From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel

Chapter 371: Graduation (7)

"That was really fun!" Jamie yelled as the six of them ran through the streets toward the hospital, where they were supposed to get picked up by Levi’s dad.

They had just finished chatting and taking pictures with some of the fans.

"For who? I thought I was going to be buried alive and die! Ptew!" Ari complained as he spat out a flower petal that was somehow stuck on his lips.

"That’s why I keep telling you to come to the gym, mate. Imagine how terrible it would be if that’s how you went out; cause of death - suffocated by flowers, stuffed animals, and headbands thrown by his loving and adoring fans on the day of your graduation. It’s undignified being fished out like that by Jamie, Ari. You lost all the aura you gained from your amazing speech." Benjamin nagged before slapping Ari hard on the back.

"Keep the aura. I’m just trying to understand why people are following us when they have places to be. I thought they all said they were going to the performance showcase location, and we’re all headed to the same place anyway."

Ari peeked back at the small group of girls jogging a couple of paces behind them, then at the cars of people driving slowly alongside them, recording.

"That’s the price of being part of a group made up of eyecandy~. And the price of being popular. Enjoy it." Benjamin waved and blew a kiss at the girls driving, causing them to shriek in excitement.

"Popular. You’re going to be popular~" Carlos sang in his beautifully clear voice, and when Ari shot him a dirty look, he laughed in his usual easy manner before explaining.

"Gabriella made me watch a musical with her, and I thought the song applied to the current situation."

"Lovely."

- Your face is lovely, Ariel!!!!

- Where are you guys going?

- Why aren’t you taking Jamie’s truck!?!

The girls driving in the car yelled a whole bunch of questions, and after smiling and waving at them, Ari focused on running and keeping the spare graduation hat on his head.

Soon enough, they approached the hospital, which had a helipad on top, and after going through the signing-in procedures, were escorted to the right elevator by a worker.

And when they reached the top of the open roof, the now familiar helicopter and the man who had traumatized him the previous night were there.

Spotting them, Levi’s dad, who was dressed in the exact same outfit as the day before, waved.

"How was the graduation ceremony? Everything go well, Mr. Graduate?"

"It was good, although somebody stole my cap," Ari replied as he touched his bare head.

"Haha, it happens. Alright, boys, we need to vacate this spot immediately, so put your headsets on, get in, strap your seatbelts, and off we go!"

Taking the headsets that Levi’s dad handed over, Ari tucked himself into the furthest seat inside the helicopter while Jamie, Benjamin, Carlos, and Mathew arranged themselves around him, and Levi went to sit in the front seat beside his dad.

Whop-whop-whop whop-whop-whop

As the blades of the helicopter started up, Ari stared out the window curiously.

And within a minute, they were flying in the sky.

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

"Go faster!" Rachel yelled even as she gripped the grab bar above her window in Justine’s car.

"I’m trying!" Justine shouted back even as she pressed the accelerator.

She was already going almost 80 mph and was weaving between lanes as quickly as she could so that they could reach the showcase performance area, find parking, and then go through security and try to get a good standing area by the stage before the performances began, but with the way traffic was right now, they were more than likely going to miss the first couple performances.

Justine’s only hope was that they wouldn’t miss Ari’s team performance, otherwise she would cry her heart out.

"Well, even with all the speeding that we’re doing, there’s no way we’re going to make it in time," Grace mentioned lightly as she checked online to see what people were saying about the graduation and the performance showcase.

"But on a more positive note, there’s no way Ari, his friends, and the PD will make it on time either. We all left around the same time, so I’m sure they will try to rearrange or delay things so they can still perform." Grace said confidently.

At least, that’s what she would do if she were in charge of the showcase and wanted to make the most money out of it.

But as past experience had shown, the people running Pop Star Academy didn’t have any sense, and they clearly had a vendetta against Ari.

Otherwise, why else would they schedule such an event so close in time and on the same day as the graduation that they knew one of their most popular contestants had to be at?

