Idol v idol: Mathias' POV

It was day 3 of the Rhizome Entertainment Workshop, and I couldn't help but feel... underwhelmed.

I was sure my agent wouldn’t have recommended this place for no reason. Ten thousand dollars might as well have been pocket change, but getting a new record deal would be fantastic for my career. And he knew how much I wanted that. It wasn’t a shocker that I got in—look at the other guys here. Sure, there were big names like AYDEN, but the rest were all no-name wannabes or art school students whose parents had deep pockets. Though, if they actually wanted to walk the walk, I couldn’t blame them—they were in the right place. Another bonus was that my ‘group’ in this workshop—Class B—unanimously elected me Class President yesterday. What can I say? I'm good at persuasion. Still…

I had been reading comments on my newest video for an hour. I made sure to get the filming done before summer so I wouldn’t be totally out of content during my hiatus. Gotta say, those video editors work fast. I guess that’s one thing my label is good for. Unpopular opinion, but I loved reading the comments on my music videos and everything else I released, honestly. I scrolled down:

Zoe4099: This guy isn’t a snack, he’s a whole ass restaurant

Fj817: I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW THE NOTIFICATION asadhsuyhrueafkasd

Aatypicalcapybarraa: Whoever is styling him knows EXACTLY what they’re doing

IceFoxYT: First!!!!

Mattsribcage: Talent 100% Looks 100% Voice 100% Cuteness 100% Lyrics 100% composer 100% producer 100% HE’S THE KING OF POP!👑

Damnari: CAN WE GET THIS TO 30M BEFORE HIS COMEBACK IN SEPTEMBER?! 🙌🏽

Nocto: The way you can tell Mathias put his heart and soul into his song 💗

Gojoifurreadingthisimsingle: Support Mathias and remember, Mathias is not just about his body. He’s the most kindhearted human being and he deserves all the love, affection and respect in this world. MATHIAS WE LOVE YOU. MAKE THIS DEBUT AT NUMBER !!!!!!

Never ceased to make my day. It had basically become a ritual for me. I wondered if they all knew what their comments did to me. How many wrote them without knowing my gaze would land upon their praise? I needed to go on tour again. Seeing crowds of young girls screaming my lyrics in unison was gold.

Back to why I was feeling underwhelmed.

We had one introductory task so far: order the stuff for our classroom and elect a leader. Both were done. There was nothing listed on the itinerary after the first two days. It was almost 11, and the whole day had been... nothing. Seriously? If they were going to keep me over the summer and do this whole competition, they should keep me busy! I didn’t come here to scroll through comments in my classroom all day. This thing costs money.

Bellcurvegirlie: No because why is this giving 2017 😭

I stopped scrolling, huffing air out of my nose for dramatic effect, even though no one was around. Just the habits of an entertainer. Did this NPC think they were actually funny? I bet I already got 10,000 people saying the exact same thing. Word for word for emoji. I couldn’t fucking stand these annoying, attention-seeking wannabee class clown mother–

I get a call from my classmate. I was still looking at the screen.

I pick it up:

“Hello there Matt!~” It’s Adam. How fun.

I smile, tapping my fingers on the desk, “Why hello to you too, is there something you need?” my tone might have been more passive aggressive than I was intending, luckily, Adam didn’t notice.

“Well you know…Stephanie is having let’s say…a bit of a tantrum…” As if to prove his point further, I heard the shockingly familiar sound of Stephanie screaming in anger.

I took in a breath through my nose. What did I expect? “What’s the issue this time?”

“You’ll have to see for yourself…hehe.”

“Where is she?”

“The classroom, as usual.”

“Great.” I hung up on Adam. logging out of my account and turning off my computer. I fixed my collar and left the computer lab. This was going to be a long afternoon.

******

Even though we were told to order supplies for our classroom yesterday, a lot of us already came prepared and our room was at least half decorated. It looked more like a business room than anything else. Theo and Adam managed to move a couch or two inside and the whole place was welcoming.

