One Man Band System

Late in the afternoon, Emma finished up with music club and piano practice, then headed out with Chloe, Heidi, Priya, and Laura, who were also done with their respective activities.

The five of them walked over to pick up Monica at the running track next to the school, sitting down on the grassy slope of a hill to watch Monica, who was still out on the track competing against the others.

Emma turned to look at Chloe and Heidi, noticing they hadn’t broken a single drop of sweat.

"Wait, you guys didn’t practice today?" Emma asked.

"No, today was just to discuss choreography and costumes for later. Actual practice isn’t until the day after tomorrow," Chloe replied.

"Yeah, exactly. That’s why we’re already done and just waiting for Monica to finish up," Heidi added.

"By the way... did you get more piercings, Heidi?" Priya asked, noticing Heidi’s ear since her hair was tucked back.

"Oh... yeah, added one more at the top. Looks good, right?" Heidi asked, touching her ear.

"Yeah, it looks great, but don’t your parents get mad at you for doing that?" Priya countered.

"Nope. As long as I keep my grades up, they don’t really care about anything else," Heidi replied casually.

Then they all turned to look at Laura, who was sitting quietly, holding her smartphone and reading a web novel while listening to music through her earplugs. Feeling a bit mischievous, the four of them crowded around Laura to see what she was reading. Instantly, all four of their faces flushed bright red because Laura was reading a romance story about a male CEO and his effeminate male assistant.

"Uh... boys’ love. I’m so over that," Priya said.

"Yeah, seriously... her taste is definitely weird," Emma added.

"Man, this friend of ours is hopeless... reading stuff like this," Chloe chimed in.

"But... just imagine if Eric was the assistant... that would actually be kind of hot, wouldn’t it?" Heidi suggested.

They all fell dead silent. Involuntarily, they pictured a scene of Eric sitting on the lap of a handsome CEO as they stroked each other’s faces, and their cheeks exploded into an even deeper shade of red than before. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Meanwhile, feeling the crowd around her, Laura turned around and pulled out her earplugs, completely startled to see her friends looking like ripe tomatoes.

"Uh... what’s wrong with you guys?" Laura asked, totally confused.

"Nothing," Emma, Priya, Chloe, and Heidi replied in unison.

The four of them instantly sat back down in a row with Laura, keeping their heads low to hide their burning faces, leaving a massive question mark hanging over Laura’s head.

They tried their best to calm down and clear the image out of their minds. Seeing that her friends were fine, Laura scoffed, popped her earplugs back in, and went right back to reading.

But out of nowhere, "Excuse me," a girl’s voice called out from behind them.

Instantly, Emma, Priya, Chloe, and Heidi, who nudged Laura to make her stop reading, all turned around to look together. Their smiles and the flush on their cheeks vanished in a heartbeat, their expressions turning stone-cold. The girl calling out to them was Ruby.

Standing right next to Ruby was a man in a sharp grey suit. His hair was slicked back, and he wore a sickeningly sweet smile, the kind that could make a woman’s heart skip a beat before getting her into bed. The man then glanced toward the track, his eyes explicitly locked onto Monica, who was currently drinking water and wiping off her sweat at the sidelines.

Emma, Chloe, Heidi, Priya, and Laura immediately stood up and turned around, drawing the smiling man’s attention toward them.

"Hey guys, this is Mr. Anthony. He wants to talk to you. I’m gonna head out now to check out some cars. Bye!"

Without even waiting for a response from Emma, Chloe, Heidi, Priya, or Laura, Ruby spun around and bolted, sticking her tongue out as if she were mocking them. Naturally, Emma, Chloe, Heidi, Priya, and Laura shifted their full attention to Anthony, the sharp-dressed man standing in front of them.

"Hello, I’m Anthony Miller from Trinity Entertainment. You girls and the redhead out on the track are The Empress, right? I’m a huge fan, and I’ve been wanting to speak with you for quite a while," Anthony said with a broad smile, extending his hand.

For the sake of politeness, Emma, Chloe, Heidi, Priya, and Laura took turns shaking Anthony’s hand. Anthony then pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Emma. Instantly, the five girls huddled together to look at the card.

"Um... okay... so why are you looking for us?" Emma asked.

