Talented Me! 13

Avina felt a searing hot pain revolving around her body as Adi continued to yank her head. Avina could only silently curse while waiting for Adi to finish having her fun.

Adi looked at Wilona's twisted expression and felt a strange sense of glee in her. It flowed from the hands she was hurting from till the tips of her toes; it was oddly invigorating. Seeing Wilona who defied her just a few minutes ago screaming in pain allowed her to feel unmeasurable satisfaction.

Schadenfreude filled every single one of her cells as she gave one more hard yank. There, Wilona was forced to stare into her eyes.

"Let go of me!" Avina screeched. The pain intensified with every pull Adi gave, and hot tears fell from her eyes. She could feel strands of her hair being plucked away and falling to the ground.

"No way!" Adi said before tilting Wilona's heading up. Adi forced Wilona to stare into her eyes allowing her to witness every emotion brewing in the depths.

"Give me the invite. Maybe then I would consider letting you go." Her sadistic smile bloomed on her face and she let out a chuckle.

Avina stared into the eyes of Adi. It was filled with a deep set of love for giving pain to others and twisted beyond belief. It was dark and unforgiving, cold and harsh, like a freezing tundra blowing its frosty winds. Her eyes made Avina freeze in place for a moment before she recollected herself. She never backed down before, and neither was she backing down now.

Adi was feeling a little satisfied at the moment, and her guard was down. Perfect. Without the constant pain scorching her, Avina began her full-frontal attack.

Avina blew in eyes of Adi making her close her eyes. Adi without her vision was defenseless. Avina took the opportunity to quickly escape her grasp and her body automatically assumed a fighting stance.

Adi opened her eyes to see Wilona preparing to fight her. A chuckle escaped and she rushed straight in. She knew the both of them had no experience in fighting, so Wilona was only acting. But if it was a fight she wanted, then Adi was happy to oblige.

Adi rushed at Avina and raised her hands ready to give Avina a scratch. Avina dodged and feinted an uppercut. Adi ducked but soon flew back with a painful fire spreading from her stomach. Avina had dealt a decisive straight punch at Adi's abdomen!

The first punch was always the heaviest and that was true. For the next punches, Adi had no defenses whatsoever and could only cover herself. From a neat hook to a cross, she held no mercy. Finally, Avina squatted down and dealt a finishing leg sweep. Adi dropped with a thud but continued to cover herself while silent pleas of mercy rang in the empty lot.

Avina grinned at her wonderful fighting performance and then at her fist. Not a single scratch. All of that practice was worth it. Martial arts was definitely worth it!

"See you never!" Avina said before turning around again.

Avina quickly scurried back to find her keys and unlocked her bike. With a swift jump, she hopped on and started pedaling. Adi was covered in her flying dirt and coughed before screaming in rage. She crouched down hugging her stomach while glaring at Avina's fleeing figure. Her angry screams were the fuel for Avina's grand bike escape!

The wind blew her hair away, and she continued to pedal faster all to feel that wonderful rush of the crisp breeze against her cheeks. Adi's screams were far behind her and instead were replaced with the bells of laughter coming from Avina. The scene kept replaying in her mind. It seemed martial arts was useful! Useful at kicking spoiled butts!

Luckily, the time Adi spent bullying her didn't make her late. At the sight of a grand building, Avina knew she was here. Magnificent, grand, and radiating sparkles - every entertainment building in every single novel.

The building was tall reaching towards the sky and scrapping against the clouds. It was made of glass reflecting the light and creating this aura of desire to obtain. It loomed against all the other buildings and easily outshined them in magnificence. It was like a huge diamond against the puny pebbles surrounding it.

Avina peered at the shining building in awe. Just inside these doors was the path to stardom! A path of unmeasurable fame and fortune! Her blood was pumping at the mere image of herself on the big screen shown all over the world.

She quickly locked her bike nearby and grabbed her bags heading straight to the doors. Each step was filled with enthusiasm and curiosity. Avina couldn't help but stare around at the people and the things inside the building.

People were heading inside and out, talking on their phones or merely strutting confidently. There were modern art statues surrounded by sofas for those who needed to wait. Her eyes glanced left and right taking in the glorious view of a new life. It was nothing like anything she had ever seen before!

