What just happened, Patty asked himself. Did he accidentally travel through time and end up five days later? That was the only reasonable explanation as to why Grammo was standing in front of the class, ready to start the bet. There was no way that Grammo voluntarily moved up the bet when they could have searched for more alternatives in five days, right?
“Oh, Patrick. You made it. Your friend here was just telling me that he wanted to perform today. There’s no backing out in our bet. Are you okay with that?”
No. Patty was not okay with it.
“Yes, professor. I’m ready,” Grammo answered.
Patty couldn't believe the nightmarish situation he was in. Was this how students felt when they suddenly woke up to an exam they didn’t study for? If so, then Patty felt sorry for them. This felt horrible! How could Grammo think that he could perform today when just yesterday, his throat was so sore that he couldn’t even speak properly?! Now, when their expulsion was on the line, he decided to risk it all and sing today.
He made eye contact with Grammo and mentally asked him why he was doing such audacious things. There must have been an explanation, a change in situations that compelled Grammo to sing right now.
‘What are you doing?!’
Grammo replied by winking at him and giving him a thumbs up.
‘Wish me luck!’
Patty slapped his forehead. He couldn’t believe this happened.
“Listen. As per our agreement, Grammo will sing one song to the whole classroom and prove that he is as talented at singing as he claims,” the professor said. He didn’t tell the whole class that Patty and Grammo’s expulsion was at stake in this bet. If they knew, their decisions could be skewed because of their bias. This bet was overlooked by the Chained Being Himself, so everything needed to be above board, even if this was just a small contract.
“To have an objective view of the results of this agreement, I have borrowed a Karaoke Machine from the school that can quantify the results in numbers. If he is very good, then he will score 100. If he is bad, then he’ll get a zero.”
The professor rolled in a flat-screen television mounted on a desk. Under it was a rectangular box that seemed to control the Karaoke software itself. Grammo’s mic was connected to this rectangular box and fed directly into the machine that could calculate, with perfect accuracy, how good his singing was based on normal criteria like tone, rhythm, timing, and others.
The students were familiar with the Karaoke Machine because it was a staple in arcades and playrooms. These students rarely had free time for themselves, so during national holidays, they would all go out to have fun and de-stress themselves. A good night out consisted of playing games like bowling, pool, or darts, then followed by a Karaoke session that could last until the very early morning.
A normal student without any talent for singing would usually get scores between 20 to 50. If you got higher than that, you would be considered good. Professionals could go as high up as 80. However, only idols and global artists with millions upon millions of followers could consistently score above 90. As far as they knew, the highest that was ever recorded was 99, which was scored by a mythical singer who was now retired.
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“To be fair, you only need to score 50 or above to be considered talented at singing. If you score that, then I will admit that you have what it takes to fulfill your dreams,” Professor Ortez said.
Patty felt a little bit better when the Professor said that. Achieving a score of 50 was not easy, but it also wasn’t impossible. If Grammo somehow improved and practiced the whole night yesterday, even if there was the tiniest chance, then he could score at least that much. Maybe Grammo miraculously became a savant at singing because of all the trauma he felt yesterday, who knew?
‘Did you practice Karaoke yesterday?’ Patty mouthed the words.
Grammo nodded his head, making Patty relieved. Grammo must have practiced a lot yesterday and scored a career-high 50, which gave him the confidence to start the bet five days early. Right?
‘Did you score 50 on your practice?’ Patty signaled the number 5 with one hand and a 0 on the other hand.
Grammo shook his head.
Oh, he must have scored close to that, Patty thought. He folded his thumb to see if Grammo scored at least a 40.
But again, Grammo shook his head.
At this point, Patty was sweating. With each finger he folded, he became more and more anxious about the outcome of the bet. Forty became thirty, which soon turned to twenty, and eventually became ten. Just as Patty thought it finally reached the lowest number, Grammo raised both of his hands and closed both his fists.
Why did he close his fist, Patty asked himself. Did he want to be a boxer?
Then, Grammo mouthed the words, ‘I scored a double zero.’
“THEN WHY ARE YOU SINGING?!” Patty couldn’t help but shout out. If Grammo didn’t have any basis for his confidence in singing early, then why would he even risk it? Was Patty right in that Grammo finally lost his mind because of what happened yesterday? If so, then he didn’t have to drag Patty into it.
Grammo winked at Patty and gave him another thumbs up. Patty felt as if he was looking at a boat captain who said that everything was alright while half of his ship was submerged in the ocean. Grammo didn’t assure Patty that he had it all under control.
“Looks like you’re still arguing about this. I hope you didn’t forget about the consequences of this arrangement,” the professor warned.
Patty knew full well about the consequences. The problem was Grammo who didn’t seem to worry about it. “Don’t worry, professor. I will show all of you that I can reach the world with my singing, starting by showing how I can reach my classmates right here.”
“For your sake, I hope you’re right.” The professor then booted up the karaoke machine and an old-timey radio cracking could be heard. Grammo wasn’t going to perform a cover of a song, but an original song that he wrote. This meant that there was no accompanying music or sound in his performance.
This only made the difficulty of scoring high even harder. Without music, the performer had a harder time keeping the rhythm of the song as well as the timing of the beats. And without the cover of beautiful background music, Grammo’s voice will be the only thing that the machine and the audience hear. It would easily become apparent if a singer was good or not. From his previous performances, everybody knew this would be bad for Grammo.
They didn’t know why Grammo’s voice was different, but it certainly wouldn’t help his singing. His voice was more grating and harder to listen to. It made people want to swallow saliva themselves because of how dry he sounded.
Everyone was expecting disaster from his performance. Even if it hadn’t even started, people were already burying their heads deep into their desks, they were crumpling paper and pushing it deep into their ears, and some even tried to excuse themselves to the bathroom. Only the professor and Patty kept their ears ready to see how Grammo would perform.
Grammo didn't wait any further and opened his mouth to let out the first sound. And immediately, their worst nightmare proved to be true.
His singing before his voice turned hoarse was already bad, but at least it was intelligible. They could at least listen to his singing and understand what he was saying. Now, it felt like he was just making low, guttural noises with his throat, which was infinitely worse than hearing an out-of-tune voice.
The Karaoke Machine started at an even fifty, and if the person performed well, then the score would rise and vice versa. Usually, this number would slowly rise or fall but always hovered around the actual ability of the singer. But when Grammo performed, the score immediately dropped to 40 just as he uttered his first sound. And it didn’t stop there.
As Grammo continued to perform, the number just kept dropping like it was a countdown to a ticking time bomb, which wasn’t entirely untrue. If Grammo kept performing this badly, then their future in this school would blow up!
Despite the reaction of the crowd and the low score from the machine, Grammo kept performing his strange gravelly song as if there wasn’t anyone around him. His face was serious and passionate as if he only cared that his craft was out of his mind and into reality.
50…
40…
30…
20…
10…
00…
Patty thought everything was over, but then he heard something…