Thunder
Thunder
Miami was awesome this time of year. Hot, but not too hot. Always a place to party, but not crowded all up and down the beach like it was during spring break time. It was the perfect time for Hannah Strike and her best friends Shelly Westbrook and Mary-Ann Ringst to take a vacation.
But this, bumming around an Avenged Sevenfold show, hadn’t been on Hannah’s agenda. And not because she didn’t love the band.
She had been part of it way back in high school. Johnny, M, Synyster... Zacky... she spent every day with them. They were her world. Especially Zacky.
And especially the summer after their senior year. Something had changed between Hannah and Zacky... something beautiful and powerful bloomed. It wasn’t that they fell in love, they just realized that they had been in love all along.
That is, until the band took off and they drove off in Zacky’s infamous, old El Camino. And she hadn’t seen or heard from them since. And over these years, she had done a tremendous job ignoring that hurtful fact.
Hannah played nervously with her monroe piercing throughout the old show. Her friends were having a great time, singing along, getting into the crowd, but Hannah couldn’t escape the feeling of self-consciousness that came with the very idea that Zacky could see her again.
And it wasn’t just paranoia.
Right at the end of the show, with Hannah’s eyes locked on Zacky, the speakers rumbling all around her, Zacky looked straight up- straight into Hannah’s eyes. The look on his face was nothing short of shock- like he had seen a porcelain ghost with a monroe, a tattoo on her shoulder, and straight, firetruck red hair.
“Hannah? Hannah Strike?” He echoed into the microphone. The whole crowd looked confused, but Shelly and Mary-Ann looked completely and totally bewildered. “Hannah... If that’s really you, wait up after the show? Please?”
Hannah’s jaw was practically on the floor. How could he even recognize her from here. With words failing her, along with the fact that Zacky would never be able to hear her anyway, she nodded. What else could she do?
After the show, a couple guards had found her and Shelly and Mary-Ann and ushered them backstage. To Shelly and Mary-Ann, this was a dream come true. To Hannah, this was a living, breathing nightmare.
The meeting was awkward at best for Hannah. Her friends may have been hitting it off with the rest of the band, but she felt like she was in a private, little world with Zacky.
“I can’t believe it’s you.” were the first words he spoke to her. Hannah avoided gazing into his pretty eyes, looking at his straight, post-show-sweaty black hair, and letting her eyes linger on his snake bites.
“In the flesh.” she had sighed uncomfortably.
The sound of Shelly and Mary-Ann’s flirtatious fan-girl giggling filled the awkward silence that overcame the pair.
“Can I see you again?” He asked suddenly, almost pleadingly.
Hannah mumbled to the ground, “our flight leaves tonight.”
“Oh...” he answered, defeated, twiddling his thumbs, “oh, Ok then...”
“But...” Hannah finally forced herself to look into those overcast eyes, she reached for his arm and marked down something with a pen. “Here’s my number. If you ever want to talk just... I don’t know, do whatever you want.”
“I will.” Zacky said with determination. The tour busses behind the venue began to beep, the band’s cue that it was time to head out. As he was slowly stepping away, he said “bye, Hannah.”
“You know,” Hannah said quietly, but forcefully enough to make Zacky stop dead for a moment. “I waited almost six years to hear you say that.”
----
“I still can’t believe you know Avenged Sevenfold.” Shelly whispered excitedly as the three friends walked through the London venue parking lot to Hannah’s car. “They’re amazing!”
“And even cuter in person.” Mary-Ann giggled.
“Hey- watch it, that’s practically my family you’re talking about.” Hannah said as she turned the key in the ignition.
“Yeah, well, your family is easy on the eyes.” Shelly smirked.
“Haha, can we just turn on the stereo?” Hannah said, hitting the button before either of them could object. Mary-Ann’s Ipod was hooked to the system.
“Place and time always on my mind, I have so much to say but you’re so far away-“
Hannah hit the button again. Sharply enough that her friends noticed.
“Ironic.” Shelly said.
“Why the sudden testiness?” Mary-Ann asked.
“It’s nothing.” Hannah grumbled.
“Certainly doesn’t sound like nothing.” Shelly replied. “Spill.”
Mary-Ann nodded. “Yeah. How come you and Zacky haven’t talked in-“
Hannah flicked on the radio again. It was better than having to hear this. She skipped over the song anyway.
Mary-Ann stopped, and there was a tense silence in the car for a moment.
