Rise To Stardom - Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Conjecture!
– So you finally succumb to the money too huh? Couldn’t resist that $2,000,000 paycheck per episode hmmm? I’m certain you’d also make a shit Curator. Good Luck.

“Godspeed.” Kyle casually responded, his expression unperturbed as he checked the next message.

– Fucking leave our darn show alone you money-grubbing, piece of shit, mediocre actor!

“Hmmm… money-grubbing and mediocre. Terrible combinations for an actor…” Kyle mused out loud, not the least bit perturbed as he moved on to the next.

– F#%$K B%$#*!D S%N OF A B!#$&H!!!!!!!!

“Woah… Now that, is some serious hate…” the young actor stated with a slightly taken aback expression.

“That it is. Words are just words though. It only sticks if you want it to stick.” Oliver whom had mostly been busy, sorting out the promotions, getting endorsements and mostly managing Kyle’s music career while he filmed for the tenth season of the Curator, gave his input.

Jon had also invited him to the dinner party he was hosting to celebrate the filming of the first episode of The Curator.

Being the type to motivate his subordinates, Jon felt it necessary to boost their spirits with sentiments like this.

Presently though, all six were in the middle of the wide hall, all of them conversing as they had their meals.

Other extras and workers, all of whom were also on crew and were chanced to be able to attend, sat around various dinner tables, a peaceful ambience settling in the hall.

“You know, you’re one of the few actors I’ve met who seems, genuinely unaffected by the hate from social media.” Jasmine said with an air of experience and respect, her fork stirring her spaghetti meatball.

“Never knew the fan base could be this toxic though…” she added with a slight frown, a strong hint of concern on her features too.

“If memory serves me right though, you were just as nonchalant when you got casted for the lead role in [Evermore Chronicles]. That was, something…” Tiana pointed her own fork at the young actress after cutting her steak.

The woman was off-work now and was back to being her normal, approachable self.

Yet, the constant threats sent to Jasmine’s DM because she wasn’t the fan favorite cast to play the lead role of a beloved spin-off of the popular novel, was just as fresh like it was yesterday in her mind.

Thankfully, shutting down all the haters back then, had been a cinch with Tiana’s directing and Jasmine’s acting skills, their understanding of the female lead’s character and their dedication to bringing the world itself to life.

“The internet has made people comfortable enough to say some really untoward things without getting punched in the face for it. I read that somewhere.” Kyle interpreted Christina’s signing to the rest of the people by the dining table.

She had been the one showing Kyle the messages people had sent directly to her own DM’s.

Considering a lot of the haters knew, that getting directly to Kyle would be a hassle since he mostly stayed offline, some, had the time to go the extra length, and send their messages to the MediaGram and TweetTalk accounts of people they knew he was close to.

“That they have.” Jon replied to Christina as he took a sip of his wine while Barry, spoke after chewing through some beef;

“It’s never gotten this bad before though. Almost feels like we’re fighting an uphill battle…”

“An uphill battle we’ll do our best to come out on top of.” Kyle casually stated, his expression calm as he took a small bite of his meatball.

Hearing the confidence in his voice, a sentiment everyone around him shared, they all resumed eating with light smiles on their features.

If their lead actor was genuinely confident of what they were creating, then they could be rest assured that they were on right track.

Kyle was right.

They were definitely going to come out on top.

* * *

Despite the mixed reception on the internet which was getting mostly negative by the second, the second episode of The Curator was going along swimmingly.

Considering this episode took place, about a month after the events of the first episode, the focus for the first few scenes of the episode, shifted to Kiera.

Finally, the audience got to know of the young lady’s backstory, most of which had been shot a few days prior.

A kid actor who would’ve bore a striking similarity to a young Jasmine was even brought in to film some scenes.

With her though, Tiana was extremely nice, allowing far more than her usual limit of three takes.

A child was a child regardless and Tiana knew to treat her like one.

That said, the scenes that had been shot, although weren’t in any particular order, showcased that Kiera came from an abusive home with a drunk of a father, and an addict of a mother.

As a result, to keep herself sane and mostly unaffected from a young age, the young girl, hid and tucked herself away in the world of story books.

Gradually, she started learning to consciously ignore the world around her, honing that skill to perfection till it became part and parcel of her.

No matter what someone did, or whatever it was that happened, the lady, as long as she wanted to blur it out of her mind, could easily do it without fail.

So, progressing through her life as best as she could, Kiera’s love for all things reading and literature, continued to increase over time.

History, drama, fantasy, sci-fi… no genre was exempt from what she found exciting.

And eventually, that excitement, turned to passion.

Passion to want to pursue that same excellence the people who wrote those books had.

Passion, that caused her to want to create her own worlds.

Her own novels.

And sure enough she could have just jumped straight into writing, even if she didn’t go to high school, college or the likes…

But, considering she wanted to get as much knowledge as she possibly could before she felt she was skilled enough, Kiera did the hard thing and sourced herself to college, with the help of scholarships, grants and pocket money she herself worked her ass off for.

