Chapter 111,Coolest Girl in Town
At the same time, Jack’s new song was released on all mainstream streaming platforms. Jack was a decent singer in the first place, so once his new song was released, his fans came in droves, jacking the song up to the top of the charts. ‘God, his new song is a banger.’ ‘Man, this thing slaps. This is my jam now.’
‘I’ve listened to this thing a million times now. GOAT.’ ‘The song just came out. What do you mean you listened to it a million times?’ The comments wouldn’t stop coming in, and the ratings kept shooting up. Elise was doing her Chinese listening practice, but then Mikayla interrupted.
“Elise, you have to listen to my husband’s latest hit. It’s so good.” Mikayla took Elise’s earphones off and hooked hers up to Elise. When Elise heard the song, she knew Jack was the singer, for he had a deep voice.
He was born to be a singer. Great voice, very distinct. “Not bad, right?” Mikayla asked happily. Elise smiled and nodded at her. “Not bad.” Mikayla was delighted to hear that. “I knew it. I’m going to spread his new song to my friends.” She then posted the song to her wall. The status garnered a lot of likes in a short while, but then someone commented, ‘Hey, this feels like a song H would come up with.’ Another commenter commented, ‘Huh.
Never thought of it that way, but now that you said it, it does sound like the kind of song H would create.’ Mikayla stared at the comments in disbelief. “Impossible! My husband wrote the song all by himself. There’s no way it sounds like a song from H. They’re saying Jack copied someone’s work? Impossible!” Mikayla wrote back angrily, ‘Nonsense! Jack won’t copy anyone! He wrote the song all by himself! What do you guys know?’
Elise noticed Mikayla’s mood change, since her expression turned from happy to dour in a second. Elise even felt a hint of anger from her. “Are you alright, Mikayla?” Mikayla wanted to tell her what happened, but then it wasn’t something great, so she decided to hide it. “It’s nothing, Elise. Go back to your listening practice. I’ll be off now.” Elise thought something was off, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. Hm, but Mikayla’s a straightforward girl.
She’ll tell me if it’s really serious. So, Elise dismissed it and went back to her listening practice. Danny was the one who came to pick her up after school that day. Ever since the company got into trouble, a switch had flipped within him, and he was a changed man. Danny used to be more nonchalant and laid back, but now he was quieter and calmer. When he saw Elise, he called her, “Boss.” She got in the car, and it drove toward Griffith Residence.
Elise was skimming through her Chinese textbook, but then she realized Danny was glancing at her. “Yes, Danny?” Danny coughed sheepishly. “You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I don’t have time for this,” Elise grunted. Danny panicked. “Wait, boss. I have to tell you this.” Elise looked at him.
Danny mustered up all his courage and asked, “Boss, how can I raise my grades and get myself into a good college?” Elise touched his forehead. “Hm, you don’t look sick to me. What happened?” Danny looked embarrassed but he pressed on, “Your grades are awesome. You must have a way of studying, so can you teach me? The entrance exam is only five months away. How can I raise my grades enough to get into a great college?”
Elise put her textbook down. She was surprised about Danny’s sudden change, so she asked, “Why do you want to get into college all of a sudden? I mean, you can still be successful even if you don’t do anything, so why go the extra mile? You came this far without doing much, so why now?”
Danny used to think that way as well. With how rich and powerful his family was, he was already set for life. The future wasn’t something to get worried about, nor did he see the need to improve himself, until his family got into trouble. It was then he realized he wasn’t powerful enough to help his family. Nay, he was practically useless in the crisis, and that was a big wake up call for him. That moment of powerlessness made him realize he had to do something while he still had time.
He knew he had to do something so he could stand on his own two feet. “Because I want to be better.” That was the simplest answer he could come up with. Elise was surprised he’d say that, and she gazed at him. “What were your grades like?” Danny started to hum and haw. He never paid any attention in class ever since he got into high school, and he slept during most exams since he couldn’t understand anything on the paper.
Every time someone asked him about his grades, the answer he gave was simple. “Not good.” “It’s alright. Just tell me a rough number,” Elise continued. Danny answered sheepishly, “Around fifty each for English, math, and foreign language. And a hundred for the comprehensive test, I guess.” “Two hundred and fifty? That’s not a good score.” She frowned. Danny didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. “I guess so.”
She pursed her lips. “It won’t be easy for you to get into a college with that score.” “And that’s why I’m asking you to help me out. You’re a top student, aren’t you?” Danny looked at her expectantly, but Elise shrugged. “So. What does that have to do with you?” Danny huddled closer.
“Alex said it’s important that we hang out with the right crowd. Take business for example. If I hang out with a billionaire, I can at least become a millionaire. If I hang out with a millionaire, I can make more money in a year than most of the population can in three. Same thing with my studies.
If I have your help, I can get into a regular college at the very least.” Elise knew what he was getting at. “So you’re saying you want my help?”
