Bang Bang
WE WEEKLY MAGAZINE
What Can’t Cantor Do? by Miranda Morris
For this week’s Celeb Scoop, I sat down with America’s new princess of pop, Kassie Cantor. She gave me the Scoop on her album, life on tour, and her recent split from actor Luke Anders.
WW: Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and talk with We Weekly, Kassie. It seems like you barely have a free moment these days!
KC: Oh my gosh, I know! I’m so grateful to the fans for how they’ve responded to Holy [Cantor’s recent chart-topping album], and getting to extend the tour? Insane!
WW: I actually just got word that Holy has gone platinum this week - how does it feel to have one of the most popular albums on the charts right now?
KC: I just have to say again how grateful I am to my fans - they’ve really shown up for Holy and I couldn’t be more excited to see their response to it. And it’s been so much fun seeing how many people know the lyrics on tour.
WW: Speaking of your tour, you’ve just added twelve new stops across North America. Do you ever get tired?
KC: Me? Tired? No way. The Holy Tour has been nothing but energizing. I mean, I get to hang out with, like, eighteen thousand of my closest friends every night while we sing and dance to songs I wrote - it’s a total dream come true.
WW: Still, a schedule like that can take its toll. I have to ask - did your tour have anything to do with your recent breakup?
KC: Oh, gosh. Um, no - not exactly. Relationships are hard for everyone, you know? And then with the extra pressure of being in the public eye, sometimes things just don’t work out. Luke and I decided that we weren’t working anymore, and luckily we both have plenty of creative projects to focus on instead.
WW: How do you feel about the recent appearances he’s made with his co-star, Amber Reynolds?
KC: If he’s happy then I’m happy. They were both great in The Saturn Chronicles, and I wish them nothing but the best.
WW: So the breakup anthem everyone seems to have stuck in their head isn’t about Luke Anders?
KC: Well… let’s just say sometimes I’m allowed to be more honest in song lyrics than I am in an interview.
That sounds like confirmation to me, readers! You can find the Luke Anders breakup anthem “Like I Used To” and the rest of Holy in stores now, or - if you’re lucky enough to snag a ticket - you can hear it live at one of Cantor’s twelve new tour dates.
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“I’m telling you guys, it’s just another weirdo with way too much time on their hands.” Kassie focuses on touching up her lipliner in a compact mirror. “You need to chill out.”
Her publicist and agent exchange looks.
“Kass,” Rick says, voice gentle. “Susan and I both got letters. At our home addresses. That’s a big deal, kiddo.”
Kassie rolls her eyes. “She’s the best publicist in the industry right now, and you work for New York’s biggest talent agency. I could probably find your addresses with, like, a five second google search.”
“Kassie, you know I wouldn’t be pushing for this if I didn’t think it was serious. Do you have any idea what a nightmare it is to cancel a show this last-minute?” Susan doesn’t look up from her phone, but her voice sounds grim.
Still, Kassie plasters on her signature megawatt smile and stands, flipping her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m not going to cancel, isn’t it?”
Susan sighs and finally lifts her eyes from her phone screen. “This is a bad idea.”
Kassie adjusts the hem of her miniskirt casually. “If anything goes wrong, I’ll make sure everyone knows you were both in camp ‘bad idea,’ okay?”
Susan rolls her eyes and Rick fiddles nervously with his watch.
Kassie accepts the sparkly, purple mic from a tech with a dazzling smile and winks at her team. “It’ll be fiiiiiiiine,” she sings, before turning and striding confidently onto the stage. Anything they might’ve said in response is quickly drowned out by the crowd of cheering fans, and she takes a deep breath once she’s at her mark for the first song.
“Hello, New York!” She places her hands in a prayerful position around her mic. “Are you feeling holy tonight?” The responding screams are deafening, and Kassie smiles widely.
It’ll all be fine.
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Despite being able to stand completely still for hours in some of the worst conditions imaginable, Steve Rogers is very uncomfortable. A week ago, he would’ve said he found this music perfectly fine - catchy, even - but that was before he saw the songs performed live and started to understand the double-meaning of some of the lyrics. Now he isn’t sure if he’ll ever be able to listen to them again.
He leans over to the person standing next to him. “Are you absolutely sure you didn’t make the intel up as an excuse to drag me here?”
Cleo rolls her eyes. “That would be a lot of fucking work just to get Captain Party Pooper to ruin my night.”
Bucky leans behind his girlfriend’s back so Steve can hear him. “I saw the report, Steve. HYDRA definitely has something planned.”
Steve frowns. “I still think we should have stuck with watching the exits.”
“I’m telling you, we have a better vantage point from here!” Cleo says, but she undercuts her own point a bit by belting out the lyrics to the song’s chorus along with almost every other person in the stadium.
I’d say I wished you well
But I don’t, and you can go to hell
Why don’t you sell your pretty lies to someone else?
