From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel
Chapter 194: Truancy (2)

Chapter 194: Truancy (2)

Ari really thought that his life was funny because it seemed that the universe was always conspiring against him.

With the Crouch family, the moment he no longer wanted to deal with them, he peacefully left without bothering them again.

Even when he was somehow stuck with an annoying system, he didn’t go out of his way to harm anybody unless they were being harmful first.

As he had told his previous teammates, if he could just dance and sing on this program without any drama, he would be fine with that.

Sure, he planned on getting back at William Forbes, but that was because he deserved it by causing him to die in the first place, and it wasn’t like he planned on killing William.

Getting William to fess up to his crimes, ruining his dream, and sending him to jail would be enough for Ari.

So the fact that the two separate groups who should have nothing to do with each other seemed to have joined forces to come mess with him instead of minding their own lives and business was genuinely crazy.

Ari quickly glanced at the smug William as well as Analise Crouch, who stared at him with a self-satisfied smile in the audience, before turning to the 2 "police officers" whom he recognized from that fateful day when he and William’s paths intersected.

And as Ari met the eyes of the "police officer" who had not only chased him, but eliminated him and an old man at Williams’ orders, the only thing he could do was laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation he was in.

Seriously, what had he done to deserve this?

Could this all be a horrible coincidence, or was it well planned?

And was there a way to get out of this peacefully?

The moment Ari saw the flash of recognition on the man’s face, he knew the jig was up, so rather than giving them the satisfaction of him looking afraid, he let the mocking words he had been holding fly out with a wide smile.

"Hello, Mr. Fake Police Officers. You look pretty healed from that chemical attack. Still afraid of cheese and potatoes, or do you still get nightmares?"

At Ari’s words, both men’s faces turned red and then white as people around them began murmuring, wondering what was going on.

Seeing PD Emily begin walking towards him as well and the staff members muttering that his microphone should be seized and turned off, Ari quickly said what he needed to say.

"Before I get arrested, I’d like to see your badge, get your badge number, and your name, because I don’t think you’re real cops. I think you’re trying to kidnap me."

"Shut up! Put your microphone down now and your hands up!" The officer in the lead yelled, and Ari turned to PD Emily, "Please don’t let them take me away without someone you trust going with them. If I die or go missing, it’s their fault."

"I said, put your hands up or you’re under arrest!"

"Hey! Calm down! You can’t yell at a kid like that!"

The few staff members nearby tried to calm the police officers, only to be shoved away.

Seeing the officers shoving the staff members around, people screaming, and the confused expression on his teammates’ faces, Ari stepped forward, tucked the microphone into the collar of his shirt, put both hands in the air, and continued speaking in an unbothered tone.

"That’s a redundant statement because aren’t you arresting me anyway? Also, you have no proof that I’m truant. You didn’t ask for my ID, you don’t know if I’m 18. For all you know, I could be here with guardian permission, Mr. Fake police officers."

At his words, the two officers paused before glancing off to the side.

"I am his mother, and I didn’t give my permission at all, and he is under 18. In fact, Ari is such a troubled child, skipping school, fighting other students, getting bad grades, and who knows what else. He doesn’t listen at all, and I’m at my wits’ end. I’m pregnant with his sibling, and he doesn’t even care about the stress he’s causing me. I was the one who called these police officers here to get him back to school where he belongs, and these kind officers are only doing the job that I asked them to do." Analise Crouch yelled as she pushed her way toward the front of the crowd while rubbing her pregnant belly.

As people focused on her, she began to shed tears, dabbing at her face and sobbing loudly, only to be comforted by some people in the crowd.

Seeing Analise Crouch step up and start spouting lies and straight nonsense while glancing in the direction William Forbes was standing as she dabbed away her tears, Ari could only laugh.

Because if she thought that this would force him to cave into her delusional wishes, she truly didn’t take his warning seriously.

"You’re not my mother, you’re a state-appointed legal guardian. And according to state and federal law, the police officers, if they’re even real ones, need to take me back to school since I’m supposedly truant and a minor, and you need to be arrested, thrown in jail, and dragged to court since you’re the legal guardian and responsible for my actions. Have fun with that."

