Rise To Stardom - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: A Friendly Conversation
The days passed by very fast.

But within those rapidly passing days, a lot of things also happened.

First off, it didn’t even take less than two days after taking the top spot before Kyle’s song was dethroned, relegating it and the others to the lower 10’s and 20’s of the chart respectively.

Having already expected it, the young man wasn’t particularly disturbed by it and instead, focused on his studies just like he had planned.

Still, [Needs To Be Loved], [Embers] and [Spark] each had a total of four, three and two million streams respectively in just over two weeks and judging by the way it was going, it would only increase further.

In addition to that, the video recordings of him at the studio which had finally been touched up to the highest possible qualities were also uploaded onto his ViewTube Channel over the span of one month.

[Sparks] when it had first been released, got over 100K views in over a week, [Embers] got 275K views two weeks later when it had also been uploaded and now Kyle’s core fans were impatiently anticipating the video recording of [Needs To Be Loved].

They just couldn’t wait to see more of Kyle even if it was still his previous songs, and that was what Kyle himself and Oliver had been going for.

This way, he would still be able to maintain a bit of relevancy in people’s minds even if he was going to be solely focusing on his college duties during all that time.

All that aside though, there was also the fact that ‘Rising Voices’ had finally rounded up their fourth season in grand fashion.

Each contestant this time was given an entire stage to manage, along with back-up dancers and singers assigned to them, making each performance seem like its very own concert!

The views, despite Kyle, Ryan and Joe being eliminated, had still shattered all the ratings of the previous episodes, solidifying the reality singing competition as one of the very best of its generation.

In addition to all that, Lily came out as the definitive winner on the show, beating Steven and Katie who had ended up being the second runner-up and third runner-ups respectively by a few hundred votes each.

All three had immediately exploded in fame after the entire ordeal was over and were instantly offered deals from many record-labels and talent agencies.

Steven had ended up accepting an offer from Jack and Blake’s record label while Kiara had taken Katie under her as a protégé when she gave her a fantastic offer that she couldn’t refuse.

Lily on the other hand, had gotten onto the entertainment news and tabloids for quite a while due to how she had rejected a lot of contract offers from some of the biggest record labels and talent agencies.

Granted she had done it very, very politely, some labels didn’t take too kindly to her rejection and it seemed like the young lady was going to be having a very tough time in the future.

Not that she seemed affected by any of it though. In fact, she mostly seemed happier.

Also, by the time the two ladies finally arrived back at college, they were subjected to an even crazier treatment than the one Kyle had gotten.

Having already experienced what they were feeling to a certain extent, the young man felt quite sorry for them but he was sure they’d be fine.

And just like that, the days went on.

Final year exams came and went.

Graduation happened.

Two months, had casually passed by.

* * *

Walking into a small cafeteria, Kyle made his way over to the table which had been reserved for him while dusting the snow off his long coat.

Sitting down, the young man relaxed into the comfort of the chair while gently crossing his arms, all whilst staring at the lady opposite him with a curious expression.

“Hello Kyle. You’re here early” she greeted with a light smile.

“And so are you Lily. What’s up?” he curiously asked instead with an arched eyebrow.

Sighing a bit, Lily then replied;

“I was just thinking about the future”

“Anxious?” Kyle asked.

“Isn’t everybody?” the lady replied with a thin smile.

“I guess so…” Kyle simply nodded in reply, his eyes staring at the falling snowflakes through the window.

Winter was in season and the air was very cold.

Everything was blanketed in white heaps of snow, jingles were present in almost every store and Christmas was just around the corner.

Enjoying the tranquil silence, both individuals gazed at the busy street outside while waiting for their friends.

After a short while though, the young lady broke the silence, curious about something.

“Say Kyle, why do you think I rejected all the offers from the big agencies and record labels?” she propped her head with one of her hands as she questioned, a thin smile on her lips.

Most people could not understand the reasoning behind why she had done so and they couldn’t help but question her whenever they got the chance.

Kyle on the other hand, never seemed surprised by her actions so she had always been a bit curious to know if he saw things the same way she did.

“Same as me. You don’t want to be held down by anyone in the industry” the young man casually replied.

However, when he noticed Lily’s gaze still wanted more answers, he sighed a bit and then expatiated further.

“On the surface, deals like that seem like fantastic offers but if you were to sign them, you’d basically be forgoing a lot of rights to your own songs”

“Even the prize money you got from the show will end up going back into the agency’s pockets when they begin to help with album production since, they expect you to pay back all the costs that went into making it. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg among many other things.”

