24 Floors.

"You, come with us." Alex ordered. Falling into shock, I could do nothing but follow.
Security had taken Jack from our hands and carried him through the parted sea of fans. The room was silent; this was not a common occurrence, which made me all the more worried. Clearly, whatever my mom had put in the envelope was more serious than I had expected.
"What's going on?" I tried when we were far enough away that no fan could hear us. Alex stiffened for a second, but otherwise offered no response. When I looked behind me, where Rian and the 4th All Time Low member, Zack, stood, they could only shrug. They were as clueless as me.
Security dropped Jack on a couch in what I assumed to be All Time Low's dressing room. Rian thanked them and ushered them out before anyone could discuss the problem at hand. "Can he perform?" Rian asked, closing the door behind him.
"Y-yeah, I think so. He's just a bit...surprised, I guess." Alex stumbled over his words. He handed Rian the papers and Zack read them over his shoulder. Thankfully, instead of the terrified and angry reactions their bandmates had exhibited, they simply looked at me with curiosity.
"Is this for real?" Rian asked the room.
Alex crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know. This seems pretty elaborate for a prank."
"Maybe we should wait for tonight, see if anyone shows up for him after the show." Zack spoke up. His voice was softer than Rian's, but just as confident as Alex's.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" I blurted. "My mom's coming to get me after the show, of course!" Did they want to meet her? She would freak out in the best possible way.
They exchanged looks of confusion. "Don't you know what this letter says? Haven't you ever seen your birth certificate?" Alex asked finally.
Self-consciousness washed over me. "Um, no...and no. I didn't even know I was seeing you until my mom pulled into the venue, and my mom has pretty much taken care of everything that required my birth certificate. What's that got to do with anything, though?"
"See for yourself." Alex snorted as Rian passed me the papers.
On the top of the pile was a letter written in my mom's handwriting. Jack, it started.
I bet you don't even remember me, so I won't bother you with details about me. You were with me the night before All Time Low left on their first tour. I guess the condom broke because 9 months later, Jayden here was born. I thought I could do it on my own; I didn't want to ruin your rockstar life and no offense, but I didn't think you would make a great father to begin with. But now, I'm done. He's gotten in so much trouble and I can't keep up with him. Maybe tour life is better than what I can give him. Take care of him, and I swear if you try to come after me, I'll take you to court. I wonder how they would feel about a father who abandoned their kid for 16 years without so much as a single child support payment?
I could barely read the last sentences. Fury was burning red in my bones and the words blurred together behind my tears. She just abandoned me like this, blackmailing some guy I've never met so she wouldn't have to deal with me anymore?
Frantically, I looked at the next page in the packet - my birth certificate.
Was it real?
For some reason, I always thought my father would have a stupid name. One that was easy to make fun of or brush off with an "oh, that sounds like a loser."
However, having the name "Jack Barakat" written on the father line made the fire in my veins turn to ice. “This is bullshit.” I growled, but my mind was spinning. This had to be why my mom was so adamant on doing anything and everything for me that required a birth certificate. If I had known even the last name of my father, I would have tried to find him. Had I seen the name, it only would have taken me a simple Google search to find him. Her absolute fascination with All Time Low was also making more sense. I thought it was because she lived so close to them as a child, but clearly the reason was deeper than that.
I wanted to do something. I needed to get out of here or I would hit someone, most likely Alex, who watched me with distaste staining his face. “Glad we’re on the same page.” His voice dripped with indignation.
A groan coming from the couch had us all huddling over the man as he came around. “Fuck,” the voice said miserably. “Am I hungover or something?” He asked, rubbing his forehead and squinting his eyes. He attempted to sit up, but Zack held him down.
“Hold up. What do you remember?” Zack questioned, probably trying to gauge if Jack was seriously hurt or not.
“I...um...shit.” Realization dawned on him. “Everything. I remember everything.”
This seemed to satisfy the burly man, and he let Jack up. “And…?” Alex tried to get him to continue his train of thought.
“And nothing.” His face was sullen. “Let’s just go get ready for this damn show. I’m going to take a leak and I’ll meet you guys at the stage.” He grumbled, staggering towards the door. He couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Other than the minute glance he gave me when his eyes first opened, he refused to let his eyes wander to me.
The door slammed shut behind Jack. “Okay. I’m gonna follow him and make sure he doesn’t fuck something up. Rian, go tell the other guys what’s going on and try and see if someone can watch him during our set, and Zack, you stay here until someone else comes. Got it?” Alex was all business, trying to keep everything together. He didn’t even wait to hear the complaining agreements of Rian and Zack before he ran to the door and headed in the direction Jack had gone, presumably toward the bathrooms.
