(A/n: See you guys next week Monday.)
Friday came quickly, and Jacob hasn't been to school since the accident before. When I called him, his father said that his mom had sent him to a church for an exorcism and Jacob needed some time to rest to get better.
Fortunately, they didn't seem to think about sending Jacob further away and he would get back to school next week.
When I returned home, I received a call from Manny the minute I walked through the front door.
"Hello?" I answered the telephone in confusion.
"Hello! Edward! Do you want to come to Jay's house today? Mom is making some empanada." Manny asked from the other line.
"I actually need to do some work Manny, so I can't. I need to finish up the lyrics and melody for the songs I'm going to record tomorrow." I replied casually.
"Oh." Manny replied, a bit taken aback by my rejection.
"Is there something else you want to talk to me about?" I asked with some concerns.
I knew that Manny's relationship with Jay was a bit strained in the early episodes, but seeing it with my own eyes and the tv was two totally separate things.
At least on TV a true issue was covered with some comedic relief so that people wouldn't get too uncomfortable watching it.
"No. My dad…is coming to take me to Disneyland this saturday. Have you gone to Disneyland before?" Manny asked, deflecting my question.
"You know what. I actually haven't. When you get back, make sure to tell me all about it so that I can experience it too."
Manny said excitedly, "Okay Sure! Also, mom said if you want some empanadas, she can send it to your house."
"Yes please. I'll leave the front door unlocked. If I didn't respond when you're here, I must be in the zone and I can't hear you so just walk in without any concerns about it."
"Okay. I got it."
After talking with Manny for a while, I finally started on the songs. Even when I got the experience of performing live in front of a massive crowd, recording my own album still gave me the jitters.
Putting my guitar up, I started to pick the guitar strings while humming the melody of the song I wanted to record tomorrow.
Sitting on the living room sofa with a pencil in my hand as I figured out the notes and wrote it on a piece of paper, I wore headphones to shut off all the other noises for me to focus.
I sang the first verse of the song when I finished writing the melody on a piece of paper.
"First things first, I'ma say all the words inside my head. I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh-ooh…The way that things have been, oh-ooh…Second thing second, Don't you tell me what you think that I could be…I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh…The master of my sea, oh-ooh-"
"Hey! Why is your front door unlocked?!" Abby suddenly appeared out of nowhere, scaring the baby cheesus out of me.
"Holy shit!" I took off my headphones as I stood up, my face froze as I looked at her.
"What?! You're scared of your girlfriend?" Abby asked teasingly. The goth girl went easy with her makeup today. She didn't even wear her black lipstick and only wore a shiny lip gloss instead. Her hair was tied with a twin-tail style using cute, panda scrunchies.
But the one thing that shocked me the most was her low cut,one piece, plain black dress.
"What?" Abby asked in confusion after she saw me checking her out from top to bottom.
"Nothing. You just…look really hot today." I complimented her. Abby played with her hair and avoided my gaze while blushing hard.
'So. Step one is complete.' She thought to herself. After learning a few things from Haley, Abby decided to test it out on me even though she wasn't ready yet as per Haley's standard.
"So if you don't come here with your black lipstick… you have learned from the last mistake and won't let anyone know about our makeout session today?" I teased.
Abby paused, stared at my lips with a seductive gaze, and said, "What if I am?"
Gulping my saliva, I move closer toward Abby while still keeping eye contact. "Although I need to work, but I had no choice but to sacrifice a bit-"
Abby suddenly turned and sat down at the sofa. Crossing her legs seductively, she crossed her arms and said, "No. I don't want to be the girl who can't understand his boyfriend's needs. You should continue. I will just watch you."
'Step two, complete.' Abby thought as she saw my disappointed eyes. Always leave him wanting for more, that was what Haley told her.
"Too bad." I muttered and sat next to Abby. She smirked mischievously as she stared at me. Picking up my guitar again, I continued what I was doing before.
"By the way, you're coming to my concert right?" I asked.
Abby's face turned into confusion. "What concert?"
"Next week, Sunday. I'll have a concert in Santa Barbara. I'll be the opening act for the music festival there." I said casually. Abby widened her eyes in shock and said hurriedly, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Now, it was my turn to smirk mischievously. "Nope. I got VVIP tickets, so will you come?"
"Who else have you invited?" Abby asked as she grabbed onto my arm.
Turning toward her, I said lovingly, "You're the first. You're always the first."
She didn't expect the sudden attack, and she tried to hide her blushing face by turning away from me. 'Damn it. He's too smooth.' She thought.
"Stop hiding your face when you blush. You're too cute to do that." I said and pulled her face towards me again gently.
'Double attack! Damn it! Now the score is back to zero!' Abby thought as her heart palpitates quickly when I flirted with her.
"A-Anyway. What is the song you're singing just now? Is it a new song?" Abby quickly changed the subject as the atmosphere was heating up.
"Yeah. It is called, Just the way you are. Want to hear it?"
"Play it." Abby said, finally breathed in relief as her heart calmed down a little bit.
