Stay Awake

I gave the boys a questioning look, and they looked back at me, Alex looking a bit disappointed and Jack looking curious. Alex sighed and grabbed me by my elbow and motioned for Jack, Rian and Zack to follow. He led us out into the backyard, the wind picking up a bit.

"Do you know who we are?" Alex asked. I gave him a confused look, and a grin appeared on my face.

"Yeah! You're Alex, he's Rian, he's my big brother Jack, and he's Zack. Why?" I asked. Alex rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, looking annoyed.

"Not what I meant. I was looking through your playlist, and I saw that you had a certain band on there."

"Uh, two certain bands, actually." Rian interrupted. A smile spread over his lips, showing his perfect set of teeth.

"Excuse me, two bands. Whatever. But seriously, you know that band All Time Low?" Alex asked.

"Yeah! I love them, they're one of my favourites!" I said happily. They all shared glances at each other and Alex's scowl turned into a grin.

"Well, how do I put this..." Alex thought, looking down at the ground.

"Summer, we are All Time Low." Jack stepped forward. I looked at Jack for a second, then shifted my eyes to everyone else. I remembered what Caitlin had said about Jack Barakat sounding familiar.

"Oh my God," I blurted out. "I'm so sorry! The girls at the foster home love you guys, but I had no idea what you looked like. I just opened iTunes on the computer that's there, and your music was on it so I just put it on my iPod. I'm so embarrassed." I said, covering my face with my hands.

Jack let out a laugh and pulled me into a tight hug. "It's okay, you're practically family now! You know, everyone at this party is practically your family. We've all known each other since high school." Jack explained.

"Except for Cassadee," Rian said. "And Hey Monday's playing right now! My girlfriend's the lead singer." he beamed.

This is all too crazy. First of all, I get adopted by the Barakat family, only to find out that their youngest son is in one of my favourite bands, and that Rian's girlfriend is the lead singer of another one of my favourite bands.

"I'm... shocked! I don't even know what to say, this is almost like a dream come true!" I said.

"Hey guys, what's going on out here?" Lisa asked, wrapping an arm around Alex's waist.

"We were just breaking the news to Summer that we're in All Time Low. What's up?" Alex asked.

"Well, the cake is here, and everyone's wondering where the star of the party is." Lisa explained. We all walked back inside, where I got introduced to everyone's parents, and was told how happy they were to meet me.

I've always hated being the center of attention, since I'm not the social type, especially at the foster home. I was also the youngest person there, which made me feel a bit awkward. It kind of felt like a sweet sixteen party, without people my age.

"Hey everybody!" I heard Jack shout, getting everyone's attention. We all turned to him, and he was standing on a chair, as if he wasn't tall enough already. "In order for Summer to officially be a part of this family, she needs this present that she will wear every Sunday, until the Super Bowl." he said, holding up a box.

What the heck? I never really got into football, and I don't even know how it's played, besides tackling people and throwing a ball around. I smiled up at him, and he got off the chair and handed me the box.