A few people noticed her lively glances and stared at her judging her every move. Upon noticing, a faint blush couldn't help but creep on her cheeks. It was obvious she did not belong with the stars. Compared to the people around her, she was nothing but a bumpkin.

Avina was only wearing a t-shirt with jeans, nothing extraordinary. Her backpack had signs of aging, but that was the only bag Avina could find in Wilona's closet. In it was the dress she was going to wear, and she would only wear it once filming started. Her hair was tied in two braids, and they swung with each of her movements side to side. Nothing about her belonged in this glamourous place.

At the front desk, the receptionist already spotted her the moment she arrived. She had taken the time to look Wilona up and down and only continued her service smile. When Avina reached the desk, she asked for a name. The receptionist stared deeply at Avina with eyes full of scrutiny. Avina couldn't help but fidget in place but still reached in her bag to pull out the invite.

"Wilona," she said trying her best to appear collected. "My name is Wilona. I was invited to the show."

The lady stared at her for a few more seconds before receiving the letter and reading it carefully. Her glances moved up and down from Wilona to the invite. Finally, she placed it down and typed it into her computer. When everything was confirmed, she finally flashed a grin at Wilona.

"Welcome! Your set is in Room 405. Go through the hall and there's an elevator right there," she pointed to her left. "Remember, Room 405, fourth floor."

She gave Wilona one final smile and her invite back before lowering her head again to continue working on her computer. The mechanical tapping of her keyboard sounded against the relaxing music in the front space.

When she glanced up again and saw Wilona still there, she pointed to her left again and repeated her words. Although left unsaid, her actions said, "Why aren't you still going?" Avina could only look to the left and head there. She repeatedly glanced back at the receptionist, but the lady had already gone back to work mode.

'Not the nicest customer service I got,' Avina pouted. 'Could have tried her best to sound friendly.'

5025 could only give her imaginary pats on her shoulders comforting her along the way. It couldn't change what the humans do. They weren't like systems after all.

The walk along the way certainly wasn't boring. On the walls were pictures of various stars, the old ones, and the new ones. She knew none of them, but instincts told her these were the best of the best. Each of them was framed in mahogany wood and hung elegantly in rows along with their peers. Several of them were either stars attending famous events or professionally taken photos. It created a vibe of otherworldliness looking at these people who made it big. It was inspiring to see their efforts being paid off, being of use; these were people who started like her.

Avina stared closely at every single photo taking in the grand aura each of them encapsulated. Finally, she reached the end. At the last picture was the image of a young man who slowly descended to a wise old man. It was as if she was looking at the timeline of this person.

From his start slowly progressing to his now, he has struggled in the big pool for years. It was worthy of admiration and respect, and Avina showed it by standing still just a little more. She looked at each image and finally reached the bottom. At the bottom of every frame was a gold plate inscribed with their name. Graham Lin, that was the name of this star.

'Graham Lin,' Avina muttered in her mind. It sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

'Host!' Avina may have been suffering from temporary memory loss, but 5025 definitely wasn't.

'It's the mission target! Graham Lin used to be an actor! Wow!'

5025's bubbly voice dispersed any calm atmosphere possible. It energetically pulled up all the information it could find possible on Graham and listed all of his achievements. Being in the industry for so long and earning the rights to be featured on the wall with so many other celebrities, his list of trophies, prizes, blockbuster movies, and so on seemed to go on forever.

Avina, however, was in a state of shock. Although she knew Graham Lin was powerful in the industry, how else would Adi get famous, she didn't think he was such a big deal. Money made the sharks hungry, but talent and money made the sea stormy. Graham Lin wasn't just a ticket to stardom, he was the way to stardom!

'Quickly, 5025! We got to get to Room 405!'

Avina could not be late! She could not miss this one in a blue moon opportunity! Sure StarTube could help, but how much would it help against the most powerful and influential person in the whole entire industry! With high ranking achievements behind his back as well as money to flood the masses, he was more than enough to make it big! She needed to latch on and become his disciple! His student for life!