[General POV]
As soon as the visitors came, Edward's group of friends saw them through the gaps of the curtain drop. Enid was the first one who saw it, and she took out her phone to film the situation intuitively knowing Ed might need proof if anything was to happen.
"Who the hell are those guys?" Jacob muttered in irritation before standing up on the air mattress, causing the others to sway from his big motions.
"Hey, Ed is asking us to wait." Elsa grabbed Jacob's arm to calm him down and restrain him as she noticed Ed's signal.
Jenna held her left arm and started to shiver quietly as the situation reminded her of some bad memories. Alex noticed it and hugged her to calm her down.
"It's okay. He's here. No one can hurt you." Alex muttered subconsciously as she watched the scene with a fiery glint in her eyes.
[Edward POV]
Being surrounded by the three boys, I had no fear. In fact, I was quite curious as to why they were targeting me. I put my hands on my back, and gestured to the direction of the pillow fort.
'Don't come out.' I whispered in my heart. 'Hopefully, they will get the hint.'
Seeing my casual demeanour, it intensified the burning anger inside Roy's heart. The 6 foot 2' muscular football player gritted his teeth and swung his fist at me. I avoided it by quickly stepping back while taking a few careful steps back casually keeping a good kickboxing stance at the same time.
I laughed at him and asked in a playful manner, "So that's it? No words, no explanations, nothing? I should at least know why you want to kick my ass, right? You said I have stolen something from you?"
"ABBY WAS SUPPOSED TO GO TO PROM…WITH ME!!!" Roy exploded, trying to punch me again. But as he stepped forward, I grabbed his arm and used a judo throw on him, slamming him on the floor.
"Argh!" He exclaimed in pain before gritting his teeth and using his legs to chase me away. His two friends were hesitating at first, but they ran up to me to help the downed idiot. I let them, and they each held me by the arms as Roy stood back up while wiping his nose.
"Why are you sweating like a pig? Are you on drugs or something Roy?" I asked playfully again. He held my chin and said, "Shut up, or I'll rip out your mouth!"
"That's concerning, after all, I need my mouth to sing." I said casually. Roy was having none of it, and before he could swing his fist, I asked, "So, now that I'm all locked up, mind telling me now why are you here? Are you in love with Abby so much that you decided to commit an irredeemable crime here?"
My sentence swayed both of Roy's followers, but the main culprit seemed to be out of his mind. Roy cackled and said, "Love? No. I despise her."
I widened my eyes a bit before returning to my relaxed expression. Roy continued, "I had all of it planned out. I just need to bring her to prom to enact my revenge. But you ruined everything!"
"Revenge plans?"
Feeling as if nothing could go wrong as he was in the superior position, Roy laughed and said, "Simple. Slip something in her drink-"
"Roofie her? You have a roofie Roy?" I asked in a friendly manner.
Roy didn't realize it and answered in confusion, "Yes. I bought it. Let me continue. And then Bring her to a dirty motel. Take a few naked pictures of her to show to the school. And then, maybe invite a few of my friends to-"
Before he could finish, I had already broken free of his friend's grasp and punched him directly in the nose. My expression was filled with anger and I was staring at Roy with a murderous gaze.
"ARGHH!" Roy yelled out with blood flowing to his lips. He cupped his nose in agony and took a step back before Jacob ran out of the pillow fort.
"YOU DIRTY MOTHERFUCKERS!" Jacob screamed as he ran out of the blanket fort and tackled Roy directly into the instrument rack, making a huge racket as the trombone and the cymbal scattered on the floor.
One of Roy's friends, Bill, shouted, "Damn it!" and then took out a small flip knife from his pocket. I saw that the girls were coming out of the fort, so I yelled, "Don't come out."
"What-" Bill was distracted and he turned to the fort direction, so I took the chance to grab his arm and twist it. He screamed in pain and dropped the knife as I brought his arm far and violently enough to dislocate the shoulder.
