[Edward POV]
Although Haley explained herself, there were several key points that I noticed she had been keeping as secrets. She explained why she thought she could go to the showing as she wanted to study about the clothes design.
However, Claire was skeptical of her as she said that. It confused me as I saw it. I didn't know then, but I was actually the reason why she had become so relentless and out of control these days inside the family.
[Claire's commentary]
"In a month, I managed to climb my position from a lowly intern…to all the way near the top. Why do you think I could do this?" Claire said while pointing at her head.
"Because I'm smart. Because I followed the rules. Sure, Edward had given me the opportunity to prove myself, and guess what? I ACTUALLY DID." She said braggingly.
"Now. I'm no longer a housewife that worked under a 14 years old kid. I am officially hired by the company. The future of the company is bright and just created yesterday – a mobile gaming branch!"
"And I'm now the Logistic Manager for the Tourism Branch. I told my kids multiple times. If you work hard and study, the future will look great for you. I need Haley to understand that!" Claire said begrudgingly before pausing and saying in excitement, "I also took a picture with Taylor-"
[Commentary ends]
"Claire. Calm down." Phil said from afar as Claire was slowly becoming agitated. I didn't interfere with the fight and let them both continue while watching the fight from afar while Luke ran off to his room. Alex stayed beside me, unsure of what was going on.
"I know that if I tell you about it, you will react…the same way you react before you noticed Ed is here before this. That's why I didn't tell you!" Haley said in frustration while holding her tiny hand up and balled them up into fists – in frustration. Not because she wanted to punch her mother.
"So What? I can't even be mad when I found out that you're skipping school?" Claire said after she realized that she wanted Haley to listen to her more than she wanted to listen to Haley.
'Classic mother's gaslighting techniques.' I thought while shuddering and having goosebumps from Claire's skill.
"I'm only skipping a class! I didn't skip school! Besides, I didn't go there alone-."
"So if your friend jumps into a lake, you will follow them and jump too?!"
"If those friends are Abby and Tara, I will. Both of them are smart. They will make sure that it's safe to jump into the Lake, BEFORE WE JUMP IN IT! Or If you're behind me BEING LIKE THIS, I will jump in even without my friends!"
Claire rolled her eyes while Haley's chin quivered. 'Damn, this is a full-scale war instead of a fight.' I thought secretly while watching them bicker from the sofa.
Phil decided it's time for him to interfere so he rushed to the kitchen, "Why don't we all take a deep breath-"
"You don't KNOW what YOU'RE DOING! You're surrounding yourself with BAD FRIENDS HALEY!" Claire said in frustration.
"At least THEY DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE I'M AN IDIOT!" Haley shouted before turning her back against Claire and walking away.
As the string of rationality was snapped off inside Claire's mind, she shouted, "YOU'RE GROUNDED!"
"SURE, YOU MUST BE WAITING TO SAY THAT SINCE THE START! Did you even listen to what I was saying?!" Haley said with teary eyes as she ran off to her bedroom upstairs.
"Haley-" Claire tried to stop Haley, but Phil stopped Claire. "I'll go talk to her."
"Hmmm…" I rubbed my chin while looking at Claire's direction.
"It's awkward now. Are you still staying for dinner?" Alex asked.
"I don't know. I will see what happens next, then I'll decide." I replied to Alex after turning to look at her face.
Claire heard our conversation and she flinched involuntarily after I turned toward her with an innocent smile plastered on my face.
"I…I'm going to make dinner." Claire said before she ran to her bedroom.
"Making dinner on her bed?" I asked sarcastically. Alex rolled her eyes and said, "You are enjoying this huh."
"Not at all. I don't like seeing people fight. Especially since it's a very stupid fight." I replied.
"Stupid…? Why do you say that?" Alex asked in confusion. "Mom is right. Haley shouldn't skip school."
"Yeah. That's true from one perspective." I muttered. Alex became incredulous and asked, "Then, why do you say it's a stupid fight when one party is clearly in the wrong?"
"Want me to explain?" I asked teasingly.
"Yeah. That's why I'm asking." Alex said sarcastically.
"Then, let's go see your sister first. I'll explain with some examples. Follow me my dear Watson." I said before walking toward the stairs.
"What- Wait up!" Alex ran to chase me from behind before we walked to her room together.
"By the way, when is your dad going to fix this step?" I asked after I almost stumbled on the broken step in the middle part of the stairs.
"SOON!" Phil answered from afar with a tone full of agitation. Alex and I were startled by his voice and we turned to look at each other before we laughed.
Inside Haley's room, Phil was trying hard to connect with his teenage daughter. Alex and I stopped in front of the door and peeked at his effort instead of barging in.
