Seize The Day.

She put the hangers on the clothes rack and turned around to Johnny, “So umm, what do you want me to do? I have no idea how you guys set up for a concert.” Johnny laughed as he put his arm around her shoulder, “All I want you to do right now is get dressed. And then, once you’ve done that and your hair and makeup and everything, come find me.” She nodded, “Sounds simple enough. Where do I change?” Johnny laughed and looked around the room, “Pick a spot.” She was about to ask him if there was somewhere else to change but he walked away before she could. She sighed and looked around. There was no private place so she just gave up and changed where she was already standing.
She slipped into her skirt and black lace stockings and put her shoes on. She looked around to make sure none of the guys were about to walk in and she slid her shirt off. Just as she grabbed her stage shirt, Arin walked in. He didn’t say anything in hopes that he could just make it seem like he walked in after she was dressed, but Matt walked in after him and whistled and Jenny spun around. When she saw them standing there her face went redder than ever, “Shit…” Matt laughed and patted Arin on the back as he carried the amps out to the stage. She looked up at Arin, “How long have you been there?” He laughed, “Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything.” She sighed, “Thank god. That woulda been embarrassing.”
She turned to the mirror and grabbed a brush and started doing her hair. She pulled it into loose pigtails and left her bangs the way they were. She put on black eyeliner, black and silver eye shadow, mascara, and foundation to cover up the dark circles under her eyes. Arin walked back in from the stage when she was looking at herself in the mirror, “Wow,” he said shockingly. She turned around, “What? That bad?” He laughed, “No, not that. You just look a lot different.” He walked over and wiped a little of the eye shadow off and stepped back, “There. Now you still look like you at least.” She smiled, “The point of makeup is so that I don’t look like me anymore.” He shook his head and laughed. He watched her as she put foundation on her arms to cover up the scars. When she saw him watching her, she looked down at the ground. He walked over and gave her a hug, “It’ll be alright. You got your necklace on?” She smiled at him and nodded. She showed it to him before heading to the stage to find Johnny.
She ran into him walking back into the dressing room, “Now what?” Johnny nodded over to the series of amps that were set along one part of the stage, “Start plugging those into the power-strip that’s over there. And then, once you’re done with that, find Brian.” He walked away as Jenny headed over to the amps. She started plugging them into each other and then just plugged the final one into the power strip. She plugged one of Syn’s guitars into it and strummed a few chords to see if it sounded okay. She tweaked with the settings on the amps a little and then put the guitar back on its stand.
When she was walking back out to the bus, she bumped into Syn and he handed her a bunch of microphones and walked back onto the bus. She thought that he was going to give her more instruction than that but when he didn’t, she just walked back out to the stage and started setting them all up where the guys would be standing during the show. She had one extra and then she realized it was her own. But since she didn’t know where she’d be standing, so she just brought it back into the dressing room.
This time, it was her turn to walk in on people that were only half-dressed. None of the guys had their shirts on. It’s not like she really minded though. She smiled as she walked over to the mirror to check her hair again. She saw Syn spiking his up so she started fixing it in all the spots it didn’t look quite right. She turned to Johnny, “You spiking the ‘hawk tonight?” He smiled and shrugged, “I dunno. Should I?” She nodded excitedly, “Yes! I love it when you spike your Mohawk!” He laughed as she tossed him the tube of hair gel and he started to spike it up. She looked around, “Where are Matt and Zacky?” Johnny shrugged. Brian came over and patted her on the back, “Zacky’s getting dressed on the bus and Matt is out on stage fussing with shit,” he looked at her, “You look good by the way.” She smiled, “Thanks.”
All the guys finally were in the same room together and Jenny walked over to Matt, “Um, where am I gonna be?” He laughed, “On stage I hope.” She laughed and gave him a playful shove, “I meant where am I gonna be standing?” He thought about it for a second, “Well, I set up your mic over by Johnny. But chances are you’re gonna be moving around and stuff, so just wing it and try not to run into anyone.” She laughed, “Sounds good.”
They all formed a huddle in the middle of the room. Matt looked around at all of them, “Alright guys, let’s go make this another kickass show. Let’s hope Jimmy’s watching over us and that he’s making sure Jenny doesn’t get killed out there. Let’s do this!” They all hugged and slapped each other on the back and slid out onto the stage while it was still pitch black. Jenny couldn’t believe it; she was on stage performing with the guys. It was beyond her wildest dreams. The red light shone down on the body and Jenny saw two notes on her mic stand. One was from Matt, “Alright, as far as vocals go, just sing lightly in the background with the guys until we get to Seize the Day and Victim. That’s your time to shine.” She smiled to herself and then looked at the other note. It was from Arin, “Good luck Sleeping Beauty. Let’s hope that coffee worked!” She had to fight back her laughter when she read it.
She heard Matt scream, “Nightmare!” and the lights shone down on everyone, including her. She looked over to Matt to see what he was doing and tried to just follow his lead. He walked over to her and whispered, “When in doubt, go over to Brian. He’s always got shit up his sleeve,” and then he went back to singing. The crowd was going crazy. She looked down into the pit and looked to where she would’ve been standing if Corey and she had come to this concert instead. There was a group of guys there and she was about to walk over when the song ended and Matt called her to center stage. She walked over calmly and he put his arm around her shoulders. “Alright” he said into the microphone as he looked at Jenny, “we’ve got someone new here tonight. Her name’s Jenny and she will be a special vocalist with us for a little while. Let’s give her a kickass first concert alright?” The crowd cheered and went crazy all over again. When they quieted down Matt said, “Let’s give her a little welcoming ballad. This one’s called Welcome To The Family!”
After that, he went into Dear God and Jenny got to do the female vocal parts. She knew their songs forwards and backwards so she knew exactly what to sing and when. Afterwards they performed A Little Piece of Heaven and she got to play the bride’s voice. She was having so much fun. While she was singing she went along the edge and high-fived all the guys in the pit. It was awesome to see them smiling at her. She knew it was probably because of what she was wearing, but she didn’t care, she was having the time of her life and nothing could take it away from her.
Once the song was over, Matt waited for the crowd to quiet down again, “Alright, this is gonna be Jenny’s intro song. She’s got this shit down so let’s hope it goes well. Here goes Seize the Day!” All the lights converged on her as she sang the first line and then they went back to all the other band members as well. She was still running around the stage and high-fiving crowd members as she sang. She walked over to Matt when they sang the line, “A melody, a memory, or just one picture.” And the crowd went wild. It sounded amazing, even Jenny had to admit that much. After that, they went into a few of their more hardcore songs and Jenny was running wild with Zacky, Syn, and Johnny.
When they finished playing Remenissions, all the instruments quieted down and lights only shined on Zacky, Syn, Johnny, and Matt. Jenny slid back up onto Arin’s drum platform and waited with him there. They were introducing So Far Away. They told the story about Jimmy when he did a handstand in the middle of the subway and everyone was laughing. Then the banner dropped down and they started playing. Syn didn’t sing it that night though. “So maybe it was really a one-time thing…” thought Jenny to herself. Her and Arin stayed in the dark for the whole song and she didn’t have to do any vocals since it was basically all Matt for that song. But it was almost like not singing that song was worse because then you didn’t have to think about the words and it couldn’t distract you. You just got the full blow of emotion from Matt’s voice and the expressions on the guys’ faces. It took all her will power to not cry. It was one thing to cry while she was in the crowd, but she was a performer for the time being. And she had to act like one. At the end of the song, a few tears slid down her face and she didn’t even bother to wipe them away.
Matt called her back down to center stage. He turned to her, “You wanna introduce this one?” She took a deep breath and nodded. “So,” she said forcing a smile, “how’s everyone doin’ tonight?” There was a bunch of cheering from the crowd, “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you. I said, how’s everyone doin’ tonight??” The crowd cheered twice as loud. She laughed, “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Alright, this one goes out to two very close friends of mine who are partying with The Rev now. This one’s called Victim.”
She started singing and so much emotion went into it. Matt was just left standing there in awe at the sheer amount of passion that went into it. It was nothing compared to how she sounded on the bus. It was amazing. You could tell that the song meant something to her, and he loved that. The rest of the guys were watching her in admiration as well. They were smiling with tears in their eyes. It was nice to see someone with so much drive get what they wanted. She got a chance to commemorate her best friends and Jimmy. And that was more than she could’ve ever asked for.
When the song was over, Matt walked over to her, “Well shit,” he said as he looked down at her, “that was pretty fuckin’ amazing. I didn’t know you had that much in ya. You did them proud.” He held up her arm as if she had just won a boxing match. She smiled and slid back over to where Johnny was standing. She turned to him, “So how’d I do?” He smiled and managed to give her an awkward hug over his bass, “You did amazing.”
The next two songs that they did were their final ones. They performed Tension. They hadn’t planned on doing that one again, but Jenny had begged and pleaded before the show so the guys caved and said that they’d do it. And they ended their show with Save Me. Matt brought all of the guys and Jenny to center stage and they linked hands and bowed. Johnny looked over and saw Jenny smiling from ear to ear. Matt waved and threw his bandana into the pit. Zacky and Brian followed him and threw their guitar picks and Johnny did the same but threw his jacket. Arin threw his drumsticks and he waited for Jenny to throw her hair arm-band into the pit and then he scooped her up and carried her off the stage.
When they were walking back to the dressing room, Jenny looked at him as he gently set her down in the hallway. He looked back at her and smiled. She couldn’t get over how amazing this kid was. She looked at his eyes, they were so big and brown and just so full of, well, she didn’t exactly know. It was like there was a mix of love and mischief in there and it made her heart melt. And his smile made her want to giggle but she fought to contain herself. She gave him a hug and then headed into the dressing room with the rest of the guys.
