CHAPTER 228: UNHINGED Q & A

"Full Name?"

"Ariel Matisse."

"Age?"

"18"

"Social security number?"

"1800-none of your business?"

"Ari!" Kate’s voice filled the room, and Ari immediately apologized.

"Sorry. Achoo."

Hearing the cheeky response, the nurse snorted and draped an extra towel around Ari’s shoulders before continuing her examination.

"Always the smart ass. How’s your head feeling?"

"Hurts a little."

"Your wrist?"

"Hurts a lot."

"That’s what you get for doing moves you didn’t practice. Just be happy you didn’t slip and crack your head open. Do you remember what just happened?"

"I was performing on stage, and then the whole team came backstage. My wrist got taped, and you’ve asked me the same set of questions phrased differently 10 times. Can I go now?"

"Cognitive function looks good, and your sassy mouth is working better than ever. Your eye is swelling pretty badly, though. You’re going to have a wicked-looking black eye."

"I can feel it, that’s why I kept the scarf over my face on stage. Ow," Ari replied blandly, flinching back as the bright flashlight shone directly in his eyes while the nurse tapped his cheek.

"Well, the good news is you don’t have a concussion. But we’ll keep checking for the next 2 days to make sure nothing changed."

"And the bad news?"

"Firstly, I’ve told you this before, but your body is unexpectedly fragile. You get injuries and bruises way too easily, and it takes a long time to heal. Certainly doesn’t help that these producers are grinding your bones and cartilage down to bits from all the dancing with no rest that they make you do, but that’s what we’re working with right now." The nurse began grumbling before getting back on track, "My advice to you is the same as the other contestants, stop worrying about dieting, eat more food, sleep more, and be gentler with your body. With the amount of cardio you’re doing, you’re burning those calories anyway. You are especially too slim for your height. You need to put on some extra weight and muscle mass to help mitigate some of these injuries. If not, previously injured areas will worsen, and your body is going to hurt a lot in a couple of years."

I’m not intentionally dieting; the food is just not good enough to warrant eating a lot of it.

"I’m not dieting, and I don’t think adding weight is going to help me dodge water bottles thrown at me when I can’t see, but I’ll take that into consideration," Ari grumbled before avoiding eye contact as the nurse gave him a stern look.

"Consideration meaning that you’re going to ignore my advice? Sigh. Whatever. You’ll be back sooner or later. Secondly, we gotta figure out how to cover this eye up while keeping it iced. Personally, I want you to rest, but apparently, they want you on stage. Can you hear them? Seems that you’re quite the popular contestant."

He could.

Even through the closed door and numerous towels piled on his head, Ari could hear his name being chanted for some reason.

His only hope was that it wasn’t some weird prank being set up.

"Anyway, take a look."

Ari took the offered mirror and glanced at his face, noting his right eye was swelling shut with the skin turning a dark purple.

Whoever had thrown it had great aim and quite a strong arm.

The impact had hurt quite a lot, but thankfully, nothing was bleeding or broken.

"I look terrible."

"Yep! So, let’s get that eye covered up and send you off. I’ve been wanting to use this bad boy. Hold this."

After shoving a mini cold pack against his eye, the nurse began digging through her kit before pulling out something that could be called a blinding crime against humanity.

Riiiip.

"Uhhh," Ari glanced at the roll of neon orange tape that was being measured against his eye before turning to his only savior, "Kate. Is there an extra eyepatch somewhere? Please? I know we had some that we didn’t use."

Seeing his desperate look, Kate laughed mischievously.

"Tell me the truth, Ari. Is my driving good? Or is it terrible?"

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

Is hell the perfect vacation spot?

What do you think?

"Those eyes are looking a little too judgmental. Tape him up. Orange looks like his color."

"It’s so good! You’re the best driver to exist! I only want you to drive me around forever!"

"Remember, you said it. I didn’t force you. I’ll go check for you. Be right back, Ari!" With a happy smile, Kate skipped away, and just as Ari sighed in relief, the devil herself showed up.