At Ari’s words, Analise Crouch’s face turned pale, and her fake tears turned to real ones as she began taking several steps back while shaking her head.

"No, no-not me, just him! Just arrest him!"

"Have fun at the station, Mrs. Legal Guardian."

Before Ari could say anything else, he was tackled to the ground, flipped over, with his hands shoved behind his back, and handcuffed.

And the area turned into a mess.

Hearing several people screaming, he focused on keeping his head off the ground since he didn’t particularly want his face to be bruised again while the person above him kept kneeing him in the back.

When he was finally allowed to get up from lying on the dirty stage floor, it was to see PD Emily yelling at one of the officers who dragged him to his feet while his teammates had been shoved away and were staring with shocked faces.

"If you don’t have your badges even though you’re in uniform, then what are your names so I can call the police station and verify your identities?"

"Ma’am! Lower your voice and step back, or you’ll be detained."

"If you think I’m letting you take an underage contestant from my program without you verifying your identities, you have another thing coming. And if you want to detain me, go for it. I hope your entire police department has enough money to fight an entertainment company for wrongful actions that have been captured not only by public witnesses but also by our camera crew. Don’t try me."

"Don’t try her, she’s scary," Ari added, laughing again when the officer holding him shook him around.

"You! Keep your mouth shut and stop antagonizing them. You’re making things worse, and haven’t you heard that anything you say will be used against you?" PD Emily immediately turned to glare at him, the whites of her eyes turning red from the shot blood vessels.

"I’m sorry." Ari immediately shut his mouth.

Without paying him any mind, PD Emily turned to glare back at the officer.

"Name, Badge, and Badge number. Now."

"You’re making a mistake." The police officer warned her while trying to look intimidating, but PD Emily simply snorted.

"I’m making a mistake? You’re trying to seize an underage contestant on my show, without your badge or any other information, and you want me to be okay with it? Name, Badge, and Badge number now! Or I’ll call the police department and have them bring other officers to get you both for impersonation."

The officer facing PD Emily glanced in Ari’s direction, and seemingly resigned, brought out a gold seven-point star

"I’m Officer John Doe, Badge number 3534237. He’s Officer Joe Smith, Badge number 7282625."¹

"Those names. How convenient." PD Emily sneered at the generic-sounding names.

"Look it up. If that’s all, we’ll be taking the arrested persons and leaving." The officer facing her replied coldly while the one holding onto Ariel yanked him by his collar, causing him to groan.

"And where are you taking him? Back to his high school to attend class since that’s what you’re arresting him for, correct?"

As the police officer in front of her sputtered, PD Emily turned to Ari, "Ariel, what high school do you attend?"

"LA Central High School," Ari spoke out before immediately shutting his mouth once more.

"Right. So you’re taking the supposed truant student to LA Central High for the rest of his classes for the day, and you’ll be arresting his guardian according to the law, correct?" PD Emily asked sharply as she glared at the officer.

The police officer looked as if he didn’t want to agree, but eventually nodded.

"Excellent, then I’ll personally follow behind to make sure he gets there. Feel free to go arrest his guardian. Then we can all leave together."

PD Emily gestured to Analise Crouch, who was being held by two staff members, while the crowd of people who were still around were recording the situation with their phones.

While everything was happening, Ari kept his gaze focused on William, noting his wrinkled forehead as he glared at the officers before looking at Ari.

As their eyes met, Ari gave him a mocking smile while whispering Status.

There was no point in not alerting William about NOVA since he was sure that the officers would probably tell William that he recognized him.

Unfortunately, nothing happened, and NOVA still didn’t respond, so he just stood there while the chaotic situation around him began to resolve itself.

And that was how Ari ended up in the back of a police car, handcuffed and sitting next to the sobbing Analise Crouch, who was also in handcuffs.

"Why? Hic, why am I arrested too? He said it would be only you who got taken hic. This isn’t supposed to happen. If this was supposed to happen, I should have taken more money hic-"

"Who said it? How much did you get? Who paid you?" Ari asked in a gentle tone, trying to coax some information out of her.