“Shitty royalties. Exploitative contracts that binds you to them for years. And worst of all, they can drop you at any moment they please when you become less relevant…” Kyle continued.

“And sure that isn’t the case every time, it’s usually the case 95% of the time”

“So, although signing a contract with them in the beginning might seem like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, its more akin to them offering you a student loan that you’ll never be able to get out of for the rest of your life.” he concluded and Lily couldn’t help but burst into laughter at his analogy.

“That’s a good one Kyle! That’s a really good one!” the beautiful lady kept laughing as she said.

Kyle on the other hand, could only stare at Lily in slight confusion due to her sudden laughter.

He himself didn’t even consider what he said as a joke of any sort so he found Lily’s hearty laughter to be a bit… unfounded.

However, as he kept staring at her, he soon realized a hint of sadness layered beneath her laughter and instantly, it clicked as he subconsciously muttered out loud;

“Debts…”

Widening her eyes, evidently surprised by how fast Kyle quickly caught on to the reason for her sudden bout of laughter, Lily couldn’t help but remark.

“Oh wow. You’re quite the perceptive one, aren’t you, dreamboat?”

Smiling sheepishly, the lady sighed and then lazily began to stretch on the table as she continued;

“Yeah. That. Although we’re free of it now, there’s really nothing much left of that prize money…”

‘We’re? Her family probably?’ Kyle reasoned to himself while Lily kept speaking;

“And well, considering how horrible the last few years have been with everything constantly breathing down my neck, I’m not too keen on wanting to go back into any hell hole of such ever again” she quietly said while raising her head back up.

“And that’s actually why I want to go solo. Be an independent artist and an actor…”

Staring back at Kyle again, Lily was surprised to see that the young man was lightly smiling back at her instead of having a pity gaze like most people usually would.

Although he didn’t know how much of a debt she had incurred, Kyle reasoned that it must’ve been a very, very scary sum for Lily to have commented that there was nothing much left of a $1,000,000 prize money.

Maybe the debt wasn’t even hers and was more or less a family thing, the young man could only guess.

But, having experienced what it was like to be in debt too from his past memories, Kyle more than anyone knew just how hard it must’ve been for a young lady like Lily to resist taking the easy way out.

She could’ve exploited all the men who kept clamoring after her, used her immense beauty to seduce even the richest of them considering she modelled a few times here and there and could’ve become a very bitter person overall but yet, here she was, triumphantly surviving against all odds.

That was a very admirable trait to him and as he gazed at her, a light smile on his lips, it was more or less as if he was acknowledging her years of strength, resilience and fortitude.

That was a gesture far better than him just pitying her and Lily seemed to understand that.

Due to that, a really genuine smile blossomed on her face as she grinned at him and said;

“You truly are one of a kind Kyle Kestis”

“And so are you Lily Lockhart” Kyle replied in kind before he then asked curiously;

“The debt? It isn’t really yours, is it?”

“Nope. My father was actually the one who incurred it after our mom divorced him” Lily began to explain.

“A total of $212,500 back then but the interests just kept piling up and before he knew it, he was deep into it, bringing it all up to $892,080”

“Granted he did fight for the right to have us in his custody and also take care of us, I don’t think Amy and I were ever annoyed at him because we knew he was trying so much harder than we ever knew to give us the best he possibly could” Lily continued explaining.

“But at some point, he overworked himself and got sick. Really sick”

“So I had to step up you know. Being the first born and the big sister… it was just something I had to do” she concluded and Kyle nodded in understanding.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better Lily, your father’s a really good man” the young man complimented and Lily beamed in response.

“Thank you for saying that Kyle! My dad’s the best!”

Exchanging a small chuckle, both individuals soon allowed for another comforting silence to descend between them.

After a short while, Kyle was the one to break the silence this time by offering a genuine sentiment.

“I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors Lily”

“And I wish you the same too Kyle” Lily replied with a sincere appreciation for his words.

No sooner had that happened, Ryan, Katie and Christina, walked in through the doors of the cafeteria, locating them almost instantly.

“Hey guys!” Ryan and Katie called out while Christina gently waved as they made their way over.

Getting up and responding to them with warm hugs and greetings, all five soon began to converse over mundane things.

Considering graduation had happened just a week ago, all of them knew they would soon be very busy going about their respective lives.

As a result, they had all decided to have a small meet-up like this – one they could look back on fondly whenever they remembered each other as they progressed through their different lives.

At least until the next meet-up came around.