ChapterFive-Delayed Truth 

March 5th, 2007

 It's a week later, and UTurn were back at freezing-cold Boston. They were also back at the Boston Creative Arts School. While they were staying in Los Angeles, they had a meeting with Maurice. He announced to them their first British promotion: Opening for pop girl-group Girls Aloud in May! The members were excited.

 It was free period, and Andrew was in the library, studying. Alyson entered the library, and walked over to his table. She sat next to him, and he saw her. They both shared a kiss.

 Alyson told him seductively, "You know I like you with nothing on, right?"

 Andrew said to her seductively, "And you'll see everything again when the weather is not freezing or sub-freezing."

 Alyson gave a lustful grin, as Andrew licked his lips. The she spoke up in a normal voice, "You know, I was thinking: Since we'll be leaving for Britain next month, maybe you should find out how got your speech disability."

 With that, Andrew frowned. Alyson noticed, so she asked, "What's wrong?"

 Andrew responded, "I've never really questioned it. I've just accepted the fact that it took me years to speak. I didn't like it, though. Did you know I had to learn sign language, reading, and writing at the age of 2?"

 "But you never once thought about why it took you so long to talk?"

 Andrew thought for a moment, and then he said, "I guess I should find out. It hasn't kicked in since UTurn almost got eliminated from that New England teen search."

 "Yeah, I still remember that. It was when I told you loved you for the first time."

 Andrew smiled, and said, "Yeah, that really made me feel better."

 Alyson asked, "So, should we find out the truth behind your delayed speech?"

 Andrew agreed.

 It's now late afternoon. As soon as school was let out, Andrew and Alyson drove off to the Massachusetts General Hospital. As they entered the hospital, Alyson asked Andrew, "Why are we going in here? Wouldn't your medical records be in Hartford?"

 Andrew replied, "Ever since I moved here, my records had moved to this hospital."

 Then the teen couple approached a receptionist, while wearing sunglasses to ward off any fans. Andrew whispered to the receptionist, "Where do you keep my medical records?"

 The receptionist asked, "And who are you?"

 Andrew wrote a text on his cell phone, and showed it to the receptionist. The text said this: "My name is Andrew Hawthorne. Do not say my name out loud. This is my girlfriend, Alyson Bauer. Don't say her name either."

 The receptionist nodded his head, and lead Andyson to a room that held the medical records. He left them alone. The couple took off their sunglasses, and started searching. After going through several 'Hawthornes', they found a folder that said 'Hawthorne, Andrew J."

 Andrew looked at his birth records first. He saw that he was born healthy and on time, with no defects. He muttered, "I don't get it."

 Alyson asked, "What do you mean?"

 "I mean it's not adding up. I was born healthy. I wasn't born prematurely. I had no defects, and it took forever for me to talk."

 "Maybe something after you were born. Did your parents tell you anything?"

 "No, they didn't say anything to me. Not even Jeremy."

 "Well, keep looking. Something must've happened."

 So Andrew looked through the files, then he noticed something. It was a form, stating that he was six months old...and had suffered shaken baby syndrome.

 Andrew was in shock when he read that. Alyson noticed, and asked, "What's wrong?"

 Andrew told her in a frighten tone, "I was shaken as a baby, but that can't be. My parents couldn't have done this. It's gotta be some bad babysitter."

 "You should call your parents."

 "No. If they never told me anything, then why would they tell me now?"

 Then Andrew got up, and took Alyson's hand as he stormed out of the file room. She asked him, "Where are we going?"

 Andrew told her, "To my house."

 About thirty minutes later, the teen couple arrived at Andrew's house. He had a key to the house, so he and Alyson went in. There was no one home. Then they went into a office.

 Andrew headed for one of the file cabinets as Alyson did the same. He told her, "Look for any police reports from December of 1989."

 After a minute or two, Alyson found the police report that he mention. She gave it to him, and Andrew looked into it. In the report, it said that his parents were pressing charges on a Holly Preston. This person was charged for child endangerment and abuse of both him and Jeremy. It even said there was proof of the accusation on video tapes.

 Andrew figured the tapes could be in one of the safes in the office. As he walked over to one of them, Alyson asked, "What's going on? What was on the police report?"

 Andrew told her, "My parents didn't do anything. They filed a charges on this Holly. She was charged for child endangerment and child abuse. I'm guessing she was a babysitter. On the report, it said there's proof on video tapes. I bet my parents put the tapes in one of the safes."

 "Do you know the combinations?"

 "That's the thing. I haven't been in here since UTurn got signed. For all I know, they could've changed the combinations."

