Chapter Twenty Nine
Everything was back to normal now, and better than ever. The guys and I have band practice almost every day, and we play a lot of small parties and gigs now. Jack and I are inseparable…I’m so in love with him, it’s not even funny. I never thought a boy would consume my life, but he has. He’s my best friend and my lover, and I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything. The Barakat family and my family are one in the same; you can’t have one without the other.
I’m done with cutting now, and Jack is on his way to full recovery from his bulimia and anorexia. Everything is falling into place instead of falling apart for once.
Me and the rest of All Time Low were working on an actual full album, and it was taking up most of our time. We were always all together now at one of our houses or the park, practicing, practicing, practicing. I was feeling pretty worn out, but pretty proud of how it was turning out. Writing down all those lyrics for years really came in handy now.
The guy who had hired us for our first gig, Matt Flyzik, was now somewhat of a manager for us. He would sit in on our practices and give us tips and tell us how to perform better. He said he was trying to get us a record deal, but I doubt that will happen. I mean, we’re just a bunch of teenage fanboys.
We can dream though, right ?
In the middle of July, I sat on my floor, chewing on my pen and scribbling down lyrics. I was all alone for once, the guys had claimed they all had something important to do and decided to exclude me I guess.
“Luck loves me not tonight, I'm running out...
This four leaf clover's all but useless now.
I've got four wheels that say I'm not alone tonight,
I'm always looking for a joy ride through the
Brightest part of this town.
Break out, break out,
As we escape through the windows,
Head for the car, and never look back, singing-singing,
"Break out, break out,
Our time has come and we've got these big city dreams."
I sang the words out loud softly to myself, nodding in approval. I added a few more lines, closing my worn lyric book and tossing it aside. I leaned my head back against the wall, wondering what the guys could possibly be doing. I worried that maybe they were interviewing another singer and trying to replace me…I shook that illogical thought out of my head and went downstairs to make some coffee.
It was 6pm and I hadn’t gotten a single call or text from any of the guys. My parents were out doing God knows what as well, and I’d been alone since noon. Not that I didn’t like being home alone, I just almost never was. I was ALWAYS with Rian, Matt, Zack, or Jack. Not today though, for some unknown reason. I fidgeted around, growing more anxious by the minute. Just WHAT was going on ? Why was it such a big secret ?
My phone rang at seven o’clock and I jumped to answer it. “Hello ?” “Hey Alex, it’s Matt. We got you guys a record deal.” I dropped the phone, jumping around excitedly.
All Time Low was official.
Little did we know, ten years later we would still be going strong. We would have changed millions of lives, and actually made a difference. Jack and I would have our own radio show, we would be touring with Green Day, we’d be friends with the guys of Blink 182, we’d be touring internationally….We’d get everything we’ve ever wanted.
It didn’t come without hard work though, we’d also learn. But I wouldn’t trade my best friends/band mates for anything. Or our fans, for that matter. I’d be totally lost without my band, or music for that matter.
“See what time will do for hopeless dreamers, making wishes on their broken stereo.”
“This next song goes out to anybody who’s ever been told that the way that they think or the way that they feel is the wrong way to think or the wrong way to feel. Goes out to anybody who’s ever been pushed down, held back, walked on… Anybody who doesn’t feel comfortable in their own skin, anybody…everybody - It goes out to everybody. It goes out to all of you! And the reason it goes out to all of you is because every single one of you is fucking beautiful. I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of people in the world trying to tell other people that they’re not beautiful. And I don’t stand for that, I think that’s bullshit. Each and every single one of you are gorgeous, believe in yourselves. This song goes out to all of you. It’s called ‘Therapy’.”
― Alex Gaskarth
**The end !!
