Rise To Stardom

Casually walking over to his table, Lily had a bright smile on her face.

Dressed in tight, black leather pants that hugged her slender yet curvy proportions, white sneakers and a knitted white-cotton sweater that slightly draped over her shoulder-blade, the gorgeous lady spoke to Kyle again.

"Seriously, four days?! What were you up to in L.A?" she asked, her hands resting on her hips.

"Stuff I guess…" Kyle vaguely answered and Lily arched a curious eyebrow in response.

By now, there was even more attention drawn to the young man's table and the ladies who were previously trying to drape themselves over him, became the subject of ignorance.

However, without wanting the sight to linger on too much, Lily said to Kyle;

"So dreamboat, ready to check out the club?"

"Yeah. I'd very much appreciate it" he replied with a light smile and gently got up, effortlessly freeing himself from whatever plans Haley's little devils previously had in store for him.

Watching as he walked off with Lily, a lot of speculations and rumors instantly began to swell up in the minds of the students over the way Lily conversed with Kyle.

However, the ones who were the most stunned by the interaction between the two, were of course the three devils.

In all fairness, it wasn't that Kyle couldn't have told them off previously when they had showed up but he, more than anyone, knew he had to be exceptionally careful around ladies like them.

It was already bad enough that he had quite the terrible history with their head honcho but considering he now also needed to be vigilant and protect his image at all times, it was important that he handled the situation as carefully as he could.

This was especially so due to the internet, where Cancel Culture had now become a norm and the slightest things, even when a person wasn't at fault, could tarnish one's image within seconds.

Throw an unwelcome party into the equation and a recipe for disaster might ultimately unfold, usually to the detriment of the innocent individual a lot of time.

For all Kyle knew, someone could have been recording their entire interaction and he was so glad he had texted Ryan, Lily and Katie earlier about his arrival, making his escape from the devils even easier.

Now, walking side by side after he had left the cafeteria, he gave his appreciation to the lady.

"Thanks Lily"

"Frankly, I think you should have told them off. But, I understand your predicament Kyle. And, you're most welcome" she smiled and said.

Finally reaching the doors to the theatre club after about five minutes or so, a wave of surprise present on Kyle's features, Lily pushed open the doors.

"An entire auditorium?! That's insane!" he exclaimed as he stepped into the lively theatre club which was buzzing with excitement.

From afar, the stage was filled with students wearing elaborate costumes and messing with different props. Rehearsals were currently ongoing and yet, the auditorium echoed with laughter and camaraderie.

Script pages littered the stage too with some holding it in their hands along with a highlighter.

A few students could also be sparsely spotted sitting in the audiences' chairs, either overlooking the entire stage, sleeping or just having mundane discussions.

All in all, there was a very vibrant feel to the entire space that bloomed with a passion for drama, music, stagecraft and the arts in general.

Kyle had never been to the leftmost wing of his university since he never had any need to check out the Performing Arts Department so all of this, really came as a surprise to him.

"Yeah well, I guess Maple University really loves its Performing Arts Department" the lady giggled as she studied Kyle's amazed expression.

"New glasses?" she then questioned, her hands slightly pointing to his eyes.

"Yeah. Oliver, my agent, got them for m-"

Kyle had almost finished answering before he realized what he had just said.

"It's fine Kyle. I did have a feeling you already had one" she turned around and began walking down the auditorium's stairs, her hands behind her back and a foxy smile on her lips.

"I have one too!" she suddenly whispered whilst twirling around, loud enough for the young man to hear her.

'How cunning…' Kyle thought to himself, a thin smile adorning his face as he slowly trailed behind her.

It's not like he wanted to hide the fact that he had an agent but at the very least, he didn't want a lot of people knowing about it just yet, not until after the show at least.

"So, do you want to meet everyone or is observing more of your thing?" Lily asked.

"I think I'll just observe for now" he replied and then took a seat in the middle rows that seemed secluded enough.

