Iris

When I woke up the next morning, Saturday morning in case you were curious what day it was, I was feeling groggy as hell. Brian ended up leaving at one in the morning and Jimmy and I stayed up until three in the morning watching Rugrats. No, it wasn’t very responsible, but who cares? The only downside was that I always woke up around eight in the morning, meaning I only had - maybe - four hours of sleep. Well, you can’t expect me to fall asleep right away!

So it was with a heavy cloud of tiredness hanging over me that I forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom to shower. As I was rinsing the conditioner from my hair, I remembered the bombshell that Jimmy and Brian had dropped on me yesterday. Today we were going to the studio! I did a little happy dance, nearly tripping in the walk in shower, before I quickly turned off the water. Sleep was the furthest thing from my mind as I wrapped my body up in a large, plush towel hanging on a rack nearby.

I stared into my luggage for the longest time before deciding to dress a bit nicer for the day. I didn’t know if we planned to go out or anything, but if I got spotted by obnoxious paparazzi, I wanted to look decent enough to not embarrass Jimmy. It made me wonder if the guys even knew about the picture floating around with their fans of Jimmy and I from back in Los Angeles. I would assume they did, but since no one mention it to me, they might just not know.

Once I finished getting dressed (making sure to wear shorts underneath my skirt), I studied myself in the bathroom mirror. Did I look too...skimpy? No, I assured myself. I had seen much worse. If the media was going to address anything with what I was wearing, it would be my lack of concern about mixing DC merchandise with Marvel, or visa versa depending on which they favored. With that I left the bathroom and then bedroom all together after snatching my cell phone off the end table.

When I arrived in the kitchen, I was a little taken back at the site of Jimmy and Matt sitting at the island, chatting. As soon as I stepped into the room they paused and turned to greet me. Jimmy gave me a quick once over and grinned. “Someone got fancied up. You look great.”

I shrugged in response, trying to play off that I wasn’t totally embarrassed from the compliment nor that I had intentionally dressed up. I walked over to the island, plopping onto the stool next to Matt. “So what’s up?”

“Just waiting for you to wake up and then we were going to head to the studio,” Matt replied. Seeing the excitement on my face, he smiled weakly. “Don’t go too crazy, kiddo. It’s just clashing on ideas. We don’t really plan to record anything.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t help my mood faltering a bit. I guess I really hadn’t been very thorough on finding out what ‘going to the studio’ fully included. Oh well, I would make the most of it.

“But afterwards we’re going to an interview,” Jimmy added. I blinked at him for a few moments as if trying to decipher what he said. But there was nothing to find out, he said it clear as day. We were going to an interview. Whether or not I would be a part of it, I didn’t know, but I would be there as witness at least. And people would see me in person. Oh, hell!

“We are, huh?” I choked out, trying to force myself to smile. Jimmy and Matt exchanged worried looks before turning to me simultaneously.

“You don’t have to be in the interview, Iris. We only told the guy that you might. No definite and the whole thing won’t be only about you. It’s completely your choice,” Jimmy spoke soothingly. Luckily it worked and I avoided a breakdown, though it did remind me that I had to take my medicine.

“No, no. It’s okay. I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded in reply. “I just need to go get a few things before we leave.”

“Take your time,” Matt called as I hurried up the stairs. I grabbed my Totoro purse before shoving in my phone, headphones, perfume, small notebook, and a pen. Yes, very basic and kind of random. I never know when I might need something, okay? I grabbed my pill container and emptied the ‘Sat’ section’s contents. I then hurried back down the steps and re-entered the kitchen. Matt was missing and Jimmy was typing at his cell phone, a deep frown on his face.

I tried to tiptoe past him to get to the fridge, but obviously he looked up and began smiling again, tucking his cell phone into his pocket. “You ready?”

“Almost,” I spoke simply. I pulled open the fridge door before pausing with my own frown. Beer, soda, and those stupid juice boxes almost seemed to look at me mockingly yet again. I fought off my grumble of annoyance at the crappy options and took down a fruit punch box. I put in the straw before swallowing down my pills with a pull from the drink. Grimacing, I announced, “Ready.”