"I am a bit embarrassed to play this in front of the girl I am writing it for." I said shyly while scratching my cheek.
"Wait? For me?" Abby asked in both disbelief and excitement.
Playing the tune of the song, Just the Way You Are, I started to serenade Abby.
Edward: ♪♪Oh, her eyes, her eyes, Make the stars look like they're not shinin'
Her hair, her hair,Falls perfectly without her tryin'
She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday…♪♪
Fully blushing, Abby cupped her mouth and nose while she listened intently to the song.
♪♪ Yeah, I know, I know, When I compliment her, she won't believe me.♪♪
And it's so, it's so… sad to think that she don't see what I see..
But every time she asks me, "Do I look okay?"
I say…♪♪♪
"Okay stop. I can't take it anymore." Abby said, fully embarrassed that I had used our experience together as a song lyric. However, there was no chance I would stop singing before I got to the chorus.
Ed: ♪♪When I see your face…There's not a thing that I would change. 'Cause girl you're amazing, Just the way you areeee….
♪♪And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause girl, you're amazing♪♪
As she didn't tell me to continue this time, I continued.
Just the way you are…♪♪
Yeah,.. Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she'd let me ♪♪
"Perv." Abby muttered while laughing. Catching her eyes again, I continued.
♪♪Her laugh, her laugh
She hates it, but I think it's so sexy..♪♪
She cupped her mouth to silence her laugh and hit me in the arm. Our faces were leaning toward each other, and the melody slowed.
♪♪She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday♪♪
♪♪Oh, you know, you know
You know I'd never ask you to change
♪♪If perfect's what you're searchin' for, then just stay the same-"
As I was stopping the song to kiss Abby, suddenly the nice atmosphere that was going to earn me another kiss was broken again.
"AYY, that's wonderful!" Gloria suddenly popped out and squealed in excitement. Abby lunged toward the end of the sofa to get out of Gloria's line of sight.
"Well…We didn't mean to interrupt." Manny said quickly. "You might want to at least close the door if you're not going to lock it. I swear I saw a raccoon trying to get inside before."
"Wait what?!" I stood up urgently. "Also, when did you guys come in?"
"Did you mean what verse of the song?" Manny asked.
"Why is she still trying to hide? I was here before the song even began." Gloria said and pointed towards Abby who's still lying down in embarrassment on the sofa.
"Yeah. We're here from the start. Here are the empanadas. You can BOTH enjoy it." Manny said teasingly. Both Manny and Gloria laugh, making Abby feel more miserable. "Kill me now…" Abby said while hiding her face behind her hands.
Manny and Gloria didn't stay too long afterward and they returned home quickly to give us more 'privacy'. This time, I made sure to lock the door and ensure that no one else would distract us.
"Did they leave?" Abby asked.
"Yeah. They'd left." I replied and sat in the middle seat of the sofa while Abby was still lying down.
"Who are they?" Abby asked after calming down a bit.
"Hard to explain. Gloria…is Haley's step grandmother." I said after thinking about their family's relationship.
"Oh. She's very beautiful." Abby said.
"Don't feel threatened. You're still the most beautiful girl in my eyes." I teased. Abby got mad and grabbed me from behind. While clinging on my back, she bit my neck and said, "I'm not threatened."
"Sure-sure." I said and pushed her down on the sofa while leaning close to her face. Before she could do anything, I cupped her lips with mine and said, "Now that there are no more distractions, why don't we finish what we started before?"
By this time, Abby had already forgotten Haley's teaching. How could she still play hard to get when I had created a song, just to tell her that she was the most beautiful girl in the world.
"Shut up and kiss me." Abby said and pulled the back of my head. We kissed passionately for a while on the sofa before I moved toward her neck.
While moaning, Abby said, "This seems to be heading in a bad direction…"
"We don't have to do anything that you're not comfortable with." I said.
"No. I said bad…not wrong." Abby smirked and ran her hands under my shirt, getting a feel of my body. She continued sucking on my neck that I was sure that I would be getting a hickey afterward.
…
After we had fun – doing things that a 'couple will do' without going 'all the way' in the living room and inside my room, Abby was fixing her mascara while I got dressed.
"This dress is ruined." Abby said sadly while looking at her crumpled black dress.
"I'll make a special dress just for you after this." I said to Abby and kissed her cheek. She brightened up and walked around my room to look at the designs I had on the walls.
"This. An air fryer? They created it in Germany, but it is useless." Abby asked after she recognized the designs.
"Yeah. I'm trying to upgrade the rapid hot air technology."
"Sounds fun." Abby said with glistening eyes. Then, she realized that it would take a long time to do it, and lowered her head slightly.
Raising her chin upwards, I said, "Don't worry. If you want to create it with me, I don't mind even doing it across the country."
"Nah. Why would I make it? This is yours. You should do it." Abby said and pushed the papers into my hand.
Smiling wryly, I said, "Okay. If you don't want to participate, that's fine. But as My Girlfriend, you can be there when I fiddle with the tech, and you're entitled to give me your opinion even when I didn't ask for it. Do you understand? Girlfriend?"
