Chapter12-Recovery

March 3rd, 2012

 It’s a few days later. Back in Boston, Justin has been recovering well. He regained his sanity. He was able to take his medication balance his brain out. Still, he doesn’t remember 2011.

 Even though there was time difference, and 7th Anthem’s busy schedule, he was able to Skype Bailey. This was his only way of talking to them, and he could only talk to them in the afternoon, while it’s evening in London.

 Justin had slowly been making peace with the members. They still don’t trust him, but they’re forgiving him. He has talked to everyone except for Andrew and Alyson. He understood why, but he really wanted to speak to them.

 It was late afternoon, and Justin was on his laptop, Skyping with Bailey. He greeted her, “Hi Bailey!”

 “Hey, Justin!” said Bailey with a smile.

 “How’s the band so far? Which one of my soon-to-be replacements is gaining fans?”

 “Definitely Brandon. It makes sense though. He’s well-known as the guy who was in S Club 8, and slept with both you and Andrew.”

 Justin laughed, and said, “I don’t remember fucking Brandon, but I’m not surprised. I was so blacked out, I probably had a bunch of organisms all at once.”

 “Okay, too much detail.” 

 “Sorry. Anyway, how’s Andrew and Alyson?”

 “They’re doing good. Their relationship has gotten a lot stronger the past couple of days.”

 Justin thought for a moment, and asked, “I know Andrew doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, but I really want to talk to him.”

 Bailey hesitated. She didn’t ask Andrew if he wanted to talk to Justin. He went through a really rough day the past week, and it obviously affected him. She didn’t want to add any more stress to him. But she knew that if Justin were to rejoin 7A, Andrew and Justin needed to make peace.

 So she said, “I’ll go talk to him.”

 So Bailey got up from her bed, and went into Andrew’s room. He was on his laptop, typing something. He looked up, and saw her standing at his doorway. He asked, “Bailey, what is it?”

 She said nervously, “It’s Justin. He wants to talk to you.”

 Andrew thought for a moment. He lost a lot of trust towards Justin, and he’s not a trusting person. He inherited that from his parents, since lawyers have to be skeptical. But he knew Justin might return soon, so he needed to make peace with him.

 So Andrew said, “Okay, bring the laptop to me.”

 Bailey nodded her head, and left the room to get her laptop. She came back with her laptop, and gave it Andrew. When Justin saw Andrew, he gave a shy smile. Andrew, on the other hand, remained cold. 

 Justin said nervously, “Hi, Andrew.” 

 “Hey,” Andrew said coldly.

 Then Justin said, “Look Andrew, I get you don’t want to have anything to do with me. I deserve your anger towards me. And I’m really sorry for what I did to you, even though I don’t remember. But there was a time when you and I were best friends. I would like to go back to that, but I’ll understand you don’t want to.”

 Andrew looked at Justin. He had to think for a moment. There was a part of him that wanted to tell him what was going on with his life so far, but at the same time, he didn’t trust him. How does he know that Justin won’t try to take Andrew down?

 So Andrew said, “Justin…it took time for me to trust you when the band was starting out. We were at each other’s throat…well, you were at my throat. I was just trying to stay away from you. Ever since we met, I thought you were very sketchy. There’s was just something not right about you.

 “When we became friends, I kept having this nagging feeling about you. Usually, I’m right about these things, but I tried really hard to see the good in you. For the most part, you seemed fine and reasonable, but you had a couple of off moments. 

 “But in recent years, my assumption of you kept getting stronger. Still, I was friends with you. But last year was a different story. I was involved in my world, being with my first and only boyfriend. I ignored you, and almost everyone else in the band. But there times I noticed that you seems really off. What shocked me the most was when you told me that you had feelings for me, and the fact you did guys before. It was like I didn’t know you.

 “To make matters worse, I saw how much you’ve changed. It was like you were trying to become some version of myself. And you actually admitted you trying to pose as me. I was livid with you. You were supposed to be my friend, but at the same time, you were never my friend. All I was to you was competition. And for that, I seriously doubt I’ll ever trust you again. But I’m willing to forgive you.”

 With that, there was silence. Then Justin said, “Bailey told me you had an interview with an American reporter about your bullying past.”

 Andrew said, “Yeah, I did. A lot of stuff led up to that point. It should be on TV in two weeks.”

 Then Justin asked awkwardly, “So…are you nervous, or what?”

