“Hey girl, are you doing anything today?” Gayle asked as I answered the phone. I put her on speaker and began straightening my hair.
“Yeah, I’m going to go see Matt.” I answered, hissing slightly when I burned my finger. The line was quiet for a second before I heard her sigh.
“Hey, Kid. Be careful around Matt.” Gayle warned suddenly. I looked at my phone in shock.
“Oh God, Gayle. Don’t tell me you’re one of those girls that has a grudge on Matt for something that happened in high school and therefore feeds me bullshit to get back at him.” I whined, finishing up one side of my hair.
“No way. Matt was amazing in high school. But he does get mad easily, and when he does it can be dangerous. Just be careful around him, Kid.” Gayle explained. I sighed and chewed on the inside of my lip. I already knew Matt was pretty intimidating when he was angry, but the fact that Gayle is warning me about it made me worried.
“Okay, I’ll be sure to be careful. I’ll talk to you later Gayle. Bye.” I said before hanging up. I finished up on my hair and quickly did my makeup before straightening my outfit and heading out of the bathroom. I grabbed my keys and locked the apartment. Emma was out with some of her other friends after Gayle and I practically forced her to. We already made sure Johnny was with one of the guys so he wasn’t bored and I had to shove her out of bed and force the phone into her hand to get Emma out of the house. I jumped in my car and started it up, getting excited to see Matt. I wanted to tell him about Gayle and how weird she was and ask him if anything happened between them. Before I reversed my phone buzzed and I answered it. “Hello?”
“Hey Baby.” Matt greeted. I immediately noticed he sounded pretty down and I chewed on my lip. Was he ditching me again?
“Are you cancelling on me again?” I whimpered, turning my car off.
“I’m so sorry, Kid. All the other guys forced me to babysit Johnny and they wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Matt apologized. I chewed at the skin of my lip and soon tasted blood.
“Listen, Matt, if you really don’t-“
“I’m not ditching you, I promise. Johnny, say something.” Matt interrupted me, his voice shaky.
“Hey Kid. Matt got stuck with babysitting me. He’s not ditching you; I’m just stealing your boyfriend.” Johnny’s voice said through the phone. I sighed; relieved he wasn’t just ditching me.
“Okay Matt, I believe you.” I stated, smiling a little.
“Thank you. So are you going to do anything today then?” Matt questioned, making small talk. I thought for a second before answering.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll go see if Brian or Jimmy’s free. Maybe check on Zach. I haven’t seen him for almost two weeks.” I suggested, trying to choose which to hang out with. I really missed Zach, but I haven’t spent any quality time with Brian or Jimmy at all. Even Johnny has gotten more attention, but that was because on many occasions Emma would invite him over while she was out of the house and then have the audacity to take an hour or longer before getting home. I’ve actually learned a lot about Johnny because of that, though, which made me happier. I always liked knowing a lot about people. At that, I would most likely go see Brian or Jimmy. I snapped myself out of my thoughts long enough to realize Matt hadn’t said anything since I told him my plans. “Matt? Are you there?”
“Yeah. Have fun with Zach.” Matt snapped and immediately hung up. I huffed and hit my head against the steering wheel of my car. He didn’t even give me the chance to tell him my plans changed. I still didn’t know what was going on with him and Zach, but I thought that he’d get over it when we got into a relationship. I guess not. I groaned and called up Jimmy.
“Hey Kid. I haven’t seen you in forever.” Jimmy complained as he answered. I smiled widely.
“That’s exactly what I was calling you for. I feel like I don’t know you and Brian enough. I want to hang out with one, or both, of you today. Can I come over?” I questioned, reversing my car and getting onto the street.
“Yeah. Both of us are at Brian’s and we’re so bored we’re actually contemplating letting Brian blow me.” Jimmy said. I almost dropped my phone. I burst out laughing and swerved a little. He is a fucking liar don’t you dare listen to him someone yelled from the other line. Must be Brian. I laughed harder and had to pull myself over to compose myself.
“James Sullivan I am driving! I almost hit someone!” I squealed, giggles slipping through my lips. Jimmy chuckled and sighed.
“Sorry, Kid. That joke nearly killed you didn’t it?” Jimmy stated. I laughed harder and tears formed in my eyes.
“Stop, Jimmy, I can’t breathe!” I cried, wiping the tears that were escaping. Jimmy laughed loudly for a minute before becoming quiet and waiting patiently as I calmed myself down.
“So you’ll be here in a few? We can go to the beach or something and just sit and talk. Or go bowling.” Jimmy suggested. I smiled. “Ooh! Or we could go to the movies! Or go out to dinner!”
