CHAPTER 196: EXONERATION (1)

"Tell me! What happened? Are you still on the show? Did you go to jail? Did they bail you out?" Grace Choi, future entertainment journalist and PR firm owner, began grilling Ari the moment her grandmother left piles of food for him to eat at the back table.

"Can’t talk about it. Can’t talk about it. No jail, just went on a long drive. Not applicable." Ari replied as he grabbed a piece of spicy radish and ate it with some tender beef.

As the flavors melted together in his mouth with some rice, he could only nod in approval.

Even if he wasn’t super picky about food, as always, the meals at the Choi family restaurant were as fantastic as usual after the bland meals given by Pop Star Academy.

Grace waited until Ari swallowed his bit of food before continuing to grill him.

"If you’re saying that, it means they haven’t eliminated you yet, which is good. Who was that woman who was saying all those things about you?"

"Foster mom."

"The one who kicked you out? Why would she say all those things about you? She’s a terrible person!"

"I agree. That’s why she’s spending her weekend in prison."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

Ari’s dry response made it clear that he didn’t want to continue talking about that woman, so Grace changed the subject.

"Have you seen the online communities? The place was a mess after you left, and people went ballistic online."

"No. How bad is it?"

Ari asked as he wrapped his beef in lettuce before taking a satisfactory bite.

"There are crazy posts about you, and some local reporters wrote about the situation as well. Look!"

Grace held out her tablet so that Ari could see some of the headlines.

’Pop Star Academy Contestant Ariel Arrested for Truancy!’

’Bad Apple Trying to Be An Idol!’

’Family Drama? Both Mother and Child Arrested!"

"Popstar Academy Contestant Accused of Skipping School, Bullying, and Worse by his own Mother!"

"Contestant Caleb Says It Was Only A Matter of Time Before Contestant Ariels’ True Colors Come Out!"

"Calls for Contestant Ariel to be Eliminated!"

It was a mess.

"Wow. Guess the PD was right. I am pretty popular."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"That’s what you got out of this? Really? You need to be angrier! People are taking the opportunity to slander you even more! As your PR representative and the first and most important member of your fan club, we need to clear your name!! Immediately!"

Grace slammed her hand on the table to emphasize her point, but Ari simply blinked at her.

"I’m thinking about what I should do."

"What part of your PR representative did you not understand? I am your PR, so I should be thinking, not you!"

"Well, what do you suggest that I should future PR firm owner?"

Grace’s demeanor immediately became crafty as she began tapping on her tablet with the pen.

"What will you give me if I help you?"

"What do you want?"

"If you debut, give me a VIP ticket to your very first fan meet and concert, as well as a special interview with you and the team for my blog and channel."

"...that’s a big if."

"I trust and am willing to bet on your face card that you’ll make it. Even if you’re eliminated, I’d like to conduct your first public interview. Now, do you agree, yes or no?"

Seeing how serious Grace looked, Ari decided to humor her.

I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to hear a second opinion.

"Uh, sure?"

"Excellent. I’ll make you sign a contract regarding that later. Now I’ve made several plans addressing the 2 main issues, which were truancy and the claims made by your foster mom. With her being arrested and thrown in prison, and mugshots being public record, I can pull those records and-

"No."

"What-?"

"Whatever you do, don’t touch her. Don’t post about her. Pretend she doesn’t exist. I mean it."

"But-"

"Seriously, it’s very dangerous. Just leave her be."

"You’re acting like she has some big band gang behind her."

"She does and dirty cops are the least of it. I don’t want you to get killed and your body thrown in a dumpster."

"....ahaha, you don’t have to scare me like that."

"Do you see me laughing? I’m being very serious. Don’t touch her, or this whole thing is off."

Grace’s smile froze as she stared at Ari, wondering if he was joking, but his eyes looked dead serious.

"Fine, fine. I won’t touch her, then regarding your truancy...is there anything proving that you’re a good student, helping your community, feeding homeless animals, etc? We can spin it that you’re a student pursuing your dream and made an innocent mistake of skipping school."

"Hmmm..." Ari thought about the date before answering, "I was truant, but it was with permission from the principal since he didn’t want me to drop out. I didn’t do community service, but I used to tutor other students, and my grades are pretty good. I think they’re releasing the final class rank this week or next week? I have a couple of tests to make up, but I’m likely to be the valedictorian, and if not, then the salutatorian. Does that help?"

Grace froze, blinking at Ari as she tried to process the information.

"You’re the valedictorian? Of your high school class?"

"Or the salutatorian. I don’t think it’s lower than that. If it is, I should still be in the top 5."

"As in you’re ranked number 1 or number 2."

"Yes."

"In your senior class."

"Yes?"

"Of how many students?"

