I sighed dramatically as I hit “send” on my last email for the day. Managing a lawsuit of this magnitude could get complicated, and it was nice to be done for now. My eyes flicked to the upper-right corner of the laptop screen to see that it was already 7:24 PM. I smiled involuntarily. The opening band would be starting any minute now, and it was time to switch gears for the night.

I closed my computer and stood up, stretching my arms out to the sides and feeling the tension begin to leave my body. After taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I picked the laptop up again and carried it out of the guys’ tour bus. I walked over to the second bus, expecting to be greeted by the sound of the kids playing when I opened the door. However, as I pulled it open and walked up the stairs, everything was silent. I looked around the living area and bunks, but no one was there.

They must already be backstage, I thought to myself. Maybe the kids and Val were going to be watching the show with me tonight.

I went over to my own bunk and stashed the laptop in the backpack I’d brought along on tour. From the foot of the bed, I grabbed an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and some black Converses. Hey, as long as I was going to be backstage at their show I may as well look the part, right?

I changed clothes in the middle of the bunk area, knowing that no one would be coming in, and then went into the bathroom to check my appearance. Everything was more or less in order, so I decided to leave my hair and makeup as they were. I nodded to myself once in the mirror, and then left the bus again.

Luckily, we were parked close to the backstage entrance, so I didn’t have any trouble finding where I was supposed to go. I opened a door that led up a flight of stairs, and walked down a white-walled hallway towards the sound of voices. I passed a few of the venue’s employees on my way towards the stage, but no one seemed concerned about my presence. So much for security. I was dressed like a fan, and probably didn’t look like I worked here at all, but I guess everyone had bigger things on their minds this close to the start of the show.

I could hear the hum of the crowd more clearly now, and knew I must be getting close to the stage. Finally, I made it to a door that looked promising. It had a paper sign taped on the front that read “A7X”, so I pushed it open and looked inside. It led into a fairly large room, with the same white walls and fake-tile floors as the hallway. There were several mismatched couches strewn against the walls, and a clothing rack filled with mostly black and leather pieces near the center of the room.

As the sign had promised, on the far side of the room, I could see Matt and Brooks joking and laughing with each other. I walked over to join their group. “What’re you guys up to now?” I asked them, crossing my arms over my chest jokingly.

Matt was the one to answer me, still grinning from whatever they’d been talking about. “Hey, Christa. Nothing much, just finishing up getting ready for the show. Johnny’s the last one to get a shower, so we were waiting for him.” He pointed over his shoulder towards a bathroom door I hadn’t noticed before. I nodded in response. “What happened to your guitarists?”

“They’re in the room next door,” Brooks said. “The venue’s pretty big, so we got two all to ourselves this time. Val and the kids are with them, too.”

“Ah,” I said. “So we’re all watching the show, then?”

“Sounds like it,” Matt said, smiling. I could tell he was always happy to have his family close by, and quite frankly, it was adorable. The singer glanced at his phone to check the time. “Opening act’s on in three minutes. Whenever Johnny gets out, we can all go over there for a few minutes before our set.” He walked over to the bathroom and hit his fist against the door a few times. “Johnny, hurry up! Opening band’s gonna start soon!” The response, while muffled, somehow managed to sound indignant, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You guys can go on ahead if you want to hang out with everyone else. I’ll stay here with Johnny and make sure he doesn’t pick an outfit that’s too absurd,” I said, figuring that was probably at least part of the reason why they were waiting around like this. The two musicians looked at each other, then Brooks shrugged. “Yeah, we’ll probably take you up on that, if you’re sure. Thanks, Christa.”

The guys headed over to the next room, and I plopped down onto the couch to wait for Johnny, playing games on my phone in the meantime. I didn’t mind waiting at all. Johnny was the most outwardly social member of Avenged Sevenfold, and perhaps with the exception of Matt, he was the band member I’d consider my closest friend. After he’d emerged from the shower and I’d talked him out of wearing red plaid pants with his new spiky jacket—convincing him that one would distract from the “awesomeness” of the other if he wore both—he spiked his hair up with gel, and we went over to join the others.

Matt and Val were sitting on one couch with their kids on either side of them, looking like a perfect family unit. Zack, Brian, Brooks, and Tennessee were on the other. The opening act had been playing for several minutes at this point, so it was somewhat loud backstage, but not so noisy that we couldn’t hear each other.

