One Man Band System

Meanwhile, Eric brought the six girls up to the rooftop deck on the fifth floor to rest and unwind after a long day of practicing and recording. They settled into a few lounge chairs and the seats arranged around a central table, piling all their snacks, sodas, beers, and smartphones onto a thick, sturdy round wooden coffee table up there.

"Ah... nothing beats relaxing up here after a hard day’s work," Eric said, kicking back in his lounge chair and watching the clouds turn orange as the afternoon bled into early evening.

"Hehehe... totally, I love it up here too," Emma replied.

"Same... at least it’s quiet and peaceful here," Priya added.

"Absolutely... I wish it could stay like this forever," Chloe added.

"Man... my brain won’t stop looping our recording... I wonder how people are going to react to our song," Heidi said.

"Same here... it’s still running through my head too, hehe," Monica added.

"But I don’t even want to check... maybe later... I’m just too anxious," Laura added.

"I feel that completely," Monica replied.

"Come on, just relax... no need to keep checking your phones... let’s just enjoy some peace and quiet up here for now... oh yeah... by the way... aren’t your parents looking for you guys?" Eric asked, turning his head to look at the girls.

Instantly, the atmosphere fell dead silent for a moment, the only sound being one of them taking a sip of her drink and rustling a bag of snacks. Seeing the downcast looks that instantly washed over all of their faces, except for Chloe. Eric immediately felt awful for bringing it up. He turned back around to face the group.

"Sorry... I was just asking, I didn’t mean anything by it, and it’s definitely not because I’m trying to kick you guys out... my bad, seriously," Eric said, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Don’t sweat it, it’s fine. They’re just still a little down, so don’t overthink it," Emma replied, brushing Eric’s upper arm with a reassuring smile.

But suddenly, "ding," every single smartphone on the coffee table went off in perfect unison, except for Eric’s, which stayed completely silent. Emma, Priya, Chloe, Monica, Laura, and Heidi immediately snatched their phones from the table.

It turned out they had all received an email from their school regarding the new academic year’s opening summer festival and the final registration deadline at the new campus.

"Oh right, tomorrow is the very last day for new student orientation and admissions," Emma noted.

"Hmm... so I guess that means we have to head to school tomorrow," Monica replied.

"Not necessarily. This is just an event notification... it’s not like attendance is mandatory," Heidi countered.

"Are you saying you don’t want to go? Because I definitely do... there are going to be so many food stalls, hehe," Priya said.

"Yeah, true. Let’s go to school tomorrow," Chloe agreed, placing a hand on Priya’s shoulder next to her.

"Okay... count me in," Laura chimed in.

"Hey, what if we bring Eric along?" Monica suggested, raising her hand.

"Huh,"

Everyone instantly turned to look at Eric, who had just been sitting back listening without saying a word. The second Eric opened his mouth to refuse, they all stood up in a flash and completely cornered him, crowding close and leaning down to stare right into his face.

"Come with us tomorrow," Emma insisted.

"Yeah... keep us company," Priya added.

"You’ll go, right? You’ve never even seen our school before," Heidi added.

"Exactly. We’ll give you a whole tour tomorrow," Chloe added.

"Come on... don’t say no," Monica urged, grabbing Eric’s hand.

"If you refuse, we’re all going to cry right here together," Laura threatened, grabbing his other hand.

"Ugh," Eric groaned. Boxed in by six girls with absolutely nowhere to run, he finally rubbed his temples after gently pulling his hand away from Laura.

"Okay... okay... I’ll go. We can all go together," Eric said, completely giving in.

"Yay!" the six girls shouted, instantly jumping around in excitement.

After that, the six girls cheered up completely, heading back to their respective seats and chatting away happily. Watching them, Eric just smiled and shook his head. He never could have imagined that he’d end up living with six gorgeous girls in a building that belonged to his grandfather.

Honestly, the fact that he was living in a whole building was still hard for him to process. Kicking back, he stared up at the sky, quietly soaking in the beautiful evening view without saying a word.

