ChapterTwentyOne:Drive

FLASHBACK-Friday, September 19, 2003

Teams of people rushed around the TV studios. Connect8 were getting ready for their promotions for their Nightfall song, which had become a major hit with the fandom. Alex stared at his hair, making sure it was still a spiky mess. It made him look rebellious, sort of slowly becoming the band's "bad boy," despite the song being about partying after dark. There wasn't anything about teen rebellion in both the song and all the other tracks they recorded. Maybe we should try that once.

"Alex, Faye," one of the TV producers announced, "one of the presenters want to interview you two for the web segment."

Alex looked at Faye, who did the same. He wasn't sure why he was asked to do the interview. He figured Caleb would be the one to be called, but he guessed not.

He walked with Faye to the presenter. The man looked up from a notepad in his hands. The man smiled, "Alex! Faye! So glad you can join in."

Alex watched the guy signal at the cameraman. The man began: "So I'm kind of nervous about interviewing some of the Connect8 members."

Alex nodded his head, not sure what to say to help make the guy less nervous. The man looked at his notes, and asked, "So have you ever been asked about politics?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. He never thought of ever being asked that. He glanced at Faye, who also seemed surprised. He knew Faye didn't have many opinions, but he himself did. He wasn't too outspoken, but there would be times he would vent out some frustration about how both the Prime Minister and the Parliament would run things during dinner.

"Sometimes we get those questions," Faye answered.

"Okay, what do you two think of the War on Iraq?" the guy asked.

Alex felt himself biting his tongue. He didn't want to mix his political opinions with his image. He was a teen popstar. He was sure most people his age didn't care about what was happening in and outside Britain; let alone be aware. Alex knew his nation going to war with America by its side was initially popular. Now it seemed to have been seen unfavorable, letting America take the brunt of the criticism.

As for Alex, he wasn't too crazy about that idea. He wasn't sure why Britain was getting involved in the first place. He was aware that his Prime Minister was friends with America's President. Other than that, he was sure he was in the minority of not viewing the war as a great thing to do.

He noticed the man wasn't getting answers. The guy seemed like he was weirded out by the silence, he asked, "Okay, what's the best thing about being in the entertainment industry?"

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Alex watched Seth stare at his computer screen. He and Faye were sent to his office for some reason. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't like they did anything sketchy together.

He could tell Faye seemed nervous about the meeting. He held her hand as a way to comfort her. It was something he had been doing for a while now. He cared about her as a friend would. She smiled at him, seemingly relieved by the gesture.

Seth sighed, finally speaking, "So there's this post on the Radio1 website. The presenter asked you two about politics. Do you know why?"

They both shook their heads. Faye said, "No, we don't."

"I'll make sure to blacklist those questions. We can't have politics mixed with your brand. You're supposed to be a fun group of kids; not these rebellious teenagers."

Alex looked away, not liking what he was hearing. Almost all of his bandmates had been pretty relaxed, well, okay, that wasn't entirely true. They always caused trouble with both their tutors and their chaperones. Yet none of that spilled onto the tabloids like The Sun. Everything was confined in both their home and the hotel rooms.

Seth asked, "Just curious, do you two talk about politics with your bandmates?"

Faye replied, "I don't."

"I don't either," Alex added.

Seth looked at him is if he didn't believe what Alex said. He said, "You're sure, Alex? I heard rumors that you do sometimes."

"You heard wrong," Alex said hastily.

Seth nodded his head, seemingly still not believing Alex's lie. He didn't want to be silenced in the band's home. It was one thing to not say anything in public; it was another thing if everything was done in private.

He would just need to be careful how often he talked about politics around his bandmates. The last thing he needed was to be completely censored in every aspect of his life.

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PRESENT DAY-Monday, March 27, 2006

Alex drove Amanda around different parts of London. He wanted to show her the different places he's been in since the end of the first run of juniorConnect. It was something he wanted to do but wasn't sure when. UTurn had a TV gig the next day, the official start of their international campaign. The American band was also set to do gigs in France, Germany, Sweden, and Russia before heading off to the Connect8 tour.

As impressive as that sounded, the tour was to start in April. UTurn would be all over the place before they could even get any shut-eye. He could see the band was going to get overworked, and most of them were still under eighteen. He was pretty sure this was Seth's doing. He knew that was one of the major reasons why Connect7 broke up.

"Alex?" Amanda asked, taking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Why did your country get involved with the Iraq War?"

Alex shrugged, "To be honest, I have no idea. It was what Tony Blair wanted to do with your President? I don't know."

He glanced at Amanda, who seemed somewhat surprised by his statement. He added, "Once everyone turns eighteen, they can register to vote. I'll probably vote."

"Do you know for who?"

"I don't know. I'm kinda not impressed with the selection."

"They could be worse."

Alex chuckled, "You're right."

He noticed the college he wanted to attend at a distance. He thought of showing her the campus, the world that he could be living had Connect8 stayed being defunct. He parked at a visitor's space, glancing at Amanda's confusion.

