"I want to warn you. Signing this contract means that you will no longer be a small town band. This will be your life. The cameras, the screaming fans. The upkeep of public appearances." King talks with his hands, his rings glittering in the light. Omar takes over, as their manager.
It seemed surreal that they were talking about being the next big thing already. They haven't even signed the contract. It felt so unreal to be sitting here. Especially after they formed the band as a joke, in a garage with nothing but some buckets for drums, acoustic guitars and their voices. Hale had always dreamed of having a band, ever since that day he angrily wrote on a piece of paper that he was ready to die and discovered the art of music writing. Did he really believe that dream would go anywhere at the time? Not at all.
And now he was sitting in front of a contract, ready to sign to make his career in music. If his dad could see him now he knows he would be proud. Maybe it's not fire fighting and saving people lives directly but he's going to enjoy what he does and maybe help people along the way. Whatever happens, Hale is going to put his all into it and that's all his dad ever wanted him to do, work hard for his way in life.
"We're willing." He nods, "As long as we aren't forced to change who we are." He eyes King.
King smiles, a friendly smile, with only undertones of just how deadly he can be. Jinx shudders. "Trust me, those are not my intentions. You guys have a good thing going already, why mess that up?"
"And it's in the contract that we don't start touring until after we graduate?" Dom speaks up, eyeing the contract in King's hand.
"As I said, I want you guys to build fan bases, I'll have you travelling every other weekend; but I value education." King assures, sliding the contract to Omar, who pulls out his reading glasses. King likes how savvy the kid is.
Jinx sits up straighter, leaning over Omar's shoulder. Hale eyes him, Omar hates people looking over his shoulder. But instead of pushing Jinx away he turns his head, kisses Jinx's temple and goes back to reading. The simple gesture makes Jinx turn into a tomato. To distract himself, he turns to King.
"And you'll be paying for travel?" Jinx squeaks, stiffening when King's eyes scan him, a knowing glint in his eye.
King nods, "For you and guests."
Jinx purses his lips, nodding. "Week days off?"
"A celebrity is never really off, but I won't schedule performances during the week. Talk shows, interviews, that will be up to your new manager." King shrugs, leaning back in his chair. Omar's head snaps up, his mouth parting to object. "You need to focus on the band. Not managing. Don't worry you can pick your manager."
Omar pursed his lips and goes back to looking over the contract. There's a moment of silence as Omar thoroughly looks it over. Hale's mind drifts to Bella, he's been itching to call her and tell her something good. But he's held back, waiting until they sign the contract. He could tell everyone was just waiting to call their families. Hale personally couldn't wait to tell Gran. She would be so proud of him and Omar.
Omar picks up a pen from the table and signs his name at the bottom next to his printed name. "It's good, guys. We did it."
The rest of them signed and they said their goodbyes, then everyone stepped out and hands went to phones. Hale should have called Gran first, he knew that. But with Bella having a bad day he wanted to give her some good news. In fact at the moment of dialing, he didn't even think about calling anyone else. He was just too excited to tell Bella. He felt like a kid bouncing up and down as the phone rang, as if he were waiting to show her some stick people drawing he did.
"Hello?" Her voice cuts the ringing.
"We did it." Hale watches Omar's animated hand gestures as he yells into his phone at Viv. Dom is quite excited and Jinx looks slightly troubled, speaking quiet Korean into his phone.
"I can practically hear Omar back in Lasting." Bella jokes before what Hale said registers. She gasps, letting out an excited squeal. "Really? I mean I knew you guys could do it!"
Hale smiles so hard his cheeks hurt. Knowing she's excited for him makes everything a little more real. As if the shock was just wearing out and he is coming back to reality, he just signed a contract with King Records. And his band made it. He didn't have to worry about a back up plan just yet. This was it for him. He didn't have to worry about money anymore. Mia would be set, Gran would be set. They could move into a house and get out of the apartment. And he has Bella to give him plenty of inspiration for sappy love songs.
Things are good.
"We will have to celebrate when you get back." Bella tells him, shuffling the the background before a distant 'Mom' is yelled. Followed by her telling her mom. Hale's heart slipped a beat. Why did it make him feel good that she's told her parents about him?
"My mom says congratulations, she wants front row seats and you're invited to family dinner this Sunday." Bella rushes out, her words meshing together.
Hale chuckles, "Guess now would be the time to tell you that you're invited to family dinner Friday."
"Really?" Bella's voice hitches higher with nerves. Hale bites the inside of his cheek.
"Yeah, Mia is coming home for her birthday and we always have family dinner before the party." He explained, shaking his free hand nervously. If she said no to his dinner, should he say no to hers?
"Viv and I have so many ideas for the party I'm so pumped." She responds, her voice excited and slightly breathless, "I always wanted a little sister."
"Did you just say pumped?" He grins, to himself, his cheeks beginning to hurt from how much smiling he's been doing. "Are you from 2004?"
