Alex, Brett, Ricky, Taylor and Cass were the best of friends. And me, Cass, surprisingly met them at a football game three years ago. We all cliqued right away because we were very much alike. We all liked the same kind of things, and music was a big part of all of our lives. We liked the same kind of heavy metal rock music that no one else usually listened to. I talked to Brett, Alex, Taylor and Ricky the whole football game and found out they were creating a band and by the end of that night I was a part of it...
“Alex, that song is great,” I said while we were sitting in our garage getting ready to practice the new song he had just written. Alex was our main songwriter and he was amazing at it. I stood up to the mike in the middle of the garage and thought the words over in my head. Alex and Brett were tuning their guitars and Ricky was tuning his bass as Taylor was getting his drums ready. After everyone was ready to start, Taylor tapped his drumsticks together three times and Alex started playing the intro. The garage was full of excitement as I was singing my heart out. At the mike was practically the only place I felt comfortable anymore and the guys were the only people I talked to. My life and the guys’ lives changed after the band started.
We were all brought up in nice homes but with parents that weren’t very supportive. They treated all of us badly and were ashamed of us. They thought we weren’t doing anything with our lives and just wasting away. A year after I had joined the band I moved in with Taylor. After another year in the band, we put all our money together and bought a house for all of us to live in. It was an okay house. Life became better after that. Music became the main part of life and since we all lived together we could practice everyday and we became better as the months went by. As money was getting low for us we thought it would be a good idea to advertise to play at parties and some restaurants. After about a month we got our first gig.
On a sunny Saturday in August, a girl named Delilah was having a sweet 16 at her huge house in Martinsburg, which was where our first gig was. She was a full-on rocker chick that looked like she’d love the music we’d be playing. After talking to Delilah for about a half an hour she said it was time for our show. We were all very nervous because it was our first time playing in front of people. I stood up to the mike as my legs shook horribly from being nervous. I was hoping they wouldn’t give out causing me to fall. Brett started playing the intro into the song. And I started singing as Ricky joined in with the bass. I was glad the band couldn’t tell I was nervous by the sound of my voice. I looked to my side and Alex was smiling at me and made me feel better because Alex didn’t smile that much. So, I figured I was doing pretty well. Brett nailed his guitar solo and no one missed a note. The show went surprisingly well and Delilah loved it. She said that we were even better than bands she had heard on the radio. We made about 250 dollars from the show too. We then knew that was what we were born to do and we definitely weren’t wasting our lives away.
All of us were very happy we made it through our first show. We thought maybe if we were lucky we’d become famous. We knew it would take a lot of hard work. We played at restaurants a lot and other parties, sweet sixteen’s mostly. Then the one day when we were getting ready to practice for an upcoming show a huge crash came from the back of the garage. Brett had a very short temper and he about had it with Taylor. Taylor and Brett fought all the time and they never got along well. They were the only problem the band had. Brett never took it that bad though. He now had depression though and things got to him a lot easier. Sometimes he couldn’t really help himself and just broke down and cried. This time though he was so mad at Taylor that he took his guitar and smashed it across Taylor’s drum set completely destroying both of them. They were screaming at each other and none of us knew why. “Brett, what are you doing?” I screamed. “You know we don’t have the money to replace those!”
Right then Brett took off out the door. None of us knew where he was going. So, I jumped in the car and followed him. He was still running when I caught up with him. I stopped the car in the middle of the road jumped out and ran in front of him. He stopped with tears down his face and his head down to the street. I hugged him as he just cried more and more. I knew that he didn’t like his life and it was hard for him to live it. He needed love and when he got in fights it tore him down very badly. I took his hand and opened the car door for him. “I’m not going back,” he said. “They’re all going to hate me.”
I then looked Brett in the eyes and said, “Brett, none of us could ever hate you. You’re family to all of us. We couldn’t make it with out you.” He smiled and finally got in the car. I was driving back and noticed a huge limo parked in the driveway. I pulled in and saw the face of my hero’s getting out of the limo.
I was full of shock and amazement when I saw the guys that inspired me to do so many things. My favorite band Avenged Sevenfold was standing in the garage looking at me with smiles on their faces. I got out of the car and walked over to ask Alex what was going on. He told me that the guys saw our stuff in the garage and stopped to see how we sounded. Alex had told them what happened too and they offered to let us use the Rev’s drum set and Zacky Vengeance’s guitar. Brett was amazed as he held Zacky’s guitar in his hands. We got everything set up and they sat on the limo in front of the garage as we sang and played our hearts out. Their faces had an unexplainable look on them. They looked at each other and then smiled. We had no clue what was coming. Then, my favorite band in the world, offered us a record deal. Alex, Brett, Ricky, Taylor and I screamed and all hugged each other. We were to go to a recording studio on the next Monday to work on our first album.
A month later most of the album was done. We were doing great. We only had 3 more songs to record. Then the one day when we were in the studio Avenged Sevenfold walked in and told us that after our first album was out we’d have the opportunity to go on tour with them. All of us were so surprised and very grateful to go on tour with the greatest rock band in America. When the record was finally done it went out in stores and it was a big hit. Three of our songs were also on the radio. A month after the album the tour started and it was the greatest time of our life. We had the best year ever being on tour with the guys. We had become popular in the music world in less than a year and it all happened so sudden. We were living the life style we always wanted to live. Fame turned our life around completely. We were just a garage band, now we’re the next greatest rock band, walking in the footsteps of the band that inspired all of us. I guess we’re just simply famous.