“What were those for?” Jimmy instantly asked, eyeing my mouth as if the pills would suddenly reappear and tell him what they are and their side effects. And while I wanted to get angry and defensive, I knew it was stupid to do so. He was going to find out eventually, so it might as well be from me.

“I’ll answer your question if you answer mine after,” I blurted out. I had the spur of the moment thought that if I was going to be honest with Jimmy, he should do the same. I knew he’s been different lately and I wanted to know why. This was my only chance to bring it up without it being awkward and, damnit, I was going to take that chance even if it killed me. He slowly nodded, a hesitant look on his face, before I answered. “They are for my anxiety and depression. I was diagnosed with both which, personally, makes no sense.”

“And why’s that?” Jimmy asked curiously. And he really did seem so instead of the usual faking of it that people offered when I used to tell them this. I was gratefully he wasn’t being a prick about it.

“Because anxiety is when you worry too much about things while depression is when you worry too little. Honestly, what about a paradox makes sense?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest while still holding the juice box. You can imagine how ridiculous I must have looked to him, but Jimmy took it strong. Not even a smirk appeared. Instead he nodded in agreement.

“It doesn’t make sense at all. So you have to take the pills every day?” I nodded in reply. “Okay, well, thanks for being honest with me.”

“Your turn.” Jimmy winced a little, but nodded. Before he could change his mind, I blurted out, “Why do you seem so sad every time I’m in the room?”

“What? I don’t - ”

“Jimmy, don’t lie. I can tell. Especially when I just call you ‘Jimmy’! I know you want me to call you dad but, no offense, I barely know you. Elisha has been my father growing up, he was all I knew. I can’t just change everything I’ve known to please you.”

“I know, I just - ” he cut off with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, successfully making it messier than I had ever seen it.“I’m just selfish. I’m sorry. I’ll stop, okay?”

“Good, that’s all I’m asking for.”

“So why do you call him Elisha when you know I’m listening?” Jimmy asked, catching me off guard. He noticed that? Well damn.

“Because I know it upsets you so that’s the only kind of comfort I can offer you,” I replied bashfully. Jimmy smiled, patting my shoulder.

“Well thank you.” I nodded my head in reply. “Whelp, let’s head outside. Matt probably thinks we died or something.”

“I say we pretend to and walk out like zombies.”

“As fun as that would be, I’d probably trip and fall.” I snorted at him as he led the way out the door and to the SUV.

- Time Lapse -

I felt my shoe being nudged, making me groan and dig my face further into the couch I was occupying. As much fun as I had been hyped up to have, the idea process of an album wasn’t too fun unless you were a fan in the 'number one fan' status. And, since I only knew about their music because of Trevor, I didn’t quite qualify. So I like my All Time Low and Pierce The Veil a bit more, it doesn’t make me a bad person, okay? It's not like I have a personal vendetta out for the guys. Put me back here when they actually started recording, I’d probably be bouncing off the walls.

“Iris, time to wake up,” someone cooed into my ear. I groaned again, pulling a piece of fabric that had been on my body over my head. Where had this come from? Oh, who cares, I didn’t want to wake up. The person sighed and pulled it off my head. “Iris, c’mon, we’re gonna be late.”

“Late for what?” I grumbled, turning my head so I could face the person. Opening my eyes and blinking, my vision finally focused on Jimmy who was replacing his infamous leather jacket with the band’s name and logo on his body. I guess that’s where the ‘blanket’ had come from.

“I guess you forgot about the interview, huh?” I groaned again, burying my face back into the couch. It wasn’t so much that I was still scared, it was more of the fact that I didn’t want to deal with it. I could imagine the field day that the kids at school would have when I returned. It wasn’t something I was exactly excited for and I had half the mind to tell the guys I was backing out. But I knew if I didn’t do this, worse rumors would spread. I’d rather have the truth out there instead of high end lies.

“No. I simply just don’t want to move,” I retorted. That was when I was scooped up and into Jimmy’s arms. I didn’t even bother to fight with him. It was either this or I would physically have to get up and move myself. Call me lazy, I don’t care. Soon enough Jimmy was placing me in the back seat across from Brian. As he walked around to the passenger’s seat, I laid down, placing my head in Brian’s lap.

