Wanted

“So where to, now?”

“We’re going back to my apartment to pack for tonight and get ready for my interview with Amy.”

“Who’s Amy?”

“She’s the girl from Revolver Magazine that did the interview with Brian and I.”

“Oh, that’s fun. Where are you meeting her?”

“A restaurant in Manhatten.”

“Sheesh,” Thomas said, making a face. “You’re fucking busy today.”

“Which is why you found me in no clothes cleaning my apartment yesterday,” Eliza said, lifting the cup of coffee to her mouth. “My apartment was a wreck, there was absolutely no organization at all, and with all the clothes you shoved down my throat yesterday, plus the ones I got just now at the shoot, I needed to make room.”

“Hey, I can take all that stuff back,” Thomas said, smiling.

“Absolutely not.”

“I didn’t think so,” he said as she lead the way to her apartment.

“Okay, so I’ve got to change and pack really fucking fast,” Eliza said, immediately slipping off her boots and running upstairs.

“Hey, wait a freaking minute!”

Thomas charged up the stairs after her. He found her in her room, without pants, throwing shampoo and hair product into a suitcase.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Uh, I’m packing,” Eliza said, not stopping.

“Go put some pants on, woman. I’ll pack for you. You get dressed for your interview, leave me the keys, and I’ll meet you at the airport when you’re done.”

“Holy shit you’re a lifesaver,” Eliza said, putting everything in her arms down in a bag.

“Jesus, no wonder you women have such stereotypes,” Thomas said, going into the bathroom. “You’re going for one night and you’ve put thirty different products in here. You’re curling your hair tomorrow and that’s final. You don’t need half of this shit.”

“What would I do without you,” Eliza breathed as she threw on an outfit.

“You’d look extremely horrible, go in public without pants, and you’d over-pack for a trip to the store. Have you talked to Brian?”

Eliza pulled the shirt over her head and looked at Thomas. “That was extremely random.”

“Just a question.”

“I’ve texted him a few times, but we haven’t really spoken since California.”

“That’s a long time,” Thomas said.

“…It’s been less than a week. Do I need to speak to him every second of every day?”

“Well, no, but I thought you were going to give him another chance.”

“Well, they’re working on a new album and I’m trying to just get my second album out. The first one pretty much sucked, and I want to focus on what needs to be done in order to make this one successful.”

“Alright, fine, point taken.”

Eliza pulled on her pants and quickly threw on her shoes, jewelry and makeup. She didn’t have time to do anything with her hair, so she threw a beanie on and made sure she had everything.

“Bitch, you’re going to be late. Leave!”

“Are you sure you’ll pack everything?”

“Eliza, you’re going for one night. Hell, you won’t even be there for twenty-four hours, now leave!”

“Don’t forget my guitar and also, you need to swing by Wiki’s and pick her up along with Arin.”

“Oh, he’s coming, too?”

Eliza picked up on Thomas’ eagerness. “He doesn’t play for your team, Thomas.”

“A man can dream, can’t he? It’s his hair, woman. I love the way it flips.”

“You’re crazy!”

“And you’re going to be late, now bye!”

“Bye, Thomas!” she said, handing him her keys and bounding down the steps.

She made a pit stop for coffee, and wound up being ten minutes late. By the time she got to the café, she realized Amy was already sitting at a table. Amy stood up, seeing Eliza coming towards her, and they hugged as she entered the building.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Eliza explained, sitting down. “I’ve got a plane to catch after this to Cincinnati and I had a photo shoot to do this morning. I haven’t even had time to go to the bathroom, really.”

“You’re fine! I just ordered a drink while I waited for you.”

“Sounds like you read my mind!” Eliza said and they both laughed.

An hour later, they hugged either other goodbye, and Eliza hailed herself a cab. She texted Thomas, who told her they were at the airport, and gave the instructions to the driver.

Despite the traffic, she was at the airport in what felt like no time. She paid him, climbed out and ran into JFK. She saw Thomas and smiled as she approached him, Wiki, and Arin. She followed them to the gate and got ready to board the plane.

“You just did make it, didn’t you?” Wiki asked.

“Yeah, no shit. It’s been a hell of a day.”

“Well, we can get you ready in the hotel. You relax on the plane.”

“You have to get ready, too, fool,” Eliza said pointedly at Wiki.

“Yeah, but my hair is already done, and all I have to do is change my shirt. I don’t care that much.”

“Maybe I should start hanging out with Wiki instead of you,” Thomas said with a frown.

They laughed as Thomas threw his arm around Wiki.

“So, she told me what Emily said to you and Thomas the other day. I’m sorry,” Arin said from beside her.

“No biggie, but if she steps in front of my fist sometime soon, I’m not going to feel sorry.”

“I don’t blame you. She’s being a major bitch and I don’t know why.”

“When did it start?” Eliza said as she placed her things down in front of her seat.

Wiki and Thomas had taken the other row, so that left Arin to sit beside Eliza, which he did without hesitation.

“I guess after Wiki joined the band. I think she was a little bit jealous because of how into you guys I was. Like, Wiki and I would jam whenever you guys weren’t practicing, and the fact that you not only know Avenged Sevenfold, but your band was getting big was a huge thing. I kept talking about you guys and she just flipped out.”