Sitting on a chair next to Haley who was lying on her bed, Phil said, "Things with your mom got pretty intense down there, huh? All like east coast/west coast."
"Uh..What?" Haley was confused by her dad's speech pattern and couldn't help but sit up on the bed and stare at him after putting her notebook down.
"You feelin' me?" Phil continued, causing more confusion all around. Even Alex who was eavesdropping with me was confused.
[Phil's commentary]
"Act like a parent, talk like a peer." Phil said excitedly. "I call it 'peer-enting. I learned it from my own dad who used to walk into my room And say, 'what's up, sweathog?'"
He laughed at the memory before his eyes turned full of confidence that this method would help him connect with his daughter, just like how his dad managed to connect with him.
[Commentary ends]
"Honey. I understand that you want to skip class. I skipped class too…"
Phil lied at the end. He had a perfect attendance record in his school.
"Me and my best buds will go around in the mall, having a laugh at each other, and we all will rent a…special…movie from the movie store-"
"Dude. TMI." I mumbled to myself. "What special movie?" Alex asked me in confusion.
"Nothing." I dismissed her question as to not expose Phil.
"Dad. I didn't skip to have fun. I can do that after school. I just need to go to the showcase. That's it." Haley said to explain herself.
"Well Honey. If that's really important to you, why don't you tell me? I can pick you up from school early, and we can go there together." Phil said without any lies in his words.
While listening to what he said, I couldn't help but break into a soft smile, in which Alex said, "That's creepy."
I unconsciously covered my mouth and asked her, "What is?"
"You. Smiling like that. You like my dad so much?" Alex asked.
"Shh..I want to listen." I said to stop the conversation with her. She smirked and mumbled, "Oh. You like him so much…"
"Shut up." I said in embarrassment.
Haley was silenced by her dad's words. Her heart wavered, but she couldn't bring herself to open up to her family completely.
"Mom just doesn't trust me, and it's not fair. All she wants is to control my life. If I asked you to pick me up early, would she really let you do that?" Haley asked.
"Even if she said 'No'. I will pick you up anyway." Phil said. "And…She trusts you. It's just… we don't know what will happen when you go off alone. Weird things are happening out there."
Haley couldn't hear it anymore and asked, "Dad, is there something you want?"
"Yes, there is -- To connect with this girl right here." Phil said while pointing at Haley.
"Now, come on. Pretend I'm not your dad. We're just a couple of friends kickin' it in a juice bar."
"What's a juice bar?" Haley asked in confusion.
"Okay, a malt shop, whatever." Phil said while trying not to act old.
"Dad, I don't-" Haley tried to avoid talking as usual.
"No. Who's dad? Who's dad? I'm -- I'm Marcus from biology. Hey, Haley. How's it going with you?" Phil tried his hardest to make her talk to him.
Haley rolled her eyes and her phone rang. She picked it up and said, "Hey."
While looking at her dad, she said, " No, nothing. Just talking to some dork I met in a malt shop."
Phil was helpless as his teenage daughter was no longer responding to him. That was when Alex and I finally entered the room. I walked straight to Haley's bed and sat next to her, startling the teenage girl.
"Uhhh….What are you doing?!" Haley asked, flabbergasted by the situation.
"Is that Abby? Hey Abby, Haley will call you right back. Hang up first." I spoke loudly near her phone, and the call was disconnected after I said that.
"HEY!" Haley admonished me.
"Ed?" Phil was confused by my interference.
"Dad. He isn't Ed right now. He is Sherlock." Alex muttered flatly with a forced-to-do-it tone.
"Hey. Clearer. I didn't use my second bet reward for nothing!" I retorted in Alex's direction. She sighed and then repeated the sentence, "Dad. He isn't Ed right now. He is Sherlock- Sorry, I can't do this."
Embarrassed, Alex moved closer to her dad for support.
"Then the second reward didn't count." I said to Alex in excitement. She rolled her eyes but she couldn't object to my decision.
Phil was visibly excited as he saw I was role-playing, so he took over Alex's job quickly. "Sherlock. What case have you solved for us?"
"Are you guys really going to play right here?" Haley asked in disbelief while pushing her notebook underneath her pillow stealthily to try and hide it. Her eyes were darting all over me and Phil before she tried to stand up and ran away. I grabbed her arm and said, "I'm going to solve the cause of the fight."
"It all started on a nice and peaceful evening where Haley met an ordinary, but extremely good-looking boy. Named…me."
"No. ED. Shut up!" Haley said while trying to block my mouth.