"Around 1000? More or less? I don’t remember."

"Even after missing weeks of school?"

"Ya."

Grace: ".....Can I ask what your GPA is?"

Ari thought about it before replying casually, "Last time I checked, it was around 4.5? 4.6? It’s somewhere around there, plus or minus .05."

Crack-

With a strength that she didn’t even know she had, Grace snapped the tablet pencil in her hand in half, causing bits of plastic and metal to fly around.

Ari quickly dodged a piece flying toward his face before stuffing another piece of beef into his mouth as he stared at her while counting down in his head for the imminent screaming that was just like her father.

3.

2.

1.

"Ahhhhh, You think you’re better than me?"

"No?"

"Then how the hell are you above a 4.0? Huhhhh? I only have a 4.1 after suffering through so many AP and IB classes! How???? Explain yourself, or the deal is off!"

"Oh, when he was alive, my dad was constantly forcing me to take a lot of different courses in community college to figure out what I wanted to do with my life because I had no plans but to laze around. Since it’s weighted higher and I did well in the classes, my GPA got a big boost, and this school I’m at now pays you 200 dollars per class if you score above a 4 on the AP exams, so even if I don’t like the class, I just took everything they had to offer. Between that and getting straight A’s, my GPA naturally went up."

Hearing Ari mention his dead parents, Grace winced but charged ahead.

"Once again, I am sorry for your loss. May your father rest in peace, but still! How are you getting straight A’s! I’ve never seen you study! You’ve literally not been in school?"

"I just memorized the general concepts of the textbook at the beginning of the year, did my homework, and paid attention in class. I used to tutor for money, you know. If you pay me, I can tutor you, too."

Grace just stared at Ari’s earnest money-grubbing smile in disgust.

Handsome, smart, talented, with his only flaw being a bad dancer, and being overly concerned about money.

It simply wasn’t fair.

It really wasn’t fair at all!

"I hate you. And I want you to know that I’m saying this because I’m jealous."

At her honest confession, Ari burst out laughing.

"Why? Your honor roll certificates are all over the walls. You literally have a 4.1?"

"It’s the principle of the matter! I have to study to pass, you just memorize the freaking textbook and coast along?? Aghhhhhh!!!!" Grace screamed while clutching her head, and Ari continued eating until she finally calmed herself down.

"Anyways, I got it. As the head of the journalism club in my school and the premier blogger for Popstar Academy, I am prepared to help you exonerate yourself. Look forward to my hard work. Once you deliver your school rank and transcript to me, I will begin the process of clearing up this issue. Your reputation will be spic, span, and polished."

As she began tapping away on her tablet, Ari got her attention.

"Grace?"

"Hmmm?"

"You know, you really don’t have to do this. I’ll figure it out myself. Seriously. I don’t want you to get dragged into my mess, and I don’t want your blog to be affected by my issues. You should just focus on posting fun stuff."

"You-you think I’m joking around here? You think my blog is a joke? Are my dreams of being a journalist and a PR firm owner a joke? Or is it that you don’t believe that I can accomplish anything with my little blog and I should just post fun stuff??"

"I’m sensing that I should say no?"

"Wash your neck and wait for me, Ariel Matisse. I’ll make you get on your knees and kiss my feet in thanks. Matter of fact, I’ll make you beg for me to take you on as a client and an interviewer."

Seeing Grace’s glare, Ari laughed, "I’ll look forward to it. Until then, even if it doesn’t work, what can I do to help you out?"

"Bathroom duty while you’re back. And if you could give me a timeline on that? 1 week? A couple days?"

"I can’t tell you that, but I will clean the bathrooms. Anything else?"

"Please let me tell my friends that you work here. They’re big fans and just want to see you in real life and maybe ask for a picture, but they won’t bother you at all! Is that okay?"

Ari thought it over before shrugging.

"Sure."

"Phew."

Grateful that Ari had agreed, Grace wiped the sweat from her forehead, feeling less guilty about selling Ari’s personal information to her new friends Justine and Rachel.

Seeing that Ari wasn’t paying attention, just staring blankly into the air while moving his lips, Grace quickly sent a text to her newly made group chat, letting them know that everything was a-ok.

Then she began organizing drafts that she would need to send to several media sites once she got information, as well as contacting the journalism club at Ari’s school for a joint article.

She meant what she had told Ari.

She fully planned on clearing his reputation from the slander that he was receiving from the event that had happened today.

And even though Ari had told her not to touch his foster mother, she planned on putting her on blast, too.

Everyone who spoke badly about Ari would feel it.

As Grace was typing, she got a scheduled alert about Pop Star Academy.

"Oh, Ari, if you’re not going back, watch episode 4 with me. It comes out tomorrow."

"Okay."