She smiled brightly again and hugged me over the neck. "Of course. I'm your girlfriend after all."
Laughing a bit, I said, "Okay. Now, you need to fix your makeup. Otherwise your mom will definitely know what you did over here."
Even though I was enjoying my time with Abby, that feeling when I realized she wouldn't stay in LA afterward was like a small thorn in an otherwise beautiful relationship. The thorn wouldn't interfere much in your life, but it would hurt if the topic was touched.
"Want to eat dinner here?" I asked.
"No. I should be getting back now. Also, did you talk to your dad about borrowing the car?" Abby asked.
"Yeah. He will hitch a ride with his crew member who lived nearby. We should start driving to the desert at 10 am as the crew will be there at 12."
"Okay. By the way, Haley is coming with us tomorrow." Abby said unexpectedly.
"...Why?" I asked in confusion.
"You know. Girlfriend privilege." Abby teased. I chuckled a bit and said, "Do whatever you want."
After Abby had returned to her house, I used my post-nut clarity to finish my work that was postponed and finished writing a few more songs for me to record for an album tomorrow.
"I do need to finalize the royalty agreement with Pepper tomorrow before starting to record." I made a silent note inside my mind before I went to sleep.
The next morning started early. For the recording session today, I had worn an outfit that I had created myself.
A slim-fit nylon, bomber jacket on top of a black shirt tucked in inside a long, black pant with adidas style, 3 colored lines on the pant – black, white, and beige.
I paired it with a 3 coloured belt that followed the same color scheme as the belt, and on top of my jacket, on the left chest, a huge E.N logo made of the same color scheme was sewn on. With my hair slicked back, I put on my white shoes and walked out of the house.
Abby was waiting for me outside wearing a shoulderless, puff sleeve, black and white dress with a matching beret on her head. Haley was staring at Abby in dissatisfaction as I walked out, I didn't know why.
"Hi. Thank you for the dress. It's really beautiful." Abby said after she jogged lightly and embraced me in front of Haley.
"Hmm. It looks really great on you." I muttered as I admired her beauty. Abby gave me a little twirl as she was too excited to get a present from me early this morning. She hugged me again and whispered to my ears, "Thank you. You can expect something from me today. I will give you permission to do that."
I whispered back, "After watching me sing today, just make sure to keep it in your pants and don't pounce on me in the studio."
She hit my chest lightly and giggled. "Okay. I'll try my best."
"You guys are going to ignore me all day?" Haley suddenly chimed in. She wore an oversized white blouse and had the same aesthetic as us as she matched the blouse with a tight, black mini skirt and black leggings.
"Your outfits look good too, Haley." I said to the lonely woman. As we rode on my dad's prius, I struck a conversation with Haley. She was adamant to sit in front while I sat at the back seat and Abby was the one driving.
"Dylan contacted you after you guys broke up?" I asked. Haley shook her head in disgust and said, "He tried to. But, Madelyn told me he got chlamydia from partying on a boat with some old woman."
"Wait. He slept with the cougars?" I asked in astonishment. "I warned him about that before."
Haley said angrily, "You know about that?!"
"Yeah. He was working on my dad's ship. I give him a part time job because his car is broken. He's been working there for a few days now."
"Urgh. You should drown him in the sea!" Haley said. I shook my head now as I knew that there was no chance that Dylan would manage to steal back Haley's heart in the near future as she was too disgusted with him.
"I wonder if they lured him with food." I muttered as I thought about how the thing happened.
"Stop talking about him or I'll…tell my mom about it." Haley threatened while glancing at me and Abby, seemingly already knowing what had happened between us yesterday.
I didn't know why, the flimsy threat shook my soul. "Okay, I won't talk to him. Let's talk about something else."
An hour ride felt short as I kept conversing with the two girls. Abby then said, "Shouldn't you rest your voice? You need to sing after this."
Haley's face turned ashen and she admonished me quickly, "Why the hell did you talk so much!?"
"It's okay. I needed to warm up my voice box. Talking casually is fine. Screaming loudly would hurt it."
"Oh. Okay then." Abby said.
"By the way, did you guys have sex last night?" Haley suddenly asked. Abby was taken aback and swerved the car, almost causing us to have an accident.
With a stunned and horrified expression, Abby said, "NO! WE DIDN'T!"
Haley nodded and then asked again after Abby had calmed down, "Did you do something else, but not sex?"
"Haley. Stop trying to kill us. What's with the question anyway?" I asked quickly and held Abby's shoulder to calm her down.
"You know, when a couple friends of mine had done it, they couldn't resist putting their hands on each other the next day…like you guys did this morning."
Although Haley's instinct was terrifying, I shook my head and said, "That's just how we are. Don't be jealous when you don't have a boyfriend of your own."
"I'm not jealous!" Haley said with a weird high pitched voice.
[Haley's commentary]
Staring at the screen while trying to hide what she truly felt, Haley said, "I'm jealous."
[Commentary end]