“So, do you think she’s jealous of you talking about us?”

“Maybe, I’m not real sure. It would seem that she wouldn’t just take it out on you, though.”

“Well, she said some shitty things to Thomas, too.”

“Yeah, but he was with you. I think it’s something she has against you.”

“Have you listened to her CD?” Eliza asked, laughing as she fastened her seatbelt.

“Hell, no. I refused to listen to that thing. I zoned out when she played some for me and I couldn’t help but be there, but Jesus, I heard her sing once and it was just bad. Did you listen to it?”

“No. I burned the CD, actually. Speaking of music, remind me to show you this song when we get going.”

“Did you write me a song?” Arin asked, jokingly.

“Not you necessarily, but someone in a situation like yours,” Eliza said, elbowing him.

“Aww, sweetie, I’m flattered.”

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up.”

When they finally got off the plane in Cincinnati, it was getting dark. She wasn’t supposed to be at the studio until nine, when her interview started at ten and she was bored. They were sitting in her hotel room with an hour left until she had to be there. She was already dressed, so was Wiki, and both of them had their hair done. Wiki screwed up her face when Thomas came at her with makeup brushes.

“I’m not gonna be on film, you asshole,” she said, pushing him away.

“You’re going to be on the radio with Nikki Sixx. You don’t think there won’t be pictures taken?”

“Well, whatever. I don’t care.”

“Come on, Wik, let’s figure out what we’re gonna do.”

“I thought you were gonna do ‘What Lies Beneath’?”

“Well, then let’s practice that.”

Wiki picked up Eliza’s acoustic guitar, a feat Eliza didn’t know she could do, but surprised the hell out of her when Wiki started playing one day.

She picked along the strings and Eliza cleared her throat, warming up. Wiki sang a bit during the chorus and once they’d run through part of the song, they felt confident in it and got ready to leave.

“I can’t believe I’m about to see Nikki Sixx,” Arin said, smiling as they got into the cab.

“You?” Eliza said, laughing. “Dude, he’s going to ask me all kinds of questions.”

“Very true,” Arin said, laughing.

“I’ve got a question,” Eliza asked, suddenly very serious.

“For who?” Thomas asked.

“Arin.”

“Ask away,” he said a bit nervously.

“Why do male drummers take their shirts off to drum? I mean, it seems like in order to join the club of ‘Badass Drummers’ you have to take your shirt off. You don’t see badass guitarists taking their shirts off or anything.”

Wiki, Arin, and Thomas all three busted out laughing.

“Oh, God, I thought you were going to be completely serious,” Thomas said, wiping away a tear.

“Oh, my God, you asshole, I am being serious!” Eliza said, rolling her eyes.

“We get hot and sweaty. We don’t get to move around like you guys. We’re stuck under lights in one spot and it gets hot.”

“I’m gonna start playing shows topless,” Eliza muttered.

“I can guarantee you’d get a lot more fans,” Thomas replied.

Eliza flipped him off.

“C’mon, guys, we’ve gotta leave now,” Wiki said, looking at her watch.

“Oh, balls,” Eliza said and jumped off the bed.

She searched for her shoes before pulling the tall, hot pink heels on her feet and following the other three out the door.

It was a short ride to the building where inside, Nikki Sixx was talking with his co-host, Kasey Kasem, about the Marilyn Manson song they’d just played.

They got upstairs to the level, checked in, and were escorted to a waiting room outside of the studio where they could clearly see Nikki and Kasey talking into their microphones.

“Did you know I used to have a major crush on him when I was younger?” Wiki asked, leaning into Eliza’s side. “I was so big on Mötley Crüe it’s not even funny.”

“Really?” Eliza asked, not taking her eyes off of the man in front of her. “I was always a huge Dave Navarro girl. He was, and still is, so fucking sexy.”

“Very true,” Wiki said.

Thomas looked at Arin who looked back at him. They turned at the same time to look at the girls.

“You need to become famous quick, kid,” Thomas said to Arin as they laughed at the dazed girls.

“I think I need to learn to play guitar,” Arin volleyed.

They heard Nikki take the station to a commercial and he stood up, heading for them.

“Holy fuck, I’m freaking out,” Wiki whispered to Eliza.

“Chill out, woman,” she said before smiling at Nikki.

“Eliza Grey,” he said, holding out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for coming out here.”

She shook his hand. “Trust me, the pleasure is mine. I just couldn’t believe when Chris told me you wanted me to come on my show; I literally freaked.”

He laughed and turned to Wiki. Eliza immediately spoke up.

“This is my drummer, Wiki Ilejay.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said smiling.

Wiki couldn’t say anything, making Eliza laugh.

“You’re her celebrity crush,” she explained to Nikki.

“Sweet,” he said, smiling broadly.

Eliza introduced Arin and Thomas to Nikki and Kasey when she came out.

“I gotta get back in, but I’ll talk to you in a minute,” he said, nodding.

