Chapter 39
*Kid POV*
“Are you sure you don’t want me or Zach to pick you up?” I asked James once again.
“I’m positive, Jessica. I’ll just get a taxi and meet you guys at Zach’s house.” James assured me for the millionth time. James was currently at the airport from South Dakota to meet me and see his son for the first time in who-knows-how-long.
“So you’ll be here soon?” I questioned, excited and nervous to meet James. Zach told me it was father-like-son, so James was just as funny, protective, and caring as Zach was. I was at my apartment for the first time in a week since Zach told me to go home and get semi-fancy clothes to meet his dad. All of the guys were going to be there, because they all love Zach’s dad.
“Yes. I just left the terminal and I’m heading towards the luggage department. Knowing the airport, I should be there in about an hour.” James chuckled. I laughed too and pulled out my lacey v-neck and some skinny jeans and laid them out.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon, James.” I said.
“See you soon, Jessica.” James repeated before hanging up. I sighed loudly, nerves getting to me. I dressed quickly and went to the bathroom to get ready. Emma walked in and leaned against the frame of the door while I pulled out my makeup. She stood quietly and watched me as I put on my makeup, a smirk across her face. At first I chose to ignore her, but after awhile she began pissing me off.
“Can I help you?” I asked, making sure some irritation went into my question. Emma smirked more and shrugged.
“I’m good.” Emma replied. I glared at her through the mirror and she rolled her eyes. “Why are you freaking out?”
“I’m meeting James today.” I said, putting my makeup away and pulling out my straightener
“Zach’s dad?” Emma questioned. I nodded and looked at her. “Why is that such a huge deal?”
“Because I want to make a good impression.” I stated, partially lying to her. I did want to make a good impression, but that was because he’s going to be my step-father soon. Zach and I decided not to tell everyone just yet that we were going to be siblings soon just because it wasn’t a good time to. Emma gave me a look and I returned it. “What?”
“Planning on getting married to Zach?” Emma said sarcastically. I scoffed and sighed.
“Totally.” I mocked, working on my hair. Emma made a face and I took a deep breath. “This isn’t just because it’s Zach’s dad. If I were meeting any of the other dads of Avenged Sevenfold I would be freaking out, too.”
“Sure.” Emma retorted. I grumbled and finished up on my hair before turning to her.
“If you’re done being a bitch-which I know you’re not,” I began, smirking when she smiled at my comment. “Are you coming to meet him today, too?”
“No, I have to work today.” Emma sighed. I pursed my lips and smirked again.
“So you’re off that three month break, then?” I questioned. Emma scowled and nodded. I chuckled and patted her back before walking into our bedroom and grabbing my Iron Maiden jacket. “Well I’m off. Have fun at work.” I waved and headed towards the door, picking up my phone and keys on the way out. I skipped down the stairs and got into my car, excited to meet my soon-to-be step-father for the first time. I called up Zach and told him I was on my way and he said okay, but he sounded nervous. “You nervous to see your dad?”
“Uh, yeah, that’s it.” Zach stuttered, making it completely obvious that what he was saying was a lie. I sighed.
“Okay, spill it, Baker. Why are you freaking out?” I questioned, my voice telling him I wasn’t buying what he was selling. He coughed and laughed nervously.
“I’m just worried dad’s going to make a big deal about not seeing me for twelve years.” Zach mumbled. Even though I didn’t believe him completely, I realized he probably didn’t want to tell me the real reason, and I had to respect that.
“Okay. I’ll be there soon.” I sighed before hanging up. I put my phone on the seat and began driving to Zach’s house. I hoped that James would be there soon, because even though I wasn’t exactly excited for the wedding, I did want to be somewhat close to my new ‘dad’. I arrived at Zach’s quicker than expected and got out, grabbing my phone before shutting the door. As far as I knew, everyone except for Matt would be there. That also made me a little upset, because Matt probably wants to see James as well. Everyone once explained to me that all of the Avenged parents treat the guys as though all of them were their children, so James being unable to see Matt made me feel kind of shitty. But, I mean, I’m going to be his child soon, so I can’t just not see him. James was only staying in town for tonight since he had a wedding to plan, and I had decided I was going to crash at Jimmy’s so Zach and James could have family time together to make up for twelve years lost.