"Don't come for me, okay, Mr. First Name For A Last Name." She counters, scoffing on the other end of the line.
"What is with the O'Haras and my last name?" He defends.
👶
While eating out was a better alternative to starving or eating gas station hotdogs, Hale was quickly thrown into an uncomfortable situation. In fact all of the guys were. Except for Omar, who is and always will be, a people person. After they signed the contract, King Records went straight to a press conference, announcing them as their newest sign. Now finding that a week later the small town band that took everyone by surprise was signed to the biggest record label in the region, Lasting Revival was all anyone staying on trend is talking about.
"I can't believe this many people already know about us." Dom mumbles lowly to Hale as they are shown their seats, private ones in the back per Omar's request.
"The internet works wonders." Jinx grumbles, latching onto Omar, trying not to get lost in the crowd of shoving people.
Dom easily parted the crowd and Hale just followed the path he made. It was different than the school hallway. People still parted to let Hale walk. Why? He doesn't know. He's never been the type of fight or anything, they shouldn't fear that. Slowly, they make their way to their table and the staff at the restuarant quickly clears the press and others out of their area.
Weirdly, as they sat down and finally have a quiet moment, they don't talk about the record deal. Instead, they each buzzed about their families. The ways they would react. Omar hoped his family would accept him now, which made the conversation tense. They quickly got over it when Hale mentioned Mia and Colton's birthday party. They had their fill of planning Colton's half of the party, and were all equally confused about what to do with Mia, but didn't spend long stressing because Dom remembered that he asked Viv to help and Hale asked Bella.
Which gets Hale thinking. Gran and his mom had been bugging him to bring Bella home. And they always have a nice dinner for Mia on her actual birthday if it doesn't land on a weekend. So that would be the perfect time to introduce Bella to the most important people in his life because everyone would be in the same area. He knows he already has the approval of his mom. But Gran and Mia were a tougher crowd to impress and if they didn't like her as much as he does, he was at a loss as to what to do. Though he is quite sure Gran will love Bella. They both love to roast him.
"Lover boy, quick spacing out. It's time to order." Omar snaps in Hale's face as the waitress approaches. Just as he shakes himself out of his head, she stops at their table.
She's a perky blonde around the guys' with curves and a doll face, she bounces when she walks and smiles too big when she looks at the table of boys. None of them pay her anymore attention than normal, despite the way she shamelessly flirts. Hale stares boredly at her when she compliments his hair, giggling as if she said something funny. She promises to have their meals out quickly before bouncing off again, their disinterest not dampening her mood.
"She was totally into you." Dom comments to Hale, sipping his water.
Hale frowns, "I don't care."
"I know. You're too in love with Bella." Dom chuckles, his face smiling, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. Hale then realizes Dom is the only one in the group who isn't dating. And he doesn't even show interest in anyone.
Except for Viv. He's recently been watching Dom, catching lingering looks or Dom using any excuse to be around her. He wondered what stopped him from asking her out. But maybe he didn't know if it would be okay with Omar.
"Your food," The waitress, Kelly comes back. She leans her torso into Hale's face, the top buttons of her uniform undone to show her cleavage. Hale recoils in disgust while the other guys try not to laugh. Kelly, again is unfazed by Hale's distaste for her. She places a napkin on his thigh, winking before she skips off.
Hale frowns, looking at the other guys for confirmation. "Is she serious?"
Omar, Jinx and Dom burst out laughing. Omar stops recording. Hale cringes, "Don't post that."
"Why not?" Omar cocks his head to the side.
"I don't want it getting to Bella." Hale mumbles, picking at his food that now isn't as appetizing as it was before.
"She won't care, you didn't do anything. But I won't,' Omar shrugs, putting his phone away.
"I also didn't stop her." Hale defends, a sick feeling in his stomach. If Bella saw that, would she take it the wrong way? He's lived with females for too long to not worry. He might think she won't be bothered, but she could.
When Kelly came back with more food, Hale made it obvious that he used her napkin, with her number written on it, to wipe his mouth. He crumples it up and sets it aside. Kelly's smile falters this time. But she bounces back, her attention focusing on Dom. He burps loudly, patting his stomach has if it's bloated, using his napkin to messily smear his pasta sauce on his face instead of wiping it off. Hale almost snorts. Jinx eyes Kelly, watching her eyes shift to Omar.
He rolls his eyes, pointing his fork at her as she takes a small step toward Omar. "Step off, sis, he's mine."
Then he grabs Omar's shirt and pulls him in for a kiss to prove the point. Kelly's face turns red and she hurries off, her head bowed. Once she's left their private area, Jinx pulls away, his ears slightly red. Omar looks dazed and slowly brings his hand up to his lips, feeling them. He looks at Jinx before looking at the rest of the table.
This time it's Hale's turn to laugh.