Chapter7-Secret Bully
October 12th, 2011

 It’s the next day, and it was noon. Andrew and Alyson arrived at a bistro. This was the place to meet with Natalie. Andrew was nervous about going into the restaurant. Alyson noticed, so she told him, “Andrew, just tell her that the only thing you did in Boston was performing arts. You don’t have to tell her about your bullying past.”

 He told her, “Unless she believe the reports about my past during the UTurn years.”

 “Let’s hope she ignored them. Besides, I’ll be in the car in case she tries to pull some shit on you, okay?”

 Andrew gave a small smile, and kissed Alyson’s lips. Then he walked out of the car. He went inside the bistro, and saw Natalie sitting at a table. She was studying the menu. He took a deep breath, and approached the table.

 When he sat down, Natalie looked up, and smiled. She said, “You look nice, Andrew, in your studded blazer. And I’m guessing you’re wearing Guess?”

 Andrew replied, “Thanks, and yes I’m wearing Guess. Their clothes match 7th Anthem’s style, and mine, of course.”

 “You look like a rockstar, even though you didn’t seem to act like one in kindergarten.”

 Andrew gave a nervous laugh, and said, “Well, when there were those sing-a-longs, I would be only one busting a move.”

 “Oh yeah, I remember that. Who knew that the lawyers’ son would be a dancer?”

 “Um, yeah. Anyway, since we’re here, tell me about your life growing up in Hartford.”

 Natalie told Andrew that she missed him and waited for him to contact her. But she eventually moved on, and became a very popular student. She was one of the smartest ones. She told him that for about a year she dated The Extras member Mark. But he soon broke up with her once he started dating another bandmate Melissa.

 Once she graduated from the upper school, she attended Brown as an English major. She had just graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and is currently working on her first poetry book while working at a clothing store as a side job.

 Andrew was impressed by her accomplishments. He tells her, “Maybe once your work is released, maybe I could check it out.”

 Natalie told him, “You should. Now it’s your turn, although you’ve been in the limelight since you were 16.”

 “Yeah, I was. I love being in the music industry. I really like being the male lead singer of the world’s famous pop band. But before I did the band thing, my real dream was to become a contemporary dancer and choreographer, and maybe become a Broadway star.”

 Then Andrew explained that sometime after he moved to Boston, his mom became pregnant with his little sister Hannah. At the same time, he was taking speech therapy. His therapist suggested he take singing lessons and acting classes. He admits that those classes helped him to finally talk, but it also sparked his interest in performing arts.

 As far as physical activities, he was involved with basketball and soccer. But his parents put him in ballet, which made him fall in love with dance. Once he was eight, he scored a cameo role on Friends. Since then, he was offered to do appearances on TV shows and movies. He was even offered a few major roles for movies. But his parents had to turn them down, as the filming was done in New York City, and they weren’t about to move there. They weren’t even willing to travel back and forth the two cities.

 Andrew also admitted he was very popular in middle school and high school. He was one of the top basketball players, and was one of the smartest students.

 Natalie was surprised to hear all of those accomplishments. She told him, “Wow, you were busy! You were starting your career before you did the band thing. I can see how you can be popular. You’re hot, smart, and talented.”

 Andrew gave a nervous smile, as he knew that when he was in school, no one knew he was training to become a Broadway performer and professional dancer.

 Then Natalie asked, “So, you’re bi, right?”

 He answered, “Yeah, but I prefer girls over guys. But I kind of like guys.”

 “Did you ever have boyfriends when you were in Boston?”

 “No. I dated girls. Why?”

 “Well, it’s just that you were so involved in the arts, I thought maybe you dated guys.”

 He said nervously, “Well, just because I was involved in the arts doesn’t mean I automatically like guys. I told you, I dated girls. I even dated girls outside school.”

 “Okay. So…tell me about Alyson, your current girlfriend.”

 “What about her?”

 “Was she your high school sweetheart? Did you grow up with her?”

 “Yeah, she’s my high school sweetheart. And we did grow up together. I’ve known her since we started first grade.”

 “Were you bullied? Was she nice to you?”

 Andrew could feel himself get hot. He knew everything was the opposite of what she asking. He knew he needed to be vague, so he replied stiffly, “No, I wasn’t bullied. And Alyson was so-so.”

 Natalie could tell Andrew’s face was red. She could see how nervous he was getting, even though he did his best to keep his composure.

 She asked him, “But you were made fun of in kindergarten. How could you not be bullied when you could barely get one word out?”

 “They…just didn’t bully me. I was badass in their eyes, words or no words.”

 Natalie looked at Andrew suspiciously. Then she told him, “You’re hiding something.”

 Andrew asked defensively, “No, I’m not. That was my life in Boston before I joined UTurn-7th Anthem.”

 Natalie thought for a moment, and soon said, “I know about your past, Andrew.”