We sat around talking, not doing much of anything, until the opening band had stopped. There were only 20 minutes left before Avenged’s set, and it was time for a final round of warming up. “We’re gonna go over next door and get ready for the show, okay, Ten?” Zack said, addressing his son with a hand on his shoulder. The little boy’s face scrunched up in a frown. “You have to go already?” He sounded disappointed, and I could see the regret in Zack’s expression.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, kiddo. But you’ll be able to watch the whole show from backstage tonight, if you want to!” Zack glanced at the rest of us, as if looking for something to cheer up his son. “You can hang out with Aunt Val and Chrissie!”

Tennessee looked unconvinced at first, but his frown eventually dissolved when his eyes landed on me. I gave what I hoped was an encouraging thumbs up. A small smile appeared on his face, and he looked back up at his dad. “That’ll be okay, then.”

Zack shot me a grateful look, before returning his attention to his son. “Perfect. I’ll be looking for you from the stage, okay?” With Tennessee appeased, the band headed back out of the room to warm up, Matt already starting to hum low scales as they left.

After the door had swung shut behind them, I was again alone with Val and the kids. I met her eyes to realize she was smirking at me again, playfully, and I looked away. It wasn’t like that. He wasn’t interested in me like that. It was time to get ready for the show.

For the sake of having something to do, I stood up and walked over to a cardboard box labeled “Hearing Protection” in the corner, rummaging around until I found three pairs of earmuffs. These would make sure the kids’ hearing wasn’t damaged during the show. When I sat back down on the couch, carrying them, I saw that Val had produced a pack of playing cards from her handbag. She looked up at me, mischief gone from her eyes now and replaced with a genuine smile. “Wanna play Go Fish?” I smiled back at her and nodded.

We spent the rest of the time until the guys’ set playing card games with the kids. I was grateful that Val didn’t push the issue of Zack further for now; she must have seen that it was bothering me. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong at all, but I just didn’t want to think about it right now. I wanted to be able to enjoy the show without reading into every tiny interaction I had with him.

Once it got close to showtime, we cleaned up the card games and left the room we’d been sitting in. We walked over to the left wing of the stage, holding the kids’ hands the whole way. A curtain separating us from the stage was drawn closed, so there was no way anyone could see us. However, the crowd was obviously ready to see the band. Repeated chants of “SE-VEN-FOLD” could be heard from the audience loud and clear.

I smiled to myself as I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach. Being here reminded me of the first time I’d ever seen them in concert. I’d been twenty-four years old, in the pit, chanting along with the rest of them. They’d opened with Beast and the Harlot, I remember, and I’d damn near lost my mind with excitement. It was hard to believe eight years had passed since then, but I had to say, watching the guys perform never got old.

Speaking of the band, they appeared from behind us a moment later, talking excitedly with each other. Their pre-show rituals completed, they were ready to get out there. Johnny was practically bouncing off his heels. Val and I helped the kids get their earmuffs on as “Back in Black” started playing over the loudspeakers, as it always did before the band came out on stage for this tour. I squatted down in front of Tennessee, making sure his ears were completely covered, and then stood back up to face the band.

“You guys ready for this?” I asked, unable to keep the grin off of my face. Johnny nodded at me enthusiastically, mohawk bobbing up and down, and adjusted the strap of his bass on his shoulder. “We’re ready,” he said confidently. “It’s gonna be fucking awesome!”

When the song playing over the speakers faded out a moment later, a technician pulled back the curtain from the other side, motioning for the guys to come out. Val and I said our final good luck’s to the guys as they passed us, and they went to take their positions on the stage.

The crowd had grown even louder than before, their chants replaced by clapping and cheering now that the band had arrived. The opening bars of “The Stage” could soon be heard coming from a synthesizer, and when Brian started riffing on his guitar a few seconds later, the show was officially underway.

Val and I stood on the sidelines, watching appreciatively as the band performed the songs we all knew so well. It never ceased to amaze me how they could play so hard, night after night, and still put on such an impressive show. The crowd seemed especially engaged tonight, shouting every word back at Matt for new and old songs alike. The fanbase that they’d built and maintained, across years of music and multiple style changes, made me proud to be a part of the Avenged Sevenfold family.

