PHEME: The Ultimate Celebrity System

Chapter 5

Asher's POV 

“Damn what? Where have you been?” Theo couldn't hold back his worry as he barged into the bathroom door which I thought I had locked. “You had me scared for a moment Asher with the way you took off.”

I was having a hard time staying at the moment as Pheme was suddenly gone, and the entire place was back to normal like nothing had happened at all. Now I was beginning to question if that had been reality or just some wishful part of my imagination coming to life. 

“Asher, are you even listening to anything I'm saying?” Theo called me back impatiently as he was completely annoyed by my sudden change of behavior. “I thought I told you not to let any of these get to you and now you are letting it make you crazy.”

“I'm totally fine…” I looked at my watch and I could see the timer running already and that let me know that it was actually real. Along with my phone which had the notification of the alert I couldn't doubt it anymore. “I just needed to get my feet moving a bit.”

Theo was definitely suspicious about what the cause of my change of mood could have been. I had gone from an awful zero to a completely motivated hundred, and that made me wonder what exactly I was meant to tell him. 

“Are you sure about that?” Theo asked again. “You don't look like you are going to—”

My phone buzzed as a call came in from my sister. I didn't hesitate to pick it up as I was a million dollars richer. I intended to settle her real quick so I could carry on with the mission. 

“I'll send you the money for her upkeep immediately.” I didn't wait for her to speak and that left her shocked. 

“What's going on with you Asher? You sound like you've—”

I hung up immediately as I wired her the money right away then turned to Theo. The plan to get myself trending again had finally settled in my head. “I need you to get me a guitar, a mic and a speaker…”

“What the heck is going on with you Asher? One moment you are crying about how awful things are and the next moment you will ask for a guitar, what do you plan to do with it?”

“Please, I need you to trust me. Just help me with that and we will set up somewhere everyone can see us.” I could see that growing concern in his eyes with each word I spoke that didn't make sense at all. “I'm about to make the greatest comeback of all time…”

“Fine…I'll set up close to the cafeteria…” Theo said with a sigh. “If you get me in trouble, you'll pay…” he said as he ran out, “Financially…!” He completed his statement as he ran down the hallway. 

I took a deep breath before I did a couple of vocal warm ups while thinking on what my next reward will be from Pheme. 

As soon as I got Theo's text, I was on my way to the cafeteria. I was about to resort to something very drastic to get everyone's attention. But then with each look I took at the watch I believed the try was going to be worth it. 

My heart was beginning to sprint within my chest as I could see people were gathered out there already. I could still feel the pain of the wounds from yesterday but it seemed a bit more beautiful with what had just happened. 

For some reason, I couldn't care less about the awkward glances and remarks I got from the people who watched me walk through the crowd and get to where Theo was waiting for me. 

“Are you sure about this?” Theo asked again, over the boos from the crowd. 

“Yeah. I'm about to sing one of our songs but with a little twist. And you're going to back me up so grab a mic…” I whispered in his ear as I took the guitar from him and stood in front of the mic stand. “Hello everyone…” 

“What's this loser doing here?” someone from the crowd asked at the top of his voice and that incited although harsh remarks from everyone. 

“Just do it…” 

I heard what sounded like Pheme whisper in my ears. That seemed to give me the courage that I was desperately lacking in that moment. I spotted Neil and Cheryl coming towards the crowd along with Neil's goons.

“Perfect…” I muttered as I returned my focus to the crowd. “All right guys I know you have seen a lot of clowning from me for the past couple of days, and I'm sure you will want to see more of that. So now I want to prove to you that I'm a much better singer than Neil…”

They all erupted in laughter as I said that and that shook me a bit. But I was glad I had gotten Neil's attention. 

“We are live…” Theo whispered from behind.

I responded with a thumbs up as I return my attention to the crowd again. “Now get up your phones and I'll turn on your live stream and which this clown get humiliated again…” 

It was quite amazing that they actually did it, showing just how determined they were to see me get humiliated. 

“Dude why are you trying so hard?” Neil walked towards me with Cheryl on his arm as everyone made away for him. “Just accept the way things are and maybe you could save what's left of your miserable life.”

“Looks like someone is scared that I might actually be the better singer.” I was glad so many phones capturing the moment. My points were going up on my watch and that was all that mattered to me more than anything else. “Why don't you shut up and let me jam?”

They crowd let out a collective ooh as they didn't expect that from me. 

From the moment I hit the first note on the guitar I knew there was no turning back. I was sweating profusely even though I was so sure of myself. 

But then, fear was out of the way by the time I began singing and everyone was quietly listening. Then it got even better when Theo blended his voice with mine. 

Neil was seething with anger with every cheer that I got. That satisfied me beyond the words as I noticed Cheryl couldn't look up at me. 

I felt beyond satisfied when I hit the last note, which are held for a while. I was surprised that I could pitch that way, and I was sure Pheme had something to do with it. I sounded we better than Neil or any singer I knew.

“Thank you…” I said to the crowd as the erupted in cheers living me to under how I had gone from being a hated and embarrassed to being applauded in one day. 

“Congratulations, player you have completed your first mission…!” Pheme spoke over the cheers which were nearly deafening. “You just earned yourself ten million dollars…”

“Huh…?” I was cold as I could hear my phone's notification sound. “No freaking way…”

“It's time for your next mission…” 

“Look out…!” Theo yelled. 

And before I could look up I could see an object flying in my direction. Ne has hurled something at me.