“Haven’t you slept enough?” Brian joked, though he began to pet my head. I let out a soft grunt as my eyes slipped shut again. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since that moment, but soon I was being shaken awake again. This time I let out a groan as I sat up, not in the mood to stall and put this off. I climbed out on Brian’s side and silently followed the five men as they headed to the large building in front of us with the words Kerrang! at the top.

“Hello, sirs! You’re here for our interview, right?” A woman of about twenty-two greeted, stepping up to us the moment we were ten feet into the lobby. Matt hesitantly shook her hand.

“We actually spoke to a man on the phone,” he explained as he retracted his hand. She nodded knowingly.

“That was my boss, Antonio. My name is Dahlia Simmons, I’m a new interviewer for the magazine. Antonio is in charge of booking my interviews since I don’t know my way around yet,” Dahlia admitted, almost bashfully. Brian let out his flirty smirk (which Zack had pointed out to me so I now recognized) and stepped in front of Matt to shake her hand.

“Well it’s nice to meet you. Is this your first interview?” Brian asked politely as she shook the other guys’ hands. She nodded with a wide smile. I peeked at her from behind Matt, where I had seeked refuge as everyone else had taken their turns shaking her hand. I liked her. She was about Zack’s height with teal hair, a monroe, gauged ears, and a left sleeve of tattoos. Most of them were old 90’s cartoons like Powerpuff Girls, Rugrats, and Real Monsters to name a few.

“If you’ll follow me, we can get started,” Dahlia offered, beginning to lead the way to the elevators at the opposite end of the lobby. We trekked behind her, climbing into the elevator she had called. She simply smiled at me as I passed her, not trying to pressure an introduction. I smiled back before shuffling into the corner diagonal from the buttons.

Soon enough we were on the fifth floor and following Dahlia down the hallway to a set of double doors. There were two couches at right angles with a single chair a foot away. In front of the setup were two cameras with a single man behind them. He was a bit older, about the guys’ age, with a black fohawk. His entire body was littered with tattoos and only had a piercing in his nostril. The guys were soon smiling and shaking his hand excitedly as I stood, leaning on the wall behind the camera.

“Hey Tony! Long time no see, man!” Jimmy exclaimed when he reached the man, taking him into that stupid ‘one armed hug/handshake’ thing that guys always did. Dahlia waited patiently beside me, obviously still not opting to force me into introducing myself. I could assume this was her way of showing she respected my wishes if I didn’t want to participate in the interview. And I didn’t have much of the effort to let her know I was going to be in it, I was still too tired to stand on my own, hence the wall. I was pulled out of my thoughts as Jimmy grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop next to him. “Tony, Dahlia, this is my daughter, Iris.”

I smiled shyly, giving a short wave. Tony and Dahlia both smiled in return, Tony looking quite ecstatic. “So you’re the one with the picture floating around!”

“What?” Jimmy, Matt, Johnny, and Brian all spoke, turning to face me. The only person who seemed unfazed was Zack who gave me a strange look.

“You didn’t tell him?”

“I thought all of you knew!” I insisted. “How did you know?”

“I’m the only who actually has a Twitter that I use. The official band's is run by the Berry's, who are close friends. They haven't been on lately, but people have been tagging me in that stupid thing for a few days now,” Zack replied with a shrug.

“Excuse me,” Jimmy spoke loudly, causing everyone in the room to look over at him. His face read that he was beyond annoyed and wanted answers five minutes ago. Tony awkwardly cleared his throat and Dahlia began inching towards the doors.

“We’ll give you a few minutes before we start, okay?” With that the duo hurried from the room. It wasn’t until the doors shut that the group turned back to Zack and I who were looking everywhere but at the other four, Jimmy in particular.

“What is he talking about?” Jimmy demanded. Zack hesitantly pulled out his phone before clicking on a few things. He passed the device to Jimmy who blinked at the screen, the other three men craning their necks to see it too. Jimmy looked up and began to point at us with the cell phone. “Why was I not told about this before?”

“Like I said, I thought you had already seen it and was just ignoring it,” I answered, my hands raised in defense. Jimmy turned to Zack who simply shrugged again.

