The final bell rang through Chelsea Academy's corridors. Students poured out from classrooms, their voices creating a chaotic symphony of laughter and chatter. Amias shoved his textbook into his backpack, mind already racing with plans. The session with Zel would be crucial—no room for amateur mistakes. He needed to impress and therefore had to improve his stats.
As he pushed through the double doors to the courtyard, the afternoon sunlight hit his face. He squinted, scrolling through his phone to message Zara about Zel's hopefully impending response.
"Amias!"
He looked up to see Temi approaching, her school uniform customized in ways that somehow skirted just within regulation. Behind her walked Kysha, her expression calculating as she sized him up.
"What's good?" he responded, tucking his phone away. He couldn't help but notice how Temi's eyes lingered on him. The memory of the studio balcony flashed through his mind, her fingers threading through his hair, her breath against his face.
"Nothing much," Temi said, casually flipping one of her braids over her shoulder. "Just wondering what you're up to."
"Heading home," Amias replied. "Got some things to sort."
Kysha stepped forward. "Heading to the studio?" Her tone was casual, but her eyes were sharp with interest. "That track from you made was cold"
Amias nodded. "Thanks. But no, I'm not heading to the studio."
"Speaking of," Temi said, moving closer until she was just within his personal space. "My friend Jaden's having a party tomorrow night. Notting Hill. You should come through."
"Definitely," Kysha added. "Everyone's talking about it."
Amias hesitated. "Jaden..." The name clicked. "Isn't Jordan going to that party?" he said, more to himself than to them.
Something flickered across Temi's face—a momentary tension in her features that vanished so quickly he almost missed it.
"Yeah, I think so," she said, her voice suddenly casual. "Why, is that a problem?"
Amias's mind raced. Despite the the beef that was escalating, Jordan still decided to enjoy his customary routine of being out and about. Worse yet he decided to continue partying and crowded parties were perfect hunting grounds.
"Nah—" he started.
"Ami! Ready?"
Zara's voice cut through his thoughts. She approached from behind, her gaze sliding coolly over Temi and Kysha before settling on Amias.
Something shifted in the atmosphere. Temi's smile tightened at the corners as she took in Zara's immaculate uniform, her confidence, and the casual familiarity with which she addressed Amias.
"We heading out?" Amias asked Zara, grateful for the interruption.
"Yeah. I saw the car waiting outside," Zara replied, her tone warm but her eyes wary as she glanced between him and the girls.
Kysha snorted softly. "Car service, yeah? Fancy."
Zara didn't dignify the comment with a response, just raised an eyebrow slightly.
Amias looked directly at Kysha, who's eyes were filled with thinly veiled amusement. He held her gaze silently, his expression hardening for just a moment before he deliberately turned away.
"Still think about the party," Temi insisted, touching Amias' arm lightly. "I'll text you the details."
"Yeah, I'll see you," he said to Temi.
"Right," she replied, something uncertain flickering in her expression. "Just, think about coming, yeah?"
"I will," he promised, though he wasn't sure he meant it.
As he and Zara walked away, he could feel Temi's eyes on his back. Once they were out of earshot, Zara let out a small sigh.
"I hate people like her," she muttered.
"Don't study her," Amias replied, nudging Zara's shoulder with his own. "So, you ready for this marketing idea of yours?"
Zara's face brightened instantly. "Absolutely. I've got the concept all planned out."
They pushed through the school gates and into the street where a gleaming black Range Rover idled at the curb. The window rolled down to reveal Capari behind the wheel, Dyno in the passenger seat.
"Wagwan, lil cuz?" Capari called out, his gold chain catching the afternoon light. His eyes shifted to Zara. "And who's this?"
"This is Zara," Amias said as they climbed into the backseat. "My friend and new manager."
Zara offered a polite but reserved smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Manager already?" Capari laughed, pulling away from the curb. "Moving mad quick, innit?"
