[Edward POV]
"Damn. Why did I eat so much breakfast?" I muttered while holding my stomach as I walked through the school corridors with my 'entourage' consisting, as usual, of Jenna, Enid, Jacob, Elsa, and Abraham.
Each of us had just come back from settling our various affairs, and coincidentally met in the corridor so we decided to walk together.
Elsa had just finished planning her summer camp schedule, and Enid was coming back from the highschool newspaper interview.
Jacob had just finished watching the football team's training and Abraham was kicked out from the computer club for being too annoying. Jenna had to take a supplementary lesson with the Phys-Ed teacher as she failed the class, but it wouldn't prevent her from getting to highschool next year.
Walking staggeringly with her shoulders slumped, Jenna complained, "How could…she make me run 5 laps… around the gymnasium…" She had changed her clothes back from the PE clothes, and it was funny to see her being forced to tuck her white shirt into her red shorts as she ran breathlessly before.
"You know that the boys had to run 10 laps right?" Abraham interjected, but he only earned a murderous glare from all of the girls as they tried to comfort Jenna.
I laughed and said, "Weakling."
"HEY!" Jenna tried to protest.
"Are you not?" I asked as I turned towards her. She blushed a bit and said in a tiny voice, "But you don't have to say that out loud." We all laughed at her as we passed by the school board. The festival community members were putting banners and passing out fliers and pamphlets to the students walking around.
I took a few of the fliers and folded them neatly into paper airplanes before I threw them all over the school.
The school classes were already over, but some students still remained on site for their extracurricular activities and school clubs.
With no more boring classroom lessons, school life was bustling more than ever, even though there were less and less students coming to school during the final week before the school's out for the summer.
The short haired Enid walked to my side and whispered, "So. What are you going to do with Alex?"
"I don't know yet. I will figure it out when I find her." I replied to Enid with a reassuring smile.
To be honest, I had no idea why Enid thought Alex was mad at me. She was still responding to my texts, despite the fact that I hadn't actually seen her…for a few days now.
'I am dumb, aren't I?' I thought to myself after finally figuring out the weird situation. But right now, I needed to settle one last thing before I would go to the music classroom to meet up with Alex there.
"You know Ed, if only one friend of yours is mad at you, you can still say the problem lies with her. But if you're fighting with two people…maybe it's time to think that you might actually be the problem." Elsa said teasingly.
"..." The group laughed as I was taken aback by what Elsa said, and I frowned at them before stopping abruptly, making those who were following me from behind hit the people right in front of them.
"HEY!" Enid said as her nose hurt when she collided with my back. "We're here." I said.
"Knockity knock knock!" I said while knocking on Mrs Henderson's open classroom door in a giddy manner.
The teacher was wearing a polka dot pattern gown that made her look like a housewife in the mid-50s, and her hair was neatly tied up into a bun, with no stray hairs could be seen escaping from her hair tie's grasp.
"Come in, Mr Newgate. The rest of you can stay outside." Mrs Henderson said without even raising her head up to look in our direction. Elsa was muttering, "How did she do that?" while Enid was excitedly replying, "The legendary Mind's eyes."
"You guys are just too noisy." I said, breaking the delusions.
I waltzed into the classroom before sitting on the chair in front of the teacher's table before she could extend her invitation for me to sit. Mrs Henderson raised one of her eyebrows as she finally looked up to look at my face. She took the test paper she was currently grading and placed it on the side.
She took out a thick binder and slammed it on the table, producing a loud banging sound, startling my entourages outside the classroom. I just smiled at her as she slowly flipped the binder pages and turned it upside down before sliding it over to my direction.
"This is the Chicago 'The Shed' open field concert. We are now constructing a stage similar to this one on the school's east field." Mrs Henderson explained as she used a pen to point at the pictures inside the pages. "It'll be right in the center of the school's festival spot, and the concert won't interfere with the other activities in the festival."
"Wait. The school has the budget for this?" I asked in shock as I checked the specifications of the stage.
Mrs Henderson looked at me in disbelief and said, "Don't be silly. Of course we don't."
