Chapter3-His Attitude is Invalid

March 6, 2010

 It's now March. 7th Anthem were still filming their TV series, but now it's being put on hold. They had to start rehearsals for their up-coming arena British-European tour, High Voltage Tour. They're also about to promote their first single from their up-coming mini-album. Their new single is Take Me In.

 It was morning, and the band were in their condo, eating a light breakfast. Andrew wasn't eating much, and the members noticed. Alyson asked, "Are you okay?"

 Andrew replied, "Yeah. I guess I'm not hungry."

 Then he got up from his chair, and went to his room. Alyson asked the others, "What's going on with him?"

 Justin replied, "Probably cuz we're about work with Brandon. You know Andrew doesn't like him."

 Alyson said, "Okay, I'm not crushing on Brandon anymore. If anything, I wanna yell at him, but I won't. Besides, I don't get why Andrew dislikes him so much."

 Then Amanda said in a sing-song tone, "My gay-dar is beeping."

 Alyson said to her in an irritated tone, "OMG, Andrew is not gay!"

 "Okay, bisexual. C'mon, why do you think he feels bothered to work with Brandon? It's because he has a crush on him." 

 Alyson turned to Bailey, "Bailz, you're my bestie. Please help me out here."

 Bailey stammered, "I don't know what to day."

 Then Justin said, "I'll talk to him."

 So Justin, and Trevor, went to Andrew's room. They saw him putting some items in his gym bag. Andrew looked up, and said, "I'm about to change, you know."

 Justin said, "Trev and I are just concerned for you. Why is it you don't like working with Brandon? Are you bi?"

 Andrew stopped what he was doing, and sat down. He said, "No, I'm straight. As for Brandon, he's always hard on me. I'm a professionally trained dancer. When we were UTurn, we had several different choreographers. I've worked with a couple of them. They weren't hard on me. But Brandon's tough. It's like whatever I do isn't good enough for him."

 Justin said, "Brandon's hard on all of us, not just you. Look, the previous choreographers we had weren't tough on us cuz we were 'kids' then. They were probably paid to be nice to us when we were almost 18. Brandon is not being paid to play nice. He's cool as a person, but as a choreographer, he means business."

 Trevor added, "Yeah. Brandon's more experienced than us. He was in a band when he was 13. We were about 16 when our band came out. He knows what he's doing. He's kicking our arses so we can be great performers. What's wrong with that?"

 Andrew sighed, and said, "I guess that's true. He's experienced, but it wasn't like S Club 8 were given two f*cked up images. And they didn't have a member who was bent on destroying the band."

 Justin said, "True, and I think we would've heard something by now if one of them wanted to bring down S Club 8."

 Andrew added, "And if they had anything sketchy, it was probably covered up."

 Trevor said, "They likely did, and that's something we did."

 Andrew scoffed, "That's cuz we were paid to cover up whatever lawsuit and sketchy pasts we had."

 Justin then asked, "So we're cool?"

 Andrew replied, "I guess."

 With that, Justin and Trevor walked out of his room. Andrew sat there for a moment, thinking.

 It's now close to noon, and rehearsals were still going on. 7A, and their backup dancers, danced to one of the songs for their tour. 7A practiced with their water bottles as they would be performing with hand-held microphones. Brandon watched, and after it was over, he gave some notes.

  He said, "Dancers, you're getting there. It's rough, but keep working. 7A, not bad. Like I told the dancers, it's rough, but it's getting there. You lot get some food in your system, and we get back to this routine in an hour."

 Then Brandon approached Andrew, and said, "Andrew, you're really good. Almost too good. But you need to loosen up. This is commercial dance, not modern dance. You've been in the industry for a whilst. So act like it."

 Andrew, who was hunching to catch his breath, stood up straight. He glared at Brandon. Brandon gave a smirk, and walked away. Andrew then grabbed his bag, and Alyson's arm. He told her coldly as he dragged her, "Let's go eat. I'm hungry."

 Alyson stopped him, and said, "Andrew, are you okay?"

 He grew irritated as he said hastily, "I'm fine, Alyson!"

 Then he stormed off without her.

 It's several minutes later, and 7A were at an organic Mexican grill and bar restaurant. The members were being talkative, but Andrew looked annoyed. They noticed, so Justin asked, "What's wrong with you? You usually do all the talking."

 Andrew muttered, "It's Brandon."

 Both Libby and Amanda shot a look at Alyson. She knew what they were thinking, so she scolded, "Shut up."

 The guys looked at her. She explained, "Amanda and Libby think my very hot boyfriend Andrew is gay."

 Andrew gave a short laugh as he responded, "Wow, Libby. You sure never got over the time I rejected you. I was f*cking 14 then, and I looked 10. You really wanted to sleep with a guy who looked really young for his age?"

 Libby was taken back by question. Amanda said to her, "He's got a point."

