Twisted Wonderland Book 5: A Beauitful Tyrant

Chapter 30: A First-Time Setback

Soon enough, everyone is in their separate rooms and are preparing to sleep for the night. Sereia, and Trinket have already fallen asleep, while Briar stays up in her bed.

Just then, Grim walks into the girl's room and says, "Myah... We're only on day one, and I'm already pooped."

"Now imagine how bad it is for the performers," Briar replies.

Then Grim says, "It's all for my tuna bonanza. I gotta make sure they win this thing."

Suddenly, they hear a singing voice, "kowareru yoona kagayaki wa keshiteageru."

"Hm? Who's that makin' noise in the yard?" Grim wonders.

"I know that voice..." Briar says.

Then turns to Grim, "Come on, let's go see."

Briar and Grim then leave the room and quietly walk down the stairs, and make their way outside.

Upon arriving, they see Kalim who is singing, "kowareru yoona kagayaki wa keshiteageru."

He then stops singing to say, "Hmmm... I keep missing that note."

Suddenly, Briar speaks up, "Kalim, what are you doing out this late?"

"If you stay out late, Coach Vil is gonna chew our heads off!" Grim adds.

Kalim yelps and turns around in surprise, "Whoa! Grim and Briar? Did you hear me from the dorm? Sorry about that!"

"How can you still be going after gettin' worked to the bone today?" Grim asks.

"You're very diligent about the contest, but you really must be resting," Briar says.

Kalim laughs, "Ha ha, it's not what you think. This is the first time I've ever done something like this. I'm...pretty upset that I got passed over for main vocals."

"Huh? You didn't look upset to me," Grim says, confused

"I wasn't, when it first got announced," Kalim says.

Then begins to explain, "But when I climbed into bed and closed my eyes, it started nagging at me. I couldn't just lie there working myself up. Figured I'd let off some steam by practicing. I've...never felt this way before."

Grim then says with a smirk, "Ah-hah. You've had everything handed to you on a silver platter before this, I bet. Guess that's what it's like when you're mega- rich. Must be nice!"

"Grim," Briar calmly says with a stern expression

"Ah, well... Yes and no. I don't think that's quite it," Kalim says, "I'm always chosen. Always. That's such an obvious truth that I never even consciously processed it. But now I see that was only possible because of Jamil's constant sacrifices. He created that 'truth' in my mind by always holding back. By always letting me win. ...It stings. 'Galling' doesn't even begin to describe it."

"You wanna talk about galling? Imagine how I feel not even makin' the cut for the audition to start with," Grim says.

"Ah, you're right. My bad! I didn't mean to rub it in," Kalim yelps, "Goodness, there I go again! I'm super sorry, honest."

"Geez, gettin' a sincere apology makes me feel like I kicked a puppy or somethin'. Ace or Deuce woulda hit me with a comeback..." Grim mutters annoyed.

He then says, "Ahem! Look, if that's how you feel, then you'd better win!"

Kalim happily says, "That's a good way to look at it. I'll keep working hard, so don't give up on me, okay? I wouldn't want to disturb the others' sleep, so I'll stop for now and call it a night."

"Have a good night," Briar says.

"Right. Good night, Briar and Grim!" Kalim says, and heads off to bed in the dorm.

"Let's get back to our room, Briar. My paw pads are freezin' out here," Grim says.

"Good idea. It's still pretty cold to be out," Briar says.

Then Briar and Grim head back into the dorm to sleep for the night. However, unknown to Kalim, Briar, and Grim, Jamil has been secretly watching them, mainly Kalim and actually heard what he says.