CHAPTER 2

"He who sings frightens away his ills."

-

Miguel De Cervantes.

☆

River boarded his jet at 9:00 am. The pain in his head had stopped and his eyes were back to the normal emerald shade. Still, he wore his sunglasses and they served as a sign that he didn't want to be disturbed.

His older sister, Brianna Austin, sat beside him. The 29-year-old had her blonde hair styled into a neat short Bob. Her grey eyes skimmed over River's schedule through her blue-framed reading glasses and she ignored the sound of River's fingers drumming on the arm of his seat.

This was sometimes she had grown accustomed to. It is her brother's need to be sounded by measured and calculated sound.

It was clear why River's manager had fallen for Brianna. She was a beautiful, organized, and smart woman. She and Kent would make the perfect power couple.

Her driven nature combined with Kent's ability to always get what he wanted would have the world eating out of their palms.

"Alright, Riv," Anna began as she tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing her diamond stud earring. "Let's go over your schedule."

In reply, the star threw his head back and let out a loud groan which Anna ignored.

She had learned to block out her brother's whinnying. It was the only way she could successfully do her job as his assistant manager and personal assistant.

"From Eleven O'Clock to Eleven thirty, we have the meet and greet with the students," Anna rehearsed from the schedule.

River groaned again, voicing his obvious displeasure. "I hate Kent for making me do this."

"From Eleven thirty to Twelve thirty, we have your meeting with the Chancellor, Lawrence Smith. He wants to know everything about the competition and I've been told he can be quite the storyteller so it should take a while."

"I should be dropping off Skylar at school right now not heading to San Fran."

"From twelve-thirty to one thirty, we have lunch at La Luz Del Dia. It will be just us as usual."

River turned to look at his sister. "You know, I really don't have to know all these things you're mentioning."

"Then we have the rest of the day to ourselves after we settle in the apartment I rented us which is precisely 25 minutes from the school."

"Why is your boyfriend making me do this?"

Anna turned to her brother, her professional face nothing but a facade of indifference. "First of all, you can't hate Kent– It's impossible. You can try but you'll fail miserably. Secondly, Sky's school starts at eight so you wouldn't be able to drop her off anyway. Thirdly, this is my job. Siblings or not, I need to do my job. And finally, Kent is not my boyfriend. I tell you this a million times."

River tsked. "He's not your boyfriend yet."

"I am not going to rehearse this argument with you. Play your midnight game."

"Fortnite," River corrected.

"I have a lot of things to memorize, River. I will not be adding River Crowns' mobile games to that list. "

✧

River had a way with people. It wasn't like being able to command and order them around the way Kent did even though his popstar status managed to let him do just that but he also had the ability to read people and decipher their kind of person.

It was an ability of some sort.

So as he sat in the university's Chancellor's office, he could tell exactly the kind of man Lawrence Smith was.

Opportunist.

Moneymaker.

Dreamer.

River couldn't tell if he looked the part though but was there a specific look for opportunists, money makers, and dreamers?

If there was, he and Chancellor would be putting on matching outfits but he and Lawrence looked nothing alike so no, there was no specific look.

Lawrence Smith had a double chin that wore a greying stubble, had a head full of salt-pepper hair, hooded eyes which matched with shade of gunmetal blue, and a somewhat chubby stature.

River looked to his side where his sister sat listening to the Chancellor's history intently.

Her posture was rigid, her eyes were focused and her hands sat still in her laps– she meant business.

"Then he stepped onto the land," the Chancellor said. His eyes shone bright with memory. "He looked over the landscape, imagined buildings and students with dreams and passions all over the place. And then he turned to me and said–" the Chancellor took a dramatical pause and looked straight at River for this one, "'Lawrence, son, this is your future.' I was confused and said, 'This Dad? But it's all covered in garbage.'"

The Chancellor laughed aloud and the brother and sister joined in.

"I wish he was here to see how much Genre has grown. We've got more than 2000 students under our wing. I appreciate the opportunity your giving to these kids and the publicity you're providing for the school."

River almost let out a snort at that.

Publicity?

Oh please.

More than half of all high schoolers out there had big dreams of coming to school here at Genre but only a few had their dreams come true.

Instead of making the Piggly sound he wanted, the popstar let his lips lift at the side, flashing that popular one-sided smile of his that made the women go crazy.

"The honor is all mine."

That wasn't a lie. He was happy to help the students make their dreams a reality but honestly, he would have preferred doing it some other time that didn't interfere with 'River Time.'

That is some other time when he wasn't supposed to be on a vacation or some other time when he wasn't helping Skylar sort out her college applications or go over flashcards together for SATs.

He hadn't had time for himself in a while. The guy that loved his little sister, wrote his songs as he drank a cup of pumpkin spice latte which was his favorite by the way, and the guy that didn't have to worry about being caught on camera by the paparazzi every five seconds or so had been buried away in beneath all the talk shows, gossip, and regular concerts and tours.

He didn't get to be that guy a lot and his first chance in a while had been tossed out the window and pooped on by a pigeon.

Curse the human being that spiked his drink.

River shifted in his seat and willed himself to accept his situation and get it done and over with.

Soon, Anna pushed her chair back and got out of it signaling the end of their meeting.

Looks like he had accepted his fate right on time.

She, Anna, was acting a lot like his manager right now. The way she held her head high, her lips folded thin and her eyes focused in determination. This was exactly why River had asked her to come in with him. She was nothing but professional and she even got bonus credits for being family.

She stretched out a hand to the Chancellor. "Thank you for having us, Mr. Smith."

The older man in the room gave a warm smile as he shook hands with the popstar's sister. "Lawrence, please."

Anna nodded before she spoke again in question. "Will you be at the selection next week?"

Lawrence's lips curved into a frown as he repeated, "Next week?"

Anna gave a curt nod.

"My deepest apologies but I'm booked."

Anna's lips moved to speak but River's voice was heard instead. He was ready to get the hell out of here. "We understand. You're a busy man, Lawrence. We should be on our way. We had a long flight."

The Chancellor nodded with understanding. "By all means," he said with a gesture at the door. "I apologize for keeping you. It was a pleasure meeting you. Both of you."

"All ours, Sir."

The popstar shook hands with the chancellor before he steered his sister to the door.

A loud cheer filled the brother and sister's ears as they stepped out of the Chancellor's office.

Students were everywhere. They were squealing, clapping, hooting, and even crying dramatically.

That wasn't a first obviously.

River Crowns you're amazing!

Ohmygosh! I love you!

He's so cute!

Let's do a duet!

Man, I'd definitely do him!

Perform!

He's so dreamy!

He waved at them as his bodyguards guided his sister and him towards the exit.

He stopped occasionally to give a couple of autographs and take a couple of selfies.

He was in the middle of signing his autograph when he heard the sound.

It pierced through the noise and danced near his ears.

He wasn't sure what it was so he ignored it and handed the student back her pen.

Then he heard it again. Just for a second. He wasn't sure it was real anymore so he listened for the third time and then he heard it.

Amidst all the noise, he would know those lines in his sleep except that the tone and the rhythm was different.

Catchy and beautiful yet different.

And so without even realizing it, the popstar pushed his way through the crowd all while straining his ears to listen.

For the first time in a long time, River–not the popstar River–was intrigued.

He wanted to know who had such an amazing talent to sing his own song a thousand ways better than he had.

That was exactly the type of talent Kent was talking about.