, uh, they did that one day. But then, uh,” he stammered.

I glanced at Matt, who was luckily sitting directly in front of Zack. Luckily, because that meant Zack couldn’t see the amusement Matt was getting out of his little episode. The smile that was splitting his face was about to be huge. He looked over at me for a split second, and I couldn’t stand it. I burst into laughter. Gena also started giggling uncontrollably, while Zack looked shocked. Matt finally joined us with his deep, throaty chuckle. Alex didn’t really know what to think at that moment, but she laughed with us anyway.

“A-ha,” I said, grinning still. “The truth comes out. You were just jealous that something might happen that you and Bri-Bri couldn’t be a part of, huh?”

Matt chuckled. “Anyway, regardless, we gotta get you to your meeting. Where am I going?”

I navigated Matt through Lexington, pointing out random sights to be seen along the way, including the peanut butter factory, which you can smell literally a mile away. We finally got to the convention center, they dropped me off, and headed back out, with Alex taking over the passenger seat and navigating duties.

“Hey kid!” I yelled at her as they started to pull off, using the best impression I could of Matt’s vocals in “Welcome to the Family,” one of Alex’s favorites. Matt slammed the brakes, pitching Alex, who was already yammering, giving her directions, forward in her seat. He grinned over at me and winked.

“Watch it, fucker!” Alex screamed at him, and then stuck her head out the passenger side window. “What do you want, hooker?”

“Three things,” I said slyly, counting them off on my fingers. “One - We’ve got four days in town, so don’t go getting anyone in trouble, and don’t let them get into trouble. Two - Don’t do anything super fun without me, remember we’re hanging out tonight. And three - the two of you,” I said gesturing from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat, “keep the peanut gallery chatter to a minimum. Alex, I know what you’ll ask him, and Matt, I know what you’ll tell her. So both of you just hush it!”

Alex looked at Matt, who feigned, quite well, an innocent look. Alex created her own and they both stared at me with puppy dog eyes.

“Like we’d ever do anything like that! Why, whatever do you mean?” It was exactly the answer I’d expected, but it came from Matt, not my smart-assed sister.

Alex had opened her mouth to say just that, I’m sure, but left it hanging open when she heard Matt’s response. “High five for that one, man!” she giggled, holding up her hand. Matt obliged her, then shot me another smirk.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, you kids have fun. I should be done in an hour and a half, or so, so I’ll see you then, right here.”

“We’ll be here, sweets,” Matt called, as he drove off.

Oh good god. I’m not sure what to be more worried about - The boys corrupting Alex, or Alex corrupting them, I thought, shaking my head, as I entered the convention center. I shot a text to Michelle and Gena, apologizing in advance for any crazy ideas my sister might get. Once I got inside, I saw that several Scarefest staff members had already gathered, chatting in the lobby.

“Wifey!” I looked up to see Adriana, one of the other assistants, running at me full-speed. Last year’s convention, we’d decided that we were like an old married couple, as much as we were together, and the way we picked and bickered at each other.

“Hubby!” I yelled back, opening up my arms wide. She tackled me in a hug.

“Ok, so you’ve got to tell me everything,” she breathed. “Are you really dating M. Shadows? Is Avenged really coming this weekend?” It was safe to say that Adriana was a bit of a fan herself. One of her favorite stories involved going to Warped Tour, tripping over the trailer hitch on a bus, and almost falling into a bonfire pit. She only almost fell, because Matt and Brian had been sauntering along at that exact point and caught her. The only thing was she had no idea who they were at the time. Her friend had to tell her later.

“Yes, I’m really dating Matt Sanders,” I told her, not using his stage name. For some reason, that still weirds me out, I said to myself. “And yes, they’re really coming this weekend. They’re already here, actually. Remember my sister Alex? She’s entertaining them until we’re done here. Then we’re going out. You can come along if you want!” Her face lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. “Actually, maybe you can help us figure out what to do or where to go. I’d almost forgotten how little there is to do in this podunk little hell-hole!”

“We’ll figure something out, I’m sure.” She hugged me again. “I sorta miss you, dude,” she said.

