From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 342: Vacation (4)

"I said I was sorry. Let’s just get this over with, move on, and go back to how things were before."

Hearing Vishal’s words, instead of calming down, Ari actually got even angrier.

You’re the one who’s been acting weird this whole time and wanting to talk, and now that you’re given the opportunity to talk, you’re telling me let it go?

That things should go back to the way they were before?

Are you crazy!?!

Are you trying to drive me crazy?

[Is this what the kids refer to as rage bait?]

[Are you being rage baited?]

[Are you falling for the rage bait?]

You just be quiet and don’t chime in with nonsense!

Ari took a deep breath before trying to explain.

"Listen. I’m not asking for an apology. You clearly feel upset and frustrated with me. I’m not the type to let things fester or to share our discussion with anyone. There’s no PD with cameras trying to record a fight, so speak up. Get everything you want to say off your chest."

".....It’s fine. I’ve realized that it’s not a big deal." Vishal replied in a neutral voice.

Not a big deal?

Then why the hell did you make it a big deal in the first place?!

"I just want you to know that you’re actually making me angrier right now. You’re actively pissing me off." Ari told Vishal seriously.

When the other boy just blinked and looked away, it truly set Ari off.

"C’est quoi ce délire? What’s your issue? You told me I was selfish and that you didn’t want my selfish actions to affect you. Fine. I made sure that you won’t be affected by my actions from that moment on. Anytime you see me, you turn away and leave the room. Did I say anything? No. I let you live your life and live mine because I’m not a psychotic tyrant. You make slick comments about me during your speech. Did I say anything? No, it’s a free country, and you’re entitled to your own opinion. You come to argue with me before our performance, I tell you that I’m busy, and you’re not the center of my world. You’re angry. Benjamin, our mutual friend Benjamin, had to tell me that he’s not getting in between our fight right before we hit the stage. That’s news to me! I didn’t even know we were fighting. You’re making slick comments to the poor worker at the front desk about me not choosing you, like I’m some kind of evil villain or bully on the playground ostracizing you. Now I want to talk you want to brush it under the rug? Heh. You know what? You’re actually lucky that I even wanted to talk because usually, I’d ignore you and cut you off because I have bigger issues to deal with, and frankly speaking, this is childish, and you’re not a priority right now."

"I’m lucky. Ha! I’m lucky? His Highness Ariel says I’m the lucky one! HA! HAHAHA!" Vishal laughed incredulously.

"Did I stutter? You need me to repeat myself, or do you need Q-tips to clean your ears out first?" Ari asked angrily.

"You saying I’m lucky when you’re the luckiest, most entitled contestant in this program is comedy! Truly, I can only laugh."

[Ho!]

[Wow! He’s really angry! What did you do to him when I wasn’t looking?]

[Let me pop some popcorn.]

[This is getting good.]

"Me? I’m the most entitled person in this program? ME?"

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Ari began slow clapping for Vishal. "If you’re thinking of becoming a comedian, I approve. You’ve certainly got jokes, not that they’re funny, but I see the potential. But now that you’ve said it, I really want to know, what do you think I’m entitled to?"

"Whatever. Let’s just let things go. This is stupid."

Bang!

Ari slammed his hand on the table between them.

"No. Don’t be shy now. Open your mouth and say the rest because I can tell you mean it. You’ve called me selfish. You think I’m lucky. And now you think I’m entitled. What do you think I act like I’m entitled to? What do you think I’ve gotten or I’ve earned in this program that I don’t deserve or haven’t worked for? I want to hear what kind of delusional fanfiction is swirling in your mind right now."

"So we’re calling people names now?"

[Fight! Fight! Fight!]

[Right hook! Left hook! Uppercut! Knee drop!]

"Pot. Kettle." Ari pointed from Vishal to himself, "If you can call me selfish and entitled, I can call you delusional. Don’t change the subject. What do you think I’m entitled to? Are you mad that I’m ranked first? Are you mad because I didn’t pick you for my team? Are you mad I’m not eliminated? What did I do that you’re angry at me for? Hmmm?"

Vishal bit his lips, looking angry, before he eventually sighed while pushing his hair back.