“Hey guys,” I greeted as I walked in. Everyone was up near the door, either waiting for me or James. They all said hello and smiled eagerly at me. I laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my head. “What?”
“What’s going on with James?” Jimmy asked excitedly. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Zach.
“Have you gotten in contact with him today?” Zach questioned. I gave him a confused look and he jumped nervously. “He hasn’t called any of us.”
“Oh.” I muttered. They all stared at me curiously and mentally I realized something: they don’t know that I’m going to be, by law, related to James and Zach. If not for that, James wouldn’t know me. Because of that, I decided to lie and I gave them a look of disbelief. “Why would he contact me? I don’t know him.” Zach gave me a confused look and I took out my phone to message him.
I thought we were keeping from them that we’re going to be related.-J
Zach stared at his phone for a minute until he realized what I was talking about. I face palmed and Zach pursed his lips. We all stood and talked for a little while as we awaited James’ arrival, and as we conversed I noticed that Zach and Brian were slightly tense. I gave them a concerned look but they just gave me huge fake smiles. I was about to question them when the door opened. In walked a man with graying hair and similar facial features to Zach. James Baker.
“Dad.” Zach breathed. James smiled and Zach walked over to him. James pulled Zach into a tight hug for a few seconds before moving him off to the side, an arm still over Zach’s shoulders. He waved to the guys and they all waved back. James’ eyes landed on me and I smiled shyly.
“Hello, James. I’m Jessica, although everyone here calls me Kid,” I greeted him, putting my hand out to him. He grabbed my hand and shook it before giving me a curious look.
“And why is that?” James questioned. I smiled and laughed a little, throwing a look to Jimmy.
“Let’s just say Jimmy gave me a nickname that stuck.” I chuckled, letting go of his hand. James looked and Jimmy, who was smiling proudly.
“Oh Jimmy, you’re something.” James sighed, winking at him. Jimmy smiled wider and all of the guys laughed.
“So what brings you here on such short notice?” Brian questioned, trying to start conversation. James looked from Brian to me and then to Zach.
“I just came here to see my son and-“ James began before being stopped quickly by Zach. Zach had tightened his grip on the side of his dad’s shirt, which had gotten James’ attention. He looked at Zach and Zach shook his head, but it was so quick and small that I barely even caught it. James looked at me and I mimicked Zach. He looked confused for a second before catching on to what we were saying. “and here to see you guys.”
“Awe,” The boys cooed, batting their eyelashes. They all started making small talk with James for a little bit, which I had opted myself to stay out of for the time being. After a few minutes Zach noticed my quietness and looked at me. I smiled at him and he motioned for me to talk to him. I cleared my throat and all the guys looked over at me.
“So where have you been for the last twelve years?” I questioned simply, trying to make it seem like I didn’t know as much as I did about James. He gave me a look as though to ask if we were still making it seem like we didn’t know each other and I slightly nodded.
“After what happened here I went out to the Midwest and stayed in that area,” James answered, giving me a look. I gave him a smile of approval and he returned it. That got everyone into the conversation, except for Zach, who took out his phone and began typing.
“Which states did you visit?” Johnny questioned, shooting a look at me since he knew Emma and I came from the Midwest. “Nebraska perhaps?”
“Nah, I stayed away from Nebraska.” James chuckled, which caused me to smirk.
“He is a smart man.” I commented. Everyone laughed and I smiled widely.
“I went around place to place. Went to Oklahoma for a little bit, and then to Iowa for a few years before settling down in South Dakota.” James informed the boys. Brian shot a look at me and I fake winked at James.
“You haven’t happened to see my mom there, have you?” I asked jokingly, hoping he wouldn’t blow our cover. Before he answered Zach slightly nudged him and James inconspicuously was able to read what Zach had typed. He looked up at me and smiled evilly.
“I don’t think I have. But I’ll look out for her.” James responded, winking back at me.