Then, I turned to the other panicked boy on the side who realized that he was in a pernicious situation, so he turned and ran out of the door quickly, betraying his other friends and leaving them at my mercy in the room.
Before I could laugh, I saw that Roy was holding Alex's cello like a baseball bat, and wanted to swing it at Jacob. I kicked Bill's butt, making him fall to the ground, and pulled Jacob a few steps back as Roy swung the cello, saving him from a dangerous situation.
Once he missed, the cello slammed to the walls, breaking it into two halves. My anger deepened and I said to Jacob, "Go take care of the other one."
Jacob didn't reply and he turned towards Bill in a hurry. I walked slowly towards Roy, and as he swung his fist at me, I countered it with a straight punch that caught him right in the face. Once, twice, three times, until he could just barely remain standing.
"You know, when I fight, I usually plan on how to put the opponent down quickly." I muttered.
The army training in my previous life had been ingrained deep into my soul that I would find the quickest and most practical way for me to immobilize my enemy instead of prolonging a fight.
"But now, I don't want to do that. I'm going to hurt you Roy. And I'm going to enjoy every second of it." I muttered before punching him again, making him fall with his back against the wall.
My right hand knuckle was bloody from the counterforce, but I ignored it as I grabbed Roy by his hair, forcing him to look at me before I punched his face again. One of his teeth became loose, and it fell out of his mouth.
I wasn't satisfied, and I wanted to hurt him more. But before I could attack him again, someone grabbed my wrist, preventing me from doing so.
"Enough Edward." A cold, feminine voice ordered. I turned and saw Mrs Henderson looking at me with a disappointed expression. She shook her head slightly, asking me not to continue, and it was enough to snap me back to reality immediately.
…
The cops came, and the two boys were detained while the teachers were calling their parents. I also submitted the video evidence to Harvey, and not let the cops touch it before she could handle the matter lest they conveniently eliminate the evidence.
With my fat bank account, it'd be impossible for me to trust the police 100% as I could be targeted by them too for some easy cash grab or even worse end up being used as political capital on some asshole Democrat's campaign.
Harvey immediately delivered on her end as she contacted a prosecutor she knew back from her Harvard days, and while Roy was transferred to the emergency ward, the cops had to check his urine content. It showed that he was high on methamphetamine, so it helped my case to avoid getting sued with 'excessive self-defense' claims.
Harvey said, "It's better to pull this whole matter under. If people find out about this, it's not you or even Roy who will be getting the worst of it. I mean don't get me wrong your fans will tear him apart for sure but…-"
"I know. They'll attack Abby too. I'm clear on that front. People are stupid, even more so when they are obsessed with celebrities, they'll at the very least find a way to blame her for putting me in that position in the first place. You can handle the aftermath. I need to sit down and clear my mind."
Harvey nodded before she playfully said, "You do realize that if anyone else finds out you said that, your celebrity career is basically over."
"It's fine. I have you. Plus knowing the type most would just drool over me even more as they would see me as the 'bad boy/asshole' type… This generation is screwed up." I replied.
As Harvey left after school finally ended. However, I couldn't go home when the bell rang, not just yet.
"Although you're indeed holding the moral high ground, it still doesn't change the fact that you were fighting on school grounds." Mrs Henderson said with a cold voice before putting me in the detention room.
"Wait here. I've already called your dad. You can go home with him when he comes to pick you up." She said before leaving the classroom, effectively leaving me all by my lonesome.
"Damn it." I cursed out loud as I was trying to ease up my frustrations. I was actually the only one left as the rest of my friends were luckier and thus their parents had already come to pick them up and to comfort them after a traumatizing experience.
Even Jenna's mother came quickly, abandoning her interview in the process, which made me feel proud of her growth. Who would have thought my slap could change someone's life. I should slap people more often.