He said, "This is the college I was getting ready to apply to last year. It's a performing arts school. I would've been getting my degree here as a dance major whilst minoring in singing and acting."

Amanda asked, "So why'd you rejoin Connect8 instead of going to college?"

Alex sat back in his seat as he sighed. The only person who knew the truth of his decision was Mallory. The last thing he wanted to do was botch his relationship for the second time. At the same time, he wondered if she'll tell her bandmates, including Alyson. Then again, he needed to trust her if he was going to take the relationship seriously.

He asked, "You won't tell Alyson, yeah?"

"I won't," he replied.

Alex gave a nervous sigh. He said as he looked at the car parked in front of him, "I'm scared. I was scared when I was asked to rejoin. Being a dancer and choreographer is highly competitive in London. I could either use my past as a Junior; and say, 'I'm Alex of juniorConnect.' Or start from scratch and just be Alex Tredinnick."

He looked at Amanda and added, "But I could also end up fading into obscurity. Technically, I wouldn't be able to if I stay active on my MySpace account. But I chose to rejoin the band, and now I have all of England watching what I'm doing."

Alex watched Amanda looking down, most likely taking in what he said. He looked back at the campus, wanting to give his girlfriend a tour.

He said as he opened his door, "Let's walk for a bit."

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Alex stared at the campus map with Amanda by his side. The school was small, clearly made to fit into the largest city in Britain. He said, "I know this school is small, but it still got a map."

Amanda said, "I guess so. It's nice."

He took her hand and began walking. He asked, "Just wondering, what did you think of me and my band? How did you even join UTurn?"

Amanda chuckled, "I'll answer the easy one: I wanted to. They just worked so hard on everything and were able to take on scandals. As long as Andrew and Alyson continue running the band, I'm sure we'll be okay."

Alex smiled. He could tell she admired and respected UTurn. Clearly, it was more than enough to convince her to join that band.

Amanda added, "As for your band, I don't mean to sound mean, but I honestly thought you and your band looked fake."

Intrigued, Alex asked, "Really? How?"

"I don't know exactly. It's like...like something is controlling you all. Well, I'd say someone, really. You don't write any of your songs that aren't covers. You all act all smiley and happy, but then so did Connect7. I don't know. I just never got into bands like yours and Connect7. Alyson did, but I just couldn't. So, I turned to rock bands instead."

Alex nodded his head and asked, "So what drew you into me?"

He watched Amanda's face redden as she looked away. He had been wondering why she chose him over someone like Derrick.

She said, somewhat stammering, "I...I don't know. You seem...interesting."

She looked up and continued, "I don't know what it is about you. I guess you're kind of a mystery to me. I don't know anything about you, but you've already revealed a few things about yourself. I'm starting to see the person behind the toothy grins I would always see."

Alex looked away. She was slowly starting to see who he was. A part of him kind of liked it. The other part wanted to hide. Then again, he needed to allow himself to trust her. Well, not just with her, but with the rest of UTurn. If both bands were going to work together, he would need to drop the façade he held for so long. Alyson would also need to see the real him.

Then a thought came to him. He asked, which he was sure would probably sound out-of-nowhere to Amanda, "What are your child labour laws like in America?"

He was right as he noticed the shocked expression on her face. She asked, "Why do you wanna know?"

"It's about your bandmate, Andrew."

"What about him?"

"I saw those photos of him wearing a harness over his 'uniform.'"

Amanda seemingly relaxed as she said, "Oh, that."

Alex watched her as she began to walk with him. She said, "There's not much he can do legally. I know cause he told me. He said he could look into finding a loophole, but since he's not being overworked to death, he's fine according to law. He's even considered 'age of consent,' even though wearing that thing wasn't his choice."

Alex nodded his head, not liking what he was hearing. He wished Andrew would do something, but it seemed the American guy was stuck. He didn't want that for someone who was just barely getting his foot in the celebrity door.

The whole thing smelled like Seth's doing. Marcel maybe. That guy didn't seem that much better.

He stopped walking and said to Amanda, "Look, I appreciate you for standing up for our relationship. I also don't like us being used as a ploy to bring in the money for Marcel and Seth. But you have to be careful with Seth."

Amanda stared at him as he held her arms, gently rubbing them. He continued, "You lot are barely starting out, and I'm sure Seth is the one who suggested in exploiting Andrew. I don't want him overworking and exploiting any of you just because you're all from America. Sure, maybe your laws might be looser, but that doesn't make any of this right."

Amanda held his wrists and asked, "Did Seth do something to you?"

Yeah, threatened to kick me out if I don't make him happy. Alex shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. It's you and your band that I'm worried about."

Amanda hugged him. "You're very sweet."

Alex hugged back. Maybe he revealed a little too much about himself, but it felt somewhat nice to open up a little to someone. He may not know much about Amanda, but it was a start. He could only hope he'll be able to get along with the rest of UTurn, including Andrew.