Then they refused to confirm whether Ari would be attending, most likely to sell as many tickets as possible.

Honestly, if she hadn’t asked Ari personally and gotten his assurance that he would be performing at it, Grace would have assumed that he wouldn’t be able to attend, especially because the way the rules were worded, they made it seem like if contestants didn’t attend the whole thing, then they wouldn’t be able to get votes.

It was just a messy situation overall, with the only bright spot being that William wouldn’t be there.

Although there was the issue of the show not putting out a statement about William’s cheating, and whether he would finally be eliminated once and for all.

After all, this wasn’t the first time William had brought such negative eyes and press to the show, but now this was the most serious situation that couldn’t be hidden.

"Ugh."

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Grace continued scanning through the generally positive response to Ari’s graduation stream online before finding a live stream of somebody already at the performance showcase and chatting with Vishal and a couple of other contestants who were doing a sound check.

Then, at the corner of the screen, she thought she saw a familiar red gown with a bunch of cords hanging on it.

"Turn the camera over. Move the camera over." Grace whispered, and just as she was about to type her instructions in the chat, the person livestreaming turned the camera to the side.

And standing there, chatting with the stage staff and camera crew were Ari, Levi, Jamie, Carlos, Benjamin, and Mathew.

The six boys who were at the graduation were as well.

"Huh? Wait? How the heck?" Grace yelled out.

"What?" Rachel turned to look back at Grace while Justine peeked at her in the mirror before continuing her GTA-level driving skills as she sped down the highway.

"Someone is live-streaming the stage prep of the contestants, and Ari and his friends are on stage! How the heck did they get there so quickly!?"

"They’re what?"

"They’re at the showcase! On stage right now! Look!" Grace quickly turned her phone around so Rachel could see it.

"No way, they’re really there! He hasn’t even taken off his graduation robe yet! How did they get over there? Teleportation?"

"Magic!?!?" Justine asked.

"If he had the means to get there quickly, he should have taken me with him! What kind of traitorlike behavior is this? I’ve been supporting you faithfully, and you leave me to suffer in traffic??? Unacceptable." Grace complained as she immediately began calling Ari while Rachel pulled up the livestream on her phone.

"Yo, GC. I’m busy, so make it quick." Ari’s voice sounded out quickly, and on Rachel’s phone screen, Grace saw him put the phone to his ear and turn away on the stage.

"How did you get there so quickly?! Answer me, you traitor!" Grace complained.

"How did you know?" Ari asked in a very suspicious voice before turning his head and staring directly at the person holding the camera live-streaming the stage.

Smiling mischievously, he held up a peace sign before mouthing-

"You watchin’?"

"Yes, I’m watching!! How did you get there so quickly?!?"

"Hehe, you’ll see later. Make sure you don’t miss my performance, or you’ll regret it. Tell your friends thanks for coming to my graduation. I appreciate them. Click-"

Before Grace could say anything else, Ari hung up.

"I’ll never forgive him for this," Grace vowed.

"I will, he personally thanked us for coming to his graduation. My life is set."

"Right."

Glaring at the two traitors who couldn’t stand on business, Grace just continued watching while Justine, who seemed to have been injected with jet fuel along with her car, began flying down the roads even faster.

By some miracle, they not only made it to the outdoor performance location in time, but they also got a premium spot.

After jumping out of the car, getting in line, and quickly going through security, they arrived at the performance area, a large, outdoor stage set in a large, open park that was loosely fenced.

There was a small barricade separating the stage from the audience, and when she took it all in, Grace thought it was really shoddily set up compared to the previous performance location.

Additionally, it was completely crowded, and the crowd was extremely rowdy, so no matter how the three girls squeezed and pushed, they couldn’t get closer to the stage and had to settle for being near the middle edge area.

Although they felt a bit disgruntled, there was nothing to be done, so they just waited expectantly for the performances to begin.