"No problem. I'll let Ryan and Katie know you're around…" Lily twirled around again as she said, casually making her way over to the stage.

Surprisingly, maybe because the hall was vibrant and lively with everyone doing their own thing, no one had noticed Kyle yet and he was just fine with that.

Glancing over to a few seats from just across him, Kyle soon spotted Haley and Seth smooching passionately, away from everyone's eyes.

There was also another handsome blonde-haired guy making out with another pretty lady too, along those same rows of chairs.

'Well I hope they keep up with their shenanigans' he impassively commented, hell-bent on wanting to avoid them like a plague. Haley and Seth especially.

Finally moving his gaze over to the brightly lit stage full of passionate art students, a loud chuckle almost escaped his lips as he watched Ryan, dressed up in a princely-costume and groaning while Katie, dressed as the princess, straightened his bow-tie.

Watching as Lily walked over and informed them of his arrival while pointing, the couple turned over and with bright expressions, especially from Ryan, waved over, one Kyle subtly responded to in kind.

Soon though, Ryan after poorly acting out a few lines on stage, quickly made his way over to Kyle, the script he was reading still present in his hands.

"Bro! What took you so long?!" he asked in his usual outgoing manner.

"Just needed to sort out a bunch of things…" Kyle replied.

Thinking to himself for a slight moment though, the young man then decided to let Ryan know about him having an agent.

Considering Ryan was probably the closest thing he had to a really good male friend in just over the short span they had been around each other, Kyle didn't mind.

Also, maybe due to his calm nature, along with his thirty-seven years' worth of memories from his past life, there was a certain intuition he had when it came to meeting new people and knowing if they had good intentions towards him or not.

That was why he was very comfortable with the extroverted young man.

After hearing the explanation from Kyle though, Ryan widened his eyes in genuine happiness and vigorously shook his shoulders with his free hand while congratulating him.

"That's amazing man! Just like Lily! So happy for you!"

"Thanks Ryan. I'm really grateful"

Glancing over to the script in his friend's other hand though, Kyle then playfully questioned in a medieval British accent.

"So, which Dragon were you tasked with slaying O' valiant Prince Charming? Or perhaps a beautiful Princess to save?"

"Has anyone ever told you have a pretty nice sense of humor?" Ryan rhetorically asked while chuckling, his hand handing over the script.

"It's just a simple play written by our very own scriptwriter, Christina Aubert!" he added, almost like a proud father.

"You don't say…" Kyle replied, his eyes already scanning the first page of the script.

'[Into The Dark Woods] huh?' he read its title while musing to himself.

"Ryan! We need you back here!" Lily soon called out from afar and the young man quickly spoke to Kyle.

"That's my cue. Talk later?"

"Sure"

With a nod, Ryan swiftly headed back to the stage while Kyle returned his attention back to the script, his [Appraisal] skill already activated.

___________________________

{Into The Dark Woods} – (68%)

Written by Christina Aubert, the short fantasy play greatly encapsulates and captures the very essence of a prince rescuing his princess from the vile hands of a terrible wizard.

___________________________

"Not bad…" Kyle muttered to himself and began to read through the script.

Being an avid lover of comics, novels and books in general, it didn't take long for him to get immersed in the finely-crafted and engaging story.

Reaching a point where the Prince needed to recite a certain spell to part open the thorny woods that was getting in his way, Kyle stumbled upon a small issue.

The text was written in French.

'Dryades, entendez mon appel ! Ouvrez un chemin pour que je puisse traverse!'

'Why do that though?' he inwardly questioned, curious as to the reason why the spell was written like that and also about the meaning of the words too.

'Christina Aubert… her name sounds French too… Is that why she decided to sprinkle a bit of her language into it?' he questioned again, remembering the scriptwriter's name.

Considering he wasn't a native French speaker and English was the only language he knew, Kyle was almost about to simply overlook it and continue when an idea suddenly came to his mind!

