[Edward POV]
After making a few revisions to the storyline, it was time for me to shoot the scenes with Taylor. After wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, Taylor looked at me from top to bottom with scrutinizing eyes.
"What?" I asked, feeling self-conscious about her gaze.
She smirked and said, "The theme is, cute boy next door. Not, Sexy boy next door. You need to wear a wig."
"Over My Dead Body." I rolled my eyes at her. She chuckled and then moved closer before grabbing my arms. She asked in disbelief as she squeezed my biceps, "Why does this grow so fast? Is this because you kept throwing the ball around? Will it keep growing if you continue playing football?"
"If it does, would it be a bad thing?" I asked her.
She thought for a while before she shrugged and said, "No. I think it's cool."
"Great. Cause I don't think I'll stop just yet." I said with a smirk.
We recorded the scenes where Taylor and I talked to each other through a sketchpad by the window. Then, I changed into a prom outfit, and did the last scene for the bedroom where I wished that she was also there.
"Bedroom scene is a wrap!" The staff member announced. Taylor rubbed her sore jaw and said, "Finally. I can't lip sync anymore."
I chuckled and said, "Let's have some lunch before getting to the next scene– the car scene."
"Oh. Really? We never had lunch during shooting in my previous agency." Taylor said with eyes full of anticipation. I rolled my eyes at her and said, "I'm not that kind of black company that enslaves my workers. What do you want to eat?"
"Umm…" She thought for a while. "I don't know. What do you want to eat?" She asked me back.
I grinned and said, "It's actually a trick question. The food is already here. We have some sandwiches and lasagna."
She narrowed her eyes at me and said, "You're on some dangerous ground mister."
"That doesn't scare me much. I thrive on danger. I live for it." I said with some exaggeration that made her laugh.
In the intimate confines of her waiting room, it was just the two of us, sharing a meal together. She asked, "Why did you fly to New York, just to go to Jimmy Fallon's, and not any of the LA interviews?"
"Oh, I just liked the guy. That's it. There's no other reason." I replied casually. Taylor raised an eyebrow and asked carefully, "So. It had nothing to do with meeting Abby there?"
I froze for a second before asking, "No? She hasn't contacted me ever since she left. Although…."
As I trailed off, Taylor looked directly at me and waited impatiently, "Although what?"
"Although…I did meet an interesting girl there."
Taylor smiled in disbelief as she felt that I was teasing her, "Let me guess. Brunette, big boobs too?"
I made a shocked face and asked, "How did you know?"
"Wait. Are you serious?" She asked in bafflement. I laughed and then told her all about Max before she sighed in relief. Then, she looked at me in dissatisfaction and asked, "Why do so many girls linger around you?"
"Probably because I'm very handsome." I said confidently. Taylor paused before she nodded in agreement, "That's true."
Then, she stood up and took off the white t-shirt she was wearing, revealing her white bra. I was confused and then she said with a mischievous smile, "Oh. I just felt that I needed to change for the next scene."
"Oh yeah. The cheerleader" I replied casually, which irked her a bit. "The brunette villain Taylor."
She went to the clothes rack and took out the cheerleader outfit. "Should I wear this now?"
"No. Not yet. We're shooting the car scene first." I said while biting my sandwich. She pouted and asked again, "Do you want to see me wearing it now?"
"???"
The staff member came at this moment and told Taylor it was time for her makeup. She was dressed in a pink sweater and dark brunette hair. The next scene was simple. She had to pull up in a red convertible, and I would be getting in the car.
The full scene was the nerdy Taylor and I sitting on a park bench before my current girlfriend showed up. Then, I left with the brunette Taylor instead after kissing her in the car.
"Take 1. Action." The assistant director said as I entered the car. Brunette Taylor grabbed my neck and pulled me in close before kissing me on the lips– hot and heavy style.
"CUT!" I shouted. Then, I looked at Taylor in disbelief and said, "I thought you want to keep things PG?"
"Ah. Right. I forgot. We should do that again." Taylor said with a mischievous expression. I sighed and then signaled the assistant director. He shouted, "Take 2!"
As I entered the car, this time, Brunette Taylor took her time to lean in closer before sticking her tongue in my mouth. "CUT!" I shouted again after pulling away, and definitely not enjoying it for a few seconds.
