(My last chap this week as I need to prepare for Eid. I will come back on Tuesday/Wednesday next week, depends on when I came back from my hometown. Enjoy the chap!)
[Edward POV]
"I feel… a bit embarrassed."
As I watched the group walking around with classy outfits, I felt out of place standing there with my white shirt and plain jeans. Pepper and my aunt immediately left me alone after we entered Jay's house, making me feel even more excluded. .
Haley was actually the one who opened the door and she proceeded to immediately grab my hand and bring me next to the poster.
Gloria had prepared a red- no, it was actually closer to an orange carpet, but Pepper was the one who had brought the official poster for the event. It was a blown up shot of me from my sexy photoshoot, where I was only wearing a jacket and nothing underneath. My eyes were smoldering, and my lips were parted slightly, giving me a seductive look in the photo.
"You should be. Where is that guy?! I want to meet him, not this…" Haley said as she pointed to the poster before gesturing at my body. She was wearing a flowery black dress that accentuated her figure, and a black high heels that brought her face closer to mine, but she couldn't surpass my height just yet.
I smirked and leaned forward before whispering in her ear, "Now I have actual proof that you're secretly a pervert." She was practically drooling and was taking multiple pictures with the poster before her friends even got here.
Haley blushed and snapped back to retort immediately, "No. My reaction is normal for a teenage girl- Stop staring at me." Her voice turned shaky as I kept my rizz up and was giving her a smoldering look at the moment. "Staring at you, how?" I asked seductively.
She bit her lower lip and caught her mom who was walking by from behind to use as a human shield. Claire was wearing a cream coloured dress, and had her hair tied up at the back. She was also holding a champagne glass in her right hand, which I was sure was full a minute ago.
I turned off my rizz mode and asked Claire, "Hey. Can someone tell me what's going on?"
"Hmm? You don't know?"
"Well…I can assume that people are gathering here to watch my video, but to be honest…yeah, I have no idea."
Claire smiled softly and said, "Well. Your dad called us, and invited us to your house. But Phil-" She pointed at Phil who was setting up the projector behind her, "...Offered to do it here instead."
"Without asking Jay?" I asked.
"Yup." Claire leaned in and whispered, "Luckily Gloria put my dad in a good mood, so no harm done." She clicked her tongue twice, and I was positive that she was drunk right now as there was no way she would use euphemism while talking to me, or any other kids.
Mitchell noticed this and pulled Claire away from me immediately, "Heeeyyy, Claire. Go sober up . Also, Ed, CONGRATULATIONS!" He hugged me and patted my back for a few short seconds before breaking it off.
I smiled and said, "Thank you. It mustn't be easy for you to be here. You have a lot of work at the firm right? I really appreciate you being here."
Mitchell looked down shyly and giggled before saying, "No. No. Work is not as important as this evening."
Cameron finally noticed me and ran from the kitchen before giving me a bear hug from behind, lifting my entire body in the air, and turned me around in excitement.
"ROCK STAR! ROCK STAR! ROCK STAR!" Cam chanted while spinning me. "Cam. Don't bother him. He must be anxious right now. Let him go." Pepper said from afar before coming in to pull Cam back to the kitchen.
'Ahh, that's why they were leaving me alone.' I thought as only the kids were talking to me. Luke and Manny were playing tag inside the house, and I playfully caught Luke while he was running away from Manny.
"Let me go- NO!"
As I caught him, Manny finally could tag him, making him the next chaser.
"Finally. I've been chasing him for 20 minutes." Manny complained. "And I didn't even want to play this game in the first place."
"Then why do you keep chasing him?" I asked.
"I don't know." Manny shook his head before running away, and Luke chased him next. "This time, Edward can't help you!" Luke shouted like a mad demon.
"Luke is playing on easy mode." I muttered as I watched Manny get caught in less than a minute. His bulging belly made it hard for him to run faster. That was why he was always caught by Luke.
'In the series, Gloria always told him not to do anything that would make him uncomfortable. But in the end, he turned into an entitled, spoiled adult. Maybe he should get out of his comfort zone more.'
"Heyya Kiddo. Congratulations. I'm sure you'll hit it big!" Jay said as he walked in from the backyard and patted my back. I turned to look at him, pushing my thoughts on Manny to the back of my mind.