Meeting PD Emily’s eyes, Ari held both hands up, "I didn’t do anything this time."

"I didn’t say you did, but it seems that I can never have a day of peace between clock boy, you, or your fans. I’m truly tired of all of you."

"Ben? My fans? What did they do?"

"Who do you think is chanting and harassing our staff? Once the swollen eye is covered, head back on stage and wrap things up. When you get out there, behave yourself. No strange words, no money talk, no controversy, no harsh words towards the fans or the production team. Answer the question in a light-hearted tone and reassure the fans. You’re smart, so you know what I mean. Got it?"

"Sure."

"I mean it, Ariel. No nonsense today."

"Shouldn’t you be lenient with me cause I’m injured? Look, my eye hurts." Ari gave her a sad face, and the PD snorted and looked away.

"Just behave."

Fine. I’ll do my best."

Ari promised with a shrug.

He wasn’t planning on saying anything bad anyway since he kept Rex’s words in mind.

Thankfully, Kate came back with a plain black eye patch, and after arranging it over his eye and using Benjamin’s hat to shadow his face, Ari got up.

"Let’s go."

Although his head was ringing a bit, it was much better than it had been on stage.

Shaking it off a random chill, Ari headed back to the stage.

The first thing he saw was Benjamin leading a chant on stage while the rest of his teammates and the MC awkwardly stood off to the side.

When he looked at the crowd, some of them were on their feet and yelling while a large banner that said "Thank You For Being Part Of Our World, Ariel!" was being held up by multiple people.

Seeing it, Ari couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

Truly, these fans were really too kind to a stranger like him.

He didn’t even know what he had done for them to do something like this for him.

Taking a deep breath, Ari walked onto the stage while waving at the audience that suddenly got deathly quiet.

When MC Ryan Leary caught sight of him, he ran over with a happy smile.

"Tada! Here’s the much-asked-for contestant, Ariel! Please say a few words."

A microphone was shoved in his face, and with a cheeky smile, Ari decided to speak his mind after high-fiving Benjamin.

"Arghhhhh me matey. So, did you watch me properly? You couldn’t look away, right?"

- wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

- wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

- yessssssssssss

Hearing the shouts, Ari nodded approvingly.

"Nice."

"Yes, it is. Now, contestant Ariel, a few fans were quite concerned about you, so if you could answer their pressing questions, we can quickly move along with the program since we’re running a bit late."

"Oh, sure. Sorry for the delay. Please go ahead."

Ari glanced over to where the MC pointed, noting a short line of people standing by a staff member.

"Uhm, I’m Meredith. All I wanted to ask is if you’re okay? Is your eye okay?" Meredith asked again, almost in tears as she stared at Ari, who was wearing an eye patch and a hat.

Despite the hat’s angle and his handsome smiling face, she could see some discolored skin around the eye patch, and his right hand had new bandages.

"Hi Meredith, I’m Ari. And yeah, I’m fine. All I can say is that my spidey senses were not tingling this time, so I plan on returning my radioactive spider and getting a new one."

Seeing the gothic-looking girl blink at him with teary eyes, Ari immediately straightened up, "Sorry, bad joke. I’m fine. It’s not the first time I’ve had to go through concussion protocol, so it went pretty quickly this time since I am very familiar with the whole process. I didn’t even have to go to the hospital this time, so yay."

Ari continued talking while giving the audience thumbs up, but no sound was coming from his microphone.

When he realized it, he began laughing and made an okay sign toward the back of the stage.

- booooooooooooo

Grace realized that the production team had shut off his microphone and began booing like the rest of the audience until Ari’s voice could be heard.

"No! Listen! I didn’t say anything bad! I promise I’ll behave. Oh! We’re back online. C’est bon. That’s good. Shout out to the production team for giving me back my First Amendment rights. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Please don’t cut the microphone off. Let’s clap for the production team for doing a great job today! Shout out to the best PD in the world! Woooo!"

