Valerie and I flashed our backstage passes to the guard, and he signaled for us to go ahead. We walked over to the dressing room, expecting the guys to be there getting ready, but the sudden screaming of the crowd told us that they were already on stage.

As we were directed to the side of the stage, I couldn't help but squeeze Val's arm and jump around.

"I can't believe I finally get to see them live, I'm so happy and excited, aren't you excited Val, you don’t look excited, come on get happy, our men are abo-" My fangirl gushing was interrupted when Val swung around on her heels and slapped me in the face. It wasn't so much of a hurt slap, just a warning slap. The surprise was the only thing that hurt.

"Wha, what was that?"

"Quit acting like a child, it's just a concert. Take it from me, if you keep acting like this, no one'll take you seriously. Just chill out ok?" She swung back around on her heel and kept walking towards the stage.

I ran to catch up, and had a WHOLE shitload of comebacks prepared, but Matt's voice over the loudspeakers stopped us in our tracks.

"WHAT THE FUCK'S UP CHICAGO?" The crowd went nuts, eating up every word and chuckle that was breathed into the mike.

"Shit, come on Mari, they're about to start." Val grabbed my wrist and pulled me past their bodyguards. God, why does a band need so much protection, I thought. All the while, Matt kept talking into the mike.

"Haha, we are Avenged Sevenfold, and we're here in your city ready to entertain all you mother fuckers." His voice paused, then continued on after the screams died down.

"Naw, I'm just kidding, you know we love you guys. Anyways, we're gunna get right into this thing, starting with the song Welcome to the Family. Hope you fuckers enjoy!"

We barely made it to the stage by the time the guys started up, and by then they were already onto the second verse.

"HEY, there's somethin missing,
Only time will alter your vision,
Never in question, lethal injection,
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY!
Not long ago you'd find the answers were so crystal clear
Within a day you find yourself living in constant fear
Can you look at yourself now?
Can you look at yourself?!
You can't win this fight

I watched in wonder as the guys poured their hearts out into this song, especially Jimmy. Just looking at his face scared me, he looked so angry and concentrated. He probably played like that all the time, so I just shrugged it off, and started swaying my hips to the beat.

When the song was almost over, I glanced back up at the stage, and stopped dead in my dancing.

Zacky was staring at me. He didn’t stop there, but smiled and pointed the end of his guitar at me too. Was it for me, or part of his whole "show off my rock star abilities" thing? Even as the thought entered my head I knew it was meant for me.

My jaw hit the floor (how pissed would Jimmy be if he found out); he winked, then finished the spin and landed back to back with Matt.

What was wrong with that guy, he was just a puzzle I couldn't solve. Calm down, this was probably just his way of being friendly. That was what I told myself over and over again.

Whatever it was about, it would have to wait until afterwards. No way in hell was I wasting this moment thinking about Zacky Vengeance.