But I could tell just by standing outside the classroom door that this next conversation would be anything but. I could hear Stephanie having a fit. I sighed and opened the door. The room smelled like caramel.

“B-rate, FUCKING B-RATE?!” Stephanie puffed out another vape cloud, the caramel scent spreading further “FUCK DO THEY GET OFF PUTTING ME IN SECOND PLACE?!” She punched the wall, leaving a dent. She starts walking towards me, “Unprofessional assholes, ALL OF THEM!! Try to start up a new label and give MY ASS a silver medal?! WHO DO THEY THINK I AM–SOME ONE-HIT-WONDER?! I AM THE LEADER OF CHICVICIOUS AND AN INTERNATIONAL POP SENSATION?”

Honestly, you couldn’t have made me understand what the hell she was going on about if a brand deal depended on it. Did she (somehow) find one of the teachers and they gave her slack? If so, isn’t that what this place is about? It’s a workshop, you’re not coming to get cheers and an ego massage.

“Hold on, hold on Stephanie.” I was half-chuckling. The other members of the class were too scared to confront her rampage but her temper tantrum was doing nothing to make me shake in my boots, “What’s going on, fill me in?”

She stopped in the middle of a sentence, “Did you not hear? It’s about the class system!”

“What, is there a working class uprising?”

Stephanie’s face didn’t move a muscle, not in the mood for any tongue in cheek humor, “Fuck you, you know what I mean. It’s about the class placements!” She poked my chest as if to emphasize her point. She probably cried at some point but her makeup was perfectly in tact.

I raised my hands, trying to show I was not her enemy, “What about the class placements?”

“Got word from Christiana–You know, leader of Class C?” I did know her, we talked one or two times after the placements. Weirdly formal, kind of creepy. There’s this other guy attached to her at the hip. “I do.”

“Well she told me that the classes are arranged by skill and popularity and all that other crap. Class A being you know–A-list and D being the indie guys nobody knows about trying to climb the ladder. So why the FUCK am I in class B?”

I stopped, could they have arranged the classes that way? It wouldn’t be surprising. I know that AYDEN is popular and he’s in Class A, but honestly I couldn’t have identified more than two people in that class. Not to mention, Stephanie had a point. I knew she was a member of ChicVicious and had a solo pop career even though I never listen to K-pop. I’ve certainly heard songs by Adam in passing and maybe heard about Belle on my socials. Theo was the only member of Class B I had never heard of. To be fair, I didn’t talk to everyone in Class A yet.

“Now now, you have a right to be upset, but how do you know she isn’t spreading rumors?” I didn’t entirely believe or disbelieve what I was saying, but it was worth challenging her.

“Cuz they’re apparently discussing the same thing in Class D, and Christiana says she’s talking with the staff about it. I mean I don’t know this chick at all! But she doesn’t seem like the petty gossiping type. With her in Class C, she has basically nothing to gain out of spreading something like that.”

“I wouldn’t put too much stock in a theory like that without evidence, at least not yet.”

Stephanie huffed, muttering something I couldn’t quite make out under her breath, “Fine–whatever, but you bet your ass I’m keeping an eye on this because if they actually put me in the THIRD worst class I’ll do whatever it takes to nuke this label off the fucking planet.”

“Yes, and you won’t break anything in the classroom as well?”

Stephanie scowled at me, “Oh I will but listen here.” She got up in my face again as if she was trying to intimidate me, “I don’t care how popular you are, you don’t get to tone police me, ok?”

“Deal, and you don’t get to intimidate and curse at any of us either,” by us I meant the rest off Class B.

“No promises, dickhead.” She turned around, blowing out another cloud and glaring at me in a way that was not so subtly saying “fuck off”, I was more than happy to—

Then I heard something ringing

I looked around, it seemed to be the bell, though it didn’t sound like one, more like a ringtone you’d set for your phone, then the intercom turned on:

Attention all students, please gather in the gym.

I smiled to myself, let’s hope they’re finally getting this show on the road