As Ari began leading an enthusiastic round of applause by running across the edge of the stage, splashing water everywhere, and staring at them with fiercely expectant eyes until they began clapping, the audience members stared at the chaos that was slowly changing the atmosphere in complete confusion.

Weren’t they just angry at the production team?

Why were they suddenly giving them a round of applause?

Still, with a contestant encouraging everyone to clap, they thought they might as well clap.

"Phew, I am out of breath. Carlos was right. I am getting old. Make sure to eat your vegetables, kids. Ack! My back." Holding on to his back like an old man, Ari hobbled back to the center of the stage.

"Anyway, long story short. Thank you for asking. I’m doing pretty well and get to wear a cool eyepatch, which is nice, and my good looks survive for yet another day, which is even better. More importantly, did you enjoy the performance? If you say no, I’ll cry. Well, I won’t cry; I’ll just be sad and throw Ben’s protein powder away to cure my sadness."

"Ari, I promise you, yeah, if a single gram is missing, your favorite tracksuit is becoming bonfire fuel. Marshmallows, chocolate, and biscuits make a nice snack, innit? Look forward to it." Benjamin, who had gotten a microphone from who knows where, added playfully as he elbowed Ari in the side.

As the audience burst out laughing, Ari nodded sagely.

"Well, a wise man once told me, don’t touch Ben’s protein powder, so I’ll leave it alone. But since somebody has to cry to prove my sadness, let’s say Justin will cry."

"I won’t cry!"

"He will. Red eyes, snot everywhere. Don’t be deceived by how good he looks now; the tears won’t be pretty." Ari fake-whispered before continuing in a normal voice, "But on a serious note. Our team really worked hard on the performance and practiced hard to give you a good show. Rex and Justin did the choreography, Justin again really worked hard on the concept details, Benjamin, Jerome, and Levi worked on the lyrics, the trainers helped with the music arrangement, and I got to pretend that I was in the Matrix. It was a team effort, and a little incident shouldn’t overshadow their hard work, so I hoped you liked the performance. You did like it, right?"

- wooooooooooo!!!!!!!

- yessssss!!!!!!

"I can’t hear youuuuuu!"

- yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!

Ari held his microphone out to the audience, and when cheers came back he nodded approvingly before smiling in a sly manner.

"Excellent, I expect the votes for our team to reflect the amount of screams I’m hearing at this moment. How about you, Meredith? You liked it?"

Meredith, who didn’t know whether she should laugh at how unserious Ari was being or be concerned about his injury, forced back her tears before answering.

"I sniff- I’m fine, ugh. It was fantastic. Thank you for blessing my life. Sniff."

"Uh, no, thank you for coming and watching us perform. And asking about my well-being. I appreciate it." Ari immediately bowed his head lower than her.

"No, thank you! Thank you for blessing my eyes." Not to be out done, Meredith bowed at a 90 degree angle.

"No, thank you for coming!" seeing the deep bow, Ari immediately bowed even lower.

"Thank you for performing beautifully and blessing my entire existence."

Ari thought for a moment before squatting down and lowering his head as low as he could.

"No, thank you for taking the time out of your day to come spend it with us. And...please don’t bow any lower. Otherwise, I have to lie on the ground, which is fine since I’m already soaked, but the PD might kill me if the microphone gets wet. Oh. Pretend you didn’t hear that. She would never do such a thing. She’s an angel on Earth."

Seeing that Ari was diligently holding the hand microphone up in the air, while looking like he was prepared to do a push up if needed, Meredith laughed before stepping back and passed the microphone to someone else.

Seeing it, Ari quickly stood up, looking a bit hesitant before speaking slowly.