“Um, Hannah?” Shelly asked. “Do you have any idea how to get to the airport.”
“Not a clue.” she replied flatly.
Mary-Ann sighed. “Alright, where’s the GPS…”
----
“Hannah Strike. Wow. Who would have guessed?” Synyster said for about the five-hundredth time since the guys had gotten in the car to for their nineteen hours drive home. They had made it a record 21 minutes without bringing up Hannah and her friends.
“I get it, Syn.” Zacky said, gripping the wheel a little tighter. He sighed.
“Sorry. It’s just, so many of our best high school memories were with that girl, you know?”
“Yeah. Like our senior prank when we played a concert in the gymnasium.” Johnny reminisced.
“She was the one who convinced Old Principle Truman not to expel us.” M laughed.
“Yeah. She convinced him it was a ‘learning experience’.” Johnny laughed putting finger quotes on “learning experience.”
Zacky couldn’t help but smile. Hannah always had ideas like that. That’s one thing they both had in common. They loved to pull crazy stunts together. Actually, he and Hannah loved doing anything together.
She helped build ATL to what it is now.
But there was something bugging Zacky at that moment. Something he couldn’t shake off.
Why did-
“Hey Zacky, wasn’t that our exit?” Synyster asked. Zacky shook his head and looked out the rearview mirror.
His smile faded.
“Shit.” He muttered, pulling up on the next exit to turn around in his dark blue 1977 Chevy El Camino. The engine roared as he changed gears.
You would think that for a band touring all around the world, with multiple hits on Fuse and even MTV, they’d have a better transportation device. But no. This was Zacky’s very first car and he just couldn’t bear to give it up.
In fact, now that he thought about it, Hannah was with Zacky when he found this car.
He sighed. That was a fun day. He and Hannah had gone down to the Classic Cars place with all the money Zacky had saved from my summer job in his pocket. Hannah had jumped onto the hood of this car and took a picture of the two of them on it. Then she told Zacky that he absolutely had to buy this car or she’d never ever talk to him again.
How could he of said no to that?
“Ummmm, Zacky?” Johnny said, pointing out the window at their exit, which Zacky had once again passed up.
“Damn it!”
The accelerator groaned under the weight of Zacky’s foot, sending the band further and further ahead, further into the future, further away from Hannah. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. The seven numbers written on Zacky’s arm burned as the El Camino roared on like thunder.
But this, bumming around an Avenged Sevenfold show, hadn’t been on Hannah’s agenda. And not because she didn’t love the band.
She had been part of it way back in high school. Johnny, M, Synyster... Zacky... she spent every day with them. They were her world. Especially Zacky.
And especially the summer after their senior year. Something had changed between Hannah and Zacky... something beautiful and powerful bloomed. It wasn’t that they fell in love, they just realized that they had been in love all along.
That is, until the band took off and they drove off in Zacky’s infamous, old El Camino. And she hadn’t seen or heard from them since. And over these years, she had done a tremendous job ignoring that hurtful fact.
Hannah played nervously with her monroe piercing throughout the old show. Her friends were having a great time, singing along, getting into the crowd, but Hannah couldn’t escape the feeling of self-consciousness that came with the very idea that Zacky could see her again.
And it wasn’t just paranoia.
Right at the end of the show, with Hannah’s eyes locked on Zacky, the speakers rumbling all around her, Zacky looked straight up- straight into Hannah’s eyes. The look on his face was nothing short of shock- like he had seen a porcelain ghost with a monroe, a tattoo on her shoulder, and straight, firetruck red hair.
“Hannah? Hannah Strike?” He echoed into the microphone. The whole crowd looked confused, but Shelly and Mary-Ann looked completely and totally bewildered. “Hannah... If that’s really you, wait up after the show? Please?”
Hannah’s jaw was practically on the floor. How could he even recognize her from here. With words failing her, along with the fact that Zacky would never be able to hear her anyway, she nodded. What else could she do?
After the show, a couple guards had found her and Shelly and Mary-Ann and ushered them backstage. To Shelly and Mary-Ann, this was a dream come true. To Hannah, this was a living, breathing nightmare.
The meeting was awkward at best for Hannah. Her friends may have been hitting it off with the rest of the band, but she felt like she was in a private, little world with Zacky.
“I can’t believe it’s you.” were the first words he spoke to her. Hannah avoided gazing into his pretty eyes, looking at his straight, post-show-sweaty black hair, and letting her eyes linger on his snake bites.
