Seize the Day

"Does this look okay?" Dee asked me, posing in front of her full-length mirror. I laughed at her and then flopped back onto her bed.

"Yeah! It looks great!" I wasn't really paying attention. Something else was captivating my attention. I seriously couldn't thank Dee enough for letting me borrow my CD. The only thing I didn't like was that she should've showed me earlier than this...

"Hey! Earth to Em!" Dee called, waving her hand in front of my face. I didn't realise it was that loud..."Who are you listening to that's better than me?" She pointed to my iPod, and I grinned, holding it up so she could see. A grin also spread across her face and she nodded. "See!? I told you you would love Avenged Sevenfold! Now can we gather our shit and get queuing? I want to get as close to the front as possible!" she snatched up her bag and left the room. I carefully lifted my bag and pulled on my coat. I could hear her shouting downstairs, but I couldn't be bothered. I pulled the picture out of my pocket, and slowly slid it into my purse. Smiling, I closed the bedroom door and jogged downstairs.

"Finally! Now are you coming!?"

"You bet."

~*~

"Sometimes I don't know why we'd rather live than die,
We look up towards the sky for answers to our lives.
We may get some solutions but most just pass us by,
Don't want your absolution cause I can't make it right!"

"I'll make a beast out of myself!" Dee joined in, and I laughed. She laughed even harder, and I looked at her confused.

"It wasn't that funny you know..."

"No...you...you sounded just like him..."

"I LAUGH LIKE A GUY?!?" I looked at her in horror. She laughed even louder again.

"No! It was just the way you...urgh, never mind! Look! We're nearly there!" I rolled my eyes, but a random thought popped into my mind.

"When you say 'him', you mean-"

"M Shadows," she finished, grinning. I smiled.

"He has a heck of a voice..."

"He does, doesn't he!? And you ain't even seen him yet...god, those dimples are the cutest thing i've ever seen," I chuckled at the sight of a grown man with dimples. The oldest i'd ever seen someone with dimples was Matt, when he was 18! I've gotta admit though...they were damn amazing. I wonder what he would look like now?....I felt a pang of sadness hit me again. I'd probably never find out. I'll probably never see him again. For all I know, he's probably up in this amazing mansion raising a family with Valary DiBenedetto. I still can't believe he chose her over me...

"Are you ok?" I looked up to see Dee giving me a brief concerned look.

"Wha-yeah! Yeah! All good!" I said, forcing a smile, but she noticed.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" I sunk into my seat. Why did she always have to ask about Matt? Couldn't she just understand that it's not something I want her to know? "That dude? Why can't you tell me his name!?"

"Because I don't want to!" I whined childishly, and went back to listening to my music. Thankfully, Dee took the hint and just continued driving.

The sudden halt of the car told me we were here. I expected to hear an excited squeal/shriek coming from Mrs Sevenfold over here, but surprisingly, I didn't. When I looked up, I realised that the only reason why I hadn't heard it was because my iPod was still playing at full blast, and my mind was some other place.

"WE'RE HERE! COME ON!" She grabbed my wrist and pretty much yanked me out of the car.

"Hey-WOAH! HOLD UP!" I just managed to remove my earphones before I caused some damage to my ears OR my earphones. Surprisingly (well, for me, anyways), I started acting like Dee. I was actually excited! I had only been to one or two concerts in my life, and when I did, I went alone and ended up leaving early. We sped to the back of queue and I was surprised at how short it was.

"Yes! Now all we have to do is wait!"

"Ah. Wait how long exactly?" I didn't expect the next answer.

"5 hours." I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. 5 hours!?

"You mind explaining to me why we came 5 hours early?" She looked at me like I had just told her the square root of pie (which by the way, I have no idea).

"Are you joking!?"

"Nope," I giggled, popping the 'p'. She just gaped at me.

"Well obviously you come as early as you can so you can get closer to the front!" I nodded slowly, understanding. Well that made sense.

"So what do you suggest we do while we wait?"

"Talk, sing, anything you want!" I looked at my watch and groaned. This was going to be a long day....

~*~

4 hours and 45 minutes later

I sighed with relief as the people in front of us started cheering and charging forward. Before I could take a step, Dee had grasped my wrist and was pulling me along, clearly as desperate as the other crazed fans to get near the front.

