Ordinary Life

**AT GUITAR CENTER**

*RYAN'S POV*

I sat down behind the kids who all look very eager to learn from my sister and her new boyfriend. I had mixed emotions about Bri's and Brian's breakup. They seemed so happy together but I guess I was wrong. Oh well, if Bri was happy with Matt, I was fine by that. The only problem was that Matt didn't know Bri was Mayhem. And I could tell that she wanted to tell him, but neither of us knew how he would react.

"Okay kids, you guys want to know how to sing?" Mayhem asked the little group of kids. They all started to scream and yell and I had to cover my ears. Mayhem and Matt just laughed. Then Mayhem gave a slight nod to me and I came up next to them with my guitar.

"Okay before we begin to teach you how to sing, we want to sing a little song for you and then we want you guys to tell some thinks you noticed. Okay? Our good friend Ryan here will play guitar for us. Okay lets do this!" Matt said and that was the cue for me to start playing.

I slowly began to pick the notes on "Dear God" by Matt's band, Avenged Sevenfold. I had no idea how they were going to split the song up but I couldn't wait to hear it.

"A lonely road, crossed another cold state line
Miles away from those I love
Purpose hard to find
While I recall all the words you spoke to me
Can't help but wish that I was there
Back where I'd love to be, oh yeah," Matt sang the first verse beautifully. All the little kids watched in amazement and I couldn't help but smile. It was so cute.

"Dear God the only thing I ask of you
Is to hold her when I'm not around
When I'm much too far away
We all need that person who can be true to you
But I left her when I found her
And now I wish I'd stayed
'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired
I'm missing you again, oh no
Once again," Mayhem and Matt sang the chorus together, and it was near perfect how their voices came together. All the kids were practically jumping out of their seats. I quickly looked over to see the how the other lessons were going and I saw that the guys stopped playing to see Matt and Mayhem sing together. And clearly, they were liking it.

"There's nothing here for me on this barren road
There's no one here while the city sleeps
And all the shops are closed
Can't help but think of the times I've had with you
Pictures and some memories will have to help me through, oh yeah," My sister sang that whole verse herself. Matt's eyes twinkled as she sang it. Oh if only he knew.

Matt and Mayhem sang the chorus again together. I looked over at Zacky and Brian and I noticed how pissed Brian looked. He really wasn't taking the breakup well, and seeing his ex and his friend sing a song together just tore him apart.

"Some search, never finding a way
Before long, they waste away
I found you, something told me to stay
I gave in, to selfish ways
And how I miss someone to hold
When hope begins to fade..." Matt sang, looking directly into Mayhem's eyes. If I didn't know Mayhem was my sister, I would obiviously get pissed at Matt. He looked like he was going to pull something, even though he had a girlfriend.

As Matt held "fade" on the last verse, Mayhem began singing over him:
"A lonely road, crossed another cold state line
Miles away from those I love
Hope is hard to find."

They sang the chorus one last time together and then I just played a quick cord to end the song, instead of doing the long end solo. Jimmy, Matt Went, and Matt nodded at the end in approval. Mayhem giggled. Brian just looked away, pissed. And Zacky gave me a quick wink.

The lessons continued on for about another hour or two; I lost track of time. I kept walking inbetween lessons to see how everybody was doing. All of the guys seemed to be having a lot of fun and the kids seemed to be having even more. At the end of it all, all the kids had learn something new and couple went home with signed merchandise.

I could tell Mayhem and the Avenged guys were extremely tired after all of the teaching but a person from Fuse wanted to interview them. So I gave them each a coffee and a Monster energy drink and then they were all wide awake for the interview.

"Okay so Mayhem, how does it feel like touring with A7X?" The dude from Fuse asked her. She didn't even hesitate on her answer. "It's amazing. These guys are so fun to tour with and they are just crazy and nice people." All the Avenged Sevenfold guys smiled at her response and the Fuse guy just kept asking questions.

Towards the end of the interview, everybody seemed to be out of breath from laughing too hard. Finally the Fuse guy caught his breath and he asked for any final comments from Mayhem or the guys. Everybody was just about to say no when Matt spoke up. "You know Mayhem, you remind me a lot about my girlfriend. Do you know Ryan's sister, Bri?"

The whole room got extremely quiet and I got really nervous. Bri seemed to really nervous and scared too. I gave her a scared look and finally she muttered, "Umm yeah. I met her once or twice." Nice save. The interviewer ended the interview and finally got a break. Everybody seemed to relax, except me and Bri. I knew we both had the same thinking going through our minds:

Holy shit that was too close. How much longer until Matt finds out the truth?