Falling and Failing Is All I Know

Falling and Failing Is All I Know - Chapter Two

“Matthew Sanders,” Kara said in disbelief, still not being able to believe who was sitting in front of her right now.

“Wow Kara, it’s really you,” Matt said, looking around then pulling the glasses off his face and throwing back his hood. He stood up and pulled Kara into a hug, squeezing her tightly, she thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head.

“I can’t breathe, Matt. Put me the hell down.”

“Oh sorry,” Matt said with a laugh, as he returned her safely to the ground.

“So what are you doing in New York City?” Kara asked, sinking down into the chair across from Matt, not really caring about the fact that she was supposed to be working. She wouldn’t pass up a chance to catch up with an old friend from back home.

“I’m actually on tour with my band.”

“You’re in a band? That’s great.”

“You’ve never heard of us?”

“No, I don’t think so. What’s the name?”

“Avenged Sevenfold. We just now started gaining a big fan base, so I guess it’s not too surprising that you haven’t heard of us.”

“Oh. I’ve heard plenty of people come in talking about you guys though. I just never bothered to find out who everyone was so obsessed with.”

Matt opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could, the door opened and a group of teenagers clad from head to foot in black walked in. They immediately spotted Matt and a couple of the girls literally squealed before making their way over to him. Matt smiled apologetically at Kara before turning towards the group and smiling warmly.

Kara couldn’t help but smile as she watched Matt interact with his fans. He was always such a friendly guy and she was very pleased to see that being in a well-known band hadn’t changed that.

After Matt signed a few autographs and took a few pictures, the group thanked him before heading back out the door, probably ecstatic to go tell their friends about seeing Matt.

“Sorry about that, I tend to get recognized a lot,” Matt said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“It’s cool. I guess I better check out your band. If people have that reaction to you, it must be pretty cool.”

“Well, not to toot my own horn or anything, but we are pretty awesome.”

Kara just shook her head and laughed at the man before finally taking his order and going to fetch his coffee and muffin. She sat with him and caught up on things, since no other customers had come in yet.

“Well, I think I better get going, the guys are probably wondering where I’m at.”

Matt stood up from the table and stretched his arms above his head.

“Well, it was good to see you,” I said, stepping forward and giving him a big hug.

“You should come with me,” Matt said, looking at me with a pleading look on his face.

“I can’t just leave work, Matt,” Kara said, motioning to the coffee machines and cash register beside them to illustrate the fact that she was indeed at her place of employment.

“But you have to come with me,” Matt said, sticking his bottom lip out like a freaking kid.

“Why is it so important that I come with you?” Kara questioned, trying not to laugh at his facial expression.

“You’ve really never heard of our band before, have you?”

“No, I already told you that I haven’t.”

“Do you want to know who the other members are?”

“Sure. Do I know them or something?”

“I’d say you do. Jimmy Sullivan on drums-” Brian started, but Kara quickly cut him off.

“Jimmy? No shit? Oh wow, I haven’t seen him in so long.”

“Zack Baker and Johnny Seward are in it too, as well as Brian Haner.”

Kara’s breath caught in her throat as she registered the name Matt had just thrown at her.

“Brian? Oh my God, I think I have to come with you.”

“That’s my girl,” Matt said, giving her a high five before she quickly removed the green apron from her body.

“Lacey, I need you to cover for me. There’s a family emergency and I need to go,” Kara called out, not waiting on a response before she quickly followed Matt outside.

As they walked through the streets of New York City, Kara threw question after question at Matt about every aspect of being in a band and touring. She found out that they had just recorded an album called ‘City of Evil’ and were touring in order to get the new music out.

“Well, here’s the bus. It’s not much, I should warn you. We are a bunch of guys that can’t really grasp the concept of cleaning up after ourselves,” Matt said with a laugh, looking straight ahead of them at the big bus that sat there. Kara was amazed at the size of it; she had never been so close to a bus of that size.

“Ready to come inside?” Matt asked, reaching up to open the door before giving her time to answer. He didn’t want to give her enough time to chicken out and want to leave.

Kara fought back the severe nervousness that she was now feeling. The butterflies had exploded inside her the moment Brian’s name had rolled off of Matt’s tongue back at Starbucks. They had grown increasingly in the time it took them to walk from Starbucks to the bus. It now felt as if there were gigantic dragons flying around inside her stomach.

“I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” Kara said, bracing herself for what was to come.

“Matt’s finally back,” Kara heard a familiar voice say from inside the bus. She recognized it as Jimmy’s. She couldn’t stop the smile that now spread across her face as she knew she was going to be able to see her old friends again. She was most excited to finally get to see Brian again after all those years.

She followed closely behind Matt as he stepped into the bus. She turned and closed the door behind them. As she stepped into the line of view of the others in the room, all conversation ceased.

Everyone sat, gawking at the new person Matt had brought with them. The smile slowly faded from Kara’s face as her eyes fell upon Brian, who was sitting there with his arms wrapped tightly around a girl. She had her head rested on his chest and his arms were locked tightly into place around her waist.

A look of shock overtook the smile he had previously worn while he was talking to the girl. He looked like he couldn’t believe who had just walked back into his life.

“Kara,” he said slowly.

She nodded and tried to maintain the smile that was rapidly beginning to fade away completely. She didn’t know what she had expected exactly, but this was not it.