“In the flesh.” she had sighed uncomfortably.
The sound of Shelly and Mary-Ann’s flirtatious fan-girl giggling filled the awkward silence that overcame the pair.
“Can I see you again?” He asked suddenly, almost pleadingly.
Hannah mumbled to the ground, “our flight leaves tonight.”
“Oh...” he answered, defeated, twiddling his thumbs, “oh, Ok then...”
“But...” Hannah finally forced herself to look into those overcast eyes, she reached for his arm and marked down something with a pen. “Here’s my number. If you ever want to talk just... I don’t know, do whatever you want.”
“I will.” Zacky said with determination. The tour busses behind the venue began to beep, the band’s cue that it was time to head out. As he was slowly stepping away, he said “bye, Hannah.”
“You know,” Hannah said quietly, but forcefully enough to make Zacky stop dead for a moment. “I waited almost six years to hear you say that.”
----
“I still can’t believe you know Avenged Sevenfold.” Shelly whispered excitedly as the three friends walked through the London venue parking lot to Hannah’s car. “They’re amazing!”
“And even cuter in person.” Mary-Ann giggled.
“Hey- watch it, that’s practically my family you’re talking about.” Hannah said as she turned the key in the ignition.
“Yeah, well, your family is easy on the eyes.” Shelly smirked.
“Haha, can we just turn on the stereo?” Hannah said, hitting the button before either of them could object. Mary-Ann’s Ipod was hooked to the system.
“Place and time always on my mind, I have so much to say but you’re so far away-“
Hannah hit the button again. Sharply enough that her friends noticed.
“Ironic.” Shelly said.
“Why the sudden testiness?” Mary-Ann asked.
“It’s nothing.” Hannah grumbled.
“Certainly doesn’t sound like nothing.” Shelly replied. “Spill.”
Mary-Ann nodded. “Yeah. How come you and Zacky haven’t talked in-“
Hannah flicked on the radio again. It was better than having to hear this. She skipped over the song anyway.
Mary-Ann stopped, and there was a tense silence in the car for a moment.
“Um, Hannah?” Shelly asked. “Do you have any idea how to get to the airport.”
“Not a clue.” she replied flatly.
Mary-Ann sighed. “Alright, where’s the GPS…”
----
“Hannah Strike. Wow. Who would have guessed?” Synyster said for about the five-hundredth time since the guys had gotten in the car to for their nineteen hours drive home. They had made it a record 21 minutes without bringing up Hannah and her friends.
“I get it, Syn.” Zacky said, gripping the wheel a little tighter. He sighed.
“Sorry. It’s just, so many of our best high school memories were with that girl, you know?”
“Yeah. Like our senior prank when we played a concert in the gymnasium.” Johnny reminisced.
“She was the one who convinced Old Principle Truman not to expel us.” M laughed.
“Yeah. She convinced him it was a ‘learning experience’.” Johnny laughed putting finger quotes on “learning experience.”
Zacky couldn’t help but smile. Hannah always had ideas like that. That’s one thing they both had in common. They loved to pull crazy stunts together. Actually, he and Hannah loved doing anything together.
She helped build ATL to what it is now.
But there was something bugging Zacky at that moment. Something he couldn’t shake off.
Why did-
“Hey Zacky, wasn’t that our exit?” Synyster asked. Zacky shook his head and looked out the rearview mirror.
His smile faded.
“Shit.” He muttered, pulling up on the next exit to turn around in his dark blue 1977 Chevy El Camino. The engine roared as he changed gears.
You would think that for a band touring all around the world, with multiple hits on Fuse and even MTV, they’d have a better transportation device. But no. This was Zacky’s very first car and he just couldn’t bear to give it up.
In fact, now that he thought about it, Hannah was with Zacky when he found this car.
He sighed. That was a fun day. He and Hannah had gone down to the Classic Cars place with all the money Zacky had saved from my summer job in his pocket. Hannah had jumped onto the hood of this car and took a picture of the two of them on it. Then she told Zacky that he absolutely had to buy this car or she’d never ever talk to him again.
How could he of said no to that?
“Ummmm, Zacky?” Johnny said, pointing out the window at their exit, which Zacky had once again passed up.
“Damn it!”
The accelerator groaned under the weight of Zacky’s foot, sending the band further and further ahead, further into the future, further away from Hannah. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. The seven numbers written on Zacky’s arm burned as the El Camino roared on like thunder.