Destined to Explode (Adopted by All Time Low)

Chapter 9

It's October 4th and it's about 7 am. I'm standing outside my old high school. We go inside and check in. I lead them to the back stairs and up to the English classroom.

I see Mrs Coyer and I hug her. "Hey guys! Congrats with your success!" I smile. "It's crazy." "I can't imagine." We have nearly 3 million followers on Instagram and about 18 million monthly listeners.

We're just about as popular as Fall Out Boy. I'm not covering my scars today, I'm feeling really open. Leah comes in. She's interviewing us for the school newspaper.

I see her look at my arms. "Oh, Rachel. I thought you stopped." "I tried, I didn't want to be treated differently though. I pretended I was better. I stopped going to therapy and everyone thought I was better. Reggie is the only true one who even to this day knows how bad I got back in 9th and 10th grade."

I know Dad has a relative idea. She grabbed my hands and looked at my wrists. "How long ago were these?" "My 17th birthday. Two weeks before I went to the group home with these three. I had to get out of the house I was in, one way or another."

I take back my hands and cover my wrists again. "Okay, I'm going to take some pictures of you four first, for the article." She takes some pictures and I interrupt her before the interview. "Leah, I saw you got offered a job at AP." She smiles. "I accepted it. I'm going to do it during college and keep it until I can get a job as a director."

I smile. She interviews us and I feel really anxious as it goes on. When she finishes, I excuse myself to the bathroom. I sit in there and take on of my anxiety pills. "You know, I really agree with Mikey that you need to be careful how often you are taking them."

"I know." It's hard for me to breathe and I know I'm having a panic attack. I hear Leah. "Rachel, breathe. How can I help you?" I shake my head and move the bottle a little. "She took an anxiety pill before her panic attack began. It will begin fading soon."

I feel her pick me up and she carries me back to the classroom. She places me next to Dad and I immediately cuddle into him. I eventually calm down. "Are you okay now?" I nod.

I see more people come in. "I managed to get a total of 19 of you. There is 1-2 students per each of you. We'll be going outside so it's easier for them to get the audio recordings. My first period class will be down in the library so you guys will be able to stay in here. They'll get about 5 minutes in here before they have to go down but they'll be allowed to socialize so you won't be interrupting anything."

I go about figuring out who is here. It's my band, Dad's band, Frank, Gerard, Patrick, Pete, Kellin, Nick, Vic, Tony, Andy, Jake, and Johnnie Guilbert. Tony sits next to me. "Are you okay?" I nod.

"She just had a panic attack." He nods in understanding. I hear the bell ring and I stand up. I yawn. "It's too early for this." Multiple of them laugh. I see a girl come in with an adult following her and she goes to the corner.

She signs. "Hello." It is followed by a sign I don't recognize. More kids come into the class and begin socializing with us but she makes no move even though she is watching us carefully. I go over to her. "Hi, my name is Rachel Grilley." Her head perks up.

"You know ASL? Are you deaf?" "Yes. I'm hearing but after some events, I was mute for 9 months. I had taken ASL in high school and learned more in college." "I like your music. I interpret it sometimes." I smile.

"What's your name?" "My name is Violet Wilde. My name sign is Violet." "Cute name." She smiles a little. I hear Mrs Coyer begin talking and I point to her. I watch the interpreter begin signing and I go back to the others. When they all leave, Johnnie comes over.

"You're pretty cute." I giggle. "I thought you were done with trying to date and getting your heart broken." He groans. "I wish I would think more before tweeting." "It would do you good. I think you really did need people to talk to you though."

He nods. "Also, you are pretty attractive yourself." I hear Dad clear his throat. "He's also over 18." I roll my eyes. "I'm almost 18. Plus, legally I would be able to date him, just not have sex in some states."

He covers his ears like he is innocent. "Oh please, we have all heard you and Lisa having sex as well as Rian and Savannah." He blushes. Mrs Coyer stands up and puts a sign on the door.

"Okay, let's all go outside." We go to the foyer and I sit down, mentally beginning to play the guitar. Johnnie sits next to me. "You seem very focused." "I'm mentally playing King For A Day on guitar."

"How does that work?" "I'm literally picturing playing the guitar. Picking, the frets, everything." He laughs. "You are odd." "Normally." The bell rings. "Did you actually mean what you said about me being attractive?" "Definitely. Honestly, I had a crush on you starting when I turned 16. The only one that stayed as well."

He smiles. I hear a few kids that sound excited. I mumble to him. "I wish I could put on my sunglasses and hide." He laughs. "Honestly, I don't blame you." We sign a few things. "Remember you still have to get to class." A few of their eyes go wide and they go running off.

I watch the kids in the class sit down on the pavement. The bell rings. "Alright, as a reminder, you are interviewing the band members. You all know who you were assigned. Make sure you ask if you can record."

A kid walks over to me. She seems pretty quiet and I kind of recognize her. She has a few bruises on her arms. "Carlei Winters?" She looks shocked and has a few moments before she recognizes me.

"How did you know it was me?" "I'm good at recognizing faces. Wouldn't you only be in 8th grade?" "Technically, yes. I skipped 7th and 8th." I nod. "I know you are supposed to be interviewing me, but what caused you the bruises?"

"My step dad and mom. I'm out of the house now. Were you the one who called on my parents during the running club?" "My first adoptive mom was, yes." "Thank you. That gave them enough to put away my parents." "I'm sorry it took so long. I know how sucky it is to get hurt frequently."

I watch her grab her phone. "Do I have permission to record?" "Yeah." "Can you confirm on record I have permission to record on record?" "Yep." "What's your name and how do you spell it?" "Rachel Gaskarth. Rachel Gaskarth."

"When did you begin learning guitar?" "I was 16. August of 2020 when I got my first guitar. I began lessons in December of 2020." "What was the first song you learned?" "The first song I learned was- Well, I guess it was two songs concurrently. I learned Good Riddance and Brain Stew, both by Green Day, as my first songs." "I'm not a guitarist, so I wouldn't know this, which was easier?" "Brain Stew, definitely. I think it's a pretty core song for any Green Day fans that are looking to learn power chords or just begin guitar in general."

"What songs by other artists do you remember as being huge when you were first learning to play?" "Pretty much any I learned in my first three months. Some Kind of Disaster by All Time Low, Carolyn by Black Veil Brides, 2 Chord by Sleeping With Sirens, Circles by Pierce The Veil, The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. I've been told I tend to learn quickly, so I went through songs quickly."

"What do you do outside of the music world?" "I don't spend much time outside of it, but I enjoy running, working out, in general, horseback riding, watching horror movies, and drawing." "What are your best and worst memories with one of those things?" "My worst is running on an injured knee while I was coaching a running club. My best, the first time I went riding at Dad's house. He trusted me enough to ride his newest and youngest horse. It also was probably the first time I trusted anyone outside of the band in about a year."

"Do you have any advice for those looking to start out in the music industry?" "Don't turn down any of the beginning gigs, no matter if you are going to come out with any money or not, don't expect to be able to sell a ton of merch from the beginning, and if it's what you truly want to do, don't give up on it, no matter how hard or impossible it may seem."

"Do you have anything to add?" "Nope." She ends it. "Thank you." "No problem." She goes over to Mrs Coyer and then retrieves her laptop. I watch her type them up. "Mrs Coyer wanted me to have you do some quick editing on punctuation if you were willing."

I edit it some and hand the laptop back to her. I hear the bell ring. Most of the kids pack up and leave.