Chapter Twenty One
After our week in Lebanon, it was time to head home. I was really excited to tell Rian and Zack about our great idea to start a band- I wanted to get started as soon as possible. Alex was a great singer, so he would really help out the talent area of the band.
The day after we got home, the guys all met at my house around noon. We broke the news to Rian and Zack, and luckily, they were just as excited as we were. We all started to jam, and Alex shared one of his songs with us so that we could figure out the drum beat and such. From there, we just went with it.
I researched local places that would let us play gigs and unfortunately, the options were limited. Most hangouts around town were bars, and we were far too young to be let in there. I decided to go down to the diner and talk to Angie about it, see if she knew of any place. This time, I took Alex with me.
Angie spotted me right when I walked in “Mm, child, is that your maaaan ?” She sauntered up to us, looking Alex up and down. He looked startled, I hadn’t mentioned Angie because I figured it was easier to meet her first than explain. “So THIS is the boy you told me about ?” Then “ You two look like you haven’t eaten in years, sit down, sit down. Mama Angie fix you sumthin’ right up.”
I tugged Alex to a booth. “Why are we here ?” He questioned. “We can’t play in a diner.” “I know, but I thought Angie might have some ideas about where we CAN play. That’s why we came here. And apparently, for free pie.” I grinned, nodding toward the tray of pie and coffee that Angie held as she lumbered toward us.
An hour later, Alex and I were full of pastries and new ideas. There were a few coffee shops that we could look into, and a few nightclubs that may or may not let us play. It was worth a shot.
Alex and I walked down to one of the nightclubs right away, to ask about playing this Friday night. I asked a guy named Matt about it, and he said he’d have to hear us play first. We scheduled a sound test for the following day, Monday after school. He was a cool guy, and the gig seemed promising.
I gave Alex a piggyback on the way home, and then we headed upstairs to my bedroom. Spending a whole week with him had been amazing, but honestly, I could never get enough of him. No amount of time would ever be enough to satisfy me. Hopefully someday soon, him and I would be touring the world together and we’d never have to be apart.
He fell asleep on my bed in ten minutes, and I quietly snuck down the hall to the bathroom to purge. The doctor had been stupid enough not to realize that I wasn’t just anorexic, so that was all my parents looked out for. I only had a few more therapy sessions left thankfully, and then I would be done. With that, anyway.
Once my insides were out, I felt much better. I returned to my sleeping Lex, curling up beside him and falling fast asleep.
After school the next day, the guys and I headed down to the night club. Matt helped us set up our instruments, then settled down to watch us. We started by playing Lullabies, and Matt loved it. He jumped out of his chair clapping at the end. “You guys are great, honestly. I can see you guys going places. You’re in. This Friday night, set-up is at seven, you play at eight.”
Little did we know that was just the beginning.
Friday finally came after a hellish week of school. We practiced every day for hours, working on the instrumentals for the lyrics Alex had written. Our set list now consisted of The Party Scene, Lullabies, Hometown Heroes; National Nobodies, Circles, Break Out ! Break Out ! , and This Girls A Straight Up Hustler. The night club was packed, and we were all nervous, but Alex was especially. When it came time for us to play, he was shaking so badly I thought he wasn’t going to be able to play guitar. The lights went up, and I could swear he was about to make a break for it, but he held fast and stuck it out, and we began to play.
I watched with admiration as the previously nervous boy spoke into the mic as if he’d been doing it all his life “Alright everyone, we’re just a group of teenage guys trying to make it big. So far, this is the biggest we’ve gotten, right here, with you guys. We’re All Time Low.”
The night went great, everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy our little show. Matt gave us his number and told us he would book us some more gigs. I hated to admit it, but I was really getting used to this idea of being in a band. What if we DID happen to make it big ? I couldn’t imagine anything I’d like more…I had no idea why I hadn’t thought of forming a band before, since music meant everything to me. Now suddenly it was all I could think about.
The chances of making it big weren’t great, but it was that way for every band, and obviously a lot of them had made it. We just had to keep working, and maybe something could come out of this.
And that was how All Time Low started out.