'I have a system!' he thought and without even a single moment wasted, swiftly created a new skill.

___________________________

Passive Skill - [Polyglot]

Gain the ability to perfectly read, speak and understand several languages.

Exp. Points Available – (6357)

Exp. Points Consumed – (1000)

Exp. Points Left – (5357)

___________________________

Immediately, Kyle felt a rush of information forcefully make its way into his head, causing him to wince a bit in pain.

But just as quickly as the pain came, it also left.

Going back to the part in the script were the spell was written, Kyle could understand what it meant now.

'(Dryads, heed my call! Open a path for me to traverse through!)'

'What a simple spell…' he chuckled a bit and proceeded to keep on reading while thinking to himself.

'Kinda feel bad for all the people who spent years mastering several languages…'

'But here I am, casually bull-dozing through that entire process…'

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind though, the young man continued to enjoy the story.

A few more minutes passed and he finally finished reading the script, a small smile on his lips.

'That was nice…'

At the same time Kyle finished reading, Katie suddenly shouted from onstage.

"Dammit! Where the hell's Austin and Haley for good lord's sake! Their part's coming up!"

As if in response to her bellow, the handsome blonde which had been making out with the lady a few rows before him, alongside Haley, quickly tore away from their respective partners and straightened themselves.

"Coming…" Austin frowned and said, annoyed that Katie had interrupted his make-out session.

Haley on the other hand, took her sweet time adjusting her hair, and even put on some lip gloss before she then proceeded to make her way onto the stage, leaving Seth who was also planning to head out soon too.

The moment she stepped out of the rows of chairs though, she heavily bumped into a nerdy-looking girl who had her light blonde hair styled in a braided ponytail and thin circular-glasses framing her pretty face.

This caused all the papers in the bespectacled lady's hands to fly up into the air, some of it flying over to where Kyle sat while also simultaneously drawing a lot of people's attention in the auditorium.

"Watch it Christina!" Haley clicked her tongue and said, after which she then muttered under her breath.

"Damn mute!"

Although she said it like that, it was till audible enough for Christina herself and a few people close-by to hear.

However, without minding her painful words though, the lady began to pick her script papers from the floor.

Kyle who had watched everything happen from afar, slowly also got up and exited his row while speaking;

"Hey, you dropped this" he said, and instantly, everyone in the hall had their eyes descend upon him, a pretty big wave of surprise on their features, Haley's especially.

Adjusting her glasses while glancing upwards to stare at the guy who was handing over her scattered papers, Christina froze for a split moment when she saw his face.

Kyle on the other hand, despite realizing why the entire hall had gone a bit silent, focused his attention on the bespectacled lady with big round eyes, natural long lashes, ever-green colored irises, a tiny-button nose and plump pink lips.

Noticing the hearing aid in her ear, he then asked with a bit of concern in his eyes using the sign language he had learnt from his previous life.

This surprised Christina even more but she quickly recovered and replied;

Nodding his head, the youth continued speaking to her as the entire auditorium watched on in silence.

He smiled, soliciting a small blush from the lady who gently tucked a few strands behind her ear.

And then, instantly remembering he still had another lecture to attend to in the next few minutes, Kyle spoke out loud to his friends who were watching from the stage.

"I'll be heading back now guys! See you later" he waved over and they all returned the gesture as Ryan replied.

"Come back anytime man!"

"We'll be expecting you!" Lily and Katie chimed in.

With a small yet playful salute in response, Kyle casually made his way out of the auditorium, still leaving a stunned Haley, Seth and the rest of the auditorium asides his friends, wondering what the heck had just happened.

Considering they had all watched the show mostly because they wanted to see their course-mates' performances, they had all also eventually come to see Kyle on the show too.

The second he left though, almost everyone in the hall immediately bombarded the trio with questions, most of the ladies especially who were curious to know more about their Campus Loner turned hottie.