I winced as Jack rapped my injured hand with gauze. He smiled weakly and gently patted the bandages when he was done.

"Next time don't punch a picture frame, ok?" he joked, seemingly amused by my discomfort.

"No promises," I mumbled, "Especially if it's her..."

Honestly, I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel. She made it quite clear that she hated me, wished I was never born even. But she was still my mother, and even though I shouldn't have, through all of the resentment and hatred, I loved her. I don't why I got my hopes up that secretly, she loved me too. But she didn't, and now that love I had for her is seemingly burnt out.

"So, Keith you said?" Mrs. Barakat asked, reminding me that I had more important things to think about right now.

"Yes ma'am," he responded.

"Since I didn't personally speak to you on the phone, I was wondering what company you're from and what you want with these boys," she said, eyes narrowing slightly.

I saw Jack roll his eyes at her. I bit my lip and patted his thigh. She just has his best interest at heart, making sure that we don't get scammed. I wish he were more appreciative of her, all she does is care for him and his siblings.

"Of course, of course," Keith said with a smile, "I'm from Emerald Moon Records. We're a relatively small recording company founded in downtown Baltimore. We're currently looking for a few young bands, such as All Time Low, to really kick our company off."

Mrs. Barakat nodded slowly, obviously she'd never heard of the company. I don't blame her though, the only band from them that I'd heard of was Hometown Anthem, and they're really only popular in the Baltimore suburban area.

"Since we're such a small company, we can't offer much right away," he continued, "But I have a contract that guarantees an EP and full CD at least. We're currently working to get some of our other bands on Warped Tour next year, so we'll see about that."

I raised my eyebrows and looked over at the others, they all had similar expressions. I could hear my heart beating in my chest, this is for real. This is our chance, we could make it big for real.

"Of course you'll have to give us some time to look over that contract in more detail," Mrs. Barakat said, rather matter-of-factly, "And of course the other boys parents will have to agree first."

"Of course," Keith said, nodding his head, "Before anything else I'd like to see them play again if that's ok."

I nodded, "Is the equipment still set up in your basement Jack?"

"I- Uh- Yeah!" he stuttered, obviously caught off guard.

"I'll show you where Keith," Mrs. Barakat said warmly, "I'm sure the boys would like a minute to discuss everything."

"Thank you," Keith said, before following Mrs. Barakat out of the room.

"Oh. My. God!" Zack exclaimed after they were out of earshot, pronunciation each word.

"I know right?" Rian squealed, "Guys, this is it."

"It really is," I agreed.

Jack just nodded, like he was still processing everything that had just been said.

"What are we going to play though?" Rian asked.

"How about Straight Up Hustler or Circles?" I suggested. Those our probably our two most complicated songs music wise.

"I say Circles," Zack said, "I still don't like the way I sound on Hustler..."

I sort of had to agree with Zack. He had taken the roll of back up vocalist, and their was something about Hustler that just sound right with him.

"You guys good with Circles?" I asked Jack and Rian.

They both nodded in agreement.

"Let's go play like it's the last chance we'll ever get."

Notes

And BOOM! I don't know... I actually researched the beginnings of All Time Low, so this is pretty accurate and I'm kind of proud of that. I really hate when authors are to lazy to look up something that's pretty easy to find... >.<<br>
Title Cred: Famous- Baby I Can Keep Your Head Up

xoxo Mary(:

(P.S. We're on the front page of popular fics, you guys rock for that! Thank you!)