"She's got ideas," Amias explained. "Tell them about the marketing plan."
Zara straightened up slightly, a more professional demeanor taking over. "We need to generate buzz before the release. Create anticipation. So I was thinking we stage a video—make it look like you get caught lacking in public, then reveal it's promotion for your track."
Dyno twisted in his seat, eyebrows raised. "That's actually cold."
"Yeah," Amias added. "We'll record it like someone just spotted Central Cee's cousin out in the wild, right? Create some mystique."
Capari's eyes met Amias' in the rearview mirror. "So basically, we roll up on you somewhere crowded, shout you out, and film your reaction?"
"Exactly," Zara confirmed. "Then we post it on social media, get people curious about who Amias is."
"That could be funny, still," Capari chuckled. "Where we doing this?"
"Westfield?" Amias suggested. "Plenty of people, good lighting."
"Nah," Dyno countered. "Too many opps might see you for real. Shepherd's Bush Market's better. Still crowded but more control."
The Range Rover glided through London traffic as they refined the plan. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up near the market entrance.
"Alright," Zara directed, taking charge with surprising authority. "Amias, you walk along that stretch there. Look natural, like you're just passing through. Capari, you'll film from the car, call out to him like you've spotted him randomly."
Amias nodded, adjusting his jacket as he stepped out of the SUV. He walked about twenty meters away, then began casually strolling along the street, head slightly down as if lost in thought.
Capari rolled down the window, camera ready. "Nahhhh! Amias lacking! Swear down, Amias is lacking!" he called out, loud enough for nearby pedestrians to turn and look.
"Yo Amias! Where you going, fam?" Dyno added, leaning across from the passenger seat.
Amias looked up, startled—not entirely an act—then his face hardened. With practiced movement, he reached toward his waistband as if reaching for a weapon, his eyes never leaving the vehicle. Then he turned, walking briskly away while throwing one last warning glance over his shoulder.
"Cut!" Zara called from the backseat, barely containing her laughter. "That was perfect!"
Amias jogged back to the Range Rover, sliding into the backseat as curious onlookers continued to stare.
"Play it back," he urged, crowding next to Capari to see the phone screen.
The footage looked surprisingly authentic—Amias' reaction had been perfect, the right mix of alert and threatening.
"This is cold," Dyno said, watching the replay. "People are gonna eat this up."
"Send it to me," Zara instructed, careful to direct her request to Amias rather than asking for Capari's number directly.
As they pulled away from the curb, Capari turned up the music—Loading—the latest Central Cee track filling the car as they merged into traffic.
"Where to now?" he asked.
"Can you drop us both home?" Amias requested.
"Course. Zara first, yeah?"
As they drove through London's streets, a silence voiding the usual chatter of that came with being in a vehicle with others. Amias idly stared out the window, the yellow hue of the day painting an almost surreal painting of the side streets. The passed coffee shops crowded with pedestrians who's hands were filled with a cup of coffee, eagerly going on about their day whilst chatting animatedly, Joggers who were briskly pacing through the streets, carefully maneuvering to avoid colliding with passerby's.
Capari glanced at Amias in the rearview mirror. "Fam, you know you're gonna need your own whip soon, innit? Once you turn seventeen next week. When this music thing pops off, you can't be taking the tube to sessions."
"True," Amias acknowledged, his attention diverted from his before gazing. "I'm lucky I'm graduating this year at least."
"Me too," Zara added. "It's a good thing we both started school early. Though I'm not exactly looking forward to uni applications."
Capari nodded thoughtfully. "Music could change all that for you, cuz. Central's already putting your name out there. You play your cards right, school might become optional real quick."
The conversation shifted, and Capari lowered his voice slightly. "Heard anything from Tyler and Jordan?"
"Nothing new," Amias replied, conscious of Zara beside him. "Jordan mentioned that party tomorrow, though. I think Tyler might end up rolling with him."
