From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 174: Journey to Las Vegas (4)

"What Benjamin said?"

Ari sat up at the sudden change of topic.

Benjamin had said a lot of things, so which ones exactly?

"About the whole situation, but also about not wanting to team up with me again. Do you agree with him?"

Oh. That. Well...

"Honestly?"

"Honestly. Give me your honest feedback."

Ari thought it over before carefully speaking his thoughts.

"I don’t have any siblings or much of a family, so I don’t know what you’re going through having to be responsible for younger siblings and helping your parents, but I think Ben’s right that at some point you have to choose yourself, especially if it’s something you want, because at the end of the day it’s your life to live and your dreams to achieve. It’s you who might be miserable 5, 10, or 20 years down the line, regretting everything and wishing you had spoken up and acted differently now. Even if there’s a negative outcome, I think it’s worth speaking up, because you never know what might happen. You clearly wanted this opportunity, even if your parents were against it, and you have made it this far. I would hate to see you sabotage it like this."

"And teaming up? Be honest with me. Would you choose me to be on your team again?"

"Teaming up with you again? Hm...Probably not. I want to do my very best to debut, and this seems like a difficult issue for you to deal with, with no easy resolution. I don’t want you to drop out, and I don’t mind helping out when I can, but the show is already hard enough without extra issues. So even though I would rather have you on my team, I would probably choose someone else if given the choice."

Although the words were quite harsh, Ari quite liked Carlos and wanted to be honest with him, especially since the older boy asked for honesty.

"That’s fair. Thank you for your honesty."

"Sorry if it was a bit harsh."

"No, it’s fine. You’re much gentler than Benjamin is, haha. And it’s not like you’re wrong. He’s not wrong either. Understanding the situation is quite different from wanting to deal with it. I need to make up my mind. Mierda, I really need to." Carlos pounded the steering wheel before sighing.

"Do you actually want to debut?" Ari asked Carlos curiously.

"I want to say yes."

"Want to?"

"Or maybe the answer is yes. I don’t know. I don’t know."

"Okay. Well, I still consider us friends. If you’re having issues, tell me and I’ll help. And if you need me to be mean to somebody, I can do that too."

"And if I need someone to keep William from touching me, I’ll call you as well. Why do you treat him like he has some strange disease that transfers when he touches people?"

"He has evil powers that can suck away people’s talent. He can literally steal your voice, so don’t touch him."

"Haha, I see that you take the movie you were named after very seriously. You have a very active imagination. Is that how you come up with good concepts?"

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

I’m being serious.

You’re laughing, and I’m being serious.

Since it was clear that Carlos wanted to change the subject, Ari just let it slide, and they talked about nonsensical things until they got to Carlos’ family’s house.

Since his parents were already gone, Ari spent his time until sunrise trying to find someone who could watch his younger siblings. freёnovelkiss.com

And after watching Carlos chase after the three in the house, making them breakfast, helping them with their hair, and getting dressed, Ari was doubly happy that he didn’t have a younger sibling. It seemed exhausting.

As they were loading up into the car, a standoff happened before the four of them introduced themselves.

"I’m Antonio."

"I’m Luis."

"I’m Gabriella."

Ari stared at the three short kids, who all looked a bit like Carlos, before introducing himself.

"I’m Ariel."

"That’s a weird name."

"No, it’s not."

"It’s a girl’s name."

"It’s not."

"Are you secretly a girl?"

"No."

"Your clothes are weird."

"Your brother is wearing the same thing, so I guess his is weird too."

"Your accent is weird."

"So is yours." Ari retorted calmly, unashamed about arguing with little kids.

"Carlos, he’s being mean to us!!!!"

"Don’t you feel ashamed arguing with children?"

"Carlos says an ugly personality leads to an ugly face. If you continue like this, your pretty face will disappear. It happened to one of our aunts."

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

Why was he suddenly being cursed into being ugly?

"Oi, be nice! Sorry for my siblings. They can be a bit rowdy." Carlos quickly smacked all three of them on the back of the head before shoving them into the car.

...I can see that.

"It’s fine?"

Ari just entered the passenger seat and continued using Carlos’ phone to message different babysitters in Vegas, hoping to find one quickly while occasionally arguing with Carlos’ youngest siblings.

The drive to Las Vegas was boring, apart from the traffic and having to stop often at gas stations so that Carlo’s siblings could use the bathroom.

As the performance time drew closer, Ari began to feel a bit anxious, as the drive took longer than expected, and communication with several babysitters suddenly stopped right when they were about to finalize things.

As they approached the venue and began searching for parking, they finally found a babysitter with good reviews at a price point Carlos was willing to pay, who could meet them at the performance location.