Taylor said with a smile, "WHAT!? What did I do wrong now?"
"You take too long to kiss me. Also, we're only supposed to be pretending to kiss. We don't have to have contact." I explained calmly with a smile on my face.
As if I didn't know what she was doing. If I had a lot more time, I would've played along with it, but I had a sense of urgency to finish the scenes as fast as possible today.
At the very least, to finish the scenes that needed the studio to film in. Or I would have to spend more money on rent.
"Take 3." The assistant director announced.
This time, while we were leaning in closer, a moth flew right above us.
"CUT!"
"Take 4."
Taylor's wig started slipping and her makeup was smeared on my face.
"Take 5."
I couldn't open the car door.
"Take 6."
Taylor and I sneezed at the same time.
"Take… 13."
Finally, we finally finished the second scene…after 13 takes…and one and a half hours filming time.
"No wonder Manny cursed at Phil when he wouldn't follow the script. Becoming a director is really stressful." I muttered to myself.
"What are you talking about over there?" Taylor called from afar. "Nothing. I was just thinking about something else. Brian, you got the closeup shot right?"
I walked to the assistant director who nodded immediately as I asked him a question. After checking all of the recordings, I waited for Taylor to change her outfit back into nerdy Taylor who was wearing a gray sweater and sat down at the park bench.
This time, the filming went on smoothly. The only things we had to re-record was Taylor's unconvincing look when I brushed her hair back behind her ear. It wasn't that I couldn't make her feel fluttery, but because she had to lip sync her song at the same time, making it difficult for her to have a smooth transition.
Therefore, I decided to record the entire thing twice. First, we just sat on the bench and talked normally. And then the other one was the one with the lip sync.
"It's…4 pm… Damn." I exclaimed as I checked the time on my phone after we finished the studio recording.
I asked the staff members after that, "How long will it take for us to film the scenes at my school?"
"It won't be ready for another 2 hours." The staff member replied.
"Alright. Then, I will go home first to check up on something before I go there. Taylor, you want to join me or go with them?"
"What are you doing at home?" She asked while her team helped her remove her excess makeup.
"Nothing much. I just wanted to check up on the food."
"And bring that Haley girl with you?" She asked.
The staff members covered their mouth and their eyes lit up from the gossip expectations. I ignored them and said casually, "Well I am going to her house. So if she wants to come with me, then yeah."
"I'll come with you!" Taylor said hurriedly. "And there will be no seats left."
I paused for a second and said, "Actually the car can take 3-"
"There are no seats left!" She said decisively. I snorted humorously before walking side by side with her to the car.
…
[General POV]
Principal Brown had an almost permanent smile on his face as he monitored the film crew putting equipment and decorating the gymnasium for Taylor's music video filming. They put on streamers, spotlights, led lights, covered the tables with colorful clothes, and even hired a DJ.
"Wait a second." Jenna was watching the whole thing and her eyes lit up. "They are going to record Prom, right?"
Elsa and Enid looked at each other before turning to Jenna. Elsa replied with a weird look, "Yeah. So?"
"Don't you guys get it? Can't you think about what this means?" Jenna muttered excitedly.
"Umm…." Enid opened her mouth, but she couldn't give an answer, "I don't get it."
"That means. There's a party at school tonight!" Jenna spoke loudly. The word party resonated across the hallways, and it spread out to a group of students nearby.
The teenagers started clamoring. Principal Brown suddenly shuddered and turned around anxiously. "Why do I feel like there's a conspiracy afoot?" He whispered. Then he shrugged and said, "Must be my imagination."
Suddenly, Principal Brown saw a familiar face entering the school while holding her car keys "Hey Mrs Dunphy." He greeted cheerfully. "What can I do for you today?"
Claire smiled and said, "Hello Principal Brown. I am here to pick up Miss Anna. She's not ready yet so I decided to stop by the gym first. You know. I have a lot of experience decorating that room. It can be useful for them"
Principal Brown was a bit confused, "Claire. They are all professional. Probably even more so than you-"
"Hey it's Claire!" Suddenly, a staff member who recognized Claire saw her and shouted her presence to everyone there. Claire waved excitedly at them and said, "I'll be right there."