Capari's knuckles whitened slightly on the steering wheel. "That's long, fam. Too greedy considering what MGZ said."
"Yeah, I told them to cool it," Amias responded, keeping his tone casual despite the weight of the situation.
"Ight, well, we'll have to pull up too then," Capari decided. "Could do with a function myself."
Amias hesitated. "Hmm, I don't know..."
"Relax, lil cuz," Capari said with a reassuring grin. "You're coming. Safety in numbers, innit?"
They pulled up outside an elegant townhouse in a leafy west London neighborhood—Zara's home, worlds away from the estates where Amias lived.
"Thanks for the ride," she said politely as she gathered her things.
Before getting out, she turned to Amias, enveloping him in a warm hug that lingered just a moment longer than necessary. "I'll edit the video tonight. See you tomorrow, right."
As she walked to her front door, Capari pulled away from the curb, a knowing smile on his face.
"Fam, I rate her for you, inno," he said once Zara was out of sight. "That's the kind of gyal you cherish."
Amias shook his head. "What are you on about?"
"Come on, cuz. If she wasn't lightskin, I'd think she's racist—didn't want to talk to me or Dyno, just you."
Dyno laughed. "Facts. All business, that one."
"She's not interested in that vibe," Amias explained, though something stirred in his chest at the observation. "She's just focused on her own stuff."
Capari exchanged a skeptical glance with Dyno. "If you say so, cuz. If you say so."
<>
ADIN ROSS LIVE - LATE NIGHT VIBES - !SUB !PRIME
[Stream overlay shows 73,278 viewers]
The stream had been going for about two hours already. Adin Ross lounged in his gaming chair, a half-empty Red Bull on his desk, his curly hair slightly disheveled under his headphones. The chat was moving at its usual chaotic pace—a blur of emotes, inside jokes, and random comments.
"Alright chat, that's enough Warzone for now. My fucking brain hurts after that last game. How the fuck did that kid know I was there?" Adin shook his head, closing the game. "Let's chill for a bit, check out some stuff you guys sent me."
The chat immediately flooded with suggestions:
xToxicFlame: REACT TO THAT DUKE CLIP BRO
MoneyMaker2k: check out that new Drake leak
PrimeTimeSZN: $25 dono - yo adin check twitter someone posted u sleeping on stream
YungJizzle: cap no one posted him sleeping
Adin glanced at the donation notification. "Thanks for the twenty-five, PrimeTime. Let me check Twitter real quick." He pulled up the app on his second monitor. "Yo, I wasn't sleeping on stream, what the fuck? Y'all just make shit up now?"
He scrolled through his timeline, occasionally pausing to read something.
"Oh shit, Duke Dennis did a backflip? No fucking way," Adin clicked on the video and watched as Duke attempted—and surprisingly completed—a decent backflip in what looked like his living room.
"DUKE BABY!" Adin yelled, breaking into that characteristic laugh of his. "Look at Duke man, so inspirational! Yo Duke, baby, come fuck meeee! I'm just playing chat, I'm just playing," he said, still laughing. "But for real though, that was clean as fuck."
The chat exploded:
LilSuspect: AYOOOOO
TwitchPrimoSZN: sus af
KingStepper: 🤣🤣🤣
BrooklynBandit: this man gay as hell
YoWaddup: PAUSE
"Chat, y'all are weird as fuck right now," Adin said, continuing to scroll. "Twitter is boring today, bro. Nothing's happening."
He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his Red Bull. The subscriber alert sounded, and Adin's eyes widened.
YungMoneyMaker gifted 30 subs!
"YungMoneyMaker with the THIRTY GIFTED SUBS! You're actually crazy, bro. Chat, can we get some W's for YungMoney? That's insane."
A flood of W's filled the chat as Adin continued scrolling through Twitter.
"What's this?" he said suddenly, sitting up straighter. "'Central Cee's cousin gets caught lacking in London market'? What the hell does 'caught lacking' even mean? Let me see this."