"Why don't you take a seat and wait for this thing to be over?" Jay asked although it sounded more like a statement, and pointed to the seats Gloria had rented for the event.
Jacob and Elsa arrived at the premier after 15 minutes, dressed in a couple look with their matching jackets. Alex entered the house while dragging Jenna who seemed reluctant to come here. I walked to the front door to greet them, and to ask her 'why' at the same time.
"Umm…" Jenna opened her mouth a few times, but no words would come out. Elsa on the other hand was glaring daggers at me.
[Flashback- Jenna POV]
Elsa dragged me to the girls bathroom after class was over, and there, I was interrogated about why I was reacting this way.
"So. He's already dating someone else? That bitch!" Elsa said with gritted teeth after I broke down and told her everything. Of course, my best friend gave me an hour-long lecture about stalking and breaking into someone's house first before she returned to my side.
"He's just playing with you then!" Elsa said in anger. I was looking downcast the whole time Elsa was cursing at Ed before Alex suddenly walked into the toilet.
"Hey. Are you guys ready?" Alex asked casually, not reading the atmosphere inside the room.
"Hey. Is Ed dating your sister?" Elsa asked immediately after she saw Alex. I widened my eyes and tried to stop the conversation, before Alex replied casually, "No. They aren't."
"Are you sure? They haven't done anything?" Elsa asked again.
"I know my sister. If she's dating someone, then she will be stuck to her phone the entire time. She might have hooked up with him though, cause she's a bit of a slut." Alex replied before grabbing my wrist. I was stunned after hearing what Alex said, and thought inwardly in relief, 'Ahh…so they were just hooking up.'
"Hey. Does Ed like sluts?" I asked Alex as she was his best friend.
Alex shook her head and said, "No. He's a bit special, that way. He is more attracted to someone's personality rather than their beauty. If he thinks you're not a good person, he won't even glance at you."
"What- Seriously?" I widened my eyes as I finally understood the scene I saw before.
"Yeah." Alex replied before saying, "We need to go now. My mom is waiting for us in front."
She dragged me to her family's minivan where her mom greeted us with a bright smile on her face.
"MOM! Don't embarrass me!" Alex said shyly after her mom was being friendly with us.
'Why can't my mom be like this?' I thought depressingly as I felt jealous of Alex's relationship with her mom.
When we were shopping at the mall, I had to shake my head a few times at Alex's disastrous fashion sense and took charge in telling her what to wear, making the whole day more enjoyable than I thought.
However, the guilt from me stalking Ed was eating me up on the inside making me reluctant to meet with him today.
"Hi Jenna. Why so pouty?" Ed asked the second I walked into Alex grandpa's mansion. My stomach fluttered immediately as I saw him, and I couldn't take my eyes off him.
"Um…"
The cat got my tongue as my face blushed in his presence. Then, I finally noticed the seductive poster for the premier, and I gulped my saliva as I got turned on by it.
[Edward POV]
'Well that was weird.' I thought as I saw Jenna return to her usual demeanor. Abby and Desiree walked in after Jenna and the others had taken their seats, and I almost dropped my jaw as I saw Desiree's dress.
It was a shoulderless and strapless dress, that was pushing her humongous breast upward, almost popping them out of her chest, and it was a short dress that showed her pale white thigh.
"Where's Mr Theodore?" Desiree asked with a thirsty expression as she scanned the room.
"MOM!" Abby called out to her in embarrassment. She was wearing a black dress with a low cut top, with her hair tied up in a twintail hairstyle.
"OH. There he is~ TED~!" Desiree lightly jogged towards my dad who was in the kitchen the second she saw him, leaving behind a stunned Abby.
"Now that we are all here." Jay stepped up in front of the projector and started the premier as he couldn't wait for the day to be over. He opened his mouth, and then he saw Pepper raising his hands with a serious face. "Pepper would…like to say a few words." Jay said as he pointed at the weird man.
Pepper nodded and walked up to the front and stood next to Jay. He looked at Jay weirdly and said, "You can take a seat. I can handle this."
"Oh right." Jay exclaimed casually before he sat down. He couldn't care less about hosting the premiere, and was only starting the event because Gloria told him too. Abby and Haley were sitting on each of my sides, while the rest of my friends were sitting nearby on the same row.
Pepper smiled softly as he looked at me before making a speech.
"As you all know, Ed is pretty cocky." Pepper said, making the crowd laugh. I shrugged as I wasn't bothered by it and waited for what he was going to say next.
"When I first met him, he told us he was going to play a song to repay our kindness to him. At first, I thought he was actually just going to show off, but before he walked to the stage, he told me… "There's not a lot of adults who'd take a second look at me, especially bringing me around to play. You got the privilege to be my first fan because of that." And just like he said…I became his first fan, even before…he got onto the stage."
Phil was holding my shoulders as he was sitting behind me proudly . Claire was having a complicated look on her face, but I didn't know why. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, scooching her ways to the left as she needed to get pass my dad and Desiree before getting out
[Phil and Claire's commentary]
"Claire cried after that." Phil said as he gazed at Claire who had glassy eyes and red nose sitting next to him. He then whispered, "It's her time of the mont-"
"Phil!" Claire smacked her hand at Phil to stop him from continuing.
[Commentary ends]
Pepper continued, "And since then, it's been a wonderful journey for me as I managed to watch him grow step by step to become a true artist. And without any delay, I wanted to share with you guys his first step to success– as his singles and music video release this Wednesday!"
The audience applauded, and Phil whistled in excitement. I was a bit abashed at their support, and was nodding slightly to thank them. Haley and Abby laughed at me while keeping their eyes fixed on the projector.
"So. Enjoy." Pepper said before pushing the play button with the remote in his hand.
The video started with a 3 second countdown screen that I think Phil had added in.
"I'm so excited." Jacob said as he lightly shook Elsa's hand before focusing on the screen again. Elsa shot him a smitten glance before turning over to Jenna who had her eyes glued to the screen. Even the usually distracted Luke was focusing on the screen.
The video started with an aesthetic shot of Ed and Penny having fun on the bed together.
"That's the waitress…" Abby narrowed her eyes as she saw Penny on screen.
"Oh my. That's very intimate." Cam muttered with a giggle as the video showed me tossing Penny on the bed and pinning her down. But then, Penny's change of expression while she was staring at the screen startled the viewers.
The setting changed, and rain could be seen outside the window of my room. I was sitting at the edge of the bed before singing, looking deeply in pain, "♫♪Easy come, easy go, that's just how you live, oh♫♪"
"♫♪Take, take, take it all, but you never give♫♪"
♫♪Shoulda known, you were trouble from the first kiss, Had your eyes wide open…Why were they open? (Ooh-ooh)♫♪"
"What's going on? I thought they were happy?" Phil muttered.
"Oh God. Previous memory. The trauma. Cam." Mitchell said as he thought about his exes while seeing this. He patted Cam's shoulder to gain his attention, nevertheless Cam was glued on the screen.
♫♪Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash (ooh-ooh),You tossed it in the trash, you did (ooh-ooh).♫♪
I picked up the picture of me and Penny on the nightstand and looked at it, before the picture cracked. The scene then alternates between me singing inside the room and pulling the piano on the streets with some effort.
♫♪To give me all your love is all I ever ask, 'Cause what you don't understand is, I'd catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)♫♪
♫♪Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'd jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)You know I'd do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)♫♪
"Truck. Truck. TRUCK!" Claire shouted in bewilderment as the scene changed to me pulling the piano inside a tunnel, with traffic still moving behind me. She finally stopped after seeing the truck swerved to avoid me, and breathed in relief.
"For ya? Isn't that a bit racist?" Cam asked in concern at the same time Claire was freaking out. Gloria stared at him and said, "He's half Cuban."
"Oh Yeah. Right."
Jay gave a side eye at Cam before continuing to watch the video.
This time, I was singing while pulling the piano. ♫♪Oh, oh, I would go through all this pain, Take a bullet straight through my brain~!♫♪
♫♪Yes, I would die for ya, baby. But you won't do the same…No, no, no, no~!♫♪
"He's so sad." Haley sobbed while watching. I was confused and turned toward her. "But "he" is me? You do know that right???" I said.
"Yeah. but he's more handsome." Haley said.
"..."
The singing was taken over by the bedroom me as the street me was pulling the piano in front of a mexican gang.
