Chapter 101: Does Good News Always Sound So Odd

Adrian locked the door and pulled out his phone out of habit again

The Billionaire Cashback notification was still pinned near the top.

But underneath it sat another notification that caught his eye.

1 New Message from Drew.

Adrian opened it.

Drew: Yo bro. You gonna be free to meet up after classes?

He frowned.

Really. Of all days.

He already had filming plans with Rose. Drew had somehow managed to pick the one afternoon Adrian actually had something scheduled.

Not that it was a serious problem.

Probably. Still, he couldn’t exactly abandon him.

He opened the chat.

Adrian: Kind of busy, but if we could make it a call, that’d be a lot better.

He sent it, then scrolled down.

Another notification caught his attention.

Jenna: Hey Ady, you’re not going to believe what fucking happened to me right now.

Adrian paused.

Ady. Only his mother usually called him that, and somehow that’d been the first thing he’d noticed about her. Maybe she just felt more comfortable around him now.

He opened the chat.

Adrian: Kind of hard to guess.

The reply came almost immediately.

Jenna: Guess anyway.

Adrian stared at the screen for a second.

So she wanted him to guess.

Fine.

What could make Jenna this excited?

He thought about it.

Adrian: You got better at the choreography?

Jenna: No. Even better than that.

Another message appeared before he could answer.

Jenna: I got the gig!

Then another.

Jenna: I got the idol gig!

Adrian stopped.

His thumb remained above the screen.

"Whoa. What the fuck?"

She got it?

That was good.

Obviously.

He just wasn’t sure why his first reaction wasn’t excitement.

Something about the timing bothered him.

Jenna had told him the audition was tomorrow.

Today was Thursday.

He looked at the message again.

So how the hell did she already get the gig?

He typed.

Adrian: Isn’t the audition tomorrow?

This time, Jenna took a little longer to reply.

Jenna: Yeah. It is.

Jenna: That’s the crazy part.

Adrian’s eyebrows rose.

Okay.

That was definitely not how he’d expected this conversation to go.

Adrian: Then how did you get the gig?

Jenna: I didn’t exactly get it yet.

Jenna: Remember I sent my audition clips before the actual audition?

Adrian didn’t remember that, but asking right now didnt seem useful.

Anyway, apparently, the clips were used to screen the applicants before they were invited for the proper audition. And then, one of the most shocking thing happened.

Jenna: One of the big shots watched mine.

Jenna: Mr. Arum.

Jenna: He said he wants to meet me personally.

Adrian leaned back slightly.

That made more sense. At least technically.

If someone important had already watched her clips, there was no reason he couldn’t ask to meet her before the scheduled audition.

Still...

That’s pretty fast.

He looked at the conversation again.

Yesterday, Jenna had been preparing for an audition.

Now somebody important had watched her clips and wanted to meet her personally.

And somehow, she was already calling it getting the gig.

Very Jenna.

Adrian: So it’s not officially confirmed yet?

Jenna: Technically, no.

Jenna: But come on.

Jenna: If Mr. Arum watched my clips and wants to meet me himself, what do you think that means?

Adrian almost smiled.

He didn’t need to think very hard about what she thought it meant.

Adrian: That you have a good chance?

Jenna: Exactly!

Jenna: Like 90%.

Adrian shook his head.

Ninety percent?

She’d already calculated the probability.

Probably using absolutely no mathematics.

But he couldn’t really blame her.

She’d been working toward this for a while. If someone finally noticed her, she had every reason to be excited.

Adrian: When’s the meeting?

The typing bubble appeared.

Then disappeared.

Then came back.

Jenna: Today.

Adrian blinked. He stared at the word for a moment.

That’s even faster.

Jenna: The caller mentioned something about Mr. Arud is going on a trip soon. So he wants to meet me before he leaves.

Adrian rubbed his thumb against the edge of his phone.

He wasn’t sure what to make of it.

The opportunity itself made sense.

The timing just felt strange.

But strange didn’t automatically mean bad.

For all he knew, this was completely normal in the idol industry.

Maybe I’m just overthinking it.

Adrian: You’re actually going?

Jenna: Obviously.

Jenna: I have to skip class, but I don’t give a shit.