"Parking, parking, we’re going to be late. The babysitter said that they’re there."

"Okay. I’ll drop you all off first and meet up with you inside, okay? Gabriella, you have cash and my card. Luis, Antonio, please behave and listen to her. Okay?"

"Okayyyy."

"Fine!"

"Okay. Mucha suerte Carlosito. Besitos." Gabriella pressed a kiss to Carlos’s cheek before all three of them and Ari hopped out of the car.

As Ari stood there with the motorcycle helmet on, Gabriella stared at him in disgust before grabbing her siblings’ hands and pulling them away from the curb as they began to get rowdy and cars zoomed by.

"You don’t really like kids or interact with them much, do you?"

"Zero interaction and not really," Ari replied, regretting wearing his full costume as he began sweating profusely from the heat the black clothing was absorbing.

"You’re supposed to lie when somebody asks you that."

"Oh. Then I love kids. They’re great! Woo!"

"You’re a terrible liar, and that sounds creepy."

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

So, do you want me to lie or not?

Gabriella was silent for a moment before looking up at Ari while biting her bottom lip.

"Ari?"

"What?"

"Do you think we’re a burden to Carlos? Our parents never let him do anything because of us."

What kind of question was this out of the blue?

When did I become your family therapist?

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because you argue with kids, so I know you’ll tell me the truth since you don’t care about protecting my feelings."

At Gabriella’s blunt words, Ari just stayed silent.

It wasn’t like she was wrong.

And, he might be tactless at times, but even he knew not to answer that loaded question.

"I think you should talk to your brother about it instead of asking a stranger."

"You’re not a stranger, you’ve been to our house," Luis added.

"And eaten our food. You didn’t even bring a gift. What a rude guest. Visiting and eating with no gift." Antonio, who was the youngest and the cheekiest, added while glaring at Ari, who flicked his forehead.

"Wow, look, the person who’s going to BABYsit you babies is here." Ari pointed to an older woman wearing a floral dress and sun hat who matched the photo on the babysitting finder website.

She was coming out of the building he was supposed to be heading into, which was surprising. Maybe she had been waiting inside to escape the heat.

"Don’t call me a baby. I’m not a baby." Antonio complained, and Ari messed up his curly hair, laughing as he continued to complain.

"Sure, sure. Hello, Susan? I think you’re looking for us."

Susan stared at him before grabbing her phone out of her purse.

"Are you kidnapping these kids? How do you know my name? Take off your helmet or I’m calling the cops."

Ari quickly took the motorcycle helmet off while holding out the phone that had the exchanged messages and the correct profile.

"We’ve been communicating by text and scheduled you as the babysitter. These are the three kids to watch. This is the emergency number to call. They have money for food. And there’s a small chance we pick them up earlier than usual."

Although the woman looked at him with suspicion as she triple checked Carlos’s phone and her own phone, Ari really didn’t have time to waste with her.

"Gabby, you good?"

"I got it under control. Just go already, or you’ll be late." After a moments hesitation, she whispered, "Mucha suerte."

"Gracias gracias. Call your brother if there’s any issue. I’ll hand his phone back as soon as I see him."

"Okay."

"Oh my gosh, Ari! Ariel Matisse! Is that you??"

As a loud voice screamed his full government name, and a few people turned to look, Ari glanced to the side, spotting several young girls he didn’t recognize holding their phones and recording.

"Oh my gosh, it’s him!"

"The post was right!"

"Are you famous? They’re calling your name." Susan asked as she stared at the shrieking girls who were still recording while getting closer before looking back at Ari’s face.

Although it was a bit sweaty and turning red, she had to admit that it was quite a pretty face.

Maybe he was one of those handsome young men that she had been watching performing on stage.

He was certainly dressed for the part.

"I am not famous at all. I actually don’t know how they know my full name. It shouldn’t have been released to the public."

Ari turned to them, putting his finger to his lips before turning Carlos’ siblings around so their faces weren’t visible to the recording phones and putting on the motorcycle helmet.

"Gabby, Luis, Ant-Man, I’m leaving now. See you later. Susan, thank you once again."

Waving at the kids, Ari ran off toward the building, hoping that his team hadn’t started performing since he was seeing people still enter the venue.

******

Once Ari was gone, and the young girls followed him in a hurry, Susan turned to the three kids staring at her expectantly.

"Hey kiddies, you want to see a free concert? I have some vouchers to use. The music is pretty loud, and some of them are not very good, but we don’t have to be in the sun."

"Is it in there?" Gabriella asked, her brown eyes flashing as she pointed to the building that Ari had just run into.

"Yes! Do you want to go?"

"Yes, please! Definitely! We have to go!" Gabriella yelled.

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