SHATTERED

eight

saylor

it's been a week since the first of january. christmas and new year's has passed. during the holidays, the band didn't practice any. we all left new york to visit our families and such. i'm pretty sure miguel, jessie, and alex all went to california, while i went to nevada.

by the time we were all back in new york, we ended up calling laura. she was very happy to get a call from us. she said that it would be better to discuss everything in person, so we set a date for january 9th, which is today, to further discuss our "possibilities."

we all decided to meet at the practice building before we headed over to laura's office together. we figured it would be easier this way.

i unlocked the door, and i walked inside. i tilted my head at the silence, besides the loud central air unit, which had the building relatively warm. i closed the door, and i locked it back.

i was going to just sit on the couch and wait for everyone else to get here, but i stopped for a moment. i glanced towards the stairs.

i've never even been up there, and i've been in the band for almost three months now. i've never been told that i couldn't go up there, but unless we're practicing, alex is up there, and i'd rather not be in a room alone with them.

i decided "fuck it" as i walked over to the staircase. i placed my hand on the railing as i walked up the stairs. once i got to the top, i saw that a door blocked off the top floor from the stairs. it was left open, so i walked in.

i looked around. the top floor seemed like an apartment, with a bathroom, a small couch with a table in front of it, a closet, and a bed in the center of the room.

what i wasn't expecting to see was alex laying in the center of said bed.

they seemed to be dead asleep, sprawled out across the bed. they had a blanket over them, but one of their legs was sticking out from it. their arms were up by their head, and their hands were bawled up in fists.

they sleep like an actual baby... how ironic.

by the bed, i spotted a nearly empty bottle of jack daniel's on the floor. it was laying on its side. if there would've been more than just the swallow left in it, then it definitely would've spilled all over the floor. on the nightstand by the bed, there was an ashtray. in it, i could see several cigarette butts, and what even seemed like a roach.

i glanced back over at alex. their hair was messy, and judging from what i could see given the way their leg was sticking out from the blanket, they were only wearing a white tank top and a pair of boxers.

you know what this looks like?

not my fucking problem.

i walked back downstairs, and i plopped down onto the couch. i scrolled through my phone as i waited for miguel and jessie to get here.

•

almost two hours later, both jessie and miguel have gotten here. alex is just now coming downstairs, but they've definitely already freshened up before they came down here. their hair was fixed, and they were wearing actual clothes.

"it's about time to start heading over there, huh?" they asked as they glanced over to jessie.

jessie checked the time on her phone. "yeah, we should leave within the next few minutes or so," they looked over to me and miguel. "are you two ready?"

we both nodded. i could've made a jab at alex by saying something along the lines of "yeah, i've just been waiting for them," but i decided against it. if they don't try to start anything today, then i won't either.

today could be a really good day for the four of us.

alex grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and then we all made our way outside, to miguel's van so that we could head over to laura's office. miguel, of course, drove. i sat up front with him, while jessie and alex sat in the back.

•

"ah, it's so nice to see you four again," laura greeted us. "i'm so glad you could make it. please, follow me."

we all followed her through the building. she brought us to an elevator, where i saw that the building had thirty-seven stories. she clicked the button for the twenty-eighth floor.

once we were on the twenty-eighth floor, she walked us into a large room that had a conference table in the center. she sat down at the head of the table, and she gestured for us to sit near her.

she glanced between the four of us. "let's get straight to the point here, shall we? i see a lot of potential in your band. i've been to quite a few of your gigs at bars and such, and i've even been to one of your shows at the small venues you play in."

she interlocked her fingers together, and she placed her hands on the table in front of her. "you guys have incredible stage presence, incredible voices and music, and honestly, incredible chemistry together. you guys are perfect for this industry."

"with us, you could do so much more than what you're doing," she explained. "now, you have a few songs out on soundcloud, correct?"

we all nodded. "i thought so. we could get you a studio in here to professionally record, then release those songs, and more. with us, we could even have you touring the country in no time," she smiled.

"wait, so, you're, like... for real about this?" jessie spoke up, seeming a bit awestruck.

"of course. you could go so far with us," laura nodded. "look, what i'm saying is... i'd like to give you guys a record deal. i'll be personally managing your band, but you'll of course be in charge of your band's music and everything. i think we'll be a great team."

the four of us shared shocked facial expressions. laura let out a laugh. "i could give you guys time to talk about it and think it through, but if you're ready, we could do all the paperwork today, and you can start here as soon as by the end of the week."

"could we have time real quick to talk it though?" i asked.

"of course," she nodded before she stood up.

we all watched as she left the room. as soon as the door closed, we all started to talk over each other.

"yo! calm it," miguel spoke loudly over all of us as he sent stern looks. "we need to speak one at a time. damn."

"i think we should take it," alex spoke up first.

"we at least need to read the contract first," i pointed out.

"who cares about the damn contract?! for fuck's sakes, it's sony music entertainment! this is literally, like, the biggest record label in the world; we'd be stupid not to take it," alex narrowed their eyes at me.

"yeah, i know that," i scoffed. "but it'd still be wise to read over the contract. we don't need to sign some heavily constricting contract, just to regret it in the long run."

"saylor's right," jessie added. "for all we know, we could basically be signing our rights for our music away."

"yeah, i agree," miguel nodded. "i could send it to my mom; she's a lawyer."

alex let out a deep breath. they looked heavily annoyed. "yeah, whatever. fine."

jessie got up, and she poked her head out the door. a few moments later, they walked back in with laura. we explained to her that we'd like to have time to read over the contract and everything. she was completely fine with that, and she gave us a copy to take with us. she said to call her back once we've made up our minds.

hopefully miguel's mom doesn't find anything bad in the contract; this could be huge for the band.

•

a/n ayooo

thoughts?

predictions?

words:
1380