“She’s single. Maybe you guys could hook up.” I continued, becoming more amused of our twisted humor by the second. Zach and James were also amused, which just caused confusion across the other boys.
“Did we miss something?” Jimmy asked, giving me a look. I smiled innocently and he narrowed his eyes at me. James shooed him off and smiled widely.
“Nah. Just conversing between each other.” James lied, laughing a little. Everyone else laughed, including Zach and I. James was about to say something when I heard movement from behind me. I looked over at Zach’s living room, which caused my eyes to nearly fall out of my head. Apparently Matt had been here the whole time, and I hadn’t even fucking noticed. I watched as he walked up next to Jimmy and nodded to James.
“Hey, James.” Matt greeted, although his voice sounded tight. Matthew smiled and turned his attention to Matt.
“Well isn’t it Matthew Sanders. I didn’t even know you were here you were so quiet.” James commented, throwing a light look at Matt. Matt nodded and smiled a little before letting out an uncomfortable laugh.
“I wish I would have said something earlier, because our friend Emma just called. Apparently Johnny’s not answering his phone and neither is anyone else, so she contacted me. Her tire has gone flat and I need to go pick her up.” Matt explained, his voice sounding sad. All of the guys took out their phones and looked at them, confusion immediately crossing their faces as Matt sighed. “It was good seeing you though, and maybe I’ll get to see you again in the near future.”
“Okay, son. Have fun picking up your friend.” James said, patting Matt on the arm as he walked out. Everyone gave each other a baffled look before glancing at me, which made me go a little red. I took out my phone and pulled up Emma’s contact.
Is your tire flat?-J
No, why?-E
*Matt POV*
It was dark, and I was back in my old high school. I walked down the hallways towards the locker rooms when I heard a noise. I picked up the pace as much as I could without being loud until I reached the boys locker room. I gently opened the door, just enough for me to slide in before it creaked. I walked around the small corner and stopped dead. There, on the benches, were Gayle and Kid. Both making out with two different guys. They looked up at me and smiled widely, their mouths glistening with spit from their make out sessions. I backed up into the wall and watched helplessly as-
“Wake up dipshit!” Jimmy yelled in my ear. I flinched at the sound of Jimmy’s voice, my dream still fresh in my mind. I groaned and shooed Jimmy away, pushing my head into my pillow. God I wanted sleep; long, dreamless, uninterrupted sleep. But I couldn’t get that for shit. If I wasn’t up all night because I couldn’t sleep, I was woken up at ungodly hours because of nightmares. It’s my fucking nightmare alright, and I want it to leave me alone.
“Go away.” I moaned, wrapping the pillow around my head. There was a dip in my bed and suddenly I was bouncing. I groaned louder and turned my head to peak at Jimmy. He was smiling widely and he looked like he was going to jump out of his skin. “Where the hell is the snooze button on the Jimmy alarm?”
“That’s below the waist, my friend.” Jimmy answered, winking at me. I sighed and yawned.
“I think it would actually be worth it to punch you in the balls if I’d get more sleep.” I mumbled, opening my eyes more. Jimmy laughed and shoved me a little.
“Get up. Daddy Vengeance is coming into town and you are going to be there.” Jimmy informed me, shoving my arm again. I let out a breath and turned around. His eyes widened a little bit and he came closer to my face. His fingers went towards my eyes and he opened up one of my eyelids widely to inspect something, his eyes becoming a sickening blue as he got closer to my face. He scoffed and pulled away, rolling his eyes. “My God, Shadz, were you up all night getting high? And you look like you have a black eye. Or black eyes.”
“Yup, I totally did shit last night. I got baked and went to a strip club and got kicked as a girl tried to give me a lap dance. Twice.” I said sarcastically, sitting up. I shoved him off my bed so I could sit up, and he burst out laughing.
“Remember when that happened to Johnny?” Jimmy roared, holding his stomach. I began laughing, remembering that night perfectly. It was Johnny’s twenty-first birthday and the stripper we called over for him accidently hit his head with her platform heels. “On his twenty-first birthday, too!”
“That’s a good way to spend your birthday,” I chuckled, standing up to stretch. “A black eye and a huge headache before he could even get drunk.”