I snorted a laugh. “Well, I guess I maybe sorta miss you too, Addie. Jesus.” Just then, our event manager and owner both walked up. We all went into the convention hall, checking out all of the booths to make sure everything was set up correctly, and showing where exits, restrooms, and everything else was located.

All the while, Adriana was swinging her arms like a little kid, singing, “I get to hang out with Avenged Sevenfold, I get to hang out with Avenged Sevenfold.” I just looked over at her, rolled my eyes, and grinned.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt’s POV

“So, what do you want to do?” Alex asked us.

“You tell us,” Zack said. “You live here, we’ve never been!”

“You have too!” Alex shot back.

“Yeah, Zack, we’ve played here at least twice, dude,” I said, nodding. “Actually, it was that same building, wasn’t it?”

Alex grinned at me. “Look! He’s not all muscle! He’s got a little bit of brain in there too!”

I nearly growled at her. “Good thing you’re Vivienne’s sister,” I started to say, before she cut me off.

“Oh hush it, Hulkster,” she said. “I’m just joking!” She reached over and slugged my arm. “Yes, it was the same building, just the other side of it. The convention hall is one side, the basketball and concert arena is on the other. It’s all connected though.” She giggled lightly.

“What’s so funny?” Gena asked.

“Nothing, just giggling. I still can’t really fathom what’s going on right now,” she sighed. I laughed.

“Yeah, your sister had that same look that first night we hung out,” I told her. “Sorry, we can be a little overwhelming.”

“Oh, it’s not that at all. It’s just that Avenged Sevenfold has been my favorite band for almost 10 years, and now not only did I get to meet you guys, but I’m being chauffeured around my own hometown by M. Fucking Shadows and Zacky Fucking Vengeance.” She laughed again before adding, “and the beautiful Ms. Gena Paulhus.”

“You are just like her, aren’t you?” I asked, shaking my head. I couldn’t help but laugh. “So, uh, where am I going? I’m just driving around in circles, trying not to get lost here.”

“Oh, right. Um, are you guys hungry?” she asked.

“I could eat,” Zack piped up from the back.

I grabbed my phone, pulled up Brian’s number and handed it to Alex. “Call Gates and see if they want to eat.” She giggled again as she hit the “Send” button, and turned on the speakerphone.

“Where the hell are we going Shads?”

“Uh, no hablo ingles?” she laughed at the handset.

“Babykins! Is that you?”

“Who the fuck is ‘Babykins’?” she snarled. It took all I had to not burst out laughing. She’s going to love that as much as V likes being called “Princess,” I thought. I heard Zack snicker too.

“You are! Told you we all had nicknames! So what’s up?”

“You will not call me that. And are you guys hungry? We could grab some food.” I heard them discussing it in the background, Johnny and Mike arguing over who was hungrier.

“We’ll take that as a yes, then.”

“Yeah, I guess so. What’s it gonna be?”

“You guys decide, and I’ll get you there. If we have one," Alex said.

“Anyone? Any suggestions?” I called into the phone. “‘Chelle, what do you want?”

“I want a big fucking milkshake right now, that’s what I want!” she yelled back.

“Steak N Shake, anyone?” Alex chirped.

“God, I love Steak N Shake!” Gena said. “Please?”

“Good with us,” Brian answered from the other car.

“Yesss!” Alex and Gena said at the same time. “Onward, driver!” Alex yelled waving toward the road ahead.

She navigated us to the outskirts of town to the huge shopping center where Steak N Shake sat. “V used to work here. I always expected her to decide she didn’t ever want to eat here again, but she never did. She loves it as much as I do!”

I chuckled. “So, Viv waited tables, huh?”

“Yep, 3rd shift. Dining room and drive thru. While going to college full time. She’s a beast, you know.”

“3rd shift? Like overnight?” Zack asked.

“Yeah, like 10 to 8 or some shit. Apparently, there are some interesting creatures of the night here in good old Lexington, KY, from what she’s told me.” She shuddered in her seat. “Ew.”

We all laughed. “I can only imagine,” I said, shaking my head. I didn’t want to imagine.

“And that was before they opened up the Hustler store over there. I can’t imagine what it’d be like now!”