"Wait…How?" Principal Brown widened his eyes in disbelief. "Aren't you a housewife?"
"I am the logistics director for Entertain- Game Division. I worked with those guys in the entertainment branch a few times before." Claire said smugly.
[Claire's commentary]
"Did you see that? The way his face just froze when I told him my work? Damn! I really love my new job! It made me feel so powerful!" Claire said as she shook both of her fist together.
Then, she calmed down a bit and said, "Maybe I should focus on showing that side of me to my daughters instead of focusing on their boy problems."
[Haley's commentary]
"I don't know how, but there's a rumor floating around about Edward throwing a party today. At first, I got mad because he didn't invite me. But then, I realised that there's no way he wouldn't invite me." Haley said with a slight grievance.
"So, I then knew the rumour was false. But then, people kept stopping me in the hallways and asking me whether it was true or not. So many people want to have another Edward party! So they decided…to pressure me into asking Edward if they could join in on their behalf!"
[Commentary ends]
At the football field, the team was sitting in a semicircle while Cam was explaining to them about a few football strategies. After coaching for less than 5 minutes, he asked, "Is everyone here clear about what we are going to do when Ed gets here?"
Tyler raised his hand. Cam pointed at him and said, "Yeah Captain."
"Thank you Coach Tucker. I am THE Captain." Tyler hypnotized himself before saying, "It's about the game right? Edward wants to film it?"
"Yeah. And it's all totally voluntary. He made sure to ask me to explain it to you guys about that. He won't hold it against you, or make your life difficult in the team." Cam said with an elated expression. "He also said if you guys do him a favor, he will invite Sal to come here to give you guys a lecture."
Tyrone raised his hand and said, "Who's Sal? And what lecture?"
Cam turned confused and said, "I don't know what lecture. But I do know Sal. She's a good friend of mine."
"Jacob. You know something about this?" Tyler turned to his left and asked. Jacob was sitting at the forefront of the team. When everyone looked at him, he scratched his cheeks and said shyly, "I know."
Then, he stopped. Everyone there was confused. Cam urged, "Then, Jacob. Can you tell us a bit of what Edward wants to do?"
"Ummm….Okay, I will tell you. But Coach Tucker can't hear it." Jacob said after he was pressured by the team's gaze.
Everyone then turned to Cam. Cam was taken aback and then sighed. He put his fingers inside his ear and turned around, "I won't listen."
Jacob then narrowed his eyes at Cam and then said, "Edward wants to have a sex-change operation."
Everyone was shocked! "What the hell-!" Tyler shouted. Jacob saw that Cam didn't have any reaction and sighed in relief, "Good. Coach Cam couldn't hear us. No, I lied before. Ummm…Well. Sal is…"
"Is what?" Tyrone urged anxiously.
"Well. This is Edward's words, and not mine. Seriously. It's not mine."
"Just say it!" Tyler shouted.
"Well Sal is a whore." Jacob said, causing everyone to be taken aback. He then dropped another bomb, "He wants to call Sal here to give you guys an education….You know…After what happened yesterday…"
"You mean the pregnancy thing?" One of the boys said in disbelief.
"Yeah…" Jacob said shyly. Almost everyone there had their face turned red, and then they silently agreed to Edward's condition. "Okay. We will do it."
Cam turned around quickly and shouted, "Excellent!"
"Hey you were listening!" Tyler shouted in annoyance.
Cam ignored him and said, "You might have to go home a little late after this. So those who have a car need to give a ride to those who don't. Also, there will be some salary for those participating. 50 bucks each. "
Jacob then raised his hand and said, "What about the team dinner? I know that he wants to do it today, but he's busy enough already. So, shouldn't we postpone it?"
The rest of the team nodded and said, "Yeah. We can postpone it again. Why didn't he postpone it?"
Cam heard the question and replied on Edward's behalf, " I think it's because he felt a bit guilty because he kept postponing it. So he want to do it as soon as he can."
"That's stupid." Tyler said. Suddenly, his girlfriend rushed into the football field to find him.
"Selena?" He was confused. His latina girlfriend whispered to his ear, causing him to widen his eyes.
Cam was intrigued, "Why? What's happening? Are you really pregnant?"
Tyler looked at Cam in disbