Valentine

10.12.19

I woke up around 7 am, tired as fuck. I got home around 12 last night and probably didn't fall asleep until 2 am. I decided to call Asher and Damien to make sure they're awake. Damien answered right away but sounded like he just woke up. Asher on the other hand didn't pick up till the final ring. "Dude, did I wake you up?"

"Um, no not at all....why are you calling me this early?" Asher spoke through the other line, clearly only half-awake.

"Dude, did you forget last night?" I speak into the phone that's now held between my cheek and shoulder, as I try to find something to wear. What the hell am I supposed to wear? We're signing important papers, so I feel like my usual shit is underdressing, but- we're a rock band, what are they expecting?

It takes Asher a second to realize what I meant, "HOLY FUCK!" he yelled, "I gotta go get ready, I'll text you later, can you get me a coffee since you clearly have your shit together and probably have the time to get it??" I could practically feel his brown puppy eyes staring me down thru the phone.

"Yeah, sure. Just please don't be late!" I warned.

"Okay byeeee," Asher said, hanging up.

I finally decided to just dress as my normal self, so a tank-top with a red flannel. I pick out my favorite black skinny jeans and plain black converse. I took a quick shower before getting dressed, messily smeared eyeliner and mascara on, before grabbing my backpack, and my skateboard. Leaving the house at 7:30 I was off to Starbucks.

On my way to get coffee, I texted Damien to see what he wanted. I got everyone's coffee just in time to catch the 8 o'clock bus. Even though the building wasn't thaaaat far from where I lived the bus took 45 minutes to get to the street.

And at 8:50 am on October 12, 2019, I walked into Sumerian Records for my very first time.

I tried to use my backpack to open the door, as I back through it since my hands were full with coffee and my skateboard. Instead, the door opened behind me, and I turned around to come face to face with none other than Remington Leith, again.

"Hey, do you need help with any of that?" He looked down at me, I'm sure I look like a mess, but it doesn't matter.

"No I got it, thank you though!" I said, way too cheery for 9 am. Honestly, a small part of me is a bit disappointed he didn't remember me, but if I didn't know who he was, I probably wouldn't have remembered either, our last encounter happened 8 months ago.

"Alright!" Remington smiled, "I'm Remington, are you one of the new interns?" he asked gesturing towards the coffee.

"Uh no, not really. My band's getting signed today, I was just chosen to grab everyone's coffee," I laughed a little thinking about how I never even offered to get Asher coffee, I was just dragged into doing it.

"Well, congrats! I'm in a band too! We're called Pal-" Remington started.

"Palaye Royale I know," I grinned, trying my best not to sound rude.

"Alright Ms. KnowItAll, what's your band called?" He sassed back.

"Well, if you must know, I'm in a band called Paperweights, and my name is Hazel," I said, looking around to try and find my bandmates so I don't have to carry their coffee.

"Well, Hazel congrats on getting signed. I'm looking forward to seeing you around some more," and with that, Remington disappeared into a different room, right as Asher and Damien walked into the building.

"Hey, guys!" I handed them each their coffee and threw away the cardboard holder.

They both groaned in response while taking their respective coffees.

"Good morning to you too I guess," I grumbled back.

"Hazel, Damien, and Asher from Paperweights?" A lady with blonde hair and glasses called from the same door Austin left thru.

"Yes?!" We said in unison, instantly waking up.

"Follow me please," she smiled before walking down that hall.

We did as told walking quickly behind the lady.

We passed a few doors before finally turning into a door on the right. She opened it for us before leaving, inside was your standard meeting room with a big table and about 8 chairs. There were a few men already sitting down, towards the ends of the table. I only recognized John from yesterday.

A man dress pretty casually as well walked up to us, "It's great to finally meet you guys, I'm Andrew, I'll be your manager." He smiled. Andrew had light brown hair and brown eyes, a few tattoos scattered here and there, as well as some piercings.

"Nice to meet you, Andrew, I'm Hailey!" I introduced myself, then quietly clearing my throat Asher when he didn't do the same.

"I'm Asher!" He spoke up in surprise.

"And I'm Damien." I couldn't see exactly what Damien was doing since I was on Asher's left and he was on Asher's right.

"Please have a seat," Andrew said, and we did as told, "So we want to sign you for a 3 album deal."

I felt my heart skip a beat, I was speechless, what the hell am I even supposed to say? "Alright, um yeah. That sounds great!" I finally spoke.

We continued to discuss the details of the albums, our pay and then we got to the topic of tours.

"So, for your first tour, we want to start you guys off just opening, to really get your name out there. Currently, Palaye Royale is getting ready for a 4-month tour. The first date is January 10th, and we want Paperweights to open for them. What do you guys think?" Andrew asked.

"That sounds amazing!" Damien spoke first.

"Yeah, that's fucking awesome." Asher then said.

Now everyone was looking to me for the answer. I literally don't even know how to verbalize what I'm feeling. it's like waking up and finding out you won the lottery. Speechless. But I still had to give my answer, "How could we even think of declining that?" I smiled looking over at Asher and Damien. We actually did it.

We sign the real, legit papers setting the contract in stone. After that, we were given a small tour of the building, where we're recording, writing, and who else to expect in the halls. But the whole time I was itching to get back home and call Baliey and Sky to tell them all about this.