From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 106: Swan (6)

As the anger he usually kept suppressed each time he saw that annoying blonde head flared up, Ari shot a glare at William Forbes as Carlos came to stand by him and Jamie.

Why the heck was William messing with Carlos?

Wasn’t it enough that he had stolen stats from Larry Jackson?

And was it possible to get the stolen stats back??

Ari had so many questions to ask NOVA, but because he was in the middle of the practice room with people having different conversations around him, all he could do in the moment was look at William while wishing he could send a flying punch into his throat so he could spit the stolen stats back out.

Meeting his eyes, William walked closer until the two of them were almost face to face.

It was the first time that one of them had willingly approached the other in class, and some people glanced over curiously before looking away.

"Something wrong, fish boy? Finally want to speak English to me?" William Forbes whispered with a truly happy smile as his mood was quite good right now.

In fact, it was excellent.

"I don’t have anything to say to a damn cheater and thief." Ari spat out in anger, not caring if the other boy recognized him.

The smile on William’s face immediately disappeared, and his eyes lost focus as he stared into the air briefly before relaxing.

"I’ve never cheated or stolen anything a day in my life, unlike a certain, sloppy eavesdropper. Why don’t you take a guess about which one of your buddies told on you? He’s quite popular, you know. Something, something, sounds like den?"

As Ari’s eyes widened in surprise, William let out a smug smile once more before turning around as the cameramen and Jelissa came into the room.

Since his morning was going quite well, and he had instigated the other person properly, William felt no need to associate with a weirdo wearing a strange mask early in the morning.

Especially after confirming that the green-faced weirdo was just throwing accusations out there.

"Good morning, guys! How was your break!? I watched every single one of your performances! You did so well! I’m so proud of you all!!!"

Jelissa’s cheerful voice filled the room as she dashed in with a bright smile, followed by 2 cameramen.

Today, she was wearing a long bright yellow dress with sunflower clips in her braided hair and waved cheerfully at the downcast contestants.

As Jelissa comforted and caught up with the other contestants in the room, Ari turned to Carlos, who was still rubbing his throat with one hand.

"What’s wrong with your throat?"

The Spanish boy looked at him before giving him a wan smile.

"I think I strained it or caught a cold or something? I’m not really sure, but it’s been hurting since yesterday. I haven’t been getting enough sleep, so that might be why."

"Ohh, you should drink some tea, go to the gym, and try to get 6 hours of sleep no matter what. Even Ari was down for the entire week, but he’s a weak-oof." As Jamie tried to comfort Carlos while throwing Ari under the bus, Ari elbowed Jamie in the side before he pressed closer to Carlos and whispered.

"Why did you come in with that one?"

Although his eyes never went back to William Forbes, Ari was sure that Carlos knew who he was talking about.

"You know we’re on the same team, and you saw some of the...opinionated differences we had. Since I’m the oldest and the partial cause of it, I’ve been mediating with William." Carlos explained with a resigned smile.

"Stay away from him." Ari bluntly said, not caring even if Carlos said that he was at fault.

At the sharp tone, Carlos stared at him before laughing lightly, "I forgot you have a grudge against him. He’s a bit...hmmm, well, he’s not a bad guy. I think? Just high strung."

"I’m not laughing. For your own sake, stay away from him and don’t let him touch you." Ari advised Carlos earnestly.

After class was over, he planned on pressing NOVA until it spat out the details of how William could take stats from people and how he could block it.

Since he couldn’t begin to explain the system, including the stats, William’s killing him, his return to life, and more, Ari needed to figure out a way to keep his friends away from William.

For now, he could only repeat himself in a harsh whisper and hope these two people took him seriously.

"You, too, Jamie, stay away from him."

Jamie just nodded in confusion while Carlos laughed again, rubbing his throat.

"You do know he’s my teammate, right? That’s not possible. Plus, as the eldest on the team, I have to do my part to help out since it’s a bit tense."

"Help out from a six-foot distance and don’t touch him. As a matter of fact, never be alone with him."

"You’re acting like he has rabies or something."

"He’s worse than rabies. Don’t touch him." Ari continued to stress seriously, but it seemed that Carlos just thought he was hating because of his unknown grudge against William.

Before Ari could say anything else, Jelissa’s bright voice interrupted their conversation.

"Ari, Carlos, you know I love you both, but it’s time to pay attention, okay? Practice is starting."

At the light scolding, Ari bowed his head apologetically at her,

"Sorry."

"Sorry, Ma’am."

"It’s fine, but as punishment, the two of you get to go first. Let’s have Ari sing the first verse of the signal song, followed by Carlos. I want to see how much each of you retained after the break."

They quickly did vocal warm-ups as a group before Jelissa began playing the signal song for Ari to sing.

Hearing the bright pop beat and recalling the cringy lyrics, Ari took a deep breath and began to sing.

When you walked into the room

Pick me, love me, choose me

Couldn’t help myself, couldn’t look away

Pick me, love me, choose me

Shining like a firework, a firework

Lighting up my heart and soul, heart and soul

Pick me, love me, choose me

Ari easily finished singing the song without using the lyric sheet since he hadn’t stopped practicing it, and Jelissa clapped enthusiastically before giving some pointers to him.

After Ari’s turn was over, it was Carlos’ turn to sing.

The electro pop beat sounded out once more, and as Carlos began singing the lyrics, Ari did his best not to cringe.

Carlos’ voice...putting it mildly, it sounded rough.

The bright, clear, high tone, which created an angelic sound that Carlos was known for, was nowhere to be found.

Instead, what they heard was a frog-like croak as Carlos voice broke as he tried to sing notes that he easily achieved before.

As Jelissa stared at him in shock, Carlos’s slightly golden skin flushed slightly as he tried again to the same effect.

"It’s okay, I noticed you’ve been rubbing your throat, so you might be getting sick. Remember to maintain your condition and drink lots of tea and try to rest, okay? Why don’t we try it in a lower key so you don’t continue to strain your voice?"

"Okay. Sorry. I’m so sorry." Carlos replied with another wan smile while William Forbes snorted mockingly from where he stood.

It took everything in Ari’s power not to leap over to shake the blonde boy like a ragdoll.

It’s your fault he’s like this, and you’re joking around???

Wash your neck and wait for me.

Unfortunately, although Carlos sounded a bit better, it was terrible compared to what he usually sounded like.

When Jelissa finally moved on, calling William Forbes next, the blonde boy let out a cocky smile before singing the signal song and easily hitting the high notes that he always fought with Jelissa about.

In fact, he added extra riffs and flair to the signal song, completely flexing his newfound vocal prowess while savoring Jelissa’s undeserved praise at his sudden improvements.

Utterly full of anger, Ari glared at the ground the entire class so that he wouldn’t be caught staring at William Forbes with his murderous intentions exposed.

And once Jelissa dismissed them, Ari ran off, leaving Jamie and Carlos behind to go lock himself in the F(1) bathroom.

Staring at his reflection with a furious expression, he harshly whispered to NOVA, "Spill the details about that prick. Now."