"Oh, uh, before you go. I just wanted to say thank you, not only to you, Meredith, but to everyone here. I heard people asked about my well-being, which is very kind of you all. I’m sorry something scary happened, and I hope nobody was hurt or injured and that you all had fun today. I apologize to my team as well for having to involve them in this situation, and I hope they’re all okay. And...to the people supporting me, I want you to know that I saw the banner while performing, and even now, when I came out, I saw you all waving it. I don’t know how you all thought about doing this and then executed it, but I really appreciate you going out of your way to do so I wish I could pay you back for the time and effort you spent on it, but unfortunately, I don’t think I have enough money to do so. Hopefully, I can win the lottery one day and give back more than you’ve given me, but until then, all I can give is my sincerest thanks, so once again, thank you."

Ari bowed his head deeply before handing the microphone back to the MC, who was staring at the person who might be gunning for his job in a few years’ time.

"Thank you for the microphone, but there are more questions for you, Contestant Ariel. And please, keep the responses brief. We’re short on time."

"Oh? More than one person has questions for me? Nice." With a smile, Ari grabbed the microphone back and looked on expectantly.

A short girl with blonde hair grabbed the microphone from the staff member before speaking with a heavy stutter.

"Hi, I-I-I’m I’m Re-re-re-rebecca. C-c-can I c-c-c-come t-t-o y-your g-g-graduation?"

At the strange question, the previously happy smile froze in place.

"Hi, Rebecca. I’m Ari. Please. Please do not do that. Thank you."

"B-b-but-"

As the audience member began to protest, thankfully, the staff member took the microphone away and handed it to someone else.

"Salut Ari, I’m Elizabeth, you can call me Liz. I campaigned heavily for red-haired Ari during the election season. Can you make a rank challenge with the fans for you to dye your hair? We really, really, want to see your hair turn red."

"Salut, Liz. A rank challenge to dye my hair red, Hmmm," Ari thought about it before giving a criterion he knew would never happen.

"If I make it into the top 10 by the next elimination ceremony, I’ll dye it the requested red color, but truthfully, I don’t think that color will fit me..."

"It will! The color was perfectly chosen to suit your skin."

"Really? Then sure. Let’s say the top 10 by the next elimination ceremony. Otherwise, no red hair, haha."

Ari laughed at the impossible request that absolutely wouldn’t happen since the elimination ceremony was in two days, but Elizabeth clearly took it as a challenge.

"Wait for me."

Blinking at the words that sounded like a threat, Ari glanced at the staff member who was gesturing for him to hurry up.

"Okay. I’ll be waiting. Thank you for the question."

The microphone was then passed to a clearly male audience member whose face was covered by a hat and mask, and was wearing a shirt with an eliminated contestant’s face on it.

There was a pause before a weirdly high-pitched voice spoke out.

"Hello. Why are you a crash-out who ruined other people’s experience on the show?"

- gasp!

Ari glanced over at the staff member, who looked shocked at the question, before he shrugged and answered.

"I don’t think I’m a crashout at all. I think I have reasonable reactions to people doing unreasonable things, but because everyone expects a politically correct response and everyone’s definition of reasonable is different, that’s a label people give me. For example, if someone continuously locks a communal door after you ask them not to, a reasonable response for me is to remove the doorknob, and for others, it’s to remove the door entirely."

"It was a joke! What part of that don’t you understand!!!!"

At the familiar voice, Ari squinted before recognizing who it was.

"Wait a minute, Caleb. Is that you?"

"No-no it’s not me!" in a panic, the microphone was thrown in the air as Caleb turned and ran away in a panic.

What the heck was he even doing here?

Ari just watched him trip, get up to run, and trip again before finally making it out the door.

Keeping a straight face, he continued answering Caleb’s question. "Well, long story short. I don’t think I’m a crashout and I’m always open to talking with people who think that I am. Any other questions?"

"Yes me!"

A girl with a tiara grabbed the microphone and began speaking angrily, "What do you think of William? You’ve made several unproven accusations toward him despite William not doing a single thing to you. What are your true feelings toward William? Tell us this now!"

"What are my true feelings toward William?" Ari thought it over, not even sure how to paraphrase his dislike for the blonde boy, but before he could answer, the MC quickly interrupted.

"That’s all the time we have for questions. Why don’t we have the judges give some feedback for the performance before wrapping things up?"