He clicked on the video. The stream window changed to show a video that began playing immediately. The footage was slightly shaky, filmed from inside a vehicle. It showed a young black man walking casually along a market street, head slightly down as if lost in thought. Suddenly, a voice called out from the car.
Suddenly, a voice called out from the car.
"Nahhhh! Amias lacking! Swear down, Amias is lacking!"
Another voice joined in: "Yo Amias! Where you going, fam?"
The young man—presumably Amias—looked startled for a second, then his expression hardened. His hand moved briefly toward his waistband before he turned and walked quickly away, throwing a warning glance over his shoulder.
"Yo, what the fuck was that?" Adin said, rewinding the video to watch it again. "Chat, they got guns in England? I thought they like, I don't know, banned that shit or something." He leaned closer to the screen. "What's he gonna do, shank somebody from 20 feet away?"
The chat responded:
DrillGod200: its staged bro
Capricot: MONKEY [Deleted by moderator]
SdonTrings: they do have guns in uk just not like us
QueenCharli: its a marketing stunt dummy
ToxicGamer23: central cee doesn't have a cousin cap
SavageMode: who tf is central cee
JohnWick187: Its a drill rapper from UK
Adin read through the comments. "It's staged? How y'all know that? Looked pretty real to me."
The chat erupted with messages, some explaining UK drill culture, others debating whether the video was real or staged.
"Wait, so this is actually Central Cee's cousin? For real?" Adin asked, looking between the video and his chat. The responses were mixed: cap, probably fake, clout chasing, might be real tho.
Adin's moderator sent him a message which he read aloud.
"Hold up, my mod just sent another link. Let's see..."
The stream switched to a different video—this one showing a recording studio. Central Cee was visible, nodding along to a beat while a younger man—the same one from the previous video—stood beside him, both of them focused on a mixing board where a track played faintly in the background.
"Oh shit!" Adin exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "That actually is Central Cee! I know that dude. He made 'Loading,' right? That track is fire. UK drill is actually tuff, not gonna lie."" He bobbed his head slightly. "So wait, that kid really is his cousin? Damn, they got opps and everything." He paused, reading the chat. "Chat, are they winning? Is Central Cee's cousin winning against his opps right now?"
He leaned closer to the screen, studying the video.
The chat erupted with conflicting answers:
DrillExpert: cench aint in no beef hes mainstream now
Gasemout: hes winning fam trust
Txover: Federal…
Saids: central cee is commercial not really on road
WestLLDN: DIGGA D > CENTRAL CEE
DeadlySniper98: that guy amias has a song on spotify btw
Adin noticed the last comment. "DeadlySniper says this Amias guy has a song out? Send me the link, let me check it out."
Someone dropped a Spotify link in the chat, and Adin clicked on it. The page loaded, showing a profile with the name "Amias Mars" and just one song titled "I'm Tryna." The profile picture showed the same young man from the videos, wearing a dark jacket with a golden stallion emblem.
"Amias Mars? That's his name? This profile pic is kinda tough though, I can't even front. Look at this jacket with the golden horse thing."
Adin hesitated, his cursor hovering over the play button. "Wait a minute, chat. This is probably his first song ever. There's only one track here. What if it's ass? Y'all gonna make me look stupid reacting to some trash."
The chat immediately responded:
LilRari: PLAY IT PUSSY
UThePlug: its actually fire
LaserQueenTee: scared? cicgamer23: L STREAMER
King2x: its probably not even that bad tbh
DrillGod200: its better than 90% of uk rappers
"Alright, alright! I'll listen to it. But chat, if it's trash, just say 'L' quietly. Don't spam that shit. We gotta respect the grind no matter what, you feel me?"
He clicked play, and a drill beat filled the stream. After a few bars of instrumental, Amias's voice came through—a unique blend of UK grime with hints of American inflection:
"Trap phone's buzzing like a wasp nest, paranoia's my new perfume..."