“We’ll talk about it when I get there.” I assured him before hanging up. I took a deep breath and laughed a little before pulling back out into the street and driving to Brian’s house. I got there a few minutes later and pulled into the driveway. I walked up the walkway and up to the door and began to reach for the door knob when the door flung open, revealing a very happy Jimmy.
“Kid!” Jimmy screamed happily, pulling me into a hug. I lost my breath; for someone so thin and lanky-looking, Jimmy was strong.
“Jimmy… you’re killing me.” I breathed, feeling as though I were being suffocating. Which, technically, I was. Jimmy had me in practically a choke-hold; which meant he didn’t hear my plea for help.
“Dude, let go of the girl. You’re killing her.” Brian called from the couch. Jimmy looked down and let me go, which made me fall to the floor and heave.
“Sorry, Kid. You’re just so huggable.” Jimmy cooed, smiling widely. I chuckled and continued to take in deep breaths until I could finally breathe again. Jimmy pulled me up by my arm and I smiled at him. He looked at his arm before looking back at me and smiling sincerely. “Remember the first time I pulled you up from your arm? You looked like you were about to faint.”
“I almost screamed.” I informed him, smiling at the memory. “Oh my God that night was so amazing. If you look past the whole almost-got-raped situation that was probably the best night of my life.”
“Really?” Brian questioned, smiling at me from the couch. He got up and walked towards me. “Why is that?”
“Because the freaking Rev pulled me up onto the stage, and then Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance, and M. Shadows were going to beat some guy up for me. After that I got to talk and hang out with the whole freaking band for the rest of the night. That’s like a dream come true.” I mused, the feelings from that night filling me back up. “In fact, I still need to scream at the fact that I’m friends with Avenged Sevenfold and I’m dating M. freaking Shadows.”
“Well then scream away, my Love.” Jimmy chuckled. I shut the door and closed my eyes as I let out an ear-splitting scream. The boys cringed away from me and I began hyperventilating and grabbing my face, all the excitement from the concert overtaking me. Brian chuckled and looked at Jimmy with a scolding look as I continued to flip shit.
“Way to go, Jimmy. You broke her.” Brian joked, leaning behind me to punch Jimmy lightly. Jimmy wrapped his arms around me and shushed me quietly, petting my hair. I slowly calmed down and soon felt extremely tired. Brian gave me a weird look and pursed his lips. “We need to observe fans more closely, because they’re like freaking rabid animals.”
“Maybe we should just befriend less fans.” Jimmy suggested, shrugging. I pursed my lips and tried not to smile at their conversation. Brian noticed my smiling though and looked at me.
“I just find it funny and slightly embarrassing that I just acted like a rabid fan in front of you guys for the first time since the concert.” I explained, uncurling myself. I smiled and bit my lip. “I haven’t even seen you guys as Avenged Sevenfold since about two weeks after the concert. I mean, of course I’m like Oh my God am I really friends with Avenged Sevenfold? But I never think I’m hanging out with Synyster Gates and The freaking Rev right now anymore like I used to.”
“I think that’s a good sign.” Jimmy commented. I nodded and looked at Brian. He was smiling softly at me and staring at me in adoration. I raised my eyebrows and he smiled wider.
“I’m just really glad Matt chose to save you. You’re a really cool girl, Kid.” Brian muttered, tilting his head a little. I smiled widely and pulled him into a hug.
“I love you guys so much.” I whispered, tightening my arms around his neck. He pulled me closer and hugged me tightly for a few seconds before pulling away.
“So what should we do today?” Jimmy asked, looking slightly impatient. Brian shrugged and I thought for a second.

“How about we go bowling?” I suggested. Their faces lit up and they nodded furiously before grabbing me by an arm and pulling me excitedly out of the house and into Brian’s car. They gushed over how they haven’t been bowling since they were teenagers the whole way to the bowling alley, and I listened quietly from the back. It was fun listening to their memories, especially since I didn’t have very many happy memories myself. When we got to the alley they both jumped out and sprinted towards the door, leaving me in the car. I walked leisurely into the alley and got my shoes as Jimmy and Brian signed us all in on a lane. I went first, then Brian, then Jimmy. I picked up an eight-pound ball, which scored me some very nice insults of how weak and pussy I was. I got a strike and proceeded to stick my tongue out and flip the boys off. For the rest of the night we screamed obscenities, stole each other’s bowling balls, and ordered almost everything from the snack counter. I won the first game, which turned out to be a pity win, and Jimmy and Brian both won two. After we exhausted ourselves out we decided to retire back to Brian’s, where we all crashed on Brian’s bed as soon as we entered his home and trudged up the stairs.