Locking In With My Life System

Larry’s cough continued to get stronger, his eyes red and watery as Aiden parted aside the curtains, he, Casper and Theo walking in.

”Please, get us a bottle of water!” Aiden immediately asked of one of the volunteers who seemed unsure of what to do as he floated around... only for him to immediately do as he was told.

”And you, get that thing out of here!” he pointed to the junior whom had tripped over the fog machine’s wire, one the kid promptly scrambled to pick up.

At the same time, Casper and Theo, alongside Benjamin and Clyde had led Larry over to one of the PA speakers, hoisting up the youth and allowing him to seat on it for better airflow to his lungs.

Slowly, Larry’s harsh cough receded.

Around that exact same time, Mrs. Delacroix, alongside Megan and a bunch of students from the student council committee filed in, all of them immediately putting two and two together.

”Finch. Kindly inform Eddy we’d like to see him in the student council office after the talent show’s over.” Megan immediately ordered one of the committee members who nodded promptly and left.

At the same time, she equally left to inform their student council president of what had transpired backstage while ordering the others to wait behind should Aiden and his buddies need any extra help.

”How’re you feeling?” the drama teacher on the other hand, asked of the youth in concern as she walked over, her brows creasing much the same.

”Better...” Larry’s voice came out hoarsely, enough for the gang’s eyes to widen in realization.

Yet,

”We should... cough... get back on... cough... stage.” he tried to get off the speaker, only for the gang to hold him in place, their voices unified;

”No.”

Benjamin and Clyde, especially, were having none of it.

As much as they wanted to perform and win the competition, there was no way they could do that when their lead vocalist had lost his voice.

More importantly, they needed to get their buddy to the school nurse so she could examine him and his throat lest he injured it or strained it even further by talking.

”Here’s the water!” the volunteer Aiden had previously requested of to procure the fluid, handed it over to Aiden.

Uncorking it, Aiden similarly passed it over to Larry as he said in a cautioning tone;

”Slow sips, okay.”

Doing as he was told, the youth took a few slow gulps.

At the very same time, Mrs. Delacroix had seemed to realize that there was no shot of the trio performing anymore.

To that effect, she asked, a hint of resignation to her tone... especially since she knew what had happened last year;

”I take it you’re throwing the competition?”

Glancing over to each other, Clyde and Benjamin nodded in the affirmative.

Similarly bobbing her head in acknowledgement, the drama teacher proceeded to announce to everyone that they wouldn’t be performing.

Just as she turned to leave, Larry spoke again, his voice still horse but coming out better;

”We have to perform. We have to, not after all the work we put into the song.”

”It’s the last chance we’ll ever have a shot at winning this and you guys know that.”

Despite the hoarseness of his voice, the gang could feel how pained he was at the prospect of losing the competition, much more not even being able to perform the song they’d worked so hard on.

”Besides, you can take the lead vocalist role, Clyde. I’ll just take a backseat this time.” Larry pushed on, hoping his band members would agree before Mrs. Delacroix sealed their fates.

Yet, they all collectively knew. Clyde’s voice was nowhere near as good as Larry’s.

Which was why,

”No. It’s just a competition. Your voice is of utmost priority and I refuse to--”

”You’re certain you can still play the guitar easily, right?” Aiden suddenly interjected, cutting Clyde off before he could complete his sentence.

Naturally, everyone’s attention turned to him in surprise.

Though they’d heard their buddy sing a couple times here and there, it was more along the lines of casual sing-along session, not in the sense of an actual performance.

That said, his voice hadn’t been bad... it just wasn’t remarkable. That’s was what they believed, and rightfully so. Still, it was better than Clyde’s.

Which was why,

Larry nodded in the affirmative, an assured expression on his features.

”Alright, then. Leave the vocals to me and focus on the instrumentals.” Aiden immediately gestured to the trio.

Yet, without even being told, Theo had already walked out the curtains to stop Mrs. Delacroix, the gang watching on in genuine surprise.

Immediately, Casper sprung out after him, backing up the curly-haired youth in convincing the woman.

Soon after, Casper poked his head through the curtains, giving the quartet a thumbs-up with an assured grin.

Glancing over to the trio, Aiden then gestured to them to take the stage, one they promptly did.

Then, lowering to a crouch, he covered his hands with his face while letting out a deep breath. Naturally, his buddies thought he was psyching himself up.

Afterall, even if he had listened to song several times leading up to today, it was still a pretty nerve-wracking thing to have to sing in front of the whole school... especially when one wrong note could put his social life at risk.

However, thoughts weren’t even going down that path. Rather, he was being cautious. More so, because he was about to upgrade a skill he never thought he ever would.

-

{Singing - N}

└ Upgrade to {Intermediate} using 1 LP?

-

Maybe it was because he’d upgrade his Mind attribute by quite a lot... or maybe because the skill was already amongst his repertoire, Aiden really couldn’t say.

What he could say though, was that it took him less than five seconds before his senses snapped back into his control.

Slowly, he rose to his feet and took centerstage, his hands holding and adjusting the mic stand to his height as the volunteer in charge held the curtain’s draw rod in wait for their order.

Out in the audience, five minutes hadn’t even passed before everyone had watched in surprise as Theo popped out from backstage to halt Mrs. Delacroix’s announcement, only for Casper to pop out a few seconds later, seemingly discussing something with her.

Immediately after, they watched as both teens quickly returned to their seats, much to the barrage of questions from the girls.