 Andrew then changed the subject, "Anyway, Brandon's pissing me off."

 Justin asked, "What did he do now?"

 Andrew's voice grew irritated as he said while stabbing his food, "He acts like he's the shit! He looks down on just cuz he was in a band when he was 13. It's like he knows more stuff than I do. I've been in the industry since I was 6. When I was 8, I did a cameo on Friends. I did numerous national commercials. I understudied tween Broadway productions. I was offered major roles on TV, movies, and Broadway. I had to turn them down cuz my parents weren't willing to move from Boston to New York City. I also had school, and if I was absent, everyone would get suspicious of me. Brandon? He didn't get into the business until he was 10."

 Trevor laughed as he asked, "So, you feel like you should have bragging rights?"

 Andrew said, "Exactly. I'm Andrew f*cking Hawthorne! I'm the shit!"

 With that, some of the members stifled their laughs. He noticed, so he said, "It's true!"

 Bailey said, "Andrew, your parents got you into the performing arts to serve as therapy. They were trying to get you to talk, not turn you into a celebrity."

 Andrew said sourly, "You sound like my brother Jeremy."

 Justin said to him dryly, "If you think you're the shit, then get into Brandon's face and tell him what you just said to us."

 Andrew thought for a moment, and said, "That's exactly what I'll do."

 Justin nervously laughed as he said, "I wasn't being serious."

 "Who cares! I'm giving that guy a piece of my mind."

 Then Andrew quickly ate his lunch, and walked out of the restaurant with an air of arrogance. Bailey said to Alyson, "Alyson, stop your boyfriend!"

 Alyson said, "Why? At least Brandon gets to squirm."

 "You need to get over Brandon."

 "Yeah...after Andrew giving his two cents."

 Then Alyson got up, and left the restaurant. The members soon followed the couple. Eventually, 7A were back at the dance studio.

 Andrew approached Brandon, who was getting his iPod connected to the sound system. He turned to see an enraged Andrew. He asked him, "Are you okay? You look pissed."

 Andrew replied angrily, "You damn right I'm pissed! You act like you're the shit just cuz you did a play when you were 10, and joined a band a few years later. As for me, I was being trained at age 6. I did numerous commercials, cameos, reoccurring roles, and understudying since I was 8. I joined 7th Anthem when I was 15. Do you know why? Cuz I'm Andrew f*cking Hawthorne! Your f*cking attitude is invalid!"

Brandon was stunned by Andrew's rant. Then as Andrew was about punch him, Andrew was then restrained by Justin and Trevor. The two guys dragged him out of the dance studio and into the lobby.

 They sat Andrew down on a chair. He tried to fight them off, but they stopped him. They eventually were able to calm him down. The girls approached him. Bailey told him, "That's it! I'm gonna talk to Brandon, and get this straighten out."

 Amanda and Libby followed her, while Alyson stayed with Andrew, Justin, and Trevor. Bailey, Amanda, and Libby entered the dance, and saw Brandon talking with dancers. He was apparently shaken up, and was doing his best to remain calm.

 Bailey approached him, and asked, "Can we talk to you?"

 Brandon agreed, and left with the three girls. They went into a room to talk. Bailey started: "Brandon, we have noticed that you have been a little harsh on Andrew. He's a great dancer, but he's really arrogant. Can you explain to me why you're being hard on him, for his sake?"

 Brandon replied, "Look, Andrew is a great dancer. He's apparently been trained in contemporary dance, but he's adapted well with commercial dance. As for his attitude, yeah, he's arrogant, but I can see he's a little unsure of himself. He's been in the industry for years, and yet he acts insecure? I don't get it."

 Bailey explained, "He had a complicated life growing up. He should be the one to tell you. But he's fine now."

 "You sure?"

 "I think so."

 "I'll try to ease up on him, but he needs to let go and drop the arrogance."

 "I'll tell him."

 So the three girls left Brandon, and went back to the others. They saw Andrew sitting calmly on the chair. Andrew asked, "What did he say?"

 Bailey replied, "He told me that you're a great dancer who needs to drop the arrogance and not be uptight."

 "What did he mean 'uptight'?"

 Libby replied bluntly, "He said you're too insecure."

 Andrew thought for a moment, and then he said, "He's wrong. I'm not insecure. I got over it. Now I'm just badass."

 Alyson said, "You were always badass, Andrew, but you haven't completely got over your insecurities. Yeah, you are a lot more confident now than when you were a teenager, but you're still unsure of yourself."

 Andrew than gave a smirk as he got up. He said smugly, "None of you know what you're talking about. I'm fine. Let's get back to rehearsals."

 Andrew walked back to the dance studio. The other members followed him. Fortunately, the rehearsals went by smoothly. As for Andrew, some of the members became concerned for him. They figured he might be hiding something. Is he?

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7TH ANTHEM'S NEW SINGLE, "TAKE ME IN," IS IN THE VID>>>