The guys would glance over at us every once in a while, when they were between songs or were walking over towards our side of the stage. Val held Cash in her arms most of the time, holding up his hand to wave at Matt occasionally, while River stood beside her for the most part. At one point, when Zack was on the far side of the stage, Tennessee asked me to hold him up to get a better view. I agreed, picking him up across my arms the same way Val was holding Cash. He squirmed around a bit to get into a comfortable position, then became still as he turned his attention to the guitarist. Zack was walking towards us a minute later, and Tennessee waved at him wildly, trying to get his attention. Apparently it worked, because when Zack’s gaze fell on us a moment later, his eyes lit up and he grinned, nodding to us. I smiled back at him, but let Tennessee take care of the waving for now. My arms were full, and seeing me drop his son would probably make Zack lose his place in the song.

We watched the rest of the show without anything unusual happening, picking up and putting down the kids as our arms got tired and as they wanted to be held up. The guys finished off their setlist with Unholy Confessions, and just before Brian played the outro, the music stopped for Matt to shout at the audience.

“You’ve been a great fuckin’ crowd, Michigan!” He paused as the cheers built again, looking positively devilish as he held off on the end of the song, knowing what he was doing to everyone. “We’ll see ya back here real soon! Until next time… AUGH!” He turned around, jumping off the platform he’d been standing on and taking one last lap of the stage as Brian played out the final riff of the song.

When it was all over, they faced the crowd once more, deafening screams and applause erupting from the audience. The guys walked back and forth across the stage to toss guitar picks, setlists, and drumsticks to the lucky people in the first few rows. They finally left the stage by a stairwell in the back, and circled back around to meet us in the dressing rooms.

We congratulated the guys as they came in, sweaty and tired but undeniably happy. The high of performing in front of an audience seemed as real for them as it had ever been. Matt tried to give Val a hug, which she didn’t appreciate, but thankfully I was spared from any such sweaty affection.

Zack walked over to where Tennessee and I were standing, taking his son’s hand in his own, much bigger one. “What’d you think of the show, kiddo?”

Tennessee nodded. “It was great! Did you see me and Chrissie backstage?” He tugged on his dad’s hand excitedly, and Zack chuckled.

“Of course I did! I don’t know how I could’ve missed you, when you were waving like that!” Tennessee seemed satisfied for the moment, and Zack turned his attention to me.

“Thanks for watching him again, Christa,” he said, smiling. He seemed to still be in a bit of a daze from the show, a slightly far-off expression on his face, but that was nothing unusual.

“It’s really no trouble at all, Zacky. He’s a pretty cool kid to hang out with.” I smiled at Tennessee, who returned the expression.

The guitarist raised an eyebrow at me then, seeming to come slightly more back to reality as a small smirk appeared on his face. “What’s that? Since when do you call me ‘Zacky’?”

I could feel my face heating up a bit, realizing what I’d said out loud. I’d always thought of him as Zacky in the beginning, when I’d first started listening to the band and hadn’t known anyone’s real names. But, I tried to call them all by their actual names now that we were working together. I probably sounded like a total fangirl.

“O-oh, I don’t—er, I didn’t mean to—it was an accident, I must’ve called you by your stage name because you were just performing,” I said lamely. It wasn’t untrue; he was Zacky Vengeance when he was on stage, but it still seemed like a silly mistake when we actually knew each other.

Zack laughed again. “It’s okay, Christa, I’m just messing with you. You make it too easy.”

I opened my mouth to reply to that, but Brian suddenly walked up next to us. “Hey man, we should probably go get showers soon so we can get back to driving. Next tour stop’s a long ways away.” He clapped Zack on the back, and went off to give the same message to Brooks. Zack nodded after him, and glanced back at me. “Well, I’d better get going, then. See you around, Christa.” He told Tennessee to stay close to Aunt Val, and then headed off in the direction of the showers.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, I repeated in my head. Why’d I have to go and say that out loud? I still called him Zacky in my mind on a regular basis, yes, but that didn’t need to cross over into the real world. He didn’t actually seem worried about it or anything, but Val was already onto me; the last thing I needed was for him to know, too. I’d have to be more careful with what I said.

After waiting for the band to get showers and change into clean clothes, we were ready to get on the road again. We walked with a couple of venue security guards back to the buses, the guys breaking away to talk with a few especially-devoted fans who’d somehow found where we had parked and waited after the show. After a few pictures were taken and autographs were signed, we piled back into the buses. It was time to get some sleep tonight and wake up somewhere new tomorrow.

Notes