 “I guess. I mean, I put my reputation on the line. So we’ll see.”

 Once again, there was silence. Then Justin said, “Andrew…it was good talking to you again, even though you hate me right now. I deserve your hatred.”

 Andrew thought for a moment, and said, “Justin, I don’t hate you. I’m not happy with you, and you most likely will not earn my trust again. But you’re my bandmate, and a very important member. But I will forgive you.”

 Justin smiled, and asked, “Thanks, Andrew. I’m about to log off now. Bye. I hope I can see you again.”

 Andrew gave a weak smile. Then Justin logged off. He sat on his bed, thinking. Just then, he saw someone was trying to contact him. He recognized who it was: It was Hayley Harrison, his younger sister.

 He logged back on, and saw her. She grinned, and greeted in her slightly-American-but-still-English-accent, “Hi, Justin! How are you doing?”

 He replied, “Haley, long time no talk! Where are you right now?”

 “I’m attending NYU. I’m majoring in journalism. I heard what happened to you.”

 “Yeah, it sucks. I pushed my bandmates to hate me, but they’re starting to forgive me, including Andrew. I feel really bad for hurting him, and everyone else. So, you left Oxford? How did you manage to do that?”

 Hayley laughed, and said, “I graduated from that fucking boarding school. I can’t believe I had to take the GCSE’s. I’m not used to any of this stuff.”

 “That’s because you went to American schools for most of your life. Did you have to go to Sixth Form?”

 “No, which I’m relieved! Look, I really liked living in England, since I haven’t been there since we moved to Boston. But at the same time, America has been my home for over ten years. So, you can see I’m torn.”

 “I wish I could say the same for Taylor. She’s English, and she doesn’t remember what it was like living in England.”

 With that, Hayley scoffed. Justin heard that, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

 She replied, “Good, you have your headphones on. Taylor is a bitch. She acts like she doesn’t know who you are, and she treats me like shit. She can’t appreciate the fact that I tried protecting her when our parents were out touring across the UK, and you were stuck in boarding school with your strict cousins.”

 “Wait, did you tell Taylor what was going on with us when we were kids?”

 “Yea, I did. This was a few years ago. She kept asking why we, including our parents, have our ‘British’ accents. She even suggested that she might be adopted. I told her that we have Oxford accents, since England has numerous accents, and that we’re English, including her. Then I told her everything. And get this, she didn’t believe me. To make matters worse, she told mum and dad on me. They grounded me into hell!”

 With that, Justin sighed heavily. She saw that, and said, “Justin, please don’t go through another meltdown over this. I’m fine now, but I refuse to have anything to do with my so-called family. You’re my only family. You were both my brother and my father, and you were just kid then. You were forced to grow up, but you ended up paying for that.”

 Justin thought for a moment, and said, “I’m not going down that road anymore. I’m not that angry with our parents anymore. I’m trying to forgive them, but it’s hard whenever I see them. I don’t want them ‘taking care of me’ now, since they didn’t when I was younger. I feel like it’s too late. I got their attention as an adult, but they don’t understand why I blacked out, and had a meltdown.”

 Hayley thought for a moment, and said, “I know they won’t listen, but you should tell our parents and Taylor the truth. Make mum and dad feel guilty for what they did us, and how that affected your mental state.”

 Justin thought for a moment. He had been trying to stay on his good behavior just so he can return to 7th Anthem. So he kept quiet on why he acted out. But at the same time, he wanted to heal, and let go of all the anger he held for so long.

 So he said, “I’m going to go out on a limb when I tell mum and dad about what was going on in my head. As for Taylor, she needs to know you were telling the truth. I’ll back up what you said. I know I’m risking everything, but I would rather tell the truth and heal than let anger take me to a mental hospital.”

 Hayley smiled. Then they both logged off. Justin needed to do this. Taylor needed to learn the truth about his, and Hayley’s lives back in England. Their parents needed to know how their neglect affected Justin’s mental state. He knew this could jeopardize his chance to return to 7A, but this was more important than fame. Will he get through to Taylor and their parents?

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IN THE PIC IS THE HARRISON SIBLINGS: JUSTIN (Jesse McCartney) (BORN IN 1989), HAYLEY (Amanda Seyfried) (BORN IN 1993), AND TAYLOR (Dakota Fanning) (BORN IN 1997).>>>