 So Andrew tried one of the safes. He put in his birthday, June 18, 1989 (6/18/89), but it didn't work. He tried Jeremy's and Hannah's, but nothing. He tried other possibilities, but to no avail. Then he moved on to the other safes, but he was getting nowhere.

 He sat on the floor, breathless and feeling defeated. Alyson walked over to him, and sat next to him. She asked him, "What are you gonna do now? Do we go to a police station at Hartford?"

 Andrew answered, "No, it's too far from here. And if we to take a plane, we'll attraction, and I'm not about to go into another cover-up. I'll have to call Jeremy, and set up a meeting with him tomorrow after school. Maybe he knows something."

 "Isn't he studying law at Harvard?"

 "Yeah, he is. I know him. He's gonna berate me for not pursuing law. I can't help it if I find being a lawyer boring and predictable. Oh crap."

 "What?"

 "Last I heard, he's working as an intern with our parents' law firm."

 "Just call him up, and hopefully you two can be civil. We don't wanna see your parents walking in on fight."

 Andrew gave a short laugh and said, "Yeah, and they might find out I'm a lot muscular now than when I was 15."

 So Andrew took out his cell-phone, and called up his brother Jeremy.

 It's the next day, and school was let out. Andyson arrived at the Hawthorne Law Firm, Andrew's parents' law firm. They approached Jeremy's desk. When he saw the teen couple, he walked with them into a boardroom. It was small, but good enough.

 Jeremy greeted Andrew coldly, and asked, "So Andy, what brings you by here? Are you changing your mind about some popstar, and becoming a lawyer?"

 Andrew scoffed, and sternly said, "Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you? Let's drop the subject before we get into it again, and give me answers."

 "On what?"

 "Why did it take me years to properly speak? Was I shaken by some babysitter?"

 With that, Jeremy's demeanor changed from cold to concern. Andrew noticed it, and asked, "Did mom and dad tell you anything?"

 Jeremy sighed, and said, "I figured this day would come. Yes, they told me everything. They told me when I was 8, and made me promise not to tell you anything until you asked."

 "So, what happened?"

 "When our parents worked at our grandfather's law firm in Hartford back in the 80s, the law firm didn't have onsite daycare. Since I was about 2 at the time, and mom just got off of maternity leave after she had you, our parents hired a babysitter. She was the daughter of one of the clients, who was wealthy.

 "After a couple days, they noticed cigarette burns on both you and I. They also noticed that we were crying for our parents to not leave us. They became suspicious, so they decided to have the babysitter at the law firm. They made the security guards to watch the tapes, and told them to tell them if there's any wrongdoing on us. Soon, our dad got a call from one of security guards, telling him that I was crying and you were shaken. Our parents ran to one of the boardrooms, and took us away from the babysitter. They took us to the nearby hospital. I was fine, but I had burn scars. As for you, you were put into a coma in order to reduce the swelling of your brain.

 "After about a week, you woke up. The doctors decided to keep you in the hospital for a few months to watch for any mental impairments. You recovered well, so the doctors released you early. You seemed fine until you around one. Mom told me that I noticed you weren't talking, so she took you to a doctor. You were developing normal, but your speech was being delayed. The doctor thought you may never speak, but suggested you get speech therapy and learn sign language as soon as possible. And that is why it took you years to fully talk."

 Andrew slumped in his chair, stunned. He couldn't believe what he just heard. His speech was scarred from the shaking, and he didn't even know it. Almost all of his life, he struggled to speak. He would force himself to talk, but the only thing coming out of his mouth were sounds. He didn't get a breakthrough until he started taking singing lessons and acting lessons. He didn't fully speak until he was twelve, and even then his speech, once in while, would trip up.

 Alyson, feeling sorry for him, held his hand. He held hers back, and then he asked Jeremy quietly, "What happened to Holly, the babysitter?"

 Jeremy asked, "You looked into the copies of the police report, didn't you?"

 Andrew nodded his head, and Jeremy responded, "Holly was arrested for child endangerment and abuse. Our parents sued her, and represented themselves as their own lawyers. She was jailed for 15 years. She was released in 2000 on probation. I don't know any more information after that. Are you going to be okay?"

 Andrew remained silent, and shook his head. Alyson told Jeremy, "I think he's shaken up by this news. I'm sure he'll be fine eventually."

 As the couple got up from their chairs, Andrew told Jeremy as his voice croaked, "Whatever you do, don't leak this to the public. So far, no one knows about my speech disability. As far as anyone knows, I'm perfectly normal. Got it?"

 Jeremy replied, "I may not fully support your pop career, but I'll do everything I can to keep this covered up. We're Hawthorne's, we can't let stuff like this about us come out."

 Andrew gave a weak smile, and with Alyson by his side, left the law firm.