"Don’t act like you don’t know, you brat! It was Willia-"

"Shut up, woman!" as one of the officers interrupted and slammed his hand on the plastic window separating them, Ari laughed before telling Analise Crouch the truth.

"You’re not the brightest tool in the shed, are you. You should have just stayed away from me, but you made a deal with someone who has no qualms beating people until they’re almost dead and using dirty police officers to throw them in a dumpster and then forgetting about them entirely."

"Wha-?" Analise gasped in shock before beginning to cry harder as she stared at the officers in the front of the car.

Bang bang bang bang-

Officer John Doe smashed his hand against the plastic partition and began shouting.

"If you keep spreading lies about me, I’ll make you regret it!"

"Ever heard that hit dogs holler. I never said it was you."

"You better watch your mouth before something unfortunate happens to you."

"Or what? You plan on beating me to death? Ooooh, scary. I hope your body and dash cam are recording that threat because I’d love to get a lawyer and see you in court," Ari replied without backing down.

The police officer stared at him, his nostrils flaring as his face turned red before slamming his fist on the plastic divider once more as he gritted his teeth.

"You’re insane."

"Thank you, I try."

As the officer looked at Ari as if he couldn’t believe his eyes and ears, Ari just laughed before looking out the window and admiring the scenery.

After all, there was no point in being scared at this point.

What had happened had happened; he just needed to not panic and figure out what to do once he got dropped off at his school.

The rest of the drive to Ari’s school was accompanied by the soundtrack of Analise Crouch weeping the entire time as the Police officers drove them around.

A trip that should have taken a maximum of two hours took well over four, and by the time they arrived at Ari’s high school, the sun was beginning to set.

The moment the police car parked in front of the school, a familiar black minivan pulled up right behind it, and PD Emily stepped out of it with a lit cigarette on her lips and her cellphone pointed at the police car.

Seeing Ari being dragged out of the car and reluctantly un-handcuffed and released, PD Emily let out a quiet sigh as Ari walked quietly to her vehicle.

Apart from the small bruise near his lips and the vicious look in his eyes, he looked unharmed and mainly disheveled.

"Sure took your time bringing him to school. The school day is over. So much about caring for his education."

"There was traffic." John Doe replied insincerely, and PD Emily snorted.

"I’m sure."

"You better watch your back, Ariel Matisse. The next time you skip school, it won’t end like this, I can promise you that."

Before Ari could say anything, PD Emily shot back in her characteristic sharp tone.

"And you better dot your I’s and cross your t’s and actually book the legal guardian of the truant kid since you made such a big deal about taking him. It’s Friday, so it looks like she’ll be spending the weekend in jail. I’ll definitely be calling your station to double-check that it goes through."

The two people had a short staring contest before the cop sneered at PD Emily, got into his car, and drove away.

Sighing in relief, PD Emily got into the car that was low on gasoline to stare at the slim boy staring ahead with furious eyes.

Before she could say anything, he turned to her and bowed his head.

"I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble, and thank you so much for your help. Can I use your phone?"

Curious as to what he wanted, PD Emily held back her questions to ask a simpler one.

"Why?"

"Since Mrs Crouch called the cops on me, publicly lied about my name, and has tarnished my reputation, I have to call CPS. A family with twelve children living in a 2-bedroom 1 bathroom house with a baby on the way and a foster child that they don’t take care of is grounds for concern, no? Especially if the mom will be in jail for the weekend and there will be nobody to take care of the 10 kids left with the deadbeat dad, who watches sports all day. I just don’t think it’s fair that only I have a bad day."

Ari replied calmly.

PD Emily stared at him for a moment before putting out her cigarette.

"You’re a very wicked child. You’ll do quite well in the entertainment industry as long as you don’t offend people with too much power and high egos."

"It’s a bit too late for that, don’t you think?"

"I can see that." PD Emily replied calmly before tossing Ari her phone.

"Call away and then let’s talk."