♫♪Black, black, black and blue, Beat me 'til I'm numb, Tell the devil I said "Hey" when you get back to where you're from…♫♪"
I tried to ask them by showing the picture of my girlfriend, but the tattooed Mexican gang tried to intimidate me into going away.
♫♪Mad woman, bad woman, That's just what you are, Yeah, you'll smile in my face then rip the brakes out my car (ooh-ooh)♫♪"
"Off- Who is the lyric for. Why is it so biting?" Desiree said while hugging my dad's arm in between her chest.
♫♪Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash (ooh-ooh) You tossed it in the trash, yes, you did (ooh-ooh)♫♪
The gang smacked the picture out of my hand, and I bent over to pick it up before walking straight forward.
"(Sigh) She isn't going to like this at all." Ted muttered ambiguously. Desiree looked at him in confusion before leaning her head closer and resting it on his shoulder. He coughed twice in embarrassment, but he wasn't pushing her away.
♫♪To give me all your love is all I ever ask, 'Cause what you don't understand is, I'd catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)♫♪
My neat suit was becoming messy as I had worked hard to pull the piano. I passed by a homeless man that seemed to recognize me, but he too couldn't stop me from moving forward.
♫♪Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah),I'd jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) You know I'd do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)♫♪"
"Oh he's finally there." Phil said in excitement as he saw I had arrived at a house. I smiled as I saw Penny through the window, but she hadn't noticed me yet. Suddenly, another man walked from behind her, grabbed her and put her on the window sill, before making out passionately with her.
"Oh god." Jenna bit her lower lips as she saw my playboy character. "He's so hot." Alex blurted out unconsciously, making Jenna turn to her. She realized what she said and avoided Jenna's gaze, not knowing that Jenna felt a sense of comradeship with her.
Abby and Haley also started to breathe heavily as they saw the player, and they were leaning closer to me as if wanting to compare the both of us. They did it secretly, before they accidentally locked eyes with each other, and moved their head to the initial position in embarrassment as they thought they were caught by the other person.
♫♪Oh oh, I would go through all this pain, Take a bullet straight through my brain. Yes, I would die for ya, baby…But you won't do the same…♫♪
My face crumbled, and I turned away from watching the scene before pulling the piano away.
"..." Phil jaw dropped as he couldn't believe what just happened. "But they seemed so happy…" He said with teary eyes.
Abby sighed and stole a glance at me while I was watching the music video. Despite my great acting, my fingers were all curled up as I saw my own image on the screen.
'Still cringe. Damn. Next time, I won't join them to see it.' I thought.
♫♪if my body was on fire, (No) ooh, you'd watch me burn down in flames, (No) you said you loved me, you're a liar, ♫♪'Cause you never, ever, ever did, baby..♫♪
The me dragging the piano turned away from the house and walked away, and Penny saw that I had known about her cheating. However, she seemed unaffected by it.
"That bitch!" Haley cursed while Abby nodded to agree with her.
Despite all that, the me inside the screen was still in love with her.
♫♪But darling, I'd still catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'd jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) ♫♪You know I'd do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)♫♪
He pushed the piano with all of his strength as he walked uphill, and his legs were weak from the strength he put into it. Inside the bedroom, I crumbled and was sitting with my back against the wall, no longer moving from the pain of my broken heart.
Finally, we reached the ending.
♫♪Ooh-ooh, I would go through all this pain, Take a bullet straight through my brain, Yes, I would die for ya, baby,But you won't do the same…♫♪
I finally reached the train station, and was playing the piano while on the train tracks. It was filmed at a tricky angle that made me seem like I was putting myself in a dangerous position, but it was actually untrue. Claire widened her eyes and said, "No…No…No No No No…"
♫♪No, you won't do the same…You wouldn't do the same~! Ooh, you'd never do the same♫♪
♫♪No, no, no, no-oh♫♪
The train finally arrived. But instead of Bruno's suicide ending, the train stopped in front of me, and I left the piano behind to get on board of it. The camera change revealed that I was waiting for the train in the first place, and Claire finally breathed easy when she saw it.
"Ah. He's moving on." Phil said with a smile on his face.
The group applauded at me as I entered the train, and my music video premier was over.