"...Why are you the cause?" Phil asked in confusion. I bit Haley's finger lightly, causing her to be startled and let go of my mouth.
"Because. I helped Haley find the thing that she is passionate about." I said while wiping my mouth.
"ED!" Haley admonished me seriously.
Phil's eyes widened and his corner lips couldn't help but curl upward. "What is it?" He asked quickly.
"If you told him, we're no longer friends." Haley gave me an ultimatum.
Ignoring her, I said, "She wants to be a fashion designer. Or…to make clothes on her own."
"URGH! I can't believe you!" Haley stomped off from the bed to the center of the room, extremely embarrassed as her secret was out.
"Honey. Why are you mad? This is a good thing?!" Phil was extremely confused by Haley's reaction.
"Dad. GET OUT!" Haley tried chasing Phil out from her room, not knowing that the commotion had attracted Claire to eavesdrop on the door.
"It is a good thing. And when you know about it, what will your reaction be?" I asked Phil before Haley could push him out.
"Well… I will support her no matter what." Phil said without hesitation.
"That's the reason she's reacting like this." I said, causing Alex, Phil, and Haley to fall into a confused state.
"Why is that?" Alex asked as her scientific curiosity was invoked.
"She's a teenager. We tend to pry ourselves away from our parents. It's not 100% the parents fault, but it's a time in our life where we want to create an identity for ourselves."
"So…Hormones?" Alex asked, causing Haley to let out an offended gasp, "AH!"
"That played a part. Yes. But the main point for a child to move away from their parents is because of their parent's controlling behavior-"
I suddenly heard a soft thud on the door, and saw shadows underneath the door therefore I knew someone was standing outside the room.
'Claire huh.' I thought before smirking slyly.
Alex fell into a deep thought before asking, "Is this why you said the fight is stupid? But, I thought you're saying that because you think both parties weren't at fault. Doesn't your reason tell us that mom is at fault?"
Haley was in disbelief therefore she walked briskly towards me and said, "What the hell are you both doing?! Are you analyzing me? Do both of you thinks that you're so smart that you-"
By this time, Haley saw that I had her notebook in my hand. She widened her eyes and snatched the book from me immediately.
"W-W-W Did you see it?"
"Your drawings? It's good." I said.
"Your present- IT'S GOOD!?" Haley widened her eyes in confusion. She opened the pages and showed me sloppily drawn models in the book. "THIS…IS GOOD? Are you mocking me?!"
"Yeah. It's very good. When I first started, I drew much worse than that." I said while remembering my past life. Haley was in disbelief all this time, she thought that her drawings were embarrassing and not once did she show me her notes after I taught her the initial part of designing.
With a flushed face, Haley said in embarrassment, "It's…okay then…"
"Wait. Don't change the topic. I want to hear why you're saying it's a stupid fight." Alex interjected.
"Everyone. There's only one Edward. So don't pressure him." Phil said while smirking at his older daughter's reactions when she faced me.
"I want to know why he thinks it's stupid!" Alex demanded.
"Okay. I'll explain now." I said with a laugh, causing Alex to be embarrassed.
"What do you think will happen when Haley turns 18?" I asked.
"She will stay here." Phil said quickly. "...or go to college."
"As if." Alex retorted.
"Children may not know exactly what constitutes a Healthy Upbringing, but they will recognize it when they are not in a stable or supportive environment." I started to explain.
"But we tried hard to show our support." Phil said.
"Phil, I don't say you. I just say in general."
"Ahh." Phil nodded in understanding.
"For example Alex, there are teens who come from a home with very toxic parents, but they are always excusing everything they are doing with love. Like your mom and your grandma."
Claire widened her eyes and grabbed the doorknob, but stopped herself from coming inside the room as she wanted to listen to what I was going to say.
"It's damaging when the parents demand perfection in all aspects, but secretly are pushing the child toward the aspects that they believe in. It will make her feel that her best wasn't good enough, and they are useless if they make a mistake."
Haley and Alex were silent as they heard my explanation.
"So, some children will try their hardest to get their parent's recognition, while some will stop trying at all." I continued. "I guess, Haley wants to keep her hard work a secret, so as to not let her family have hope on her, nor did she want to put hope on herself."
"But why? Is my support damaging to her?" Phil asked in concern.
"No Phil. She's doing this because it'll be easier for her to give up, when she finally sees that she couldn't succeed in this, just like how she couldn't succeed in anything. She doesn't want to disappoint her family that gives support to her, therefore she just wants to do everything…on her own."
"And the fight was stupid because Claire was projecting herself on Haley, so much so that she became her own mother and tried to control her life to protect her from hurting herself in the future."