They all came over and gave her a hug. Johnny smiled at her, “That was amazing! You were awesome out there!” She laughed and gave him another hug, “Well, I wouldn’t have been out there if it weren’t for you.” He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Zacky came over and gave her a high five and Syn hugged her and then threw her onto the couch. She smiled at all of them, “You guys are the best! Thank you so-” she stopped mid-sentence, “where’s Matt?” They all looked back and forth to each other, but no one seemed to have the slightest clue.
Jenny went out the door towards the bus and found Matt standing there smoking a cigarette. She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, “You okay man?” She seemed to have snapped him out of some sort of trance, “What? Yea, I’m fine. You were great out there.” She smiled, “Thanks. You weren’t so bad yourself.” He smiled at her and took another drag. She cocked her head to the side confusedly, “I didn’t know you smoked?” He sighed, “I don’t.” She shook her head and reached up and took the cigarette from him. She threw it on the ground and put it out with her foot. She looked back up at him, “Look, I’m always here if you need someone to talk to okay?” He nodded at her and smiled half-heartedly. “Good,” she said with a shiver, “now let’s go back inside. I’m freezing.” He followed her back in. She smiled at the guys, “I found him.”
They all sat around for a little while, drinking sodas and beers and just talked about the show. Jenny zoned out for a minute and just went into her own head. She looked around at the guys; they were all so amazing. She thought about everything that they had all gone through before meeting her. Life hadn’t exactly been easy on them, but look how happy they all were. They were all sitting around joking and laughing. Her eyes and thoughts finally landed on Arin. She didn’t know his whole story yet, but she almost wanted to keep it that way. She liked the little bit of mystery behind his smile. She was sitting in between him and Johnny. It was no secret that they were her favorites. Arin slid his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and smiled with his big puppy dog eyes.
Johnny nudged her foot and finally brought her back to reality. “So,” he said as he smiled at her and Arin, “what’d you think of your first performance?” She laughed, “Well, I don’t know how well I did, but that was the most fun I’ve had in my entire life.” Zacky laughed, “Well, you sounded awesome so it’s like a win-win.” Brian tossed her a can of Pepsi, “Yea, and I think that you two should end the show like that from now on. You can be the crew couple.” Jenny smiled and looked at Arin, “I didn’t know he was going to do that. But then all of a sudden my feet just weren’t on the stage anymore haha.” Jenny turned to Matt, “How do you think the show went man?” He smiled, “I think that this was one of the most emotional concerts to date.”
They sat around and chatted a little while longer and Matt looked at the clock on the wall, “Alright, well, we better go start cleaning up. We don’t have to leave tonight since we don’t have a show tomorrow, but we should probably get our shit off the stage.” Jenny sat up and Johnny helped her off the couch. They all went out onto the stage and Jenny unplugged everything from all the amps so they could start taking it back to the bus. She grabbed all the microphone stands and brought them back too. She went back out to the stage and helped Arin disassemble his drums and carry them back to the bus. She was going to stay in there with the guys, but grabbed her phone and headed back out to the stage instead. She called Corey. Even though it was after midnight, she still hoped that he’d pick up.
It rang a few times and just as she was about to give up, she heard his sleepy voice on the other end of the line, “Hello?” She smiled to herself, “Hey man, it’s Jenny.” “Oh, hey.” “What’s been going on? What’ve I missed?” There was a pause, “You’re really just going to call up and ask that like this is no big deal? I have no idea when you’re coming back, if you’re coming back at all. Melody is about ready to kill me for letting you go. And, well, I miss you…” She sighed, “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you guys with this. I’ve only been gone for a couple of days though…” “Yea, but you’re going to be gone for a lot longer than that.” “Look, I’m sorry, but I like this. I’ve fallen in love with traveling on the road. I love being with the guys. This is the happiest I’ve been in a while. I mean, I got to sing with them on stage tonight. Nothing could replace this.” She heard Corey huff on the other end of the line. There was a few seconds of silence before he responded, “Well, I’m glad you could replace the people who care about you. You’re everything to me Jenn, and you just left like it was no big deal.” She took a deep breath to try and steady her voice, “Corey, I didn’t do this to hurt you ok? That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do to you. You’re my best friend and you’ve been like a brother to me. But I think that this could be a good thing…” She was about to explain herself more when Corey interrupted, “Look, go have fun with the guys. Go do whatever. Don’t call again unless you’re calling to tell me that you’re coming home, alright?” He hung up and she was left there with a dead line. She set the phone down and rested her head on her knees.
She felt a blanket and a set of arms wrap around her and she looked up to see Johnny standing there, “Come on, you’re gonna get sick sitting out here.”