Total Chaos (A.T.O.C. Part Two)

Bittersweet Return

The guys invited me to the studio today to kinda see how things work there. How their writing and recording process goes, because I guess it's pretty interesting. At least, that's how Val was describing it to me.

"They're working on layering some riffs in the guitar solo," she explained, "and so far it's going well."

I adjusted the phone between my ear and shoulder as I opened my car door and jumped inside, throwing my bag onto the passenger seat.

"But I've gotta warn you about Brian. He doesn't really get frustrated, bu-"

"FUCK FUCK FUCK!" I heard in the background.

"Jesus Christ, was that him?" I asked as I started the car, taking the phone into my left hand and steered with my right.

"Yeah..." she replied. "What's sad is that I'm in a different room down the hall."

"Dear God." I muttered as I drove away from my house and down the street. "Is it like that all the time?"

"What part?"

"The frustration."

"No, not really." she replied. "It's only momentarily because Bri dug himself a hole by putting some triplets into a solo. He has to layer those."

I had no idea what she meant by layering triplets, since my area of music was more along the lines of drumming, but if it was messing up Brian, it would be impossible for me to tackle.

"That sounds rough." I commented.

"Yeah. Anyways, the camera crew isn't here today, since the guys are working on the same thing as yesterday, so you're clear." she chuckled.

I breathed a laugh and changed lanes as I got closer to the turn that I had to make that would eventually lead me to the studio.

"Well I'll be there in, like, two minutes, so I'll see you then." I said.

"Okay. I'll wait out front for you."

We hung up and I put my phone in my bag while keeping a eye on the road.

I was excited for this. Seeing the guys in their natural habitat, besides being on stage. I knew that some frustration came along with writing and producing an album, but I also knew that it was a lot of fun.

I mean, hey, it's the guys. They could make a party out of nothing.

I was especially excited to be able to be around Zacky again - in person. He was released the afternoon when he first woke up from sleeping. The doctors told him to take it easy for a few days, since some of the drugs wouldn't be completely out of his system until then.

But of course, as soon as we left the parking lot of the hospital, he wanted to get some food and go to the studio to write some more music.

I finally approached the driveway of the studio and turned into it, driving to the side of the building. I knew it was the right entrance to go to, since a petite blonde figure was waiting outside.

I parked and flew out of the car, barely remembering to grab my bag and phone before rushing to Val.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, I overslept and-"

"It's fine, Anna, chill." Val chuckled. "The guys are busy with their work right now. They'll probably think that you're early."

I smiled and exhaled before Val opened the gray metal door on the side of a blue painted building. We walked inside and found ourselves in a small hallway that opened up into a much larger room. The walls were painted a burnt orange and the wooden floors were covered in various rugs and were lightly littered with empty bottles. A large black Avenged Sevenfold flag was hung up on the opposite wall.