My gaze met Rian’s just in time to see him roll his eyes. “Sorry about them, this situation is just...difficult for them. Not that it isn’t for you, or the rest of us...they just don’t know how to deal with it, I guess.” He scratched the back of his head, trying to put words together. “I’m gonna go find the crew, now. I’m sorry.” Rian was obviously just as shaken up as Jack and Alex, but it made me feel a little better that he was at least not being a total dick about it. Maybe he understood that I couldn’t have prevented this.
Well, maybe I could have. Maybe if I weren’t such a problem child both of my parents would want me.
Zack watched me warily. Of all the members in All Time Low, Zack seemed to be the most calculated and calm. He didn’t appear to be worried at all about the situation at hand, but then again, he could just be a really good actor. “You look like you need a hug.” He said cautiously after a few minutes. He had been watching me pace and bite my nails, trying to keep my composure. And maybe it was because I really did need a hug as I was two seconds away from having a mental breakdown, but whatever the reason, I hurled myself into the near strangers arms.
He didn’t falter for a second before leading us to the couch Jack had been laying on minutes earlier. “I’m sorry.” I whispered against his bicep, still unwilling to let myself cry. My jaw was beginning to ache and my eyes stung with the effort, but I was determined.
“I said get out, Alex!” A muffled scream made me jump in Zack’s arms. I could feel his much smaller flinch, too. “I don’t want to deal with him and I don’t want to deal with you! Leave me the fuck alone unless you’ve gotten rid of the kid!” The voice barely even sounded like Jack’s, but there was no one else’s it could be. Nausea pinched my gut and I found myself fighting my way out of Zack’s reach and searching for a trashcan. I got to the one across the room just in time when my body doubled over itself and I couldn’t stop the bile rising in my throat.
I felt Zack approaching me and comfortingly rubbing my back until I was okay again. Jack had finished whatever rant he had been on, so Zack didn’t mention it. Now, though, the tears were running down my cheeks before they could be stopped. They hate me, they hate me, my parents hate me. Dry heaves made my body shudder and my face burned red. Zack was great and everything, but I still barely knew him and I was uncomfortable being this vulnerable around him. “Come on, Jayden, breathe with me. I know you don’t want to have anyone else see you like this, but Rian could be back any minute with whoever he found to keep an eye on you. Let’s try to calm down.”
I couldn’t help the way my hands clutched his sweatshirt, but he didn’t mind. He wiped away my tears as I collected myself and didn’t try to do anything else until I released my grip on his clothes. “You’re alright?” He brushed the sweaty strands of hair off my face.
“Not really, but I’ll be okay until later.” I told him honestly.
“I guess that’s all I can ask for.”
I was barely off the ground before Rian burst through the door, another man right on his heels. “Five minutes till showtime!” He panted.
“Coming!” Zack called back. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “Here, we can’t have phones on stage. See if you can get ahold of your mom, okay? And feel free to waste my data; ever since we got wifi on the bus, I’ve had almost no use for it. I’ll see you later!”
It only took about ten minutes of the man watching me for him to fall asleep. I hadn’t even learned his name; he was too worried about whatever was on his phone to actually focus on me. It didn’t take me much longer to become aware that this was my chance to explore, and despite my nerves of getting caught, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to walk around backstage.
No one paid too much attention to me. Probably assuming I was some sort of tech, they didn’t even glance my way, more worried about their own plans.
“Pennsylvania, how are we doing tonight?” Alex yelled from the stage, thousands of people screaming in response. “Alright, you guys sound pumped! Let’s get this started!”
A slow, rhythmic sound filled the venue, and I could hear nothing over the low hypnotic guitar notes until the drums and a voice joined it. “Wishin’ on a star that’s just a satellite. Drivin’ in a car with broken tail lights. Growing up with eyes glued shut…” I was transfixed by the music. Letting my eyes close, I leaned against a wall. Even as the soft tones transcended to a more pop, upbeat tone, the lyrics shouting “Stop fucking around with my emotions!”, I didn’t move, instead letting my brain focus on the tune surrounding me. I didn’t - couldn’t - think about the people performing or where my mom was right this moment. When Zack left me with his phone, I had had every intention on finding my mom as soon as possible, but now, I let my worry fade away in the sound, deciding that every single consequence that could come my way from ignoring their directions was worth it.