From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel

Chapter 370: Graduation (6)

Inside the arena, the atmosphere was suspiciously tense as hundreds of teenage girls and young women began standing up in preparation for one name being called.

They hid their banners in their lap, had their phones already recording, and were just waiting for the first middle and last name of a certain individual to be called.

"Ready-"

"Steady-"

"Shhhh shhhhh. We can’t make noise until they call him. That’s why they made him go last."

As the families of the other students stared back curiously, wondering what was going on, the name of the final student was called by the principal with a crazily large handlebar mustache.

"Last but not least, I’m calling up Ariel Bada Matisse. Graduating summa cum laude and as the valedictorian of the class."

The moment the red-haired boy with the angel graduation cap stepped on the stage, banners flew up as the fans who came to support their pick began to rap the song from one of his previous performances.

"Whooo wanna rock with Ari!

Sing, rap, and dance like Ari!

Who got them obsessed like Ari!"

The loud sound of hundreds of people rapping in unison shook the arena causing everyone, from the teachers to the other students and their family members to Ari himself to glance up at the stands before opening their mouths in shock.

******************

What the heck?

"Like, like Ari.

I think you really like Ari"

As the audience continued rapping an old verse from the performance, Ari looked up at the stands with wide eyes.

When and where had all these people hidden those things?

Right now, Ari was staring at giant cardboard cutouts of his own face, clearly visible from the stage.

Some were edited screenshots from the show with cute emojis, and others were his childhood pictures taken from Chloé’s Instagram account, blown up extremely large.

On top of that, there were several large banners that extended from one end to another with hundreds of signatures on them as well as large letters saying ’Happy Graduation, Ariel!’

"Haters really mad about Ari,

Now, have you ever met Ari"

And finally, they were all rapping in unison while cheering for him so loudly that he didn’t even remember to walk across the stage, shake the principal’s hand, or grab his diploma.

Ari just stood there, taking it all in while feeling extremely touched.

It was already one thing to take time to come and support, but this was above and beyond. The fact that the people who supported him were doing all this for someone whom they had never met personally, who they had only seen and heard through a device, was really touching.

There was nothing he had done to deserve so many people’s support of him and while he knew there were lots of people who voted for him to stay in the show, seeing the physical representation of people not only knowing songs he’d performed, but going the extra mile to come and support him when this wasn’t even an official event was crazy.

How could he not be touched?

Truly, he had the best fans in the world.

And he didn’t even know how to repay them.

And although he felt a bit bad about disrupting the other graduates, he couldn’t really bring himself to care right now.

Ari just stood there taking it all in with slightly teary eyes, and as the crowd restarted the verse, he heard a voice shriek so loudly that it broke through

- DO THE DANCE!!!

Hmmm?

Why did that voice sound a bit familiar?

Was that the same girl from when he sang the traffic song?

Laughing to himself at the ludicrous thought, Ari moved to the center of the stage and gestured for them to restart the verse while mouthing the words along with them as he began to dance.

- Who wanna rock with Ari

As the shouts filled the arena, Ari threw his hand across his shoulders with a cocky tilt to his head.

- Sing, rap, and dance like Ari! Who got them obsessed like Ari!"

Ari dusted off his shoulders while performing the simple footwork before sticking his tongue out while smiling.

From behind, the principal slipped the microphone into Ari’s hand, and he brought it to his lips while rapping.

"Have you ever met-" pausing before his name, he cupped his ear with one hand while holding the microphone out toward the stands.

- ARI ARI ARI!

Frenzied, the attendees began cheering his name even louder, now that the subject himself was participating.

"Think you really like-"

- ARI ARI ARI!

"Haters really mad about-"

- ARI ARI ARI!

"Now have you ever met-"

- ARI ARI ARI!

Seeing that easy swagger as he danced the choreography live, the eyes of the viewers, both online and present, burned even brighter.

"I said, have you ever met-"

- ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI

"Thank you all."

As the chants of his name died down, Ari gave the audience a cheeky smile before he took an elaborate bow and handed the microphone back to the principal.

Principal Matador glanced between the still cheering audience and then at Ari, who was standing politely as if he hadn’t done anything before laughing boisterously and speaking.

"Well, I’ve certainly met you now, Ariel. Congratulations on graduating, young man."

"Thank you."

After shaking the principal’s hand and receiving the laminated envelope that had his diploma in it, Ari went back to the podium and stood behind the principal as he waited for his turn to speak once more.

"You’ve all received your diplomas and become high school graduates. Following the procedure, that means you now get to move your tassels from the right to the left, signifying that you’ve gained your degree. Shall we do it in unison on 3."

"One."

"Two"

"Three!"

As all the students standing on the floor moved their tassels over, Ari joined in and did the same before taking the podium.

"And as part of the time-honored tradition. We get to throw our hats up to celebrate. Now on three, let’s go. 1, 2, one two three-"

As Ari pointed the microphone at his classmates who were standing while holding the graduation hats at the ready, they all shouted back.

"Release em!!!!"

Then it became a cloud of hats flying through the hair as they all threw up their graduation hats.

As the stock music began playing, and students began hugging each other while trying to find their hats, Ari hopped off the stage to look for his.

As he moved around, several students approached him, wanting to shake his hand and take selfies, which he willingly participated in since it was the least he could do.

And by the time he finished with what seemed like every student there, Principal Matador had finished his closing remarks, Ari had walked the length of the floor of the arena twice, and his hat was nowhere to be found.

....

Seriously?

Did somebody steal my hat?

Or did I really throw it that far?

Considering he had decorated it with words and feathers, he couldn’t understand why it wasn’t easily visible, but no matter how hard Ari looked, it simply didn’t exist, and there wasn’t even a spare one on the ground that would indicate that someone else lost theirs.

It was just gone.

Shrugging to himself, he disentangled himself from those trying to speak to him before moving to the front area where Jamie and Benjamin were standing, and basically hanging off the railing.

"Big Man! Look at our fresh high school graduate! Ba ba ba baaaaaa!!!!! Benjamin yelled while making trumpet noises with his mouth, while Jamie whistled loudly.

Laughing, Ari gave them a dramatic bow before

"Thanks."

"How does it feel to be free from mandatory education?"

"Amazing! I’m very happy to never come back again!" Ari replied honestly, causing Benjamin to laugh again.

"I can tell! Miss PD, I don’t consent to being recorded." Benjamin said, pointing to PD Emily, who had moved over and was recording the entire interaction with a cameraman.

"If you’re here, yes, you did, Ben. Graduate Ari, how do you feel about what your fans planned for you?"

"I feel really good. And I’m very thankful to have them. I truly think they’re the best fans in the world."

"Oh, really? It seems that their plans for you aren’t over." PD Emily responded as she pointed up at the stands.

Looking up at the crowd of people looking down at him as if they were so happy and proud of his accomplishments, Ari waved at them.

A lot of them waved and yelled back, and then, as if planned, began tossing flowers at him.

As one bounced off his face, there was a collective gasp, but not bothered in the slightest, Ari caught the red rose in his mouth, spread his arms wide, before yelling.

"Hit me with your best shot!"

A deluge of flowers, stuffed animals, headbands, and cards was thrown at him, almost drowning him from the sheer amount of things.

"Wai-"

Before he could get the words out, even more things began flying at him until he was completely buried.

[Are they trying to show you love or kill you?]

[Either way, their best shot is successful.]

You just shut up.