The Archives of BFF

For the last couple of months, it has been nonstop construction at the BFF house. The left wing is getting yet another expansion as well as a new recording studio. Oh and how could I forget the new parking garage for everyones’ cars.

 

Today is the day we all come back from Miami, Florida to New York City.

As we all awaited outside in the blistering cold front to board the Ai plane, Zachary decided to do a quick check in with Varsity Guys.

 

         “Ready to head back to New York,” Zachary smiled.

Jermany, shivering like a Chihuahua, said, “No. Its going to be in the 20s once we land.”

 

Carlos chuckled a bit.

         “Who cares about the weather. Leaders Line said that the BFF stadium is complete.”

         “As well as the new recording studio,” Romeo added as he approached the group with baby Junior stuggling to walk on his own two feet. He has to be barely two at this point.

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Zachary sighed, “Pick up the kid Romeo. You see him struggling.”

Romeo shook his head.

         “He needs to learn how to walk.”

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Theo (with his very short lived dirty blonde hairdo) swatted down and picked up Junior.

         “Uncle Theo will help little Junior out then.”

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In French, Zachary said to Junior, “You are the best walker on the planet! Remember that!”

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Though Junior didn’t understand a word. Maybe ‘you’ and ‘best’.

         “Teach him French Romeo,” Zachary insisted.

         “Once he can walk properly, I will teach him French.”

Carlos chimed, “You know you can multi-task, right? What do you think I did with Kimberly.”

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         “Oh looked who decided to come out the shadows,” Jermany said discretely.

The four glanced over and notice Maxwell walking alongside Sammatha with his luggage.

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         “How long will he have to wear the eye patch?” Theo asked.

Zachary raised up all five fingers.

         “Months?” Theo asked.

         “No days. C’mon be for real. Yes months. Leo apparently did more damage than what we saw back in October,” Zachary said.

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The four got quiet once Maxwell approach them all. Greeting each other, Zachary tried to keep the mood lighten.

         “So Maxwell… Ready to get your own room? No more roommating with Jermany. I heard you are getting the corner room in right wing.” Zachary smiled.

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Maxwell smiled a bit. “Sure. Jermany wasn’t the best roommate anyways.”

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Jermany suddenly stop shivering. “Uh I was a great roommate.”

Maxwell shrugged, “You practice your lines at 3am and leave the lights on when nobody in the room.”

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         “You act like I dirty up the place.”

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         “Well our rooms might be taken up for grabs allegedly,” Carlos sighed.

Theo raised his finger, “That’s…ouch ouch… Romeo come get Junior. He’s… pulling on my earrings.”

After grabbing Junior, Theo continued, “That is because you and Romeo are now husbands. What you need a place in the BFF house for when you two got a house.”

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Romeo said, “Uh for sleepovers. Practice ends at midnight and I am not driving back to my place when the BFF house is in the middle of nowhere. There is no streetlights for a solid five miles”

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         “There is too streetlights,” Theo said.

         “Not enough.”

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Eventually it was time to board the flight. As everyone took their seats, many of the members got quiet once Leo arrived with Jean by his side.

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         “Don’t pay anyone any attention,” Jean whispered to Leo.

Leo glanced at Maxwell briefly as it was first time really seeing him since the accident. Yes Leo came around for Thanksgiving but he only interacted with JV Girls and Rap Line.

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         “So he shows his face,” Romeo said under his breath.

         “Not right now, Romeo,” Maxwell pleaded as he looked out the window.

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There was a moment of silence between Varsity Guys as Leo sat down by Kendrick and LeeSung.

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Jermany then clear his throat and softly asked, “Are you… still going to… sue?”

No words came out of Maxwell mouth.

Deep down Maxwell wanted to sue but he also knew that it would ruin his brother/sister relationship with Sammatha.

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As the plane travel its way to New York, the group finally landed and made its way to the newly built BFF Stadium, located in downtown Brooklyn.