Collectively answering all their questions before Casper could, Theo succinctly replied, his slightly fidgety fingers interlocked;

”Larry lost his voice due to the polluted fog so Aiden’s subbing for him.”

No sooner had he said that, their pupils dilated... only for Clarissa to curiously follow up in a mix of curious concern;

”Can he sing though?”

”Dunno.” Casper answered this time, to which he then added, his shoulders shrugging;

”But I’m pretty sure he’s not bad at it.”

Immediately after he said that, Mrs. Delacroix’s voice rang out through the gym, garnering everyone’s attention once more;

”We had a bit of a... technical difficulty backstage, but everything’s under control. Now then, without further ado, let’s give it up once again for Hi-Fi Radio!”

Once again, applauds erupted as the woman left the stage, though there was clearly a loss of enthusiasm due to what had happened.

Right now, most students social battery had dropped and they just wanted to know who won and be done with the show so they could head home.

As that was happening though,

”No more fog machines from now on, and that’s final.” Principal Walters whom had gotten the general gist of things from Megan, said to both her and the student council president himself, Damian Walters.

The youth who bore a striking resemblance to the man but looked like a teenage version of him with his neat, black hair and icy-blue irises, simply replied while massaging his temples;

”Alright, Dad. I understand. I’ll add it to the rules--”

Cutting him off at that very moment, was a thrumming guitar tune with a pop-punk feel that cascaded through the room, grabbing everyone’s attention as it gradually rose .1.

Then, as the curtains opened, a punchy electric tune followed from Larry, the accentuating bass from Clyde and driving drums from Benjamin immediately establishing an upbeat, youthful energy.

Nodding his head to the beat, his fingers tightening around the mic a bit in slight nervousness, Aiden leaned into the mic, his vocals entering the song with a confident smile.

There I was, doom scrolling, at 2 am,

When I heard a funny noise,

Peeked out, the window, to find out,

If it was the neighbor’s dog,

Stood there, in the parking lot, was a blue box,

And a man in a funny coat,

A wave of genuine surprise rippled through the gym room, none of them having expected such a clean, relaxed yet conversational voice from Aiden which had just the right amount of rasp to it.

Even his buddies--both performing and seated in the stands--were not exempt, their pupils dilating in pleasant surprise.

As the tune climbed steadily, rising in sync with Aiden’s slightly elevated vocals...

He told me he stole a time machine,

Like one in a series I’ve seen...

...the melody exploded from the trio into a bright, anthemic melody!

He said I’ve been to year 5000,

Not much has changed, but they now live up on Mars,

And your greatest granddaughter, is pretty hot...

No sooner had he sang that part with the biggest grin of his face, more than half of the gym erupted into laughter!

As Aiden’s vocals returned to a softer, storytelling delivery, one backed by subtle harmonies from the trio and tucked behind his voice to maintain his momentum, he sang the second verse;

He took me, to the future, in the box thing,

And I saw everything,

Space ships, and another one, and another one, (and another one),

Sexy, alien babes, flew across the skies,

Totally naked!

Given the gym was already feeling the song, most of them already moving side by side as they started clapping in sync to the beat, that last half of the verse did a good job of shocking most of the staffs whose eyes widened as if it would pop from their sockets.

Yet the students were once again laughing, their faces full of mirth as Aiden removed the mic from the stand, all of his nervousness dissipating as he sang the pre-chorus again!

We cruised around in a time machine,

Like one in a series I’ve seen, yeah...

Once again, Larry strummed the guitar faster, as did Clyde who attacked his bass and Benjamin who bashed his drums to reinforce the climbing melody as Aiden’s vocals reinforced the catchy hook!

And now I’ve been to year 5000,

Not much has changed, but they now live up on Mars,

And Principal Walter’s greatest granddaughters, are pretty hot...

This time, mouths opened agape as Aiden pointed to the man whose expression was just as stunned!

Yet, it did nothing to stop the gym from losing it. Damian himself was already doing all he could to suppress his laughter, as was Megan who quickly turned to the side to hide hers.

Amusement etched into their faces, the band kept performing, the tune becoming more triumphant and rhythmically driving while introducing the song’s biggest lyrical payoff in form of the bridge;

I took a trip to the year 5000,

And the internet still wouldn’t die,

Our old memes had become ancient history,

And somehow they were still going viral!

Once again, the auditorium erupted in a mix of amused laughter, their heads jamming to the banger song as the bridge was repeated yet again.

Then, as the tune slowed down, Aiden sang the chorus, his voice a bit softer...

So I’ve been to year 5000,

Not much has changed, but they now live up on Mars,

And your greatest granddaughters, are pretty hot...

...only for the melody to pick up one last time for the outro, the energy in his voice returning!

I’ve been to year 5000...

Not much has changed, but they now live up on Mars...

And your greatest granddaughters, are pretty hot...

Then, upon one last repetition, more than half of the gym seemed to have wanted in as they sang in sync;

I’ve been to year 5000...

Not much has changed, but they now live up on Mars...

And your greatest granddaughters, are pretty hot...

No sooner had they sang that part, Aiden rounded up the song with the biggest grin;

They’re pretty hot...

The gym literally thundered immediately after, whistles, applauds and cheers ringing out from practically every corner of the stands like there was no tomorrow.

As Aiden looked over to his buddies behind him whose chests were rising and falling in clear exhilaration, his much the same, the quartet then leaned over to give a theatrical bow with as much flourish as they could.

Naturally, the cheers, applauds and whistles only got louder!

All that was left now, was to hear whom the judges had voted as the winner of the competition.

Cue Busted’s Year 3000, for reference!