ChapterTwo:The Meeting

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Alex stared at the entrance of Number9 Entertainment. It was in an office building in southwest London. He had his girlfriend, who was also one of his roommates in his apartment, drive him. He had his license, but he didn't have a car yet. He was waiting for his parents to drive to London with a used car they owned since the late 1980s. It was a tradition that was passed down until his older siblings had gotten their own cars. Now it was his turn.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm the uneasy feeling living inside his stomach. He walked up to the receptionist, saying to them, "I'm here to see Seth Farland. I'm Alexander Tredinnick."

"You know where his office is."

Alex nodded his head, walking towards the room. He noticed several familiar faces standing in the hallway. They all turned to face him.

"Am I late or something?" he asked his former bandmates.

"No," Caleb replied. "We're just early."

Alex walked over to the brunette Faye Underwood, who he considered as his bestie within juniorConnect. He asked her, "Why would he call us all back?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. He knows I have a solo contract with him."

"No songs yet?"

"I've recorded a few."

"You know everyone expects you to become the next Raven Steele, yeah?"

She sighed, "I can't live up to that standard. She's iconic in her own right. Why can't I just be me?"

Alex smiled, "Well, I'll buy your CDs and songs, no matter what they sound like."

Faye grinned, "Of course you will."

Suddenly, everyone turned to the opened door. There was their former manager, Seth Farland. Alex looked at Faye, who did the same. It seemed Seth hadn't gotten much sleep.

"Come in," Seth told them.

Caleb said, "Not unless you tell us why we're here."

"I'll tell you all once you come inside."

Everyone walked inside the office. Alex wasn't sure why they couldn't just meet in the boardroom like in the past. Was Seth trying to hold them hostage or something? None of this felt right.

Seth gestured, "Caleb, Faye, sit down please."

The two former leaders did just that. Seth began: "So I know you want your answers. I've decided to bring back Connect8!"

Everyone, including Alex, stared at him. The man seemed like he was eager to bring back the band that he dismantled in just less than a year ago.

"Why?" Caleb asked, pretty much speaking for everyone. "Why do you want us back? Did you forget that you wanted me and Faye to be the next H & Claire?"

Seth replied, "I decided that it's time to bring back this band. We won't do anymore of this Dare2Dream stuff. We won't even do the duet thing. Instead, we'll give your fans what they wanted so badly; the true third album! Just think: We got this thing called iTunes now! We got this new streaming service called Pandora! There's even MySpace! Your audience has access to all of this! With paid downloads, streaming, and social media, you can bring in the sales again!"

"You mean you yourself bring in the sales," Jerrod said flatly.

Seth laughed, seemingly uncomfortable, "Well, that is one way of putting it."

Caleb said, "Jerrod's got a point. You're a music mogul; you know the state of the charts right now. British pop isn't doing that well unless you're either Girls Aloud or Sugababes."

Seth said, "Look, I do apologize for mistakes did on my part. I should've continued with Connect8 as it was from Nightfall. Should've released that song Involved. Well, it's time to right the wrongs, and give the fans what they want. Are you in?"

Alex looked at Caleb and Faye. He knew they had their own set of solo contracts. Then he eyed Rachel Holmes. She was busy juggling school and working as a presenter on Smile. There was Holly Ryson, the youngest member of the band. She never had any lines, at least ones the public hadn't fully heard. There were a few songs she was on; but was drowned out by autotune and productions. He felt sorry for her. It wasn't right that he would get actual verses, and Holly would get next to nothing.

He could see Diana Heath and Sarah McCoy rejoining the band. They both enjoyed it. As for Jerrod, Alex would hope he'd join, though he wouldn't blame him if he didn't. He knew Jerrod wouldn't take crap from anyone.

Yet would Alex himself rejoin? He heard Caleb and Faye telling Seth they weren't going to, giving him their explanations. Alex drowned their voices out as he figured out what he wanted to do.

He was already looking into several different universities and colleges. He was ready to apply to that performing arts school as he felt it had everything he could ever want. He could see himself become a top choreographer one day. Pursue his dream job in the city that held numerous opportunities.

Then again, what if he didn't get his dream career? What if he would be forced to return to Penzance? What if he were to truly fade into obscurity? What if he couldn't give his fans some kind of content? Sure, he could post dance videos on YouTube, but it wouldn't be the same.

He felt fear creeping up inside him. His future was uncertain. Rejoining juniorConnect would be great for his fans; keep his face out there for the public for as long as possible. Or he could risk everything for a career that was highly competitive.

"I'm rejoining," Alex blurted out.

He felt the eyes of his former bandmates burning at him. He let his fear make the decision for him. He glanced at Seth; whose mouth formed a grin that made his skin crawl.

Diana chimed in, "If he's rejoining, I'm rejoining."

Sarah added, "Yeah, same here."

Jerrod said, "If anyone's gonna replace Caleb, it'll be me. I'll rejoin."

Alex looked at Rachel and Holly, but it seemed they had already said their pieces. He wasn't sure if he started anything by taking the initiative, but he could feel the uneasiness was getting worse.

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Alex kept his eyes on the street as he was being driven to his rehearsals. The whole morning felt surreal. juniorConnect was returning, obviously being rebranded as a pop act for a slightly older audience. Only half of the band were returning; the other half was being replaced. By who? That was for Seth to eventually answer.

He saw the displeased faces on everyone, more so on Caleb, Faye, and Holly. He felt bad for his bandmates. He could already see the juniorConnect fandom not liking the new replacements. He had a hunch on who they might be.

"Alex?" Mallory, his brunette girlfriend, asked. "You okay?"

He looked at her. They both met a few months earlier during their rehearsals. She was kind. She knew who he was, but she wasn't a fangirl. She helped him feel like he was someone; not a person that disappeared off the face of the earth. She even helped him get a few workshops where he would work as a guest choreographer.

So why didn't he feel anything for her? He couldn't bring himself to say that he loved her. He liked her enough to make her his girlfriend; but not enough to take things further. Why couldn't his heart beat for her? Why couldn't he feel the same way when he dated other girls?

"Alex?" she asked again, seemingly worried.

He sat up in his seat, and said, "I'm fine, Mal. Just the meeting this morning was so...weird."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe tonight after rehearsals."

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Alex plopped his gym bag on the floor. His room was tiny, almost like a hotel room, but with only one bed. He glanced at his laptop, wanting to check on his MySpace page. No, he should sleep. He had another college tour and rehearsals. He wasn't sure when the next juniorConnect meeting would be. Maybe it was finally time to refer the band as Connect8 since they were all pushing twenty at this point.

He got on his bed after he grabbed his laptop. He went online, checking up on his socials, both public and private. Nothing new except life updates from his friends and some random guy named Tom. It was the thing to do to follow this Tom guy for some reason.

Alex decided to go on his website. Technically, it wasn't his. It was run by a fan of his, but she was basically his mouthpiece to the fans. Still, it was a way to keep in touch of his fans without doing it himself. There was a wall between the celebrity and the fandom; and it was supposed to stay that way.

The first thing he would see on the home page was the chat-box on the side. So far, the comments were calm, tame, talking about the latest photos of him that were posted. He checks the previous comments, still calm.

Everything's fine, for now.