"I said it’s fine. As you said, I’m delusional, right? So I just need to work on and focus on myself, so let it go. Let’s just stop here."

"No. Let’s argue about it. That’s why we’re here."

"See, this is the selfishness I’m talking about. I don’t want to argue, and you’re going to force me to argue because that’s how you like to settle things? Why? It’s just going to continue to hurt both of our feelings. I realize I was wrong and need to reflect. I’m sorry once again for taking out my frustration on you and calling you those things. You know it’s been really stressful lately, and I haven’t been sleeping well. I’ll apologize to Benjamin, too. I didn’t realize I was putting him on the spot or making it seem like he had to pick a side. I was just venting. Can we just let it go and go back to how things were before? Please?"

"...."

So I’m back to being selfish again?

So you want to just brush everything under the rug and pretend nothing happened?

NO! Absolutely not!

Ari really wanted to reject it and yell again, but when he saw Vishal’s eyes go glassy, as if he were about to cry, he held back his words.

"...fine. Sorry for calling you delusional and banging the table."

Was he sorry? Kind of.

Was he fine with ending it here?

Not at all.

Not even a little bit.

[Booooooo!]

[Is the fight going to end like this?]

[All that lead up for nothing!]

Ari casually swatted the blue screen filling his vision away.

"Thanks." Vishal let out a sigh before giving an awkward compliment, "Well...good performance today. It looked amazing, and the song was good. I wish I was on your team."

"Thanks? ...good job on your team performance as well."

Ari replied awkwardly.

He didn’t really pay attention to it because of William, but it must have been good.

Truly, he just wanted this conversation to be over if they weren’t going to resolve anything.

But Vishal seemed intent on pretending everything was back to normal.

"So I heard you’re working on a song for a tv show?"

"Yeah."

"You have quite a lot of people working on it Jamie said. Do you need more volunteers? I can help if you need it."

"No, thanks." Ari cleanly rejected Vishal’s help.

The two of them stared at each other awkwardly before Vishal brought up another topic.

"Oh. Also, your graduation is coming up, right? Benjamin and Jamie were trying to talk about getting proper suits and dress shoes."

"Ugh. They really don’t have to do all that. It’s really not a big deal. And only one of us has to suffer and wear formal clothing, and it’s not them. I’ll speak to them later."

Ari grumbled slightly less awkwardly.

Truly, he still felt frustrated, but if the other party didn’t want to talk, then that was that.

As long as the other boy wasn’t weird, he would move on.

Unfortunately-

"So...I notice I didn’t get an invitation to attend the graduation."

"I know," Ari replied calmly as he met Vishal’s eyes.

"Did you forget to invite me or run out of tickets?"

"No. It was on purpose. I intentionally didn’t invite you."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes. Firstly, let me say this, and I hope it doesn’t offend you, but I don’t know why you would want to come." Ari told Vishal plainly.

As the other boy furrowed his brow, he explained.

"First, you’ve been avoiding me and acting weird. Based on our prior conversations, I assumed you had no interest in being seen with me. Secondly It’s my graduation. The day is about me. I already made concessions to attend because I owe a lot of people who helped me out and made accommodations for me, but I’ll still act freely and be myself. And since it’s my day, I don’t want to worry about how what I do or say will affect Vishal. How are you going to react later? If you’ll call me selfish, or if you’ll talk about me causing a scandal later. I want to enjoy my day with my classmates and friends who want to celebrate me and the hard work I put in during the most difficult years of my life. If a scandal happens, so be it, but it won’t be used against me later. That’s why I didn’t invite you."

And even if I wanted to invite you now, all the tickets are gone.

And even if there were tickets, I don’t plan to invite you regardless.

"...oh, I see."

"Yes."

The air between the two of them immediately became cold, but Ari didn’t look away.

As the two of them stared silently at each other.

Ring Ring Ring.

Ari’s set alarm went off.

"Well, that’s all the time I have today. Since we’re done, let’s go."

"Go where?" Vishal asked as he stood up.

"I’ll walk you back, then come back here."

"I don’t need you to walk me back. I’m not a child."

"I brought you out, so I’ll take you back. It’s easy to get lost and miss the train and bus, even with the map instructions."

"I don’t need your help. I can find my way back."