Adin's expression remained neutral, but his head started nodding slightly.
"Seen hoes switch sides quicker than a R.A.T.S. jaw clicks, Loyalty's a myth—she'll kiss your cheek while her hand's on that man's grip."
"APD can't lock what they can't catch—I'm smoke in the wind, Doctor can't save what's already dead, like trust in these ends..."
As the verse continued, Adin's head nodding became more pronounced. When the chorus hit, he was fully into it:
"Tryna see how much bread I can bake, Why'd you think I'm bruckin' this weight? Cut the cake into different shapes— Supply and demand, I got plates for days. Pull up on estates, but it's all snakes, No familiar faces, just fake handshakes. Feds in the rear, fully gas, no brakes— Blacked-out ding-dong, no plates, no mates."
"Yo, this is actually hard!" Adin exclaimed, genuinely surprised. "The beat is cold, and his flow is nice. Chat, what do you think?"
The chat was mostly positive, with W's starting to outnumber the L's:
DrillGod2200: WWWWWW
TrippieRed1: told you
DiddyFan123: mid but not bad
BigBrck: sounds like ASAP Rocky with a british accent
LaserQueenTee: better than i expected
UKStan: COLDDD
As the second verse played, Adin became even more engaged:
"Dots came long, chopped 'em shorter, spliff talk Death's 'round the corner, but I'm numb like I'm sippin' tonic. Masked up, creepin' like a Scooby-Doo villain, Tryna put man's son on a T-shirt "RIP" in the millions. Six-shot spin, parked in the cut like a pelican, Weak in the knees? Nah, he's stiff, call it medical adrenaline. Slap more than one, but I ain't inna Love Island brawl, This ain't WWE I'm climbin' walls, no ladder, no call. Tryna better my circumstances "Amias' now Picasso,""
Adin's brow furrowed slightly. "Wait, his accent is weird though. It's like... UK but also kinda American at the same time? Like he's got both going on. That's different."
He bit his thumbnail while listening to the rest of the track, occasionally glancing at chat to see their reactions. When the song finished, he sat back in his chair.
"Yo, that was actually fire for a first track! No cap. Let's do a poll. Mods, can we get a poll going? W or L for Amias Mars?"
His moderator set up a poll, and Adin waited for the results, scrolling through Twitter again while he waited.
"Yo, this 'caught lacking' video already has like 315K views. That shit's going viral quick."
After a minute, the poll results came in: 64% W, 36% L.
"Sixty-four percent W? That's a big W! For a first song ever, that's crazy good. Central Cee's cousin got talent for real."
Adin leaned back in his chair, thinking. "I wonder if he's gonna drop more music soon. That marketing with the 'getting caught lacking' video was smart as fuck too. Whoever's managing him knows what they're doing."
The chat started suggesting Adin should try to get Amias on stream:
AGeeeSA: get him and cee on stream
Eeetee: adin x amias collab
KingStepper: he probably dont know who you are
LilRari: get central cee
Tossss: SPEED > AMIAS
"What? No, I'm not gonna try to get him on stream. Yet. Maybe if he drops more heat... who knows?" Adin shrugged. "But for real though, remember that name - Amias Mars. Might be up next."
He took a sip of his Red Bull, glancing at the clock. "Alright chat, should we hop back on Warzone or what? I got like another hour before I gotta bounce."
The chat flooded with gaming suggestions, and Adin nodded. "Warzone it is. But yo, that song was actually tough. Maybe we'll check out more UK drill another time."
As he launched the game, a final donation came through:
BrooklynBandit: $50 - that amias song was at 400 listens and just hit 8k in minutes because of you. Marketing genius
"Damn, fifty from Brooklyn! Thanks bro. And yeah, did I just get played chat? Smart move on their part." Adin adjusted his headset as the Warzone menu loaded. "Alright chat, let's get this W..."