Rise To Stardom - Chapter 225

Chapter 225: Cinq
As Lex and Donna, settled into their seats, the hall became slightly illuminated, courtesy of the massive LED screens, dimly flooding the hall with their light as they displayed; The 64th Grammie Awards!

And it was due to this slight illumination that Oliver, seated on Kyle’s right as they kept conversing, caught sight of Lex and Donna’s frames for a few seconds.

However, contrary to Lex’s expectations, Oliver maintained his cool without being perturbed by this ‘coincidence’.

However, just before he could inform Kyle through their conversation, an elegant yet familiar automated feminine voice, cascaded over the hall;

Ladies and Gentlemen, the 64th Annual Grammie Awards, Premiere Ceremony.

No sooner was that introduction signaling the start of the ceremony made, a resounding wave of applauds, filled up every corner of the hall as one of the guest performers, a lesser known indie band, took up the stage to perform.

*

At a house party, hosted by two rich high schoolers, was an extroverted Linda.

She was a core member of their high school’s cheerleading team and in due fashion, she had forcefully dragged along, Nina, her closest friend whom was pretty much a quiet yet slightly introverted dame.

However, if Linda was being honest, she hadn’t merely dragged Nina along in an effort to get her out of shell more.

Rather, the lady was on a mission.

A mission to get together with Daniel, the captain of the football team and also one of the teens whom had hosted the house party.

Both had been hitting it off quite a lot in recent memory and Linda was finally ready to take the plunge.

But for that, she needed a bit of motivation. And also emotional support in case things went south.

That was where her beautiful Nina came into play.

“House party my foot! A mansion party’s so much more fitting!” Linda remarked in awe, her gaze widened in amazement at the massive mansion which was practically vibrating with a mix of pop music and the laughter of excited teens having the time of their lives.

“Yeah babe… I’mma sit this one ou-” Nina turned on her heel, ready to bolt back home, only to be grabbed casually by the shoulder as Linda, grinned;

“I’ll buy you a Hardcover of [Evergarden] and a Vinyl Copy of Kaleidoscopes.”

“I could be at home, watching Rising Voices and the Grammies but here I am, getting bribed by my best friend.” Nina reluctantly grumbled, the subtle hint of joy in her tone palpable as she began to make her way into the mansion, much to the cheerleading captain’s amusement.

‘Works every time.’ the lady chuckled to herself as she trailed behind her quiet girlfriend.

Upon stepping into the buzzing mansion, with teens practically doing as they pleased and getting lost in the moment, Linda and Nina quickly got separated a few minutes later.

That said, Linda’s dreams of her and Daniel being an item were crushed the moment she stumbled into him, kissing Mary-Jane, captain of the cheerleading team.

And as if MJ herself had been proud of getting to him first before, almost like it was a game of sorts to her, she practically gave Linda a condescending gloat.

As for Daniel, despite seeing Linda, seemed to not care for the lady’s presence as he practically ignored her while continuing his make-out session with the cheerleading captain.

Heartbroken, and unable to find Nina anywhere nearby, the lady sent her a text and then began to wander about the mansion, hoping to find a quiet place to just let her tears flow.

And soon, she stumbled into an impeccably neat room, somewhere in the lower levels of the mansion, devoid of any excited teen in sight… all except for one.

Casually munching on his popcorn as he stared at his 65-inch TV, headset placed over his head and legs crossed like a king atop his bed, was Derek, Daniel’s less popular but still stinking rich, twin brother.

What Daniel made up for in charisma and athleticism, Derek, seemingly, lacking in both, made up for in overdoses of sarcasm and dry wit.

“Hmm… guess ol’ Danny boi played rock jenga with your heart too. Another one, bites the dust.” Derek arched a curious brow, a thin amused smile, nestling on his lips as he watched the lady clean her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie.

“You’re jerk, you know that?” Linda sniffled in response, the sarcastic twin remarking with a light smile in response;

“Thank you, Linda. That means a lot.”

Rolling her slightly puffed eyes in irritation, the cheerleader then got curious by what he was watching that had him uninterested in the house party up stairs.

Leaning on the doorframe, she inquired curiously;

“What are you watching anyway?”

“That’s for me to know, and for you to get out of my room.” Derek mercilessly sent her on her way without tearing his gaze from the TV once, a strong hint of excitement in his nut-brown irises.

A higher stimulus.

Irritation trumping sadness.

Linda, feeling less heartbroken due to her interaction with Derek, especially since he was ramping up how fast he kept ticking her off, retaliated.

Swiftly, she moved towards him, her sleeves full of snot aiming for his face.

“Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo!!!” Derek immediately took a defensive stance, eyes widening in fear as his popcorn sprayed into the air across the room.

“Ha! Wimp! Get back here!” the lady commented as she began chasing him around the room without mercy.

Frightening the living daylights out of him, Linda soon experienced a sense of fulfillment, her bubbly smile returning, only for it to widen in shock as she spotted an individual on the TV from the corner of her eye;

“Kyle made a guest appearance on Rising Voices!” she exclaimed, mid snot-torturing Derek who similarly perked up, his attention returning to the TV;

“Seriously?!”

Instantly, both sat side-by-side on the bed to watch his performance, reminded of the widely acclaimed fourth season of Rising Voices which they had experienced during their early freshmen years.

And after watching the interaction between Kyle and judges, one that had the duo laughing in shared mirth, Derek soon received a notification from the Smart TV reminder about The 64th Grammies.

“Oops! Almost forgot about that.” he promptly switched to the Grammie’s designated cable channel, while Linda, sent another text to Nina, her hands rubbing in excitement after doing so.

Meanwhile, Nina, having recieved two markedly different texts within a fairly long span of minutes from her girl as she scoured the mansion, blinked her eyes a few times in confusion.

