LRAB Chapter 9: Opposing Contestants
Chapter 9: Opposing Contestants
Chapter 9: Opposing Contestants
The buses transporting the contestants came to a halt in the parking lot of a fairly popular hotel in Montreal, the contestants soon alighting.
Having paid for all of the expenses that would cover their stay for the next two weeks, the staffs and receptionists in the hotel welcomed the contestants and showed them to their rooms.
Upon reaching his room, Kyle soon realized, just as everyone did, that they would be required to share a room with not one, but two people.
The beds had already been arranged to accommodate them and keys had already been provided to each of them in the order they came.
They would also be required to share the bathroom and toilet but the hotel would serve them meals for the entire duration of their stay.
Of course, males and females were ensured to be separated and there was no mixing of genders.
"Ah~ So comfy!" Ryan plopped onto his bed the moment he and Kyle walked in with their small traveling bag.
Having received their keys in succession to each other, both males inevitably ended up being paired with each other.
Now they only had to wait for their last roommate.
"What do you think the last person would be like Kyle?" Ryan asked, rolling over on his bed like a man child.
Not minding his childish mannerisms, Kyle slowly walked over and picked a bed of his own while sitting down on it as he responded;
"I have no clue"
"Let's guess then!" he offered, resting both of his palms on his face as he turned over while gently kicking his legs in the air.
"I'd rather not. Horrible at it" Kyle lied down on his bed and stared at the white ceiling fitted with fluorescent bulbs.
"Come on man. Just play along will ya?"
Letting out a small simper at Ryan's obvious attempt to get him to speak more, Kyle asked a question instead.
"Why exactly are you in this Ryan?"
"Same as everyone else. To win a million dollars!" he declared with a coy grin.
"I don't buy it" Kyle angled his head on the bed sideways to face Ryan with a small squint.
"Fine. I just wanted to gain some experience. Be a better singer you know? Not really in this to win" the brown-haired guy truthfully replied this time.
"What about you Kyle? Since it's so hard to get a read on what's swirling in that head of yours, I can only stay curious. Why are you in this?" Ryan immediately followed up with a curious question of his own.
"To spread my own songs" Kyle replied instantaneously.
"And to also win obviously" he then added while sitting up on the bed with a determined expression.
"But it's more important that you achieve the former though than the latter, right?" Ryan arched an eyebrow questioningly and Kyle replied.
"Yes. It is"
"Then you're absolutely different from Katie and Lily" Ryan nodded his head and said, a meaningful expression gracing his face, one that ignited a slight curiosity in Kyle's mind.
No sooner had he uttered those words though, the doors burst open to reveal a handsome Swedish man who was seemingly in his mid-twenties, cursing under his breath in an audible mutter.
"Freakin' hell. How'd I get lost again?!"
Noticing the gazes of the two individuals already in the room on him, the good-looking man with blonde hair and emerald-green eyes quickly introduced himself.
"Hi. I'm Steven Andersson. This room 035?"
"Yeah. Hello Steven" Ryan replied to his question while Kyle just gave a small nod.
"Thank-Freakin'-Goodness! Almost ran out of my mind trying to locate this room" Steven sighed in relief and slumped onto the only bed left.
Ryan just stared at him in mild perplexity, wondering what he was on about when the room was in no way hard to reach.@@@@
* * *
(Around the exact same time in the hotel...)
Flirting with one of the pretty receptionists, a fairly tall, handsome man with reddish-brown hair and light-brown irises, felt a sudden beep in his pocket.
"Sorry beautiful. Gotta check this" he winked at the blushing receptionist and then walked away while retrieving his smartphone.
"Jeremy Taylor and Kyle Kestis..." he muttered to himself.
'Hmmm... I remember seeing that Jeremy guy... He was nothing special at all...' he thought to himself and continued;
'I do remember also seeing the audition of that Kyle guy too. Sang an original but his voice was a bit meh'
'Guess I have nothing to worry about next round. Should hit a nearby bar...' Mike casually decided.
Coming from a very wealthy family that had pretty much stuck a silver spoon in his mouth from birth, Mike was only joining Rising Voices so that he could get his face out there more.
Already having a ViewTube channel with over 50K subscribers and a few covers of some popular songs here and there, he had practically only joined the reality TV show to gather some more fame that would boost his channel.
"But Kyle Kestis... I feel like I've heard that name even before the auditions... but from where?" Mike questioned, a slightly curious expression on his features.
Just as he was pondering over this, a phone call came in and he quickly picked it up.
"Hey there baby sister" he smiled mischievously while asking.
"You and Seth off again?"
"Oh shut it Mike!" Haley huffed over the phone as her brother's words hit the bullseye, after which she then proceeded to ask.
"So will I be seeing you on TV?"
"You do realize there's a confidentiality clause that will severely punish me if I so much as disclose that kind of info" Mike raised an eyebrow.
"But I want to brag about it to my gals" Haley replied in a disappointed tone.
"Still won't tell you shit though" Mike replied without batting an eye as he heard his sister groaning in disappointment from the other end.
"Fine. Let's talk about something else then" she then spoke again after her long groan.
* * *
(Late evening at the hotel...)
Letting out a deep breath of air, Lily, satisfied with her performance, gently returned the violin to its corner.
Exiting the small sectioned portion of the room she was in, Lily heard a pretty somber yet muffled piano piece playing from the section opposite hers.
Not particularly curious though, she still glanced over and in a mild wave of surprise, watched as Kyle kept playing the piece, lost in his own world.
'Not bad...' she thought to herself and then walked out of the music room, seemingly now a bit more curious about the piece he was playing, a small hum leaving her lips.