It was revolutionary. No more booking at the Square Arena in Manhattan. Now Switch could have as many concerts as it pleases at the BFF Stadium. Also ton of opportunities to make passive income as other big acts could rent out the place for their shows.

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The stadium can hold 100,000 people. The ceiling can open. Though I highly doubt anyone would want to use the open air concept in this weather.

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On the fourth floor, there is the BFF lounge, exclusive to only Switch members. There was white marble floors, a heated fireplace, a dry bar (that has no alcohol), and a private theater for team meetings. Just remember to not loose your key cards or you will be locked out.

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The stadium is utterly huge. So huge to the point that it raise a lot of questions. A lot of money questions. Especially when no one can recall a conversation about any investors who funded the project.

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Due to how cold it was, we weren’t able to check out the hidden house. Its suppose to be a “bunker house” according to Xan. No, there is no fallout bunker inside. Its actually a four bedroom, modern home in a neighborhood with HOA fees. Its mainly a jurisdiction house to settle any civil issue within the group.

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Only catch is that it is off limits. There is only two keys and you have to “rent” or “reserve” a time to slot to have privacy at this house. There is also a random rule that you need to have an absolute good reason why you need access to the house.

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Arriving at the BFF house, everyone was ecstatic to see the newly added left wing. Something that should had been fully completed back in 2014~2015 but Mr.Smith pull the plug on construction.

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Running up and down the stairs, everyone was super happy. Everyone but of course Leo, Sammatha, and Maxwell. Those three kept their distance from each other to prevent any sort of conflict.

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         “Psst!”

         “Psst!”

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         “Xan…”

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David waved down Xan as he left the brand new home recording studio that once used a storage room by the stairs.

         “You all go with out me,” Xan said to Duo line and some of Varsity Girls.

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Going around the corner, Xan met up with David.

         “What’s wrong?”

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         “When are we going to drop the news?” David asked.

         “I don’t know.”

“Well it needs to be soon.”

“Can’t we wait till after the holidays?”

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David was astound. “No…No, we can’t. As External Leader, I’m responsible for the BFF stadium. A stadium that cost money to run. Do you know much it cost to renovate that stadium. The property taxes alone… Not to mention the house expansion. The Black Box is nearly finish. Xan we have to tell them.”

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Xan looked around the dark hallway before walking down the hall into the Leader’s office.

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David lingered at the door as he watch Xan grab some folders from his very messy and clutter desk. Adjusting his glasses he was in disarray as the figures pointed out in the files.

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         “Can I press the button?” David said with his finger hovering over the intercom.

Xan shook his head in agreement

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Turning on the intercom, David said in a 50s radio personality accent, “Drop what your doing because we are having a group meeting… Right now in the main living.”

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As all six sub-unit took their seats in the crowded room, Lisa and I stood by the stairs waiting for David and Xan’s arrival.

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         “Valen. Do you think they are going to be mad with us?” Lisa asked.

I didn’t know what everyone reaction was going to be but I knew the new plan for Switch was going to work out in our favorite in the future.

​

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Looking to our side we saw David and Xan holding a stack full of folders.

         “Don’t open it until everyone gets one,” Xan said as he pass it out.

         “What is this?” Carlos asked.

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No one said anything until receive a folder.

Us four leaders stood side by side, wondering who would speak.

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         “Um I guess I will go… You all can open up the folder now,” David slowly utter.

 

                  “Woah!”

                  “Yikes…”

                  “NO WAY!”

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The gasp in the air was loud. All the members were in awe.

         “You guys have to be serious. What make you think we have this kind of money to spare,” Vanessa asked.

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Zachary stood up in disbelief.

         “As Varsity lead, I do no consent to this. $300,000 monthly in dues?”

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         “Is this all together?” Lily asked.

         “Its each.” Lisa said.

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         “So how much are we paying collectively in members dues?” Dice asked.

Xan stractch his head bit, “We are looking at a little under 10 million USD per month. 118 million for the year.”

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Everyone was in an uproar.