“Only happens to Johnny,” Jimmy cooed, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. I let out a laugh and walked around my bedroom, grabbing out clothes to change into and picking up what clothes I had left on the floor last night. I went into the bathroom and got into the shower quickly, trying to keep myself from looking at my reflection. But unfortunately, when I stepped out, I caught a glimpse of myself. And hot damn was Jimmy right; I looked horribly high and beat up. The bags under my eyes were literally black and my eyes themselves had gone bloodshot and light pink from sleep deprivation. I sighed exasperatedly and threw my comb across the bathroom. I had actually been getting decent amounts of sleep recently besides the nights haunted with nightmares, so why the hell do I look like shit? I finished getting ready, thoroughly irritated with my body. I stalked out of the bathroom and looked at Jimmy, who was messing with my rubix cube. He noticed my anger and raised an eyebrow.
“My body is pissing me off.” I grumbled. Jimmy pursed his lips and stroked my back before setting the rubix cube down.
“I’m sorry bro,” Jimmy mumbled. I shrugged and he sighed. “Let’s go to Zach’s.”
“Okay.” I agreed, walking towards my door. Jimmy made small talk with me on the way over to Zach’s, making me forget of my body antics. Jimmy explained what funny things have happened while I was at home for the last few weeks, including the Zach-pancake story. Jimmy had gone to Zach’s house one day and walked in to see Zach and his whole kitchen covered in flour, where Zach was attempting to cook pancakes. We got to Zach’s house a few minutes later, making me slightly excited. I was glad I’d be hanging out with the guys tonight for the first time in a while, and I was also excited to see James. I haven’t seen him since he left twelve years ago, and I wanted to see Zach’s reaction. We walked in and I waved, causing all the guys to stare at me in shock. I sighed loudly and threw my head back. “Let me guess, I look high and beat up.”
“Did you go to a strip club?” Brian snickered, looking at Johnny. Everyone laughed except for Johnny, who was grimacing. I nodded and chuckled, elbowing Jimmy. He smiled widely and I sat down next to Zach, who was bouncing in his seat.
“You excited to see James?” I asked, stretching my arms across the back of the couch. Zach nodded furiously and I laughed. We made small talk for a little bit, mostly about his pancake making skills. I was about to say something when Zach’s phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocket excitedly. He looked at the caller and his eyes widened, the color in his face draining. He gave me a scared look before answering it and walking away from me. That could only mean one thing; Kid was calling. I started tapping my fingers nervously, praying to God that she couldn’t make it today. Zach came back and smiled nervously before sitting down, even more skittish than before. I looked at him and he chuckled uneasily. I sighed and he pursed his lips. “She’s coming here today, isn’t she?”
“Uh yeah.” He answered, scratching the back of his head. “She’s on her way now.”
“Can I go home?” I asked, really not wanting to be around Kid at the moment. Zach shook his head and I groaned.
“You’ve cooped yourself up in your house long enough. You haven’t seen my dad in twelve years, you can get over being in the same room as Kid for a few hours,” Zach complained. I sighed loudly and Zach gave me a look. “Just pretend she’s not there. She doesn’t know you’re here, so she probably won’t even notice you.”
“Why is she coming anyways?” I asked, confusion coming over me. She wasn’t part of the band or anything, and we’ve had other friends than her, why does she need to meet James? She’s most likely barely heard about him.
“She wants to meet my dad and she’s going to. So just suck it up.” Zach retorted. I sighed again and nodded reluctantly, not happy with what was going on. Zach patted my knee before going up to the door like the others were, all anxiously waiting for James. I stayed on the couch, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. Pft, I can do this. I mean, I just need to ignore her. Pretend she’s not there. It’ll be that easy. In the midst of my thoughts I heard the door open and I picked my head up to see who it was. I was slightly disappointed that it was Kid, but once I laid eyes on her I felt like I had when I saw her at our concert almost four months ago. I tried to push the feelings back and focus on something else, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I sat and studied her for who-knows-how-long, mentally punching myself for being too weak to look away. I was so wrapped in my thoughts of Kid that I didn’t even know James was here until I heard Kid introduce herself to him.