(I'm delirious when I wrote this. Forgive me)
"Urghughuuuuurrrhhhhghhhhh…" I groaned loudly as I watched the ticking clock slowly go by, but my father still hadn't arrived. It had been 15 minutes since I was thrown in the school jail, and I was already bored out of my mind. My phone was confiscated by the teacher, so I had nothing to do here.
Suddenly, the door opened, causing me to brighten up, but I got sullen again when I saw only Mrs Henderson entering the classroom. She didn't say anything and put the first aid kit on the table before pulling a chair up right beside me.
"Hand." She ordered.
I gave her my hand, and she put antiseptics on my cracked knuckle, which made me wince in pain. "Not so tough now huh." She dabbed the cotton ball doused with antiseptic ruthlessly on my hand.
"Oww Oww Oww. That hurts!" I squirmed all over, but she wasn't letting go of my hand.
"Be still! Or else I'll have to do this, all over again." She threatened. If she wasn't wearing a poker face, I would say that she was enjoying this.
After the torture, she finally put on a bandage on my knuckle while saying, "I understand that you're angry."
I was taken aback at first before I let out a long sigh and said, "I know I shouldn't have done that."
"Well, regret is a bitter medicine. But I guess you weren't regretting much, right?"
I nodded and said, "Yes. I only regretted not handling the matter better, not kicking that bitc-"
The teacher glared at me, causing me to change my wording immediately. "Not kicking that guy's behind."
"And knocking out his teeth?" She asked with an angry expression.
"Yeah…" I trailed off as I took my hand back from the teacher. She then let out a sigh and said, "Next time this kind of thing happens, ask someone to call me immediately."
"You're going to beat them up for us?" I joked. She suddenly put her hand on top of my head, making me shudder in fear. But then, she did the unexpected thing and started ruffling my hair, "Yes. I couldn't let them hurt my good student after all."
Even though I was feeling warm inside, I raised my eyebrow as I said, "Just a 'good' student?"
"A good student, and a good boy."
"I'm not a boy."
"You're a good boy."
"I'm not!" I brushed her hand away, and saw her smirking as she put her hand down. Annoyed, I crossed my arms and said, "When's my dad coming?"
"He's almost here. In the meantime, don't break any more rules. I'd hate to have to give you detention again on the last day of school."
"When did I break the rules?" I asked with a shrug.
She paused before saying, "Building a pillow fort, sneaking contraband in the cello case, not wearing an appropriate school outfit (pajamas)…" She saw that I was surprised, and she decided to tease me, "But I'm not afraid that you will do these things again. After all, you're a good boy."
"..." I was flabbergasted, and my annoyance made me swear internally, 'Oh. I'll show you a 'good boy' alright.'
Maybe it was because of my ego, or my puberty hormones making me unable to accept what she thought of me, so I decided to go out big on the last day of school. I couldn't continue correcting her as my dad had finally arrived at the school and entered the classroom.
He was wearing his ship captain's uniform and hat as he had to come over immediately after finishing a cruise trip.
"Dad-"
"We'll talk in the car, Ed. Mrs Henderson I'm sorry my son has troubled you." My dad automatically apologized to the teacher, and had a private talk with her for a while before she could release me.
…
[General POV]
-Dunphy's house-
"Honey, we're here! Alex is fine!" Claire said as she entered the house.
Phil yelled back, "Is Ted back yet? I'm worried that Ed will be abandoned if he's late."
"He's rushing there as fast as he can." Claire replied back.
As Alex returned, Phil hurriedly asked, "What happened, what happened? Tell me everything! How did you get into a fight?!"
"Uhh…why are you so excited?" Alex asked warily as she put her cello case down.
"Dad just watched Fight Club." Luke tattled.
"No I didn't!" Phil pushed Luke away under Claire's menacing stare, and turned to Alex again to get the answer.
"Well….Ed told us not to say anything, so that is what I'll do." Alex said teasingly before opening her cello case, "Also, I need a new cello. I can't wait for the lawsuit to get a new one. I need to play it in the concert this Saturday!"