I said we’re done, we’re through
Here’s looking at you
Because I bet she doesn’t do that special thing I do
Or love you like I used to
Steve has to resist the urge to cover his eyes when, at the second-to-last line of the chorus, the singer drops to her knees facing away from the audience and bends backward until the crowd can see her upside-down face, moving her microphone like… Well, like something that shouldn’t be done in public, if Steve is being perfectly honest.
Cleo laughs at his obvious discomfort, and Steve rolls his eyes. “I’m going to go check the perimeter,” he says, because it’s a good idea and also, he needs some air.
Bucky nods and Cleo waves a hand dismissively, not even looking at him. He’s barely made it into the aisle, though, when he hears an explosion coming from the stage. Steve whirls around, grabbing his shield from where it’s been strapped to his back, and starts pushing against the sea of screaming fans as they try desperately to flee the stadium.
Onstage, the singer - Kaci or Kassie or something like that - backs away from the hole that’s been blown through the stage floor, terror written across her face. Steve picks up the pace, resorting to elbowing people out of the way to get through the crowd.
“Sorry, excuse me, so sorry, excuse me ma’am.” He apologizes out of habit as he nears the edge of the stage. A few security guards have made their way up, but when Steve sees the five HYDRA operatives climbing out of the hole in the stage floor, he knows that this isn’t a job for a security guard.
He throws his shield at the first man’s head, climbing seamlessly onto the stage and catching the shield as it bounces back to him. Cleo levitates up next to him, now wearing her Sirensuit, and Bucky isn’t far behind. Cleo handles one of the four remaining HYDRA agents as Steve engages two in hand-to-hand combat. He blocks a stab at his neck, disarming the man and sending the knife hurtling across the floor toward where the fourth and final operative is closing in on the singer.
Steve ducks to avoid a swing from the second agent he’s fighting, popping up and moving several steps away from them. Before they can advance on him, he throws his shield and it hits the first man, ricochets off his head, and takes the second man down before returning to Steve like a boomerang. He locks it into place on his forearm and turns to save the singer from the fourth man, but freezes at what he sees.
The singer is standing with her hands in the air and a panicked look on her face while the HYDRA agent tries to staunch the blood leaking from the knife wound in his shoulder. Steve hurls the shield to knock the man out just to be safe and nods as Bucky begins restraining the unconscious agents. He strides over to the panicked woman.
“Holy shit, I think I stabbed him!” she says, voice feminine and airy despite nearly being kidnapped. She’s still standing with her hands up, like someone is holding her at gunpoint.
“It’s fine, ma’am - you just got his shoulder,” he says comfortingly, but she backs away from him slightly. Steve realizes that he’s towering over her, her head barely above his shoulders, and a small part of him imagines how delighted Cleo would be to find someone even shorter than she is. In an attempt to help her feel a bit safer, though, he holds out his hand. “My name is Steve Rogers. It’s nice to meet you.”
She finally lowers her hands and shakes his with a blank look on her face. “I’m Kassie.” She watches as Bucky restrains the stabbed man and carries him away. “Am I in trouble for stabbing that guy?”
Steve chuckles and shakes his head. “No, ma’am. You were just defending yourself.”
Suddenly, a man and a woman rush onto the stage, both of them frantically checking Kassie for injuries. “Oh my god, kiddo, are you okay?” the man asks, sweating profusely.
Kassie waves her hand dismissively. “I’m fine, Rick.”
The woman has a phone in her hand and her eyes dart back to the screen every few seconds. “Okay, great. In that case, we really need to get you backstage to start figuring out a statement. A few fans were injured leaving the stadium, so you’ll have to be apologetic about that, but you’ll also want to -”
“Excuse me,” Steve interrupts. “But we’re going to need to take Kassie here somewhere safe to ask her a few questions. We need to figure out why HYDRA was targeting her.”
Rick turns, wide-eyed, to Steve. “Yes, of course, Captain. Whatever you need!”
The woman rolls her eyes but nods. “Fine, I’ll just put something generic out for now. Kassie, call me the second you’re done with… whatever this is.” She stalks off the stage, heels clicking with every step.
Kassie blows out a huff of air. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”
Steve frowns. “D-do you want to… change?” he asks tentatively. “Before we go?”
Kassie looks down at her outfit - a very short skirt, a top that isn’t much more than just a bra, and heeled boots that come up to her knees. With a glint in her eye, she smiles and surprises Steve by taking his arm. “No, I’m perfectly fine. Lead the way, Captain America.”
He blushes at the way she says his name - almost sultry - but forces his face into a mask of calm confidence as he escorts her out a back entrance. Bucky snorts a laugh, and Steve shoots him a glare as they climb into one of Tony’s team SUVs.
We may only be a handful of blocks from the Tower, Steve thinks, but this is going to be a long drive.