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

"Okay. Wait a second."

Ari simply picked up his phone and began calling a number.

Ring ring ring!

When it rang all the way through, he rang it again.

Ring ring ring!

As he was about to call one more time, the person on the other line finally picked up, and an angry voice could be heard as he put it on speaker.

"Ariel Matisse, my least favorite contestant. For the love of heaven, earth, and all the constellations in the sky, what do you want now? You’ve already reached your daily quota for annoying me."

PD Emily’s annoyed voice could be heard over the speaker, as well as an aggressive slurping sound.

"Vishal says he’s finding his own way back, and I just wanted to inform you, so in case he goes missing, I don’t get blamed."

"She wouldn’t do that."

Hearing Vishal’s words, Ari simply snorted.

You clearly don’t know this PD.

"...didn’t you drag him out with all your stooges? Why are you not bringing him back? Did you fight and abandon him somewhere?"

"What kind of fictional story are you writing in your head? What exactly do you think of me?"

"The exact same thing you think of me. I thought you were more self-aware."

Are you mad because of what I said?

"...Anyway. Something something, he’s an adult and can do what he wants, so I’m informing you ahead of time so I don’t get in trouble later."

"Where is he?"

"He’s right here. Oi, Speak up."

Ari shot a look at Vishal, who raised his hand to speak even though PD Emily couldn’t see it.

"Hello, PD, I’m right here. I did say I was going to walk myself home."

"...sigh." After grumbling for several seconds, PD Emily spoke up again, "Take it off speaker and take the phone from troublemaker number 1, Vishal." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Ari dutifully handed over his and stepped to the side while Vishal had a conversation with the PD.

After several minutes, with Vishal nodding politely at regular intervals, the phone was handed back to him.

"I’m leaving. The PD said you should try to come back early when you’re done with what you’re doing."

"Got it, get back safely."

Vishal turned to leave, and after waving, Ari turned and went back to join Jamie and the rest of them.

"How was it? Did you guys resolve the issue?" Carlos asked in a worried voice.

"...I guess?"

"Phew, good. I’m glad."

Ari couldn’t really say yes or no, but technically, it was resolved.

Was that a good resolution?

No.

Was he satisfied with it?

Not really. He still had a bitter taste in his mouth.

But as long as things kept moving, no weird behavior would be forthcoming; it would be fine.

He wasn’t one to linger on such things, after all, he really had a lot to do.

With a sigh, he got back to work with Jamie.

And once they were finished, the four of them ran back and got into bed.

And a couple of hours later, the remaining contestants were forced awake and dragged into a room full of cameras.

"Guys! It’s vacation time, are you excited?" PD Emily asked in a fake, excited voice.

With her raccoon eyes, messy bun, and wrinkled clothing, she looked like she hadn’t seen her bed in days and was standing up with only the power of her will and a quadruple espresso shot she had chugged before shooting.

As the contestants cheered vaguely, PD Emily continued speaking as if she didn’t care.

"I know I said you’ll be free for a couple of days to do what you want, but before that happens, why don’t we film some fun, heart-warming tourist content for your fans? It will be fun!"

Will it?

Ari gave the PD a skeptical look at turned into a vague smile as the camera panned over to him.

"First, we’ll be putting you guys in randomly selected teams of four people, so you can’t say we rigged it."

As the PD spoke, a staff member brought her a glass jar filled with popsicle sticks, "If I call your name, please stand up. The first group members are...Matisse Ariel."

PD Emily pulled out a popsicle stick with Ari’s name, and he stood up appropriately.

"Next is..."

PD Emily pulled out another stick.

"Forbes William."

Ari’s smile immediately faded as he glanced over at the blonde boy, while somebody else began laughing.

[Hahahah.]

[Even the universe is not on your side.]

Unbothered, PD Emily pulled out another stick.

"Next is...Agarwal Vishal."

[No way!]

[Hahahaha!]

[Isn’t this just a gathering of people with whom you’re fighting?]

[Who’s next? William’s uncle?]

Seriously, just be quiet!

As Ari silently willed the system window away, PD Emily continued with her announcement.

"And the last member is...Kim Daniel. The four of you are teammates. Please come to the front of the room."