“I figured Iris would have told you, so I thought you were just ignoring it too. Wouldn’t be the first time we brushed off people snagging personal pictures of us,” Zack spoke. Jimmy sighed, handing him his phone back which he slipped into his pocket. “Sorry, man.”

“It’s fine. Just took me by surprise is all,” Jimmy said, running a hand through his hair. “From now on, tell me about anything like that, okay?”

“Deal,” Zack and I spoke in unison as Johnny left to get the two from the hallway. I went back to my wall and sat on the floor with my purse in lap as the rest of the guys got comfortable on the couches. Once Johnny reentered with the Kerrang! duo, they set to work on the interview. It was mostly talk of their new album, any future tours, and any other special press things they might do. When it was finally time for me to be apart of the interview, Johnny ended up throwing his beanie at my face since I was - yet again - snoozing.

I groaned, pulling the hat from my face. “You are about the rudest gnome ever.”

“And you are the laziest teen I’ve met,” Johnny countered. He scooted away from Jimmy, patting the space between them. “Now c’mon, it’s your time to shine.”

“Shine my butt,” I yawned, but stood to my feet, leaving my purse in my spot. I plopped down between the two, passing Johnny his hat so he could, once again, cover his messy hair. Jimmy gave my shoulder a squeeze before Dahlia gave a nod and Tony kicked on the cameras.

“Welcome back. I’m Dahlia Simmons, still here with Avenged Sevenfold. We are joined by a very special guest,” Dahlia spoke, grinning widely at the first camera. She then turned to me. “How about you introduce yourself?”

Tony motioned towards the second camera, letting me know it was now the one in control, and I nearly forgot how to speak. I quickly smiled, waving weakly to the lens. “Hello. I’m Iris.”

“Iris is my daughter,” Jimmy announced proudly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I smiled, leaning into his side.

“How long have you known your father was the infamous Rev of Avenged Sevenfold?” Dahlia asked curiously.

“About a week,” I admitted after receiving a squeeze on my shoulder, letting me know Jimmy wanted me to be honest. “There were some technicality things that didn’t allow me to meet Jimmy until I was thirteen.”

“Well happy belated birthday,” Dahlia spoke with a grin. I simply smiled and nodded my thanks. “So do you live with him?”

“No. Currently I’m visiting from Los Angeles,” I explained. “We haven’t spoken of any changes to that recently. Sorry to disappoint.”

“I think we’re more excited to know about you rather than where you live,” Dahlia joked. She turned her attention to Jimmy. “How long have you known about Iris?”

“It’s not like I randomly had a one nighter and a woman pounded on my door, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jimmy laughed. “I was there when she was born. I was too young to handle my responsibilities for her, so I decided the best thing to do was to give her to a family who wanted a baby and could support her when I couldn’t.”

“That was very noble of you,” Dahlia spoke sincerely.

Jimmy shrugged. “It was what was best for my child. Her adoptive parents are wonderful people. shaping her into the young lady she is today.”

“I can’t help but ask, where is her birth mother?” The second it left her mouth, I quickly shook my head ‘no’, seeing as how Jimmy fell silent. Dahlia quickly slid a finger over her throat before turning to the first camera with a grin. “Well, that’s all for today! Make sure to keep an ear out for the new Avenged album coming out soon. This is Dahlia, have a great day everyone!”

As soon as the cameras were off, Dahlia was practically on her knees and crying about how sorry she was. Jimmy and I quickly reassured her that it was fine before she finally calmed down. She apologized again before the guys began to give their goodbyes to Tony and Dahlia both. I patiently waited as they began to reminisce old memories. I had a feeling Tony was going to be someone I saw a bit more. Not that I minded, he was a pretty chill guy from what I had collected.

Soon enough we were heading down the elevator and then into the California sun. Since it was around five, the guys decided that we should eat before heading home. So it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in an Olive Garden, making a mess in the separate room they had placed us in, probably regretting the decision to even let us into the restaurant. But I was too happy to let the sour waiter bother me. I had ballsed up and, even though there would still probably be turmoil, I was proud of myself for doing it.

Today was a time for celebration.