Like You'll Never See Me Again

And So It Begins

I'm Brian Elwin Haner Jr. Most all of you know me as Synyster Gates. Hell I even know myself as Synyster Gates. I was living every teenaged boys dream. I was in a band. Oh we were cool alright. My best friend in the world Jimmy asked me to join a band he was in. Although everyone thought I wouldn't do it. I couldn't turn Jimmy down and so my life as lead guitarist for Avenged Sevenfold began. Non of us thought we would become what we are today. Oh sure we knew we were destined for great things. But the death of my best friend at an early age taught us all a lesson in love and strength we didn't know was possible.

I was at Maria and Benji's house with the guys. Like anyother day I was headed out to meet up with Michelle. I walked out the door seeing Benji and Maria's daughter Jamie staring at the blood on her knee. Had all the guys been out there I would have laughed and teased her. I sighed heavily walking over to her, I aked what had happened and of course she played it off as nothing. I'm a teenaged boy and Jamie was a tomboy trying to keep up with all of us guys. I knew damn well what had happened. I knelt down brushing the rocks and blood from her knee. I carried her into the house to clean it up the right way. I kissed over the bandage like I had seen Suzy do a million times, I patted her other knee and told her to go play. She looked up into my eyes and I felt an odd feeling in the pit of my stomache. As I walked away I had a feeling that one day Jamie would be something more than the cute kid trying to shadow all of us.

I was late meeting up with Michelle who was really mad when I got there. We were going to Matt's house. He had some big news for us. Jimmy was to stop and grab some 40's. When we walked into Matt's garage Michelle's twin Val was already there and of course the two girls sat off to the side doing the girl thing while we all gathered around our instruments drinking.

"Ok Matt you got us here. What's the big news?" I was dying to hear what he had to say.

Matt gave us his dimpled grin. "Hopeless records wants to sign us."

That was the first time I forgot all about the kid who's knee I just bandaged. We were getting a real lable to sign our band. Within months we would be on the road pilled into that blue van eating dollar menu food and living the good life. My father being in the music industry was behind us all. All the other guys families backed them. Life was taking a turn for the best. It all started that day with a bandaid. That day we went from 5 best friends messing around in a grarage to being a band.

Michelle walked home with her sister and Jimmy and I kept the party rolling. Rolling right through the park in his clunker of a car. I shouted drunkenly "Today I am Synyster Gates!" The other guys came up with their stage names and we set out touring within the year. We were broke all the time. Starving the rest of the time. Driving day and night to get from show to show finding some of them canceled. Funny how horrible it all sounds now, I wouldn't trade it for the world. We went from best friends to brothers.

Our days were filled with drinking, drugs, girls and tattoos. Loading and unloading equipment working out to get ourselves ready to go out on the small stage and bring teenage ears to new levels of rock was what it was all about. I lived life large. I was invicible. I didn't believe in love or being a one woman man. Well not until the night our eyes met side stage. Everything changed that night. Oh we had moved up. By that night we didn't have the van playing small clubs. We played arena's and traveled in an army of tour buses. Our friends on our payroll, drinking the night away as the bus made it's way cross country. That night was the begining of all of this. Our road is long and winding with twisting turns and heartache. Together Jamie and I will tell you how the story begins and where it takes us both.