Chapter15-Repairing The Anthem 

March 19th, 2012

 It’s now Monday. 7th Anthem returned to London, with Justin. While they were in Boston, they watched Andrew’s interview on TV. He was very honest with everything, and he made no mentions of his speech disability. They noticed he looked nervous at first, but he soon gained confidence, and answered any tough question there was.

 Right after the interview aired, there were numerous responses. Those who were UTurn fans supported Andrew, and said they weren’t surprised by his confession. They figured the bully reports were true, but nonetheless, they very supportive of him. But the reaction from the 7A fans were mixed. Half supported him, and were glad he came clean; but the other half were angered, and demanded to know why he became responsible now. The only thing Andrew could say was that were difficulties with working under a Disney record label, but he now has the opportunity. Also, he announced that he and Alyson were back together again.

 7A were at a meeting with Louis. Their single, Do You Feel Me, didn’t do so well on the charts across Europe, including Britain. It made sense it didn’t, as Justin wasn’t available for the gigs, and there was the possibility that he might get replaced. 

 But it wasn’t just that. Since 2011, 7A had been rocked with scandals, with Bailey’s wild partying and rehab stint; Andrew’s lust for both men and women, him always going back with Alyson, and now his bullying confession; and Justin’s meltdown and being cared for by his parents.

 So now they had to discuss with Louis, and their publicist, on their future, both in music and their reputation. Louis began: “Okay, I’d like to first to welcome Justin back into the band.”

 The members clapped for Justin. He gave a small smile. Louis continued, “Now onto business. As you know, The Anthem Tour has been canceled. There were only a few more stops, but we will not be wrapping it up. We’re also behind on taping the final series of The Delinquents. So we have to begin filming next month. 

 “As for your re-release of The Anthem, it is now canceled. Your single did not do well, and it’s understandable why it didn’t. But the production of the songs for your next album are ready to be recorded. So I decided to put your latest single into the next album. 

 “I do have some good news, though. At the end of this year, you will be releasing a concert movie from the canceled tour in the cinemas. And sometime in early 2013, you will start filming a movie tie-in to The Delinquents.”

 The members smiled when they heard the news, but then Louis became stern, “Here’s the thing: Your reputations have been shot lately. Bailey, you were partying like there was no tomorrow, and it got you into rehab. Even Libby had a slight partying streak. Andrew, it may have been brave of you to come out as bisexual, but were described as ‘greedy,’ and ‘questionable’ as you kept going back to Alyson after dating two men and one woman. Justin, you blacked out most of 2011, and the very beginning of this year. You had a public meltdown. Your parents are now your conservators.

 “What I’m trying to say is that you need to repair your image. You’re still the world’s premier pop group, but you might lose that status if you keep acting up like this. I know you people are fighters. You fought to keep the band going after your previous manager dropped you, and tried to split you up. I know you can change how the media and the public perceives you. But it’s up to you if you want to change for the better. You are adults, not teenagers anymore. You don’t have Disney breathing down your back. You don’t have your manager shutting you up.”

 Alyson stood up, and said, “We want to change for the better. I know we shouldn’t care what anyone thinks of us, but at the same time, we need to take responsibilities for our behavior. We’re held very high, and if we don’t do anything to clean up the mess, we will lose the respect we worked so hard for. We will fight to regain what we’re losing.”

 Louis gave a smile, and soon the meeting was over. They soon arrived back at their condo. They all sat in the living area. They needed to talk. Alyson started: “Okay, we need to take responsibilities for our actions. We need to repair our image. But before we do anything, I need to know how everyone is doing.”

 Bailey said, “Well, I’m doing really good now. I’m very much sober now, and I don’t want to party anymore.”

 Justin said, “Yeah, I feel a lot more rested now. I really caught up on my sleep. And I feel sober too.”

 Alyson asked, “Okay, I have this one question: Are you two getting back together?”

 Bailey and Justin looked at each other, and then they faced Alyson. Bailey said, “I think it’s time to give Bailstin a break. We were practically money-making machine, and I don’t want be seen as someone to be made money off of. Besides, I’m okay with Justin with being other men now.”

 Justin said, “Yeah, I’m still not exactly sure what I am. But I think I’ll keep experimenting on guys, even though I don’t even remember doing blokes.”

 Alyson said, “Okay, as long as you don’t whore yourself.”

 Justin scoffed, “I won’t. My blacked out whore-ness is done now. I’m ready to be in a relationship with either a man or a woman.”

 Alyson smiled, and faced Andrew, “Andrew, do you have anything to say?”

 Andrew gave a small laugh, and said, “Well, everyone knows I’ve been with Aly for months now. But now I can openly date her.”

 Then he stood up, and held Alyson’s hand. He continued, “We’re now going to be serious. No more running away. No more looking at the past. I love Aly with all my heart, and I will not leave her for another woman or man.”

 With that, Andrew smiled, and kissed Alyson’s lips. The members smiled. Then Libby got up, and said, “Well, I also have announcement to make.”

 She held up her left hand. There was a rock on her ring finger. She said excitedly as she gave a huge grin, “I’m getting married!”

 With that, the members were excited. Alyson asked, “OMG, Jason proposed to you?”

 “Yes! It was so romantic! He proposed to me just before we left for Boston. I wanted to wait until we got the whole Justin Thing resolved to announce this. So yeah! We’re getting married this December!”

 With that, Alyson hugged Libby, and so did everyone else. Then Libby asked Andrew, “Andrew, you okay with this?”

 He replied, “Yeah, of course! He’s a cool guy. He helped you stopped partying.”

 Libby grinned. Then Alyson asked Trevor and Amanda, “Anything we should know about?”

 Trevor replied, “No. I’m still stable and sober. And I’m still with Lana.”

 Amanda said bitterly, “Well, I just broke up with Ollie. He apparently can’t handle dating a girl who’s in a band that has two crazy people, and a bisexual man-whore. But other than that, I’m fine.”

 Then Alyson said, “Okay, since we’re all sober and stable, now we can make our next move.”

 Andrew added, “We’ve decided that we should lay low for a while. We think it’s for the best for us after our crazy year. We should just focus on our music and our TV series. Then when it’s time to release our new music, we can go all-out with our promotions. But we both think we should give the public a break from us if we’re going to repair our reputation.”

 Alyson added, “Yeah, and I think we should stop being used as money-making machines. I mean, it really took a toll on us, physically, mentally, and emotionally. If anyone is going to be that, we should let that new boy band One Direction become money-making machines.”

 Andrew said, “By the looks of it, I think they already are money-making machines.”

 “True.”

 Then Andrew said with a smile, “I know how we can make a strong comeback. One that will keep people talking for weeks.”

 The members listened to what he had to say. They liked it, but will this plan work?