‘Are heartbroken or happy? Pick one side babe…’ the quiet dame stated with a puzzled squint as she followed her friend’s directions to get to the lower levels of the mansion.

*

A bunch of awards had already been presented by the time Nina finally arrived at Derek’s room.

And within that time period, Oliver had been able to inform Kyle of Lex and Donna’s presence.

Not that it evoked any sort of response from Kyle who simply paid attention to the ceremony, intent on wanting to have no conversation with the Hollywood business mogul.

So, just like all the other times when an award was about to be presented, the giant LED screens lit up as the automated feminine voice, began to list out the nominees;

“For Best Score Soundtrack For Videogames, the nominated artists are––”

“[A Pirate’s Odyssey], Tommie Winchester.”

“[Soul Knight], Flint Burton.”

“[Rip & Tear: Eternal], Lance Vance.”

“[Tech Wiz], Kyle Kestis.”

“[The Fable of Xenon: Call of The Wind], Isagi Soma.”

Just before the presenter of the award took center stage, Lex, whom had patiently remained quiet all this time to study Kyle’s reactions close-up to his presence, spoke;

“You must be a good man, Mr. Kestis.”

“Explains just why all of the people involved with you, are so loyal to you.”

“But you see, the thing is, you have something I want.”

“And I’d really like it if you could just hand it over and close the deal we originally proposed.” Lex stated with a light smile, masking a subtle layer of threat in his usually apathetic tone.

“That said, I look forward to all your wins tonight.” he smiled insincerely, his back leaning into his seat.

No one need to spoon-feed Kyle for him to get the gist behind that statement.

Yet, unperturbed by it, the young star’s visage remained relaxed, his gaze focused on the stage.

Around this time, the presenter of the award had taken her place on stage, her fingers neatly peeling open the envelope’s seal.

“And the award goes to…”

Similarly glancing over to the stage, realizing Kyle seemed to have no plans to respond regardless, the words that eventually came out of the young man’s mouth however, had him slightly fazed;

“Pardon my lack of knowledge but, if I may ask, who are you, exactly?”

Oliver whom was about to take a sip of his wine, almost sputtered on it and Donna, if not for extensively training her expression to reflect her professionalism come what may, might’ve just sucked in a deep breath.

A massive blow to his pride and ego. One that Lex hadn’t felt in years. That was what a pretending Kyle had hit him with.

Staring at the young man who had a genuinely lost expression plastered on his features as he kept staring at him in return, Lex had almost believed Kyle was being serious.

But he knew well and truly that the young star was an exceedingly talented actor.

However, just before he could don a composed smile in response to introduce himself nonetheless, the announcer declared;

“[Tech Wiz], Kyle Kestis!!!”

With a brief, excited hug, shared with Oliver, Kyle made his way through the rows and towards the stage as applauds filled up every corner of the hall!

Receiving the award with a warm smile, the young star then proceeded to give his appreciation speech.

*

Linda and Derek, practically hugged each other in excitement upon witnessing the young star winning the award, one that had a completely glued Nina, unaware of it as she kept grinning from ear to ear.

The duo, upon realizing what they had just done, both, instead of disentangling, simply remained hugging the other as Derek spoke;

“Well, this is… curious…”

“It is, isn’t it?” Linda similarly remarked with a mix of curious, yet newfound interest in someone she never batted an eye towards all this while.

*

But for Lex, he was stunned, albeit only slightly as he listened to Kyle’s speech, same as Donna who was trying to make heads of tails of what had happened.

Knowing fully well, just how many strings her boss had pulled to ensure that Kyle inevitably lost in all the brackets he was nominated for, the secretary more than anyone, knew that Lex’s mind was racing, similarly to hers for answers

‘Guess those old codgers got wind of it…’ the CEO on the other hand, gently stroked his chin with a slightly disappointed expression, mirroring a more concerned Donna’s thoughts.

But unluckily for Lex, this meant that every category the young star was in, came with the possibility of him coming out on top as the definitive winner.

This, if it did end up happening, essentially, defeated any purpose of his presence here to intimidate Kyle.

“For Best Music Video, the nominated artists are––”

“And the winner is…”

“Light A Fire, Kyle Kestis!”

Donna rubbed her temples as she glanced over to her boss, his expression, unfazed.

Soon, the Premiere Ceremony was over and The Award Ceremony proper, began.

And a few minutes later, after the usual proceedings here and there, with Noah Wiles, once again hosting the show, the first award of the night was presented by a guest presenter.

“For Record of The Year, the nominated artists are––”

“And the winner is…”

“Back to The Start, Kyle Kestis!”

Marilyn who presented the award to him, practically beamed like a shooting star as she gave him the warmest of hugs.

“For Album of The Year, the nominated artists are––”

“And the winner is…”

“Kaleidoscopes, Kyle Kestis!”

Mars, extended the statuette towards the young man, both of them, engaging in a stylized handshake that Mars had taught him after the SuperBowl.

“For Song of The Year, the nominated artists are––”

“And the winner is…” Nick Astley, paused for a brief moment, after which he then declared!

“Back To The Start, Kyle Kestis!”

Once again, Kyle, feeling almost light-headed at this point as Oliver practically laughed with the mirth and pride of a father, proudly pat his ward’s back as he stood up to receive, yet another award.

A total of five Grammies in one night!

That was what Kyle had ended up with!

In fact, having being the youngest musician in the industry to have ever achieved such a feat, Kyle’s name would probably be going straight into the Guinness Book of Records.

And no sooner had each award being presented, it spread like a raging wildfire on the internet as his fans began tweeting excitedly, both about his surprise appearance on Rising Voices and every individual Grammie that he won!