Outside the room, Claire fell into a self-actualization state as she thought about her fight with her daughter.
[Claire's commentary.]
"You how growing up, we all have that voice inside our head That tells us we're not good enough? Well, mine was outside my head, driving me to school."
"I promised myself if I ever have children of my own, I won't treat them, just like how my mom treats me. But I guess…Edward was right. I was projecting on Haley. I was treating her…the same way as my mom treated me before."
Claire shrugged and said, "Well. I didn't go out of my way to destroy her life. So I guess I'm better than my mom in that aspect."
[Commentary Ends.]
"So…the fight is stupid…because they both want the same thing?" Alex asked after thinking hard about what I said.
"Yup. They just cannot communicate it well. That's why, it's stupid."
"Shut up. Both of you!" Haley shouted. Suddenly, Claire walked into the room while having a conflicted expression on her face.
"Mom." Haley muttered in surprise.
"Haley. I just want to say. I'm sorry. You're not grounded. I just wants the best for you-"
Before Claire could finish her sentence, Haley hugged her. "Stop. I'm sorry. I should've told you what I was doing."
Phil smiled and hugged both of her daughter and wife, "I'm sorry too. I'll try to be less supportive in the future."
"No Dad! You're missing the point-" Alex said before Phil grabbed her and pulled her into the group hug too.
"That's nice. Also, I felt like Dr Phil there for a moment. " I muttered before I turned my attention to Haley's notebook instead of the family.
Suddenly, the front door doorbell rang twice, causing the family to stop their hug and release each other.
"We're going to have a talk about this later." Claire said before she exited the room and descended the stairs while Phil followed her from behind.
Haley saw that I was reading her notebook and she ran towards her bed where I was sitting.
"Hmm? Did you design clothes for me-"
"GIVE ME THAT!" Haley demanded as she tried to snatch the book from me. Her momentum caused her to crash into me, and we fell onto the bed together, her body on top of me, and our faces inches from one another.
"That's my birthday present isn't it?" I asked knowingly while Haley was stunned as she could feel my breath on her face. Her body was pressing onto me, and it would be dangerous for me to stay in that position for so long.
"Shut-"
"It's a nice design. Thank you. I couldn't wait to work on it. Do you want to work on it together with me?"
"Why don't you guys get away from each other first before talking? I feel uncomfortable looking at you guys like that." Alex said as she cringed at the situation. Haley became embarrassed and moved away quickly while I was still laying on the bed while reading Haley's notebook.
"You have a lot of good ideas. Some of it are….courageous. But I think if executed properly, it can look nice." I complimented her effort in working on her own outfits designs.
"I will go down now as I don't want to watch you two flirt." Alex said before walking away.
"We're not flirting!" Haley shouted sternly.
[Haley's commentary]
"Urgh. Why did he have to be so…nice?" Haley said in frustration. "He didn't have to interfere, but he did…I'm thankful to him…but I wish he would stop…"
"...Otherwise, I'll fall hard."
[Commentary ends]
Haley sat next to me while I was reading her notebook. I smiled and sat up next to her. "Here, see this. This is your first drawing right?" I said while pointing at a kindergarten-level drawing she had.
"Shut up. It's bad. I know." Haley said in embarrassment.
"Here, this is the latest one right? Can you see the difference between them?" I asked.
"....No?" Haley asked in confusion.
"The latest one has sharper lines. The body figure is more realistic. The outfit keypoints are more clear. You're getting better at this, and I'm sure you'll be even better in the future."
Haley smiled as she was touched and said, "Thanks."
"Also, I noticed that you put a lot of work into my birthday gift. Why didn't you give it to me?" I asked curiously.
Haley stammered and couldn't say anything, "Ummm…."
"If you give this during my birthday, it'll easily be in the top 3 gifts I got, and we could've-"
Before I could finish my words, Haley grabbed my head and kissed my lips unexpectedly while closing her eyes. She finally snapped out of it and pushed me away.
"W-W-Why did you let me do that?!" Haley freaked out and asked while standing up and moving further away from me.
"Me? You're blaming me?" I asked in confusion as I stood up next to her.
"We're not going to talk about this. That didn't happen!" Haley said.
"But it did." Suddenly, a childish voice interjected the conversation, making both of us turn our attention to the front door. Luke was smirking as he saw the whole thing and couldn't wait to use the situation to his advantage.
Suddenly, we heard some clamoring and sounds of arguments from downstairs. The sound of the strange female voice gave me goosebumps when I heard it.
"Dede?" I mumbled to myself before walking downstairs, leaving behind a regretful Haley.