From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel

Chapter 404: Tête-à-Tête (3)

"Alright, is everything in place?" PD Emily asked her crew as they went over their final setup.

"Yep. The last batch of people just arrived from the airport, so everyone who’s coming is here. We have the cameras set up and in place. The sponsored clothes for the contestants are in place, and the boys are all still sleeping in their rooms, so as soon as the signal is given, we’re good to go." Kate reported as she went through the morning checklist.

"Excellent. My chest is burning, and I have a bad feeling, so I hope everything goes well today." PD Emily muttered as she rubbed her chest. She didn’t know why, but it kept throbbing as it usually did when something went wrong.

"Isn’t it burning because of all the espresso that you drink, PD? One of these days, you’ll get a heart attack, so try to reduce it, okay? Plus, there’s no need to stress out, today’s a fun, relaxing day, and I’m sure the boys will call a truce since their families are going to be here, right?" Kate said placatingly, even though she was 100% on the contestants’ side, that those in charge were always going too far with the editing and the drama.

"...I hope you’re right. Please, if there is a god, let those troublemakers calm down." PD Emily muttered as she grabbed her tablet and phone, making her way down to the modified room where the families would be.

As soon as PD Emily entered the room, she was greeted by a level of noise that could only be created by large groups trying to get to know each other.

Out of habit, she quickly looked around, trying to see if she could figure out which family belonged to which contestant.

The tall, handsome but sharp-eyed man who looked just like Levi, the beautiful woman standing next to him, and the old lady who was chatting with Wilford Forbes were clearly the Temple family.

The man with long brown hair, a cowprint leather jacket, and a matching hat was clearly James Jones, Jamie’s father, and by the look of the 5 large boys standing around him, and the blonde older woman wearing a country-style pink and mint dress with a basket-style purse, these were his wife and kids.

The stern-faced Hispanic man in a suit, the beautiful woman beside him, and the 3 young children were Carlos’ family, whom she had met before.

The tall man who looked like a darker version of Benjamin, a dark-haired woman with braids who had Benjamin’s smile and dimples, and the mixture of young adults and kids who looked similar were obviously Benjamin’s family.

The gorgeous Indian woman with a daughter who was the spitting image of her was clearly Vishal’s mother and sister.

One by one, PD Emily looked around and made the connection from contestant to family, noting that the only people who didn’t have anyone come for them were William, who at least had his uncle there, and Ariel, an orphan who claimed not to have any family, even though he clearly knew people who could stand in for that like the priest who had originally brought him in and Chloé Laurent.

As her heart pulsed again from a strange anxiousness, PD Emily pushed the resident troublemaker out of her mind and flagged Wilford Forbes, letting him know that everything was in place.

Getting her signal, Wilford Forbes broke off his conversation and clapped to get the attention of everyone.

As the room quieted down, he gave everyone a charming smile before beginning to speak.

"Good morning, everyone, and once again, thank you all for coming. I’ve gotten the signal that everything is in place, so let’s get started. The plan for this morning is for all of the families to wake up the contestants who are sleeping in. None of them knows exactly what time you’re all supposed to arrive, so they’ll be quite surprised to see you all here already, and that heart-warming scene will be captured by our lovely production team. Afterward, the contestants will change while we do quick interviews with you all, then we’ll all gather here before going to breakfast and continuing the rest of the itinerary. Our lovely PD, Emily Raleigh, will direct you to the correct rooms, so please follow her."

Wilford Forbes pointed to PD Emily, who waved cheerfully.

"Hello, everyone. I’m Emily, the person who’s been in contact with you all. I hope your travels went well. We have a lot of fun things planned for today, and to get through them all, we need to get started, so please follow me."

As PD Emily stepped out the door, the families followed her, and she led them to the hallway with the rooms where the contestants were staying.

Each door had the contestants’ names printed in large letters, so the families all crowded around the correct door while the cameramen tried to capture everything from both ends.

Once everyone was in position, PD Emily held the Clapperboard up.

"Ready, steady....go wake them up!"

CLACK!

At her signal, the families barged through the door and began shouting while the cameramen tried to keep up and capture the moment.

"Wake up!"

"Jamie, sweetie, moms here."

"Yoh Benny, wake up now-now! Why are you still sleeping at this time? Did I raise you to be lazy?"