“Okay, so this is what’s gonna go down,” Kasey started. “We’ll have you two come in and we’ll chat for a bit, cut to commercial, when we come back, we’ll chat some more, play one of your songs, do about ten more minutes of set and we’ll have you sing a song if that’s cool with you.”

“Yeah, sounds great,” Eliza said, smiling.

“Alright, he went to go check on the commercials; if you guys wanna come in here with me, we’ll get you set up with the headsets and microphones and shit.”

“Sweet,” Wiki said, finding her voice.

They followed Kasey into the studio to see a huge table, a few laptops in front of two chairs, one of which Nikki was sitting in front of and the other she assumed was for Kasey. There were set down in two seats across from Nikki and Kasey gave them both headphones.

“Welcome back to the Sixx Sense, I’m Nikki Sixx here with Kasey Kasem, and like I promised, I’ve got Miss Eliza Grey and Wiki Ilejay of Shades of Grey. Welcome, girls.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Eliza said.

“Pleasure to be here,” Wiki said, fiddling with her hands.

Eliza leaned back in her chair and crossed her right leg over her left. She leaned into Wiki as Nikki asked her question after question, stopping to let both she and Wiki answer. They joked, laughed, and even had a beer during the song he played. When they came back from the song, Nikki shocked Eliza.

“So, M. Shadows actually called in earlier. We talked to him.”

“Oh, really?” Eliza asked, perking up. “What did he have to say?”

“Well, you know, they’re writing new things, getting ready to enjoy the holidays and then I’m supposed to ask you about your dancing at Halloween.”

“Oh, my God,” Eliza said as both she and Wiki laughed.

“So, first let me ask you this: you’re close with Avenged Sevenfold, huh?”

“Yeah. A lot of people know this or whatever. Synyster Gates and I did this whole article in Revolver Magazine last year. Uh, I went to high school with most of them, you know? We all grew up together for the most part. I went off to college on the East coast and came back, ran into Johnny and ended up being his date for a party they were having. I helped produce, sort of, their self-titled album, and from there I ended up dating Synyster Gates.”

“You’re not dating anymore, though?”

“No, no we’re not.”

“Yet you’re still close with them?”

“Oh, absolutely, yeah. My best friends, you know, besides Wiki and Thomas, are dating M. Shadows and Vengeance. Even if they weren’t dating two of the guys, The Rev is like the big brother I never had and we’re always doing crazy things together. If I’m in California, you almost always can find me with him.”

“That’s sick that you guys are that close. So now that we’ve established that, I wanna know about this whole dance thing.”

“Oh, God,” Eliza said, blushing.

“Let’s step back to before it happened,” Wiki said, laughing. “We were all out to lunch one day: all the girls and Thomas, and out of literally nowhere, Eliza said that she wanted to be involved in this choreographed dance scenes, like in the movies.”

“The Rev was having a four day Halloween party thing, because my birthday is the 28th, so he just said ‘let’s get wasted for four days to celebrate your birthday and the best holiday ever’ so we kind of went with it. So, some movie was on television at the restaurant and I just thought about doing a dance. I mean, how many people have watched movies and wanted to freaking have a huge dance scene? I know I’m not the only one.”

“I know I did,” Kasey interjected.

“Exactly! See? So, the girls and I all, on the day of Halloween, picked a song, learned a dance within like… an hour or something, and that night, we got it played and we just went with it.”

“Were you in on this?” Nikki asked Wiki.

“Absolutely,” she said, smiling.

“That’s awesome.”

“It’s just so funny that Shads would bring that up, though,” Eliza said, smiling.

“Why is that?”

“He knows that karma is a bitch. He also knows that I will get him back. Be ready, Shadows!”

They all laughed.

“So, I’ve got a question,” Kasey said, bringing attention to her.

“Shoot,” Eliza said.

“Is it awkward for you and Syn? I mean, you guys were engaged.”

“I think it’s more awkward for our friends. We’re trying to keep it cool for them, but it’s difficult. I think it’s going to be difficult for a while.”

Eliza nodded for emphasis as Nikki and Kasey moved on to a different subject. A few minutes later, Wiki grabbed the guitar and they sang a song for them. Kasey loved it and Nikki seemed to be impressed which inflated Eliza’s ego. She couldn’t be happier.

The foursome talked excitedly the whole way back to the hotel where they branched off by sexes to their rooms.

“Do you think this color would look good on my toes?” Wiki asked, holding up a bottle of nail polish.

“Sometimes I forget you’re a girl,” Eliza said, joking as she pulled on a hoodie and headed towards the bathroom. “Yes, it would look great.”

“Fuck you,” Wiki said in a sing-song voice.

Eliza smiled as she moved to the sink to brush her teeth. She pulled out her phone and put a song on to listen to. As she pressed play, she started brushing her teeth. Wiki came in a few minutes later and looked at the small container of white goop.

“What is this?”

Eliza spit and rinsed her mouth before smiling at Wiki.

“It’s hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and a bit of water. It whitens your teeth.”

“Oh, that’s weird.”

“Well, it’s a secret my mom told me years ago and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

“Makes sense to me,” Wiki said, shrugging.

“C’mon, let’s get some sleep. I’m fucking exhausted. I guarantee you I’m doing nothing for the next two days until the concert.”