Adrian could almost hear her saying it.

Jenna: If this gets me even one step closer to becoming an idol, I’m taking it.

That part, at least, sounded exactly like her.

Jenna wasn’t the type to stare at an open door and wonder whether she should walk through it.

She’d already be halfway inside.

Adrian smiled faintly.

Adrian: Can’t argue with that.

Jenna: Exactly.

Jenna: I’ve been waiting for something like this forever.

Adrian looked at the messages for another second.

She really was happy.

Not the usual Jenna excitement over something stupid.

This was different.

This was something she’d actually been working toward.

And, to be fair, she’d been willing to put in more work even with how little time she had left to practice with Rose.

So if this was finally paying off...

Good for her.

Adrian: I’m happy for you. Seriously. You’ve worked for this.

There was a brief pause.

Then:

Jenna: Thanks, Adrian. I’ll make sure I don’t screw it up.

Adrian: Just keep me updated after the meeting. And good luck.

Her response came quickly.

Jenna: don’t need it. I’ve got this.

Adrian snorted. That was one way to sound confident.

Adrian: Then go prove it.

Adrian swiped the app and locked his phone.

The conversation left him with two separate thoughts.

The first was simple.

Jenna was happy, and that was good.

The second was harder to shake.

That was really fast.

He didn’t know enough about the industry to decide whether the whole thing was strange or perfectly normal.

So there wasn’t much point inventing a problem where he couldn’t even see one.

Maybe Mr. Arum had simply liked her clips.

Maybe Jenna really was that close.

Either way, he wasn’t going to be the guy who ruined her excitement by playing detective over it.

He pulled up Rose’s chat instead.

Still nothing.

Adrian stared at the empty space beneath his last message.

He’d expected her to reply by now.

Maybe she was busy.

He typed.

Adrian: Jenna got the gig.

He paused.

Then added:

Adrian: Don’t ask me how.

That sounded unnecessarily dramatic.

He deleted it.

Typed again.

Adrian: Jenna got the gig. I don’t even know how.

Another message followed.

Adrian: Apparently someone important watched her audition clips and wants to meet her today.

He thought about the audition scheduled for tomorrow.

Adrian: So I guess the audition is off.

Then:

Adrian: Are you still going to be free after classes?

He sent it.

By the time he reached his car, his phone vibrated.

Adrian stopped with one hand on the door.

Rose had replied.

Rose: Yeah, I’ll be free. ❤️

He looked at the heart for a second.

Then slipped the phone into his pocket.

Good.

At least one thing had gone according to plan.

He got into the car, started the engine, and pulled out.

The drive to school was ordinary enough.

Traffic slowed him down twice.

Someone cut across his lane without indicating.

Adrian gave them a long look through the windshield before continuing.

People really don’t value their lives.

By the time he reached campus, Jenna had mostly left his mind.

Mostly.

He parked, grabbed his bag, and headed toward class.

The rest of the day passed without giving him much worth remembering.

A lecture.

Another lecture.

Notes he was reasonably sure he’d have to look at again later.

The usual collection of small things that somehow consumed several hours despite none of them being particularly interesting.

When he eventually settled into his next class, the lecturer still hadn’t arrived.

Adrian dropped into his seat and looked around.

A few students were talking.

Someone near the back was watching something on his phone with his brightness turned almost all the way down, apparently convinced that made him invisible.

It didn’t.

Adrian looked away.

Not my problem.

He pulled out his own phone.

No message from Drew.

Nothing from Jenna.

Rose hadn’t sent anything else either.

He opened her chat anyway.

Still nothing.

He locked the phone.

The lecturer was taking his time.

Adrian leaned back in his chair and let his gaze drift across the room.

He wasn’t particularly bored.

He just had nothing else to do.

Then someone approached from behind him.

A chair beside him scraped against the floor.

Adrian glanced over without much interest.

His eyes passed over the person.

Then stopped.

He looked again.

For a moment, his brain seemed to take a second longer than usual to match the face with the name.

Wait.

His gaze settled properly.

The person beside him turned slightly.

Adrian’s eyebrows lifted.

Dina. The girl who’d been marked as a regret investment module was sitting beside him of all places.

He straightened.