I couldn’t tell if Alex had just forgotten any remembrance who she was talking to, or if she said it just to see if she could get a reaction out of us, but she got one either way. I saw Zack’s eyes go wide, then toward at Gena incredulously.

“There’s a Hustler store here?” he asked.

Alex chuckled, obviously satisfied with herself. So she did mention it on purpose, sneaky little bastard.

“Yeah, it’s over that way a couple of blocks, I think,” she said, pointing nonchalantly out the window, trying to play innocent.

“No, Zack,” I hissed.

“What?” he asked. “Why not? I know you and Vi...”

“OH MY GOD,” Alex yelled, cutting him off in the middle of a word, throwing her hands over her ears. “You will not talk about my sister in such a way while I am present! Brawn, I don’t care what you do with her or what you’ve done with her, but I don’t want to fucking hear about it!”

“Uh, I had no intention of telling you anything,” I said. How the hell does such a young kid have me feeling like I was just scolded by my grandmother? I thought to myself. She’s got way too much of her sister in her! “Anyway, can we go eat now?”

"But..." Zack started.

"No, Zee, drop it." He looked at me, obviously defeated.

"So, Steak N Shake?" Alex said, a huge devilish grin splitting her face.

"Yeah, let's go." I shut the car off. "You really shouldn't get him all riled up like that, you know," I told Alex as Zack and Gena got out.

"Yeah, I know," she said with that shit-eating grin still smeared on. "I just wanted to see if anyone would react."

"It’s like you forget who you're hanging with today." I shot a glance over to Zack, then lightly punched her shoulder. "Of course we're gonna react to something like a Hustler store!"

"God, no," she said quickly. "I haven't forgotten, I just still don't believe it!"

"Well, get used to it." I put my arm around her shoulders and we walked toward the restaurant. "I kind of like your sister, so I don’t plan on going away anytime soon. And ask her, those guys," I pointed to Brian's truck that had just pulled in the parking lot and rolled my eyes, "come with the territory."

"Thanks for the heads up," she groaned.

"Babykins!" he yelled once he got out of the car.

"Fuck you, Gates!" she hissed.

"God, you are just like V!" Michelle said. "I've heard her say just that on more than one occasion!"

"What can I say?" Alex trilled. "We're both just that awesome."

"Nothing like a little ego," Brian said, beaming.

"Yeah, you'd know, Cherbunkin," Alex said. "You’re the king of inflated egos over there!"

"Cher-what-en?" Brian asked back.

"Um, isn't that a fish?" I asked Alex, confused.

"Well, yes, smartass, it is." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But I can almost promise you that Scarecrow over here didn't know that!"

"Turducken? Then Scarecrow?" Brian's eyes were wide. "You got any other nicknames in there?" he asked as he rubbed his knuckles across the top of her head.

"Cherbunkin," she corrected. "And I'm just trying them out. Gotta find one that works. Although, I'm currently pretty much diggin' on Scarecrow. No brain, straw-like hair. It works." She winked at him, then at me, and turned to walk into the restaurant.

"We've got our hands full, don't we?" Zack asked.

I shrugged. "I have no idea, but it'll be interesting regardless."

We got a large table in the corner of the small restaurant and ordered. "So," Alex said. Then she paused. It's like that's all she could get out.

"So..." Zack said, trying to draw something out of her. "So what?"

"Zee, leave her alone," Gena said. "She's still adjusting!"

"Thanks, Gena," Alex replied. She looked over at me, since I was sitting right next to her. "Viv seems to have quite a thing for you, Hulkster."

I laughed. "I'm pretty sure she told us not to have this exact conversation, didn't she?"

"Eh, what she doesn't know won't hurt her!" She sipped at her milkshake, looking at me slyly.

"Oh no, no, no," I said. "I haven't known her that fuckin' long, but I know sure as shit that she'll know."

Alex grinned. "Yeah, you're right, I guess." She finished her burger. "We should probably take V something to eat, huh?"

"Good idea," Brian said. "Do you know what she likes?"