"Dee! W-"

"Ssh and hurry up!"

After a minute or so of ticket-exchanging and being yanked here and there, we stopped inside a massive hall. Indeed, we were in the front row, and there were people all around us pushing and trying desperately to get as close as possible.

"This is it! Are you ready Em!?" I barely heard Dee's shout over the racket.

"Fuck yeah! But one thing!" I shouted back.

"What's that?"

"M Shadows better be as hot as you're telling me!" I joked, and we both fell about laughing. Luckilly, we couldn't fall over due to the mass amount of people surrounding us. Suddenly, an organ began playing, and the crowd delved into a furious frenzy. Mosh pits were already forming, and you could barely hear the music. I couldn't see anything, it was pitch black. I heard someone scream into my ear.

"Don't worry Em! This is normal! Just enjoy it!" she screamed, and I turned around to hug her, signifying that I was ok. Just as I broke apart, lights flashed on on the stage, and the guitar started playing. I grinned recognising the intro to Critical Acclaim. A manly scream let rip throughout the stage and I found myself jumping up and down along with everyone else. I'd been here not even a minute and I could already tell this would be the best night of my life.
Or would it?...

"Sssh, quiet you might piss somebody off..
Like me! Motherfucker you've been at it for too long!
While you feed off others insecurities,
You stand in front of me and bite the hand that feeds,"

I couldn't believe at how much M Shadows sounded just like he had on the album. Pure talent, I thought. This guy had it. He had the voice. I remembered back to what I had said just before the song started.

"M Shadows better be as hot as you're telling me!"

I curiously looked up at the stage, and tried to get a good look at him, but he was too far away, and moving around too much. I grabbed Dee's wrist - Haha! Revenge! - and dragged her along the front row, until we were nearer the centre. I managed to get a good look at the guitarist. He was practically in front of me. He was wearing a black fedora, so I couldn't tell you much about his hair other than that it was black, and had a small amount of facial hair on his chin. To my surprise, he caught me looking, and shot me a cocky grin. Overwhelmed, and blushed madly, but grinned back. I didn't even feel Dee pound my back.

"HOLY SHIT! SYNYSTER GATES JUST GRINNED AT YOU!"

So this was the Synyster Gates she was talking about...yeah. I was with her on the good-looking part. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander across the stage, and I saw another guy up in the back. It looked like a bass guitar in his hands, so I figured this was Johnny Christ, as Dee had told me. He was wearing shades and had a small mohawk. It was hard to tell the colour due to the moving around, and the lights going crazy, but it looked blonde with bits of black through it. I was distracted by a slightly familiar voice.

"I've had enough its time for something real
Don't respect the words you're speaking
Gone too far, acclaim!"

It was then that I realised that I had never listened to this song this long into it. If I had, I would have recognised that voice. Definitely. I know I know it, but I just can't figure out who it is...My eyes wandered over to the other side of the stage, where the only stationary member of the band was. I was slightly surprised to see another guitarist. He was wearing a white shirt with a bowtie...and...wait, woah. He reminded me of Zachary! Only Zachary was left-

Holy shit.

He was left handed.

The thought zoomed through my head, but I ignored it. Yeah, so my friend Zachary, who played baseball and fell out of trees was now playing guitar in a worldwide famous rock band!? Yeah. I looked once again for M Shadows, and shook a little with excitement as he came closer to the stage, perfect so I could get a good look at him. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, since all I could really see was a guy with a bandana and aviators. I will admit, from what I can see, he does look pretty damn good...but wait. Why is he familiar?

Ok. This is just getting a bit too much now. First, the drummer's voice is familiar, then the left-handed guitarist reminds me too much of someone back home...and now...here I am looking at the lead singer, and my heart is hurting. Something isn't right, and I decided to risk it.

"Dee?" I shouted, as loud as possible.

"Yeah!?" I heard as a reply, and she leaned in to hear what I was going to say.

"What's M Shadows' real name?" I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear the answer, but it was too late, the words had already come out of my mouth. She looked away for a second, probably trying to remember.

"Umm..M- no wait...what was his- Oh! I've got it! Matthew Charles Sanders!"

That was all it took for me to pass out.