"I want to turn you girls into major stars by signing you to our company. And not just you, our company also wants to bring in your songwriter, Eric Reed. The track you released two days ago called Betrayal Enigma is absolutely incredible. It’s only been two days, and it’s already hit the top ten on the hit list and is on the verge of breaking into the top five," Anthony said enthusiastically.

Hearing Anthony’s words, the five girls naturally felt a surge of excitement and pride, but they suddenly remembered that Eric had once made them run away from a Trinity Entertainment recruiter when they performed at the festival. However, before they could even fully process everything, Anthony hit them with a follow-up.

"How about you girls come with me and we grab a bite to eat so we can discuss the contract?" Anthony offered smoothly, flashing his charming smile.

But before the girls could answer, "What contract?" a man’s voice cut in.

Instantly, Emma, Chloe, Heidi, Priya, and Laura tilted their heads to the right, their faces lighting up as they saw Eric approaching. He came over to stand right next to Anthony. Naturally, Anthony glanced to his side, locked eyes with Eric, and flashed a smile, extending his hand toward him.

"And who might you be?" Eric asked, shaking Anthony’s hand.

"My name is Anthony Miller from Trinity Entertainment. You can call me Anton or Anthony. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Eric Reed," Anthony replied cheerfully, shaking Eric’s hand.

"Oh... Trinity Entertainment," Eric said with a calm voice and a smile. He clearly knew exactly what Anthony was trying to do by approaching the girls and sneaking into their school.

"Spot on! How about we grab some food and have a more comfortable chat over a meal? Don’t worry, it’s on me," Anthony suggested with a smooth smile.

"Oh... sorry, but they and I have plans today. Maybe some other time," Eric replied.

"I see. How about later tonight then? We could probably have a more relaxed conversation," Anthony countered.

"Sorry, Mr. Anthony, but we’ll probably be busy until late. So tell you what, how about we get in touch with you whenever we have some free time?" Eric said, keeping his smile steady.

"Ah, is that so? What a shame. Well, my number is on the business card, but it’d be better if we swapped numbers right now, wouldn’t it?" Anthony asked, pulling out his smartphone.

"Oh, since it’s already on the card, we’ll give you a call later. Don’t worry about it," Eric said, making absolutely no move to pull out his own phone.

Anthony opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, "Is there a problem here?"

Everyone turned toward the track. Out of nowhere, the gym teacher, Wilson, materialized behind the girls with a terrifying, humorless expression on his face. Near him stood the students from the track club, including Monica, who looked completely out of the loop seeing Eric with a guy she didn’t recognize.

"Ah, sorry, sir. I took the liberty of coming onto school grounds because I bumped into an acquaintance. I was actually just about to leave," Anthony said. He then turned to Eric. "Please give me a call as soon as possible. Thank you, and excuse me," Anthony added hurriedly.

Without waiting for anyone to respond, Anthony spun on his heel and walked briskly toward the school’s secondary gate.

"Who the heck was that?" Wilson asked Emma, Priya, Chloe, Heidi, and Laura.

"Oh, he’s from Trinity Entertainment. He wanted to recruit us," Emma answered.

Hearing the company’s name, the students behind Wilson immediately started whispering among themselves. Wilson crossed his arms over his chest and snorted.

"Well... if you’re going to discuss that kind of stuff, it’s best to do it outside of school next time," Wilson advised.

"Yes, sir," the five girls replied, knowing that arguing would only drag things out.

After that, Wilson started walking back and passed Eric. "Sorry, sir, I’ll wait outside too," Eric said, turning around.

"No, stay. You’re fine here," Wilson said as he walked past, patting Eric on the shoulder.

Wilson headed toward the school building, followed by the track club members who were on their way to the locker room to change. As Monica passed them, she said, "Wait up, let me change real quick."

"Got it, take your time," Eric replied.

After everyone else left, Eric, Emma, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura watched the backs of the track club members, including Monica, as they headed inside. Then, Eric took Anthony’s business card right out of Emma’s hand and tore it to shreds. He stuffed the pieces into his pocket while Emma, Chloe, Priya, Heidi, and Laura turned to look at him. Eric just looked back at them with a smile and a wink.