As she heard the excited shouts of various accents coming from the rooms, PD Emily smiled to herself.

Good. Good. The heartwarming moment had to be captured perfectly.

As she waited by the door, counting down the time before she had to temporarily separate the families from the contestants-

"Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"

A terrified scream suddenly sounded out.

Turning toward the room where the sound had come from, PD Emily felt her heart pound even harder as she read the names on the door.

Ariel M.

James J.

That scream was definitely Jamie, which meant there could only be one culprit here.

Ariel!

What the heck have you done now?

Ignoring the different heads that poked out of the door, PD Emily sprinted to Jamie’s room.

***********

"You chopped my friend in half? How could you!" Jamie gasped as he stared between his dad and the ground in horror.

On the ground was a pair of sweatpants on one side and a hoodie on the other, and because of the way it was filled with clothing, it looked like a person who had been chopped in half, especially the red clothing in the middle that imitated blood.

"He’s not dead! It’s not even real! I was just trying to wake him up. How was I supposed to know that he stuffed his clothes? Who the heck does that?" James Jones Sr. complained as he lightly kicked the stuffed sweatpants to the side.

He had tried shaking Ariel awake, thinking he was ignoring them and being childish, but the force he used sent the stuffed hoodie flying across the room, hitting Jamie in the face. His son began screaming in terror before everyone realized it was fake.

"I told you he’s a bad influence. Who does this when he knows your parents are coming?" James Senior grumbled.

Unfortunately for him, nobody was on his side.

Not his wife.

"And who shakes a sleeping kid that hard? You’re old enough to know better and you promised to be on your best behavior. I can’t believe you were shaking him like that! You know how thin he is. I doubt that he’s a hundred pounds soaking wet. And he’s French on top of it? I’m sure he hasn’t eaten a hearty, southern home-cooked meal that warms the soul and will put some meat on his bones in his life. And they sure aren’t feeding them well here. Look at how much weight my baby has lost. He’s all skin and bones. Jamie, sweetie, where’s that handsome friend of yours?" Magnolia Jones immediately scolded her husband with a heavy country accent, before going to stroke Jamie’s messy hair.

And not his sons.

"Oh, Jamie, is this the friend of yours that you always talk about?"

"The skinny one who’s good at tennis, right? He has a girly name but a fierce attitude."

"Where is he? Under the bed? Or in the closet?"

"Does he scare you like this often? I like his style!"

As the large boys got rowdy in the cramped room and began looking for Ari, while James Jones Sr. was still being scolded by his wife, PD Emily barged in.

"Jamie? Are you okay?" she asked as her eyes scanned the tightly packed room to figure out what was going on.

Was there a fight? Did somebody get injured? What?

"It’s nothing. It’s just that little punk- ouch!"

Wincing as Magnolia pinched his side with unbelievable strength, James Jones Sr. quickly corrected his words while pointing to the stuffed hoodie and pants on the ground.

"I meant to say that James Jr.’s friend played a prank on us. Haha."

"Haha? Where is Ariel?"

"We haven’t seen him. Just this."

When PD Emily saw the stuffed clothing, her heart began pounding even more, and the bad feeling she had got worse.

"Have any of you seen Ariel? Jamie?" PD Emily turned expectantly to Ari’s number 1 partner in crime.

"No. I woke up when they came in, and my dad discovered that. Maybe he’s in the practice room? He usually wakes up early." Jamie answered honestly.

"That’s right. He must have been so tired. My baby was plum tuckered out." Magnolia added

Seeing that Jamie looked honest and his mother corroborated his story, PD Emily forced a smile.

"You’re probably right. I’ll go grab him and bring him back. You guys continue to catch up."

"Sure."

Once PD Emily left, Magnolia grabbed a piece of paper that was partially hidden beneath Jamie’s pillow.

"Oh, look, sweetie, there’s a letter on your bed."

"A letter?"

Taking the letter from his mom, Jamie quickly read through it.

Oi 🤠, did you scream? Hehe~. Anyway, if the PD asks you where I am, say you don’t know. When everyone is gathered, please read aloud the second note. I’ll bring you food when I’m back in return. Have fun with your family. -Ariel

"Huh? Where did he go?"