“Hello, James. I’m Jessica, although everyone here calls me Kid,” She said, putting her hand out towards James. I smiled a little at the sound of her actual name. I nearly forgot that her name wasn’t Kid because that’s what she liked going by, but I thought the name Jessica was beautiful and fit her. Everything was so screwed up I probably shouldn’t refer to her as Kid anymore since we’re not on speaking terms. I laughed to myself a little bit at the memory of when we first talked to her after the concert when she was reluctant to call us by our real names.
-Flashback-
“By the way kid, call me Jimmy.” Jimmy introduced himself to her. She smiled shyly and nodded, causing all of us to smile widely at her.
“Yeah, and you can call me Zach or Zacky.” Zach continued, smiling at her. Brian swivvled his chair closer to the couch we were sitting on and smirked at her.
“Brian.” He added, waving at her. She waved in return and Johnny cleared his throat.
“Johnny, obviously.” He murmured, smiling.She smiled back at him and looked for where I was. She jumped a little when she noticed I had sat myself down next her when she almost fainted from us putting our hands on her, probably not realizing that I was there.
“Matt.” I said, my voice sweet. She let out a nearly silent squeak and I smiled widely. God she was so cute. She coughed and laughed nervously
“I knew your names, I just didn’t think I was close enough to call you guys by anything other than your stage names since I am just a fan.” She explained, sinking into the couch a little. Brian laughed.
“Well, I say we should all get to know each other so that way you feel comfortable with calling us by our real names.” He replied, smiling. She smiled back and nodded. We all stared at her, waiting for her to speak again. She seemed really shy, but maybe that was because we were Avenged Sevenfold and she was still in shock.
“Oh, um, I’m Jessica by the way.” she informed us, since she hadn’t told us her name before. We all smiled widely and she smiled back, looking at us with bright electric eyes. “So what do you want to know?”

“He is a smart man.” Kid said, pulling me out of my recollection of the night of the concert. I bit my lip, slowly losing my mind. Zach was wrong; I didn’t think I’d be able to stay here with Kid for a few more hours. I know I hurt her with all that happened, but I was hurt too. She believed my bitch of an ex-girlfriend, and she didn’t even tell me they were friends when she had a whole month to tell me. Gayle could have been feeding her lies or talking her out of dating me and she didn’t seem that guilty that she was friends with Gayle. She probably loves being friends with Gayle. They probably talk about how much of an asshole I am and how-
“She’s single. Maybe you guys could hook up.” Kid responded, probably to something they were talking about. I couldn’t stay here. It’s not possible. I’d end up exploding. I thought of an idea to get out of there and stood up. I glanced at Kid briefly, just long enough to watch as shock completely masked her face. Well I’ll be damned, Zach was right, she never noticed me. I walked over to James, plastering a fake smile on my face.
“Hey, James.” I greeted, trying to sound as normal as possible. James smiled and turned to me.
“Well isn’t it Matthew Sanders. I didn’t even know you were here you were so quiet.” James commented, giving me a light look. That’s what I liked about James; he was always so light and care-free. I really hated that I couldn’t actually talk to him today. I nodded and smiled a little before letting out an uncomfortable laugh.
“I wish I would have said something earlier, because our friend Emma just texted. Apparently Johnny’s not answering his phone and neither is anyone else, so she contacted me. Her tire has gone flat and I need to go pick her up.” I explained, trying to make my voice sound sad and sincere. All of the guys took out their phones and looked at them, confusion immediately crossing their faces. I sighed, immediately regretting bringing all of them into my lie. I could have just said Johnny and explained it to him later why I had to lie, but now I’m going to have all of them on my back. I better text Emma when I get out of here and get her to cover for me. “It was good seeing you though, and maybe I’ll get to see you again in the near future.”
“Okay, son. Have fun picking up your friend.” James said, patting me on the arm as I walked out. I sighed loudly and took out my phone, bringing up Emma’s contact in my phone.
I’m gonna come pick you up from work. I might need to slash your tires though.-M