I laughed as I already knew who was the sponsor for the event. I helped set up the whole thing after all.
The sponsor was the same soup company for which I had starred in their commercial before, and now I had become their product ambassador for a healthy food lifestyle.
My face would be used in their billboards, and also on their product. Of course, I checked the company's background and the soup's ingredients to make sure that it wouldn't bite me in the ass in the future if the company turned out to be controversial.
'The company stayed true to their mission to keep their product organically made and healthy, so it'll be good for my image too through the endorsement. I had to thank Pepper for this one. The CEO is one of his friends after all.'
The stage was quite pricey as it cost more than 50,000 dollars in order to get everything up and running, but it was actually a simple structure to make. The actual overall spending was actually lower than the initial budget estimate, therefore the company had no problem with the sponsoring.
Thanks to that, the organizer could insert a high end sound system all around the stage without much thought, so it was a win for me.
"We've already sold tickets for over 1000 people, mostly for the students' and their families. All of the proceeds will go to the Make-a-meal charity and be used to feed the homeless through soup kitchens around the state as previously agreed." Mrs Henderson said with a slightly proud smile on her face.
"What's with that expression?" I asked with a small laugh.
Mrs Henderson's face turned stoic again as she said, "You've grown. You're no longer a money grubber."
"Oh, I'll make the money alright." I said with a grin. "There's plenty of other ways for me to make money through the concert even if I donate the ticket's sales to charity."
Mrs Henderson froze for a bit before she let out a small sigh and continued with her explanations, "As you know, the whole event was approved as the school filed for the concert under the 'school event' category. So, a student's performance is a must."
"Don't I count as a student?" I asked in confusion.
"No." Mrs Herderson answered curtly. I was taken aback at first, but then as I read the binder, I found out that my celebrity status interfered with the whole 'student' activities thing. "I see. But that's not a problem. I am planning to play together with Alex after all."
"Only Alex?" Mrs Henderson asked.
I was a bit frustrated and I said, "Again…Why is she Alex and I am 'Mr Newgate'? Shouldn't you call me Edward already? The school is almost ending already."
Mrs Henderson smiled kindly and said, "Okay. Then. Edward."
"Wait. No. That gave me goosebumps. Go back-"
Before I could finish, she smacked my head with a student's test paper nearby. I laughed out loud as I had finally made her break composure in front of me. Under her angry gaze, I shut my mouth quickly and turned my attention back to the binder.
"Wait. The concert needs to end before 9?" I asked. "This is just a 'suggestion' right? It's not set in stone. Cause I don't think I can finish the concert early. There's various factors that could push the schedule back."
"Well, a 'suggestion' is an accurate term for that. Don't worry. I will handle the event myself, so time wouldn't be a problem." Mrs Henderson said confidently. I breathed in relief before saying, "Okay then. I still need to find Alex and pried some answers from her- Not in a bad way of course."
I backpedaled immediately as I saw the teacher narrowing her eyes at me. She sure did love Alex. Why wouldn't she? After all, Alex was the teacher's pet for almost all of the teachers in school, except for the PE teacher of course.
"Don't tease her too much." Mrs Henderson said.
"I won't." I replied with a sly grin before standing up from the seat. "Oh yeah. I will need at least 250 tickets for my fan club members."
"I still remember the requirement Mr…Edward. I had allocated the fan club member spot on the left side of the stage so it wouldn't seem that you're giving them special treatment."
"Thanks." I replied casually before walking out of the classroom.
…
Jacob held my cello case as we entered the music classroom where Alex was practicing her cello with another glasses wearing boy.
"Good Alex." Finneas, the boy who would start a band together with Alex in the future, was teaching Alex how to improve her skills. He was wearing a shirt and a sweater, looking nerdy as he pushed his glasses up as he flipped the musical notes in front of him.
"AAAALEXXX!" Enid screamed in excitement and ran towards Alex before hugging her from behind. "OOF- ENID STOP TACKLING ME!" Alex said in frustration as it wasn't the first time Enid would do this.