"..." Both parents were speechless by Alex's focus. Claire didn't want the matter to be brushed off so she asked, "Why did the fight happen? Your teacher told me a few things, but I also need to hear it from you."
"Oh, just some boys being idiots. Are you going to buy me a new cello or not?"
Phil interjected, "Sweetheart, we can go buy a new one after this, but we need to know what happened– the full story."
"Sorry, but I can't tell you." Alex said. "Why?" Claire asked with narrowed eyes.
"Because I promised Ed. Besides, this isn't the first time he got into a fight-" Alex realized that she had said the wrong thing when she saw the look of confusion in her parent's face.
"Anyway-"
"No. Not anyway. Tell me! Did Ed fight around a lot?! Should I be concerned?" Claire freaked out and held Alex by her shoulder, preventing her from walking away.
"Ummm…."
While Alex was being interrogated, Jacob also had to face some questions from his dad about the matter.
"Did you fight?" His dad, Mr Green asked casually while Jacob sat next to him in the car.
"Yes." Jacob replied curtly.
"Did you win?"
"Yes."
"Good."
And that was all they talked about for the matter. Jenna, Elsa, Finneas and Billie, all of them were interrogated by their parents, but they didn't break their promise and just answered simply about the fight.
"I'm sorry Billie. That must have been horrifying for you." Billie's mother said to her while they were in the car, and the pair of siblings were sitting on the backseat.
"Hey. You okay?" Finneas asked as Billie had been silent since the fight happened.
"Finneas." Billie muttered.
"What?"
"I think…I'm in love."
"..." Finneas widened his eyes in horror and they both kept their silence before getting home to talk about the matter where their parents could not overhear.
[Edward POV]
My dad was silent while we were on the road home. "So…anything you want to ask about?" I muttered.
He was still silent, so I said, "Alright then-"
"How could you get into a fight Ed?! I didn't teach you to get into a fight!" He said angrily.
I scoffed at him and said sarcastically, "Are you sure you want to yell first? Shouldn't you be clear about what happened first before you decide? Or do you want to be like Grandpa?"
My dad was taken aback, and he went silent for a while to calm himself down. After taking a deep breath, he asked calmly, "So, what happened?"
I told him about the entire fight, and the Abby factor in that. He nodded and said, "Still, you hurt him, quite badly Ed."
"Don't worry. Harvey will handle the matter."
"That's not the point."
"Dad. I'm tired. Can we talk about this later." I interjected as I really don't want to get into an argument with him right now. He sighed and said, "Alright, we'll talk after dinner. Here, I couldn't find any ice, so you have to use this." He said as he handed me a bag of frozen peas he had bought from a store nearby "Put it on your knuckles. It'll help with the pain."
"It doesn't hurt that much." I replied.
"Just do it. Why are you being so stubborn? Is it my genetics? Or are you just being rebellious?" I rolled my eyes at him before looking outside the window as we drove home.
We had dinner with Aunt Camila later on, but we didn't revisit the topic as my aunt was so angry, she wanted to go to Roy's house with a machete. We had to spend the entire night placating her.
…
"Ahh I'm tired." I groaned as I laid on the giant bed, wanting to get some rest before I had to open up my laptop to do some work. But before I could, I heard some knocking on my bedroom window.
I sat up reluctantly and went to the window with the intention of telling Abby that I needed some alone time, but I widened my eyes as I opened the curtain.
"What the- Abby, stop!" I yelled immediately as I saw her connecting our windows together with a piece of wood, and was balancing herself on top of said wood to sneak into my room.
"Shh! Don't yell or my mom will notice!" Abby put her finger on her lips to gesture to me to be silent. Then, her body swayed from the wind, and she almost fell off the beam. I held my breath as I saw it happen but luckily she managed to balance herself on it again and showed a huge grin as she did it.
"You're fucking crazy!" I cursed as I opened the window quickly and reached out my arm to help her cross the path.