"Of course I do, Scarecrow!" she trilled. "I am her favorite sister!" She ordered for Vivienne, to go, and we all chatted a bit more as we waited.

"How did you talk her into packing up and leaving me, anyway?" she asked, honestly curious as far as I could tell.

‘Well, I fell for her hard the minute I saw her at the bar and begged her to stay with me,’ I thought. Yeah, that'll go over well.
"Well," I began.

"Shads is very persuasive, you see," Brian finished.

"Fuck you, dude," I growled at him.

"You should have seen him, Alex," Zack chimed in. "It was like Val had never existed when he looked at her."

"Looks at her," Michelle added with a smirk.

"Can you all just shut the fuck up?" I asked, getting dangerously loud.

"Fine," Michelle said. "But she'll get it out of someone eventually."

Ah, saved by the server. They brought V's Frisco Melt with cheese fries and a chocolate-banana milkshake out. I'll have to remember that one, I mentally noted. We paid for the food and headed back to the cars.

"What now?" Johnny asked.

"V should be getting done soon," Alex said. "As long as her boss stays on task, which actually isn't easy for her to do." She shrugged. "We should start heading back toward downtown, though."

"Yeah, we should." I started to walk to the truck behind everyone else, but Alex caught my wrist.

"I've only seen you with my sister for like an hour or something, but I can see how much you like her," she said. "And I can see that she likes you just as much." I swear I felt myself blushing. "Just know that if you hurt my big sister in anyway, I'll rip your balls off myself." The look of sheer happiness she had on her face as she said it scared me. Shitless.

V called just as we were pulling up outside the convention center.

"Already here, bitchface!" Alex yelled into my phone when she answered, using the speakerphone again.

“Good. Hey, do you guys mind if a friend tags along tonight with us?" Vivienne asked.

"I don't," I told her.

"Me either," Zack said.

"Who?" Alex asked.

Leave it to her to have a conditional answer. So fucking difficult! I cracked a smile to myself.

"Adriana -- you met her last year." I could hear her giggling. "She says 'pretty pretty please?'"

"Oh yeah!" Alex said. "I loved her!"

"Bring her on," I said. Just then, I saw her walking through the revolving door with an odd look on her face. Since she was still on speakerphone, I heard her take a deep breath as she exited.

Alex noticed my look. "She hates those things. She doesn't realize she’s holding her breath until she's out," she whispered.

"I heard that!" V said. "I can't help it if I have a terrible fear of getting trapped in there!"

She stuck her phone in her pocket as she walked over to my side of the truck, grinning like a fucking fool. "She didn't do anything too terrible, did she?" she asked while pointing across me at Alex.

"Me?" Alex asked, playing innocent.

"Other than getting Zack all hot and bothered by mentioning Hustler store, she was an angel." I shot Alex a smirk.

"Oh fuck," was all V could say.

"But then Lugnut here wouldn't let us go!" Alex was trying to pout. But suddenly her face brightened. "Hey! 'Lugnut.' I like that one!"

V looked at me questioningly, while I rolled my eyes. "She's been trying her hand at nicknames. She's got 'Scarecrow' for Brian so far."

"Well, he is a little brainless. And his," Viv started.

"His hair is like straw!" Alex finished with her. "Right?"

"Fuckin' cut that shit out!" Zack yowled. "It's too fucking weird!"

"Zacky, we've already told you, we can't help it!" Vivienne said. "Anyway, why wouldn't you take them to Hustler? That could have been entertaining!"

"Well, firstly, because they'd have stayed longer than we had time for, and secondly, because you weren't there to shop with me." I winked at her and saw her cheeks flush beet red. I'll never get sick of that.

"Ew!" Alex yelled from next to me. "I don't want to hear that!"

"Good job," V said. "Got her to shut up!" She grinned like she'd won the lottery. "So what did you guys do?"

"Oh, here." I grabbed the Steak N Shake bag and cup and handed them to her. "We just ate."
"Thanks!" she said.

"Alex told me what to order. Blame her if you hate it."

Alex threw a backhand my way. V opened the bag and sniffed. "Frisco Melt and cheese fries?" she said as she rifled through its contents. "Perfect! I love you, kid!”