So, finally arriving at the college she wanted to attend, swept away by the busy schedule of her now mundane life as she attended lectures and the likes, the events that happened with The Impossible Man a month back, had already being blurred out of her mind… seemingly…

{The Curator – Tenth Season | 7th April 2020 | Act 2 | Scene 3 | Take 1}

Walking briskly across the well-manicured lawns of her college, students conversing, discussing, or just playing around in general, a young lady made her way to class, books in arms as she did.

“Kiera!” Brie, a young, pretty lady with strawberry blonde hair waved over at her whilst running;

“Wait up!”

Glancing over from her peripheral vision with no intention of stopping, Kiera slowed down a bit while responding;

“I won’t Brie. Prof. Sanders doesn’t take too kindly to tardy students.”

“Wait? Didn’t you… hear? Prof. called in sick today so… there’s gonna be… a substitute professor.” Brie panted tiredly as she caught up to her friend.

“Oh… Doesn’t matter anyway…” Kiera nonchalantly shrugged, one to which Brie slapped her face in slight annoyance as she spoke rhetorically;

“You slept at the library again yesterday, didn’t you? That news has been going around since yesterday afternoon!”

In response, Kiera simply kept quiet as she made her way through the doors of the hallways.

To this, Brie, the social butterfly and the only friend Kiera had made in college so far, sighed in resignation;

“Kiera. Seriously…”

Glancing over to her and realizing that she wasn’t willing to respond anyway, Brie soon moved close to her with a curious expression and kept speaking, unperturbed by her silence;

“So, did you hear about the rumors?”

“What rumors?” Kiera inquired, glancing over to her short friend.

“Apparently, there’s a howling in the college at night in the auditorium!” Brie excitedly stated;

“Sure there is…” Kiera blandly responded, although there was a hint of sarcasm to her tone.

“You don’t believe it?” Brie questioned with a curious expression.

“Rumors are social cancers, Brie. Difficult to contain yet they spread even faster than lies. And that’s really saying something.” the lady casually replied.

Brie was mildly stunned by the sound reasoning in the lady’s words, one which caused her to respond a few seconds later;

“Fair point.”

Now in front of the doors of the same auditorium they were conversing over; Kiera pushed it open.

The auditorium was packed to the brim, with most seats already occupied as the loud buzz and hums of students, filled up the hall.

Swiftly, Kiera and Brie, found some unoccupied seats after a few seconds and sat down, waiting for the lecture to start.

Yet, only a minute passed before a certain, youthful voice, boomed through the auditorium.

“Why do we speak out loud, when we know, we’re alone?”

“Conjecture. Because we know, we’re not.”

Walking onto the stage like he owned the place, an air of sophistication to him as his stylish long coat, which was black today and not blue, flowed behind his steps, The Curator, twirled to face his students, a particularly curious smile on his features as he asked;

“Why do human babies cry, when they are birthed?”

“Conjecture! Because they realize, they’ve stepped into earth’s, great stage of idiots.”

To that, most of the students in the auditorium, chuckled as their Substitute Professor continued, his smile turning a bit mysterious this time and his voice, a decibel lower;

“How many seconds, in eternity?”

“Conjecture. That’s an impossible question. Or is it?”

Having said that part, his eyes scanning every face in the auditorium, The Curator’s gaze, landed on Kiera’s for a split moment.

Kiera too, had her eyes widened in genuine shock, as she watched The Curator, instantly go back to teaching the class.

Rather than his messy hair from the very first time she saw him, his hair was styled in a rather, unconventional manner this time.

His hair was tousled sideways with perfect waves and curls, along with a distinctive side part, one that gave him a somewhat sophisticated yet rebellious appearance.

It was very unexpected for a Professor to even look like that, much less dress like that.

As a result, almost everyone in the lecture hall, couldn’t help but be curious about whom this new, Substitute Professor was.

“An opinion or judgement, inference, formed or deduced, without proof or sufficient evidence.” the Professor on the other hand, walked towards the board as he said.

“Conjecture. That’s today’s topic.” he wrote the words in full on the whiteboard with a black marker, underlining it with a stylish dash.

“Cut, Print. Check The Gate.”

– – –

“Alright. Lunch break everyone. We begin filming at the next location in thirty.” Tiana calmly said the moment she was done checking the shot.

To that, everyone on set clapped, and so did the students in the auditorium, all of whom had been requested of from the college by Barry a few days prior to help with the filming of a few scenes.

Yet, not even a moment was wasted before half of them, bolted towards Kyle and Jasmine respectively, pens and papers in hands as they requested for autographs.

Considering they knew both actors only had a limited period of time before they weren’t in the premises of their college anymore, they wanted to make the best use of it.

Tiana on the other hand, along with most of the extras, silently exited the hall with the rest of the crew, leaving the two actors to their fates.