**Apollo's POV**

My name's Apollo Sanders. What a name, huh? I'm 14 years old and I live with my parents in Huntington Beach, California. I'm an only child, which sucks because it means I've got no one to torment- I mean play with at home. My dad's the frontman of Avenged Sevenfold, a popular metal band. He formed the band with his best friends from when he was at school. He goes on tour with them every few years and I've only ever gone with him twice: once when I was a baby and once for my 8th birthday. It's just a shame I can't remember much of it...Oddly, he refuses to tell me anything...Anyway, he always says I'm not ready to live life on the road with him and my uncles, but I disagree. I mean, how hard can it be? While he works in the studio, my Mum works at a law firm and often gets home late. Luckily, Dad's almost always home when I get back from school. It's not that I can't fend for myself but y'know, it's nice to have him there when I get home.

Speaking of school, it's the first day of the new school year. I'm preparing to go in and reconnect with all my friends. What's even better is that I get to see my girlfriend, Jessica. I haven't seen her face to face since we left for the summer holidays. I hate that she lives so far away, because that means when we break from school, I don't see her for a long time. At school, I guess you could say I'm one of the popular kids. Large friendship group, top of the class (Mostly) and made it in a few sports teams over the years. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Anyway, the year ahead is looking to be my perfect year. I've got some of the best teachers in the school and I know I'm going to enjoy it.

There's only one problem - Dad's thinking of pulling me out of school. Why?
Because he's going on tour, and I have to go with him.

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"C'mon Apollo, wakey wakey! You're gonna be late for school!"

I let out a loud, dramatic groan as I shoved my covers away from my body. I propped myself upright to face my father, who was standing in the doorway. He leaned against the frame with a grin plastered on his face. If anything, he was more than relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with my crap for 6 hours every weekday. He pointed over to my chair stationed by my desk. There sat a large pile of clothes, stacked and folded neatly.

"There's your clothes, your bag's all packed and downstairs. Don't expect this tomorrow, kiddo." He told me. It was unusual for him to sort my stuff out for me, especially since he was nagging me for days to get everything sorted. To be honest, he probably needed something to keep himself busy.

"Thanks Dad." I smiled up at him, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, my feet landing on the floor with a thud. I walked over to the pile of clothes and picked out a Pantera shirt and a pair of tattered black jeans. The click of my door closing told me that Dad had left, so I could get changed.

Once I had gotten dressed, I slipped out of my bedroom and into the bathroom. As I stepped inside, my eyes fell to the mirror. Short, ruffled raven hair. Electric blue eyes. Deep dimples. That smirk. Yeah, I'd gotten very used to the face that stared back at me. It's no wonder people called me a spitting image of my father. We looked almost exactly alike, aside from our eyes and slight differences to the face.

Turning the tap on, I washed my face and hands and ran my fingers through my hair several times. After finishing, I headed downstairs to the kitchen. Dad had taken his seat at the table already, his cup of coffee in it's usual place and his Ipad on the table in front of him. I watched as he tapped at the screen, most likely scrambling to finish off an important email.

"Good morning Apollo." Mum smiled at me from the other end of the kitchen while she kindly prepared me and Dad some breakfast. She brought the plates over as soon as she finished, then kissed me on the head and pulled my chair out for me to sit. While I tucked into my food, Mum turned to Dad and crossed her arms.

"Matthew, Ipad off the table. You can finish whatever you're doing once you've had your breakfast." She told him in a stern tone.

"Don't 'Matthew' me..." He grumbled under his breath, saving whatever was on his Ipad before locking it and placing it on the table. Mum gave him a look.

"What was that, Mister?"

Dad heaved a heavy sigh "Mais, you know I hate bein' called Matthew..." I watched as Mum placed her own plate on the table. Then, she wrapped her arms around Dad's neck loosely from behind and kissed his cheek.

"Sorry babe, I just really wish you wouldn't work at the table... Now come on, eat up." She said, sitting down to eat. Dad nodded and had a few bites of his breakfast, before taking a sip of his coffee and looking over at me.

"I'm guessin' you'll be late home tonight?" He asked, lowering his cup and leaning back in his chair. I shrugged.

"Depends."

"Well, I thought you'd wanna spend time with your girlfriend, hm? You haven't seen her for 6 weeks."

Man, as much as I loved the 6 weeks away from school, I hated the 6 weeks of not being able to see her, the girl of my dreams. My girl. I nodded and took a bite of my food. "Yeah... It's been a long time."

"Well in any case let me know, yeah?"

"Will do." I smiled. I loved how Dad was totally cool with my relationship. He never really minded what we did as long as we weren't getting ourselves into trouble.

I finished off my food and got up from the table. Right as I did so, I heard the front door open and in came Uncle Syn and Uncle Dan. I dashed out of the kitchen and down the hall like a bat out of hell, right into Syn's arms. He chuckled and somehow heaved me off the ground, squeezing me tight in his arms as he'd done since I was a baby. I could hear Dan laughing as he slipped past and into the kitchen to see Dad. A few moments later, Syn lowered me back on my feet and I grinned up at him as he ruffled my hair even more than it already was.

"Heya Spaceman! You alright there?" He asked me, beaming. "You're extra energetic today!"
I couldn't help but laugh at his comment. "Of course! It's the first day of school, remember?"

Uncle Syn joined in with my laughter and eventually we wandered into the kitchen. On our way in, we spotted Dan raiding through the fridge, while Mum shook her head in disapproval. Typical. Dad looked up from his demolished breakfast and grinned, getting up and greeting Syn with a big hug. Then he turned to Dan, laughed and gave the same greeting. He invited them to sit at the table and offered to make them something to eat.

As much as I wanted to hang around and chat, Mum told me I needed to be getting ready to leave in a few minutes. With a groan, I headed into the living room to check my bag and grab my jacket. She followed me in, suggesting the guys in the kitchen need to talk about something important. Fair enough, I supposed.

Then, when the time to leave came, Dad, Syn and Dan reappeared to say goodbye. They all gave me hugs and good luck wishes, and I went to step outside into the cool Californian air. Then, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Dad, as I had guessed.

"Go get 'em, Spaceman. Show them you're still the badass around here."
I couldn't help but laugh and thank him for his comments. After that, I finally walked outside and the door closed behind me.

Notes

Hey guys, thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you liked it!
So I'm finally re-writing this story! It's a lot different to the original, but I've got a very good idea for the plot and it's all written down, so hopefully I'll stick to it and finish the story the way I intend to!

Do you guys have any predictions or thoughts on the story? I'd love to hear what you think!