 He said to her in an irritated tone, “No, you don’t know anything about my life in Boston. You don’t know me. You just think you do. Just like I don’t know you. So much has changed since I moved to Boston that I’m in no way that 5-year-old boy you befriended. What makes you think you know my past?”

 She told him sternly, “I remember during the UTurn years, there were numerous reports of your bullying past. There were witnesses and victims. You were a bully ever since you moved to Boston. You terrorized everyone in all the grades. On top of that, there were also reports of you being a player in middle school and high school.”

 Andrew stared at Natalie. He knew those reports were true, but he wasn’t about to be honest. He told her sternly, “I have nothing to say to those reports. I was silent then, and I will be now.”

 Natalie asked angrily, “Why can’t you tell me what really happened? What are you afraid of? You can trust me.”

 He shot at her, “No, I can’t! I don’t know you! How do I know you won’t go to the press, and blast my past for the whole world to read?”

 “So those reports are true! Just tell me!”

 Andrew glared at her, and said firmly, “This lunch is over.”

 So with that, he stormed out of the bistro, and into his car. Natalie watched her former friend from kindergarten get into his car. She watched him sped off. She felt sad. She figured Andrew changed, but she was hoping the reports of his bullying ways weren’t true. But the way he reacted pretty much confirmed her fears. Once he moved to Boston, he wasn’t the sweet, innocent little boy from Hartford. Instead, he was cruel and terrifying.

 Just as she about to get her things to leave, her arm was grabbed. She sharply turned and saw a young man in a suit. She asked him angrily, “Who the hell are you?”

 He replied coldly, “The name’s Ethan Jackson. I saw the whole thing. I went to school with Andrew here in Boston. I can confirm that he was the most terrifying bully anyone in the Beacon Hill-Back Bay School District knew.”

 She stared at Ethan, and sat down. She told him, “I remember Andrew being this sweet, lovable little boy. He was so shy, and he couldn’t talk. But when Andrew was in UTurn, there were all these reports saying that he was the biggest bully ever. They even said that in elementary school, he was nicknamed ‘The Monster,’ He was that horrible. But he never confirmed or denied anything. But after today, I think he just did with the way he reacted.”

 Then she asked Ethan as her voice wavered, “Tell me the truth: Was Andrew really a bully?”

 He answered, “The worst one ever. He rarely showed his ‘nice’ side. He was only ‘nice’ towards his girlfriends and his friends. He had every right to nicknamed ‘The Monster.’”

 “Were you his victim?”

 “Sidekick, then he made me his ‘best friend.’ I was the only one who knew of his involvement in the arts. He swore to me to never tell anyone in school. He was very powerful, and he knew it. He didn’t want his fear on everyone stripped away. On top of that, in fifth grade I got the feeling he may have liked both guys and girls. He didn’t say anything about being bi, but the way he would gush over Alyson and compliment guys pretty much gave it away.

 “But around sixth and seventh grade, we had a falling out. I ditched him as a friend. I had enough of his double-life. Once he joined UTurn, it became apparent how his double-life messed him up. He was so scared of what everyone would think of him as a performer, but he was willing to move forward as a band member.

 “Then I joined the band. He and I were at each other’s throats. I told him I used him just to get on his good side. He was upset. When we returned to high school for our senior year, I paid some of the athletes to torture Andrew. He snapped, and landed in the hospital.”

 Natalie stared at Ethan. She couldn’t believe what she heard. She told him, “First off, that was horrible of you to pay the athletes to torture Andrew. Second, I can’t believe that Andrew would be so horrible towards everyone. Why would he terrorize everyone?”

 “He told me it was his way of lashing out over the move from Hartford to Boston. Then he became power hungry.”

 With that, Natalie started to cry. Ethan told her coldly, “Stop your crying. He changed. Big deal.”

 She snapped at him, “It is a big deal! Andrew was one of my friends in kindergarten! He was the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. He wasn’t like the other guys in our class. He was special. He could’ve been in the special ed classes, but instead he was with the ‘normal’ students. Now I find out he was this…this monster! That he was cruel, calculating, power-hungry, and terrifying.”

 “Well, what do you expect from a guy whose parents and entire Hawthorne family are lawyers and attorneys? Hell, even his older brother is a lawyer working with their parents. This is the kind of behavior you’d see in a lawyer. He has those traits.”

 “But he was supposed to be different!”

 With that, Ethan told Natalie sternly, “Andrew is not 5! He’s fucking 22! If he wasn’t going to change at a young age, he would’ve eventually. He inherited Hawthorne lawyer gene. That’s who he is, despite the fact that he’s a popstar.”

 Then Ethan noticed how upset Natalie was over Andrew. So he asked, “Are you in love with Andrew?”

 She replied, “I remember I had a small crush on Andrew when we were in kindergarten. When I saw him with UTurn, I was surprised that he could talk so fluently and sing so well. Plus he got really hot. So I became one of his biggest fans, even though I tried to not believe the reports of his bullying past.”

 With that, Ethan gave a sly smile. Natalie looked at him strangely. What exactly was he plotting?