Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

Chapter 18

“I can’t believe we’re grouped together.”

Cameron muttered, shaking his head a bit. Although he said it like he was disappointed, there was a thin smile on his face.

“We can’t do anything about it. The judges grouped us together.”

Aiden replied, looking around the room, his eyes darting over the three people in front of him.

“Isn’t it good we are grouped together? It’s better than getting grouped with someone you don’t really know.”

Jackson, the third member of the group muttered. Beside him, Emily nodded her head.

“Yeah, I am acquainted with you, Jackson, since we were in the same group in the second round. And I also talked a bit with you, Aiden. It’s only Cameron who I don’t know, but I don’t really mind this setup.”

Cameron grumbled hearing that.

“Then, it’s only me who doesn’t know anyone here.”

It’s been an hour since the members were assigned to each band but Aiden’s band hadn’t been able to even have a proper conversation. They were just sitting in the lounge room provided to them.

‘These guys are too different from each other.’

Aiden thought, sighing inwardly. Cameron didn’t seem like the type to be good with people, Jackson wasn’t someone you could rely on to take charge and Emily just seemed happy to be on the show, not caring about other things.

Clapping his hands to attract their attention, Aiden opened his mouth.

“I don’t think we should spend our time leisurely. I know it’s hard to work with people you don’t really know enough, especially in a setting where we need to work as a band.”

“And who made you the leader?”

Cameron asked suddenly and Aiden frowned in response.

“No one did but I’m sure the other bands would have already started discussing the song they have received and some would have even started their practice. Do you want to lag behind?”

Aiden was using the fact that Cameron’s pride was quite high and he didn’t like being behind other contestants. And it certainly seemed to have worked as he looked a bit blank.

After a while, he blinked his eyes and asked.

“Are you saying it without any substance or do you have a plan?”

“I might have one but first we need to analyse the song. Then, know each other’s strengths and assign the vocals and instruments.”

The song they received was a song named ‘Sweet child’ by a band called Bullets and Roses. The good thing was that the song just used some basic instruments like keyboard, electric guitar and drums so it would be easier to perform.

Aiden stood up and got a pen and paper. Then, he wrote down the name of the song on the top of the paper and below it, he wrote ‘Vocalist’.

“First, we need a vocalist. That’s the main thing in any song. All of us are here because of our singing but only one of us could be the main vocalist in this band.”

Cameron seemed like he wanted to say something but Jackson beat him to it and raised his hand, like he was asking permission to speak.

“Yeah, Jackson?”

“I have the experience of being in a band and I was the vocalist of the band, so I have experience. I think I should be the vocalist because of my experience.”

“That shouldn’t be any criteria to make you the vocalist. In the first place, the vocalist should be the one who has the best vocals out of us. Traditionally, it’s like that.”

Cameron replied and Jackson didn’t seem to like his tone as he glared.

“Are you saying I’m not good enough?”

“If you want to think of it like that but I meant it in a more softer way.”

He smirked and Aiden was sure that they were going to end up fighting if he didn’t interfere.

Cameron already has a history of it in the show anyway.

“Stop it you two. We will just end up fighting like this.” He frowned. “Jackson, you think you should be the vocalist because of your experience, right? Anything you want to add.”

Jackson shook his head and then, Aiden looked at Cameron.

“Why do you think you should be the vocalist, Cameron?”

“Just because I think I’m the best among us.” That got another glare from Jackson and Emily looked a bit odd. “I’m not trying to be arrogant here or anything. I’m saying this because I passed the third round straightaway. Moreover, I have sung these types of songs before. Heck, I even sang a cover of this song on my MeTube channel! I can sing the song better than anyone here.”

Aiden nodded after hearing that and looked at Emily, gesturing to her to speak. He knew that even she wanted to be the vocalist as the most attention will be on the vocal.

She fiddled with her fingers for a bit before opening her mouth.

“Uh, I think I’m pretty good myself. Like Cameron, I passed the judges round straight too. Andrew even said that I have a unique voice and moreover, the original song isn’t sung by a girl, so I think it will be a bit different. I’m very confident in acing the song.”

“Okay.”

Aiden nodded and felt a bit conflicting. All three of them had good reasons to be the vocalist. At that moment, Emily suddenly looked strangely at him.

“Do you not want to be the vocalist?” She said it while finding Aiden’s behaviour very strange. “We all said the reasons we should be vocal but you didn’t.”

“Well…”

Aiden didn’t know how to reply to that. If he was telling the truth, he did want to be the vocalist but he also knew that there were two people better than him in this aspect.

Cameron had the best skill rank while Emily had been on Basic Grade 10 longer than he is, so it was not wrong to think that she was better.

In that case, it was better for him to not fight for the position of the vocalist. After all, he would qualify if the whole band did, so rather than thinking of himself, it was better to focus on how they could perform the song well.

“I do want to be the vocalist but it’s fine even if I am not one. I haven’t sung a lot of songs that have very high notes and require a bit of screaming, so it’s better to not fight for it when I’m not confident. Moreover, if I even try to fight for it, I don’t think we will reach any conclusion soon.”

Everyone nodded at that. His point was pretty clear. After all, being the vocalist was also a matter of huge responsibility.

“Anyway, so who should be the vocalist?”

Jackson asked, looking at him. Emily and Cameron did the same. It seemed like they were leaving the issue to Aiden as he was giving up on being the vocalist.

‘This would have been difficult if I didn’t have my system.’

He thought, before glancing at Cameron.

“I think Cameron should be the vocalist. Both because of his singing ability and the fact that he knows the song. Moreover, he’s one of the top rated contestants in the show and we all know that.”

Cameron grinned like he had won a battle while both Jackson and Emily looked a bit disappointed.

“Well, Emily could be the sub vocalist alongside me. I can play an electric guitar or a bass. Can you play the keyboard?” He asked, looking at her and she nodded her head.

“Yeah, I can do that.”

Now, only Jackson was left and he felt a lot sad due to the fact that only he won’t be the one singing. Knowing that he needed to explain the reasons he hadn’t selected Jackson, Aiden said.

“Jackson, it’s not like I didn’t think you won’t be a good vocalist or a sub vocalist, but there are reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“As you know, It’s a round where we are going in as a band, so we need to think of who is going to play the instruments too. Cameron is going to be the vocalist and Emily on the keyboard. I will be handling the electric guitar, so drums are still left and I think only you can play it among us. Anyway, if we perform well, we all will qualify.”

Aiden still remembered how Jackson had told him that he had learnt how to play drums from his older brother but as there was already a drummer in his band, he had instead become the vocalist.

Jackson still looked a bit disappointed but he also understood where Aiden was coming from.

It was at that moment that Aiden’s system suddenly showed him a prompt.

[Congratulations! You have unlocked a special trait due to you proving yourself to be a successful planner. Now, you can see the instrumental skill of other people.]

[The levels in the instrumental skills range from Level 1 to 10.]

…

//DreamNote//

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