Zacky and the Lawyer - An Avenged Sevenfold Story

Chapter 4: Backstage

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.