Chapter 9
POV Gravity
FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2024, 6:25 PM.
THE NEW CELEBRITIES
ASHTON BAKER MAY BE ACCUSED OF HARASSMENT AT RECORD LABEL, SOURCE REVEALS
Ravennah Hollow, published 2 hours ago.
Sources close to the matter have revealed that The Reckless' legal team may be preparing for a new lawsuit involving Ashton Baker.
Photos prove that two days ago, after a meeting with Magdalene Saylor, a former stylist apprentice responded to the star's advances with a punch to the jaw. We have also been informed that Ashton was the reason for the dismissal of the girl in the photos. A long list of romantic entanglements follows the musician, but more than that, all of them come with troubling controversies.
It's not the first time Ashton Baker has proven to be a bad influence on the young fans who follow him, and online, there is a growing concern about how the bassist's actions are impacting those who see him as an inspiration.
Our source informed us that Magdalene, along with her team, was set to become the new costume designers for the band's upcoming tour.
To protect the anonymity of the girl in the leaked photos, we will not disclose her name or social media accounts, but we want to express our real indignation at Baker's persistent behavior.
Less than seventy-two hours ago, he was seen threatening basketball player Sawyer Blake with death. Several witnesses said he looked unrecognizable as he insulted the athlete.
The star's impulsivity and aggression may indicate an undiagnosed explosive disorder.
It's everywhere. Pictures of me from every possible angle at the moment I punched Ashton. However, they were taken out of context and used in a way to further tarnish his already crumbling reputation.
I read the article published by TNC while Tess and I share a bottle of wine. On Fridays like this, Chase usually shows up, but due to the latest site publication, they were sentenced to a meeting with the press office and have been unreachable since then.
I reread it at least three times, aware that Ravennah published it as a provocation. There are several points where I see holes, any of which could lead to a massive lawsuit if The Reckless decided to take action. But I think Jared knows that Ravennah’s real intention is to dig an even deeper hole and suck everything she can out of them.
For an outsider reading the article, the story seems coherent. Ashton has a terrible reputation, especially after the Isabella case.
The comments are nauseating. There are far more people attacking him than defending him, and for a split second, I regret what I did. If I hadn't attacked him, these photos wouldn't be all over the internet, and a completely absurd text "justifying" the leaked images wouldn't have been written.
I don't know what the TNC writer is after, but with every publication targeting Ashton, she fuels a war between herself and The Reckless' reputation. And from my perspective, the boys are losing.
Our best source for keeping up with the band is Twitter. There's a new account besides Tess’s "The Reckless Diary"—The Reckless Fan Central. They're literally on top of everything, as if they walk side by side with the band members.
As soon as I enter the profile, I see photos posted less than fifteen minutes ago, showing them being guided by their security team into the van they regularly use for transportation.
I refresh the page, and another photo is published. This time, it's of the boys arriving at a pizzeria in Times Square.
A heavy sigh escapes my lips as I close the iPad cover. I've preferred using it to sketch my designs, and I'm building a portfolio to try and convince Magda to rehire me.
Yael called me the same day. She wasn’t angry, just disappointed, and after we talked on the phone for almost an hour, she said she’d do what she could to smooth things over with Magda.
Working with Magdalene is an opportunity that few up-and-coming designers get, and I just threw mine away.
"You really punched him." Tess laughs over the rim of her wine glass, pulling one knee up to her chest. "It was beautiful, you know?"
"It's not funny." I huff, taking the longest sip of the night, nearly emptying my glass. "He literally got himself into an even bigger mess because of me."
"It doesn’t matter what the platform is, Vity, they’ll always chase clicks. TNC was the one that exposed my relationship with Chase, and they didn’t care how my parents would react. They won’t care about how the band's fans react either. Don’t worry, my dad will find a way to fix this mess."
One of the things I love about Theresa is how she handles things. Ever since I saw her last year, burying her abusive ex-boyfriend along with their history, I saw something I hadn’t seen in anyone else: she’s a fortress.
If you’re by her side, it’s hard for bad things to get to you because Tess has an extraordinary ability to protect, and no matter how difficult the problem, she’ll fight with everything she has to keep you safe. She’s an unshakable fortress, shielding against any evil that tries to break through.
That was one of the reasons that convinced me to move here. At first, I thought it was a terrible idea.
Ashton and I still have our issues, and most of them seem to spill onto the people we love.
And then there’s Harper. She doesn’t hate me. She’s too self-assured and secure in her relationship with Ashton to let anything interfere with her other relationships, but whenever we’re in the same room, the atmosphere feels tense. So, I’m just enduring this phase until I have enough money to rent another place. I’ll miss Tess, but it’s not like we won’t be able to see each other just as often.
"Are you okay?" she asks, her deep brown eyes locking onto mine.
"I am… It’s just that it was bizarre."
"They’re bizarre. This whole thing with The Reckless, the fame growing faster than they can keep up with…"
My God, it’s too much to handle.
"Is Chase okay with all this?"
Even though I’m in New York, my life with them isn’t the same anymore. We’re in different phases. I feel different since I went to Milan and had to deal with all sorts of situations with the other students.
Since I moved to Humperville, I’ve been seen as talented and cool, but in Milan, my reputation meant nothing. There, the other aspiring designers would kill for a simple compliment from Yael, no matter who they had to take down in the process.