         “Ain’t no way,” Mazen said throwing his folder on the floor.

         “Is this because we got the stadium?” Kyan asked.

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         “We didn’t get it for free,” Xan shrugged.

         “118 million in expense is outrageous,” Zachary said.

         “Why didn’t we get brief on the cost prior?” Mazen asked.

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         “You did. You all did. We are just trying to pay the stadium off as quick as possible. Y’all realize we bought a stadium in downtown Brooklyn. How much did you think the Square Arena cost in Manhattan?” I said.

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Asia pulled out her phone to see how much it cost.

         “So are you saying we bought a two billion dollar arena as a group who just went independent barely two years ago and have one album in our vault,” she asked.

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         “No. No. We have royalties to our entire catalog,” Xan chimed.

         “Was it a 2 billion dollar arena though?” Zachary asked.

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         “No. The loan we…barely got approve for… could accumulate interest to two billion. The BFF Stadium cost one billion dollars because its in Brooklyn.” Xan said.

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The room was in an utter uproar.

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Zachary glanced at Jordyn who seem very upset by the news. Though he couldn’t help to notice Jackie sitting next to her, who was also very upset by the news.

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         “So is our pay going up then,” Jackie asked.

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         “Yes but your take home will be pretty low,” David said.

         “How low?” Jean asked.

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         “All Varsity Leads will receive an annual income of 100k. Everyone else will get 80k. This is only for the next two years. By time 2020 comes around, the BFF stadium will start paying for itself as we get more acts to perform there.”

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Zachary was still not having it.

         “100k? That’s all I get? Switch is the number one group in the world and I can only make 100k?”

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         “At least you are making six figures,” Dice said.

         “You are a backup singer. Be lucky you are getting paid in the first place,” Zachary said frustrated.

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Dice wanted to pop Zachary in the face but Toran held him down.

         “Chill Zachary,” Jordyn said.

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         “Cheap talk from a nepo baby,” Dice said under his breath.

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         “Its only for the next two years. Plus your dues include your rent so think of it as play money. If you want to make more money outside of payroll, talk to me after the meeting. Maybe I can get you into some acting or modeling gigs,” David said.

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Xan step forward, “Remember, the 300k is going to be paid by the acts who perform at the stadium. So instead of receiving that deposit into your bank account, it will be apply to the loan balance.”

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After a heated discussion, the meeting was dismissed.

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         “What a joke,” Theo said tossing his folder to the ground, “What happens if you don’t pay your dues?”

Jermany rubbed his forehead a bit. “Not much of a choice.”

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         “This is going to be a problem.” Zachary said.

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___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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         “Is that why you left Switch?”

 

Zachary laughed at the interviewer with all his soul.

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         “Ohhhhh… It sure made me want to leave. I was lead singer for eight years by time this news came out. It wasn’t until my seventh year that I actually saw my first million after getting paid pennies by Ex-S Records. Then here come Leader Line telling me I have to pay dues like I’m in some Greek fraternity.”

 

Zachary face planted into his hands before sitting straight up in his seat.

Continuing he said, “My biggest regrets though was not realize that everyone in the group had to make a sacrifice for the betterment of the group’s legacy. Because of my pride, I missed out on some of the glory days of Switch.”

 

The interviewer then asked, “What was your relationship with money.”

 

Zachary gave it some thought.

         “Well I grew up wealthy before joining Switch. But while under Ex-S Records, the group was broke. I couldn’t access my trust fund until I was 21 so surely you would think I would humble myself with money. However I didn’t. I became very greedy and my greed end up ruining all my friendships. My discontentment was bad. Hence why Jermany replace me as lead singer. Yes there are other reasons why I left but my greed was part of the equation.”

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         “How did you feel when you heard that members dues went down to $20,000 dollars and everyone salary jumping to as high as 10.2 million dollars per year? Not to mention the creation of The Switch Experience”

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Zachary looked at the camera.

         “I felt very angry at myself.”