Nothing Lasts FoREVer

“A VAN? Are you fucking kidding me?”, I panicked as soon as I saw that thing. It was an old Volkswagen Bus all costumed up. How the hell was I supposed to drive that thing? How would I park it? I was already used to my car, which was way smaller than that thing!

“What?”, Zacky was looking at me.

“ I just got my license! What if I crush that thing?”, I was genuinely worried.

“OH, shut up! Don’t be such a baby! You just got your license and so what? All you need is practice! If you crush it, I’m sure insurance will take care of it! Now, get in already, you baby!”, Brian was making fun of me.

I looked at Johnny for support but he just shook his head. I opened the driver’s door resentfully, and I forced myself to seat there and just drive carefully. Actually it really wasn’t that different, I had no trouble parking it as I thought I would, but I only relaxed when we were back in our camp.
We bought three crates of beer, three bottles of vodka, three bottles of whisky, three bottles of Tequilla, two packages of water and some soda for me. I had to go to work in the next morning, so I wouldn’t drink alcohol that night. Well, maybe a couple of shots…
We ordered take out for dinner that night too. We spent the night seated around the bonfire, talking, laughing, and making fun of one another. They didn’t drink that much that night, perhaps out of respect for me, I don’t really know.
I’d sleep at Jimmy’s tent that night too, ‘cause no one set up my tent. It was around 2 a.m. when I wished them all a good night sleep and headed to the tent, Jimmy followed me.

“Do you mind if I sleep with you tonight? I’ll behave, I promise.”, he asked hesitantly.

“Not at all! But no personal questions tonight, okay?”, I said.

“Okay.”, he agreed. ”Will you stay here with us until we leave?”, he asked.

“When will you leave?”

“In three weeks.”, he answered.

“I’ll need to warn my mom, I told her I was camping for a few days! But despite what she says, I’m staying.”, I said with a beam on my face. “But what will happen after you guys leave? Will I lose contact with you?”, I was suddenly worried.

“Only if you wish so… I would love to keep in touch with you, and I bet the guys feel the same way. We’ll exchange emails and phone numbers.”, he cheered me.

We talked for a little longer and then we fell asleep. I woke up at 8 in the morning, grabbed my dirty clothes and went home for a good shower. My mom was home when I got there, so I took my chance and warned her that I would stay camping for three more weeks. She wasn’t thrilled about it.

“Oh, mom! Come on… I’m going anyway but I’d really like you to be okay with it. I need this, you better than anyone know what I have been through these past 8 months. I need to feel this good, this relaxed before I go to college! You know that next year I’ll be studying and working my ass off, so grant me this… Will you?”, I appealed to her common sense.

“Who are these new friends of yours, then?”, she asked curious. She knew it all, and obviously she knew that they were not some guys from school.

“They’re a group of Americans that I met at the bar!”, I sighed. I knew what was coming next…

“Cat, for God sake! You just met them and you’re camping with them? How do you want me to be okay with it?”, she asked furious.

“Because those strangers have been more kind to me than my childhood acquaintances all together! Trust me on this one, mom, please!”, I pleaded.

“Fine then! I just hope you won’t regret it later!”, I knew she wasn’t fine with it, but my mom had always given me enough freedom to learn from my mistakes.

“I really need to go now, I’m getting late for work. I’ll stop by every day to keep you posted so you won’t worry unnecessarily, okay? I love you, mom.”, I landed a kiss on her right cheek.

“I love you more than anything in the whole world, honey, that’s why I worry so much! I don’t want to see you get hurt again, baby!”, she hugged me tightly.

“I know mom, but you can really trust me on this one! They’re awesome, they really care about me. I slept with one of them last night, we shared my pillow and he didn’t try, not even once, to take some kind of advantage over me. More than anything they respect me, and I love that! The first night we all slept together inside the same tent, ‘cause they wanted to show me that I belong to their family now. They make me feel important, essential.”, I explained her everything that had happened praying she would finally trust me.

“Bring them home someday so I can meet them, okay?”, there it was, she was giving me the benefit of the doubt.

“I will, mom! Bye.”, I kissed her one more time and left.

I worked all day until 6 p.m.. They were all waiting for me outside the bar, Jimmy handed me my towel as soon as I reached them. They all joined me for my daily swim. We were back to the camping spot at sunset. I informed them that they would have to meet my mom soon and they were all thrilled about it, which I must confess, bothered me a little. I was worried about what my mother would think of them, they were great people, but my mom would not see them that way, at least at first. I knew that the first thing she would notice would be the guy’s tattoos, and she can be a little judgmental sometimes. I was deep in my thoughts; Jimmy’s gaze brought me back to earth. He was waiting for some kind of explanation for my preoccupied face; I could tell by the way he was staring at me. I really needed something else to think about; those thoughts wouldn’t help me escape from Jimmy’s curiosity. He was always paying attention.

“Hey, do any of you guys play any instrument? It would be fun to share some musical taste around the bonfire!”, I remembered what Jimmy had told me about who they were, so I gave it a try. They all looked at each other a little compromised.

Matt was the first the first one to talk, after clearing his throat.

“Well…”, he started and then stopped.

“Yes???”, I insisted.

“I mean… We all play our parts in a band. I’m with the vocals, Jimmy is with the drums, Brian and Zacky with the guitars and Johnny with the bass.”, he finally explained a little embarrassed.

“Really? What kind of music do you play, then?”, I asked doubtful.

“We’re somewhere in between hard-rock and metalcore! We really don’t want to be tagged as metal or hard rock or whatever; we’re trying to create our own style. Do you know what I mean?”, Brian helped Matt.

“Would you sing for me, Matt?”, I pleaded.

“There's no need to tell you what's in my mind,
but in the game of life I'm doing fine.
No reason to tell you which way to be.
Cause the streets have opened my eyes to see.”, he sang to me and then rubbed his neck nervously.

FUCK!!! Jimmy wasn’t lying… They really were Avenged Sevenfold! And Matt’s voice was so perfect. I looked at Jimmy and he had an ‘I told you so’ expression written all over his face.

Notes

Here is another chapter... It's a little short, but... I really hope you enjoy it!
Well, Jimmy was telling the truth after all...
What will happen next? What will Cat's mom think of the guys? Will she approve of them?