***

The next morning, a black Maybach pulled through the gates of a rather upscale-looking school. Students, parents, and festival-goers immediately stepped aside to let the car pass, every eye locked onto the vehicle as they tried to figure out who owned the unfamiliar license plate and who could possibly be inside. After pulling into the designated parking lot and framing the car into a spot, the doors opened. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Emma stepped out from the passenger seat, while Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura piled out from the back. Finally, Eric, dressed casually in a button-down shirt, a black jacket, and jeans, got out of the driver’s seat. Eric turned to look at Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura.

"Are you guys okay back there?" Eric asked.

"Of course we’re fine! We fit just snug, even if it was a bit tight. We’re all pretty small anyway, hehe," Priya said.

"The only small ones are you and Laura," Heidi countered.

"Yep... true," Monica added.

"You guys are just oversized... regular giants," Priya shot back, pointing at Monica, Heidi, and Chloe.

"Hey... I didn’t even say anything, why am I getting pointed at too?" Chloe complained.

"Alright, cut it out... you guys love to argue. Let’s head inside," Emma interrupted.

They began walking toward the second gate leading into the main school compound. Emma, Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura were all dressed in their school uniforms: short-sleeved white button-downs, blue ties, pleated blue plaid skirts, and matching shoes, walking side-by-side with total confidence.

That was when Eric noticed something, nearly every student and parent was staring at them, especially the guys. Everyone was looking at the six girls, who genuinely stood out and looked completely different from anyone else in the crowd.

"Wow... turns out they’re actually popular at school," Eric thought to himself.

Eric could see rows of booths lining the path from the second gate all the way to the school building. The stalls were selling food, books ranging from encyclopedias to novels, sign-ups for various school clubs, and plenty of other things.

But they had barely made it halfway down the path when Emma, Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura realized a massive crowd was following them. Their pace slowed down, and Eric, walking a few steps behind, slowed down too as he realized they were completely surrounded. Eric leaned his head forward, ducking slightly between the girls.

"Um... are all these people your friends?" Eric whispered.

"Um... they’re our schoolmates... but the six of us rarely hang out with them. We only know them by name," Emma answered.

"True, and the main reason is that we never really cared to mingle, especially with the guys. The second you show them a shred of kindness, they immediately go and confess their feelings. It’s exhausting," Priya added.

"Yeah... so why are they swarming us like this?" Monica asked.

"Right... usually they give us a wide berth," Chloe added.

"I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this... we didn’t do anything wrong, did we?" Heidi asked nervously.

"No clue... I don’t get it either," Laura replied.

Before they knew it, the six girls and Eric had instinctively huddled into a tight circle in the center of the path as the crowd closing in on them grew thicker. They looked exactly like seven survivors completely boxed in by zombies, left with absolutely no way out and only able to fight back if they got pounced on.

While they stood there utterly confused, a younger-looking girl in a school uniform suddenly stepped out from the crowd.

"Um... excuse me, upperclassmen, would it be okay if I took a photo with you guys?" the girl asked timidly.

"Oh... with us? Why? This is sudden," Monica asked, confused.

"Yeah... especially since you’re an underclassman, right?" Chloe added.

"Um... you guys are The Empress, right?" the girl asked shyly, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Me too! I want a picture with The Empress too!" several other girls shouted, stepping forward the moment they saw someone brave enough to break the ice.

"Blam!" It felt like a bolt of lightning had just struck Emma, Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura out of a clear blue sky, leaving their minds completely blank. Before today, they had always been popular because of their looks, but because they constantly exuded a cold, "don’t talk to us" vibe, no one had ever dared to approach them.

But things were different now. They were known as The Empress, and as a result, they were now completely trapped and besieged by people who had clearly heard their music. Now they were completely swarmed, men, women, guys, girls, and even kids crowded around them, all clamoring for at least one photo.

When a lot of the guys noticed Eric, since the six girls were crowded right up against him, their expressions darkened with pure envy. But that bitterness lasted only a fraction of a second before they actually clocked Eric’s face.

"Wait... that’s Eric Reed... the songwriter who did that solo performance on TV!" a boy gasped.

In the end, Eric didn’t escape the madness either. He found himself trapped right alongside the girls, who kept clinging to him while chatting with the fans who wanted to take photos with them.

"How on earth did we get this famous?" Eric, Emma, Monica, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura all thought simultaneously, entirely in sync without even realizing it.