"They are surely dating!" Elsa gossiped to Jenna's ear. I rolled my eyes and said to Elsa, "You guys are not done with that? Just ask her if you are so curious about it."
Finneas widened his eyes as he saw me, and he stopped playing his instrument as he suddenly saw a lot of people in the classroom. I walked to him and extended my hand for a handshake, and he reciprocated my gesture instantly.
"Hey. You look familiar."
"We…We competed with each other before…" Finneas said with a smile on his face.
"We did? Oh right. We did. In Spring Two thousand and five." I said as I released his hand. But, that wasn't actually why I felt a sense of familiarity every time I saw him. I carefully scrutinized his face and looked at him up and down. He covered his chest and his crotch with his hand and his face turned red. "W-What?"
"Hey…Do you…Perhaps…"
"Wh-What is it?" Finneas urged nervously, feeling out of place there as he was the only stranger around among this group of friends.
"Do you…Perhaps have a sister?" I asked.
"Huh? Y-Yeah. I do have a sister. Why?" Finneas asked in confusion.
"Is her name Billie?" I asked again.
He scrunched his face and asked, "How do you know her?"
"OOOOOHHH." I exclaimed as I finally figured out where I knew him from. He is Billie Eilish's brother, Finneas O'Connell.
'He cameoed in a future episode where Alex performed in a cafe. And in another episode where the Dunphy's got a new neighbor. He was their adult son in that episode. So he appeared twice. Is it possible that I will see a look-alike/doppelgänger in this universe?' I amused myself with that thought.
Jenna walked behind me and poked at my sides, startling my body and making me straighten my spine instantly. I turned towards her with a smile on my face and asked, "What's that for?"
With a pout, she asked, "How DID you know his sister?"
"Just from here and there. Finneas, are you interested in performing at the school festival this Saturday?" I asked him after patting Jenna's head. However, that seemed to irk Alex even more.
"Hmph!" She was mad and stomped to the side of the room and put her cello inside the stand nearby before pulling Enid to the side. Jenna and Elsa squealed as they did, and Abraham was signalling Jacob, asking what was going on to make the girls react like that.
While Jacob was explaining to Abraham about the Alex and Enid relationship theory, I smiled kindly at the uncomfortable Finneas and asked him a few more things.
…
[Alex POV]
'Why did he bring his cello? Oh my god, is he kicking me out of the stage? DAMN HIM! FINEEE! I don't wanna play with him anyway!'
I turned to Enid and admonished her angrily, "You were supposed to give me a signal before he came. Now, I can't even run away."
"BUT WHYYY? You guys can talk it out. And I don't think that Ed even knows what he did to make you mad."
"He did NOTHING!" I said, my tone unconvincing. "But its dangerous to have him around. Or he'll start his whole Dr Phil thing again."
"Huh. What?" Enid tilted her head in confusion.
"Ugh. I'm going to sneak out of here. Cover for me." I said to Enid.
"Where are you going?" Suddenly, Ed's voice sounded from behind me, startling the both of us.
"E-Edward." I called him while stuttering.
"Hi Alex. Long time no…see." Ed said with a sly smile on his face. He knew, didn't he? Damn it!
[Edward POV]
I have no idea why Alex was acting like a shelter puppy who has a mistrust of humans. I patted her head, which made her widen her eyes and disarmed a bit of her hostility towards me.
"Don't go. We need to practice. Without you, I cannot do the concert. Also, I got this guy to agree to join the team. I also convinced him to invite his sister." I said while pointing at Finneas who was confused and dazed right now, wondering how the hell did I manage to get him to say yes.
Alex's eyes darted between the two of us, and she finally relented and let out a long sigh. "Fineeee."
"Great. I have a lot to teach, so we're going to spend the entire week together. Before we do that, do you have something that you wanna say to me?"
"No!" Alex replied immediately and she ran away from me again. I sighed and turned to Enid, who in turn flinched as my gaze landed on her. "What about you? Do you know what that's all about?"
"Honestly…" Enid turned to look at Alex who was talking to Jenna before she continued, "... I don't have the slightest clue about what's actually going on…"
…
[General POV]
Sneaking away from the group for a while, Finneas took out his phone and called his 11 year old little sister.
"Billie…You…How did you do it?" Finneas asked with an impressed tone as the call connected.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Billie was confused when she heard the question.
"Don't play dumb with me. How did the rising artist, Edward Newgate, know about you??!" Finneas asked angrily.
"???"
"If you don't want to tell me about it, then it's fine. But he told me to ask you this, so I will. Billie, won't you come and join our band? We're going to rock the school festival!"
Billie was silent for a while as she was in disbelief about the whole situation. "You know I'm studying at another school right?" She wasn't kidding. She was actually enrolled in an all girl school nearby.
(A/N: Not the true backstory, I was just building it based on the cameo inside the series as Finneas's character in the story doesn't have any details. Not even his name was revealed if I am not mistaken.)
While Finneas was calling his sister, Jenna and the others were watching Edward teaching Alex how to play the cello. However, they soon became bored as Alex had to repeat the same melody several times in order to perfect her skills.
"Wait. I got an idea!" Jacob said before he turned to Edward's cello case with glittering eyes. Then, he revealed the 'contrabands' items inside of the cello, making the group widened their eyes in awe.
"LET'S PLAY SOME GAMES!" Abraham said excitedly as he pounced on the PS2.
In front of the school, a blonde teenage pop star was wearing a baseball cap on her head and was wearing a baggy, but familiar black hoodie – one that was worn by Edward before this.
Taylor snuck into the school and walked to the musical classroom with a grin on her face. "I wonder how he will react when he sees me here!" She said excitedly.
…
[Edward POV]
I saw that Alex's mood was worsened as she saw the items inside the cello case that I brought. She turned towards me and asked, "Why did you bring that here?"
"I can't really keep them at Jacob's house. If his mom finds out, he will be toast, at the very least he will get punished again, this time maybe for several weeks." I said jokingly, trying to diffuse the situation.
Alex said mockingly, "That's great. Edward Newgate. Ever the savior huh."
"What's wrong with you?" I asked with narrowed eyes.
"Nothing is wrong with me." Alex replied before lowering her eyes and trying to play the cello once again. But I could see that she was distracted as she was playing so poorly even a newbie cello player could probably beat her and so the instrument was producing some really unpleasant sounds.
"Hey. Do it properly."
Alex replied in a mocking manner, "Sorry that I don't have a 'God-given talent' to succeed in everything I do. Some people are just born ordinary. We can't all be like you-"
"Okay that's it." I said in a stern manner as I stood up abruptly from the chair I was sitting on. Although the others were sitting around the TV to watch Abraham versus Finneas's match, all of them were instantly attracted by our fight. Enid's eyes darted between Alex and I a few times before she reluctantly walked towards us, trying to diffuse the situation.
Startled by my sudden change in temperament, Alex stammered fearfully, "W-W-What? I didn't say anything wrong-"
Before she could finish, I grabbed her right ear with my left hand. "Ow- What? You want to punish me by pulling my ear?" She asked in disbelief.
"No. But If you don't come with me, you WILL….lose it." I said before I walked in the direction of the instrument storage room.
"Oow-Oww- Wait I'll walk on my own! Oww Oww Oww-" Alex was forced to follow along as I stuck true to my words.
"Ed-" Enid tried to defend Alex, but I turned towards her and reassured her, "Don't worry. I will just have a talk with her. Just a simple…talk." I said with eyes filled with malice as I dragged Alex's body into the storage room. As we entered it, I locked the door to prevent anyone from getting in, and also a certain someone from running away again.
[General POV]
Elsa asked fearfully, "W-W-What do you think Ed will do to Alex in there?"
"Well, usually when my mom tells her friend she will talk to me, it means I'm getting spanked when I get home." Abraham said.
"Wait. So Edward is going to spank Alex?" Jacob asked in disbelief.
"What the hell did I get roped into? What kind of group is this?" Finneas mumbled to himself.
"She's getting spanked? I'm ...so jealous." Jenna muttered, making everyone turn to her in disbelief.