The One: Collateral Damage (The One Series-Book9) (ORIGINAL DRAFT)

Chapter6: Kindergarten Memories

Chapter6-Kindergarten Memories

October 11th, 2011

 It’s the next night, and it was the first day of the 3-day concert in Boston. Six of the 7A members performed to a sold-out arena. The crowd cheered for them, and screamed for Andrew and Justin, as those two are still the city’s biggest young heartthrobs.

 After the performance, they met with fans that had backstage passes. As they signing autographs and taking pictures for Facebook and Twitter, a young woman approached Andrew.

 He asked her, “Do you want an autograph, or get a picture taken with me?”

 She replied, “I want both.”

 Then she handed him a photo. Andrew saw the photo, and was shocked to see what it was. It was a picture of him in his uniform from a private school he attended in kindergarten. In the photo, he gave his famous big toothy grin, and was sitting next to a girl.

 Andrew looked up, and asked, “Where’d you get this photo?”

 She said, “Do you remember the girl in the picture?”

 “Kind of. Why?”

 “What was her name?”

 “It’s been years since I’ve seen her. I think it was Natasha or Natalie. I don’t really remember her name.”

 The woman smiled as she explained, “I’m Natalie Gutierrez, and I’m the girl in the picture.”

 Andrew looked at her with suspicion. He hadn’t been reunited with anyone from his old private school in Hartford, except for The Extras member Mark. He asked her, “What was I like back in Hartford?”

 “You were very shy. You couldn’t talk, so you did sign language and write notes for the teacher to read. You usually tried to find corners to hide in. Sometimes you were stubborn and hardheaded. But you were very sweet. I remember you would give hugs, and you would be very caring.”

 Andrew smiled, as he somewhat remembered all those things. He knew he was very kind before he moved to Boston. He told her warmly, “Yup, that was me. I can’t believe you remember all of that.”

 “Of course I would remember all of that. Why wouldn’t I?”

 Just then, Alyson approached them, and asked Andrew, “Andrew, who is she?”

 He answered, “This is Natalie. She was in my kindergarten class when I was living in Hartford. Apparently, she remembers what I was like.”

 Natalie said, “I’m sure Andrew is still the same. He used to give free hugs in kindergarten.”

 Alyson gushed by this, while Andrew laughed nervously. He told Natalie, “I haven’t been doing that since I moved to Boston.”

 Natalie said, “He was very shy, but he had moments when he would be very rebellious. It makes sense he would be. His parents are lawyers.”

 Alyson said, “Well, he’s still rebellious. That’s how badass he is. I mean, come on! He’s got a few facial piercings, and he’s got a few tattoos.”

 Andrew said smugly, “What can I say? I’m just a fucking badass.”

 Natalie laughed nervously, and said, “Andrew may have been rebellious, but he wasn’t arrogant. He was so shy, that he would try to find corners in our classroom to hide in. He tugged at my heart, so I decided to be his friend. He had very few friends. Some of the kids made fun of him, but I defended him. I hope he was sweet to everyone in Boston as he was when he was in Hartford.”

 That made Alyson and Andrew uncomfortable. They both knew the kind of person Andrew was when he started first grade in Boston. Sure, he may have been a bit shy when he moved, but he immediately emerged as the school’s biggest bully ever. He terrorized everyone, but he never got in trouble with the faculty. He was too smart, as he had very high grades in every subject there was.

 Natalie noticed their uneasiness, so she asked, “What happened in Boston? Did something happen to sweet Andrew?”

 Andrew wasn’t exactly ready to her the truth, so he decided to be vague with details. He told her nervously, “Well, um, I’m still sweet, I guess. Pretty much everyone I dated told me so. I never really attempted to find corners. I wasn’t afraid of people, and I wasn’t really shy. I don’t know, I changed. I’m just not that 5-year-old boy you remember anymore.”

 “I’m sure there must be some remnants of your 5-year-old self.”

 Andrew and Alyson exchanged looks, then he said, “Well, I’m a lot more stubborn and rebellious now than when I was a kid. I’m still a nice guy, but I’m only nice to certain people, like my girlfriend Alyson. I don’t know what to say, to be honest.”

 Natalie then became a bit sad as she said, “I knew you changed, Andrew, but I was hoping you’d still be the same to some extent. I guess not. I mean, you never tried to contact me or some of your friends after you moved to Boston. It’s like you forgot about us. The next thing I knew, you became this teen celebrity.”

 Andrew said as he tried to lift her mood, “Look, I didn’t forget about you guys. I wanted to contact you all, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t call as I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t write letters as you guys could barely read. So I was left with no choice but to move on. But I visited that private school and its’ sister upper-school during the UTurn years. That was something.”

 “I know you visited the upper school. As soon as you became famous, you became a legend among the teenagers. But that doesn’t change the fact that there’s this big hole between the time you left Hartford to now as this bisexual popstar.”

 Andrew thought for a moment, and said, “Look, 7th Anthem has a concert tomorrow night. Why don’t we meet up for coffee around noon? We can catch up on everything, and I’ll try to give you more details of my life in Boston before I became a popstar.”

 Natalie smiled, as she liked the idea. Then Andrew signed his autograph on the back of the photo, and took a picture with her. After that, he gave her a hug, and soon she left.

 After meeting with the fans, the members went to their dressing room to change into their regular clothes. As Andrew was getting his clothes, Alyson approached him. She asked, “What was Natalie like when you two were in kindergarten?”

 He answered, “She was nice. She was my first friend when I started going to school. That’s about it. I don’t really know her. It’s not like I grew up with her. Why?”

 “Just asking.”

 Andrew hugged her, and kissed her lips. Then he told Alyson, “If you’re threatened by her, don’t worry. I’m not interested in her. Like I said, I don’t know her. Sure, she was a friend of mine, but that was in kindergarten. Once I moved to Boston, I built a new life for myself, even though I fucked it up by living a double life.”

 Alyson smiled, and asked, “So…you used to hide in corners in your kindergarten classroom?”

 Andrew laughed as he said, “Aly, I was painfully shy back then, and I was very small. Now I’m a badass.”

 Then she gave a serious expression as she asked this question: “Are you going to tell her about your bullying past?”

 Andrew thought for a moment, and said, “I don’t know. This is something I don’t really want to leak out. I’d rather confess on my own terms.”

 “Well, your bullying did leak out several times during the UTurn years. You just never said anything about your past. Besides, do you want to admit to what you’ve done?”

 “Maybe, but not now. I just got over the whole being bi scandal, and we’re currently dealing with Bailey’s problems. Now’s not a good time to bring up old shit from grade school.”

 Alyson nodded her head, and left to go change. Andrew thought about his coffee meeting with Natalie. He hadn’t seen her in years, so he doesn’t really know. Neither does she know Andrew. How is he going to tell her about his life in Boston when much of it involve his bullying ways? It was something he needed to figure out.