Rise To Stardom - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Back To College
“And with that, it’s a wrap! Woo!” Jennie excitedly pumped her fists up into the air.

“Thanks a lot Jennie. Couldn’t have done it without you” Kyle, grateful for her indispensable efforts in elevating all his songs, said as he exited the recording room.

“No. Really. I genuinely enjoyed working with you because your instructions were so easy to follow” the lady smiled and said.

“Well, now that we’re done, lets hurry on over to the airport. We have a flight to catch” Oliver returned his smartphone into his pocket, another video recording of Kyle’s record session saved.

The agent planned to have the videos touched up by expert video editors in the field so Kyle could upload it onto his ViewTube account later down the line.

“Also Jennie, truly, we’re grateful for your help. When Ricky recommended you, I didn’t know what to expect but, I’m really glad he did”

Listening to his words, Jennie had a slight blush form on her cheeks as she happily smiled.

“Thank you Oliver. I’m actually just glad to be a part of it all” she said in response.

Slinging his bag onto his back, Kyle then gestured to all three and soon, they were all out of the record studio and staring at the busy midafternoon street before them.

It was the third day after leaving the hotel and the sapphire-eyed young man was currently stretching in relief, happy that he had recorded all his songs.

Now he could focus on college duties and the reality show for the next few months.

“Um… Kyle, if you don’t mind, would you like to take a picture with me?” Jennie shyly asked the young man as they all made their way over to Oliver’s Porsche.

Genuinely surprised by her request, the young man turned around to face her, his surprise still plastered on his face.

Although he had told himself that he would be exceptionally careful when it came to relating with women in general ever since the Haley incident, Jennie had been a total sweetheart throughout the short period of time he had gotten to know her.

As a result, Kyle couldn’t help but willingly oblige with a bit of a bashful smile.

“Sure Jennie. I would love to”

The agent on the other hand, didn’t particularly mind it as long they didn’t take long.

Snapping a few pictures in a span of literal seconds, Kyle finally got into Ollie’s car while waving over to the lady who had a fulfilled expression on her pretty features.

Within about an hour or so, the two men reached the airport, sorted out all the necessary things and soon, made their way onto the plane.

Currently on the aircraft and sitting side-by-side, Oliver and Kyle began to have a pretty important conversation.

“So, when do you think we should release the songs and videos?” the agent asked his ward.

Although he knew when exactly would be the best time to have Kyle release his songs, he still wanted his thoughts on the matter nevertheless.

Pursing his lips as he pondered to himself for a few seconds, Kyle then gave his thoughts.

“Let’s go with a few days after I either win or lose in the show. As for the videos, let’s release them over the span of a month after that”

“Ah, I see. That’s a good choice” Oliver nodded his head in agreement.

That was what he had also been planning to do.

Essentially, what the idea was, was to use the moment when Kyle was either at his highest or currently at his lowest in the public’s mind to further amplify the positive reception of his singles.

If he won the show, his popularity would soar to unprecedented heights, thereby ensuring his songs would probably be a hit.

If he did lose though, the same would also happen to a certain extent as people would be a bit sad that he lost, and would want to listen to all the songs he had previously sung before he was eliminated.

ViewTube may be a way to listen to his songs but people would much rather prefer to listen to the song alone without any sort of interference in the form of cheering crowds or background noises.

“So you aren’t completely confident in your chances of winning?” Oliver suddenly questioned with an arched eyebrow.

“No… Maybe… Yes…”

Sighing as he responded to his agent, he added;

“Seriously, have you seen all the contestants this year? They’re literal monsters. And don’t even get me started on Steven and Lily”

‘Would you look at that? A monster calling someone else a monster. How ironic…’ Oliver inwardly chuckled as he watched Kyle explain further.

“If by chance I have to go up against anyone of them, granted I have no idea what the theme for the next round will be, that’s game over for me Oliver”

“Yes. Those two will absolutely trump you with no mercy” the suave-looking man bluntly acknowledged with a serious expression.

“I really hope to God that I don’t have to face either of them anytime soon” Kyle sighed again in response, gently resting his head on the window while staring at the clouds below.

As the five-hour flight continued on, very uneventful to say the least, they soon touched ground back in Toronto, Canada.

Making their way out of the plane, the luminescent moon already taking its rightful place in the sky, they soon found themselves at the parking lot a few minutes later, Oliver leading the way.

Locating his car, another sleek-black Porsche, the man casually walked over and tossed their stuff into the booth.

Kyle couldn’t suppress his curiosity at this point and just asked;

“How many cars do you even have?”

“Three. Two Porsches and a Van” he replied nonchalantly while walking around to the driver’s side.

‘He sure loves his Porsches…’ Kyle inwardly chuckled as Oliver soon spoke to him again.

“So, should I take you back to MU or would a hotel be nice? I recommend you go for the hotel” he gestured to the night’s sky.

“Alright. Hotel it is” Kyle nodded, understanding the reasoning behind those words.

“But before we do that, we’re going shopping Kyle” Oliver casually stated.

“We need to get you some much needed, new clothes. Can’t have my ward not looking his best at all times” he added with a small smile.

Those words completely caught Kyle off-guard, especially because Oliver was right.

His clothes truly were worn out and if not for the show giving them designer outfits to select for their performances, he’d have been left with no other option but to wear those.

More than that though, Kyle couldn’t help but wonder how he was ever supposed to repay Oliver’s generosity at this point.

‘I’ll make it up to him. One way or another…’

So, with those thoughts in mind, along with a small sigh, he then got into the car and it zoomed off almost immediately.

* * *

In a lecture hall, wide enough to fit about a hundred students, a University Professor was currently explaining a few important things while using a pointer and the projector.

The students in the class themselves seemed so bored out of their minds, they weren’t even engaging with the elderly professor at all, save for a select few who were constantly taking notes.

Ten minutes into the class, the back doors to the hall slowly creaked opened and in walked a well-dressed Kyle quietly, garnering the attention of most of the students who weren’t focusing on the lecture.

Dressed in a well-fitted, sleek, dark navy-blue pants and black shoes, a similar dark navy-blue long-coat along with a white, long-sleeved round-neck, the young man moved to the front seats.

Instantly, gazes of surprise, admiration, jealousy and envy were directed towards him as he quietly moved forward and took his seat, his attention already on the lecture as he retrieved his glasses.

“Seriously! How did we ever miss out on a hunk like that?!” one girl whispered to her friend who replied;

“Shh girl! Let me gawk at God’s creation!”

“We should talk to him after class!” the lady ignored her friend and excitedly said.

“Again girl! Stop interrupting my scenic gazing!”

Kyle on the other hand, payed rapt attention to the lecture without even batting an eye to the gazes around him.

The reason why he had even been late, was because of a few things and documents he had to sort out at the administrative block regarding his leave of absence and the rest of his tuition fees which Oliver had paid off.

Unless, he’d have probably been the first to reach the lecture hall.

In about thirty-five minutes after he had stepped in though, the lecture continued on and eventually wrapped up.

Kyle calmly packed up his stuff and moved out of the hall without even bothering to wait for his course-mates to begin an interrogation session with him.

Making his way into the surprisingly crowded cafeteria, he wondered if most students usually skipped their morning meals considering he usually never did.

Today was just a rare occurrence due to him having to leave his hotel early.

Not really thinking too much about it though, he ordered his food and took a seat in his usual secluded spot, already expecting people to impede on his peaceful atmosphere.

And he was right, because in the next second just after that, two ladies quickly sat in front of his chair, staring at him like he was some sort of rare, exotic specimen you saw at the zoo.

The two girls, were of course, his course-mates who had been discussing about him.

“Hello Kyle. I’m Clara!”

“And I’m May!”

Both ladies enthusiastically introduced themselves, their energy a tad bit too much for Kyle.

However, just before the handsome young man could reply politely, a few more ladies immediately joined the bench on the opposite sides.

This action instantly garnered even more attention from the people in the cafeteria.

‘Well, well, well… If it isn’t the devil’s little minions…’ Kyle thought to himself as he watched Haley’s girlfriends’ directing warm smiles at him, his own expression casual and indifferent.

“I hope you don’t mind us sitting by Kyle~…” Cassie said in a sultry tone.

‘As a matter of fact, I do’ he inwardly responded.

“Oh look at that, there’s a piece of paper stuck on your hair” Betty leaned from across the bench to remove the ‘small piece of paper’, her ample bust and cleavage purposely in full view.

Instead of actually removing said ‘paper’, her hands danced across the length of Kyle’s voluminous raven hair at first and then she gently traced it down, her hands landing across his high cheekbones all the way to his strong jawline.

‘Sure. Just molest me as you please’ he sarcastically commented, a scoff threatening to escape his lips.

His outward appearance though, was completely normal as all of this happened.

“Were we intruding on something?” Jennifer turned to Clara and May while ‘politely’ asking.

In response, both ladies quickly began to pack up their stuff and were just about to leave the bench when a familiar feminine voice cascaded over, the tone playful.

“Oh hey dreamboat! Took you long enough!”

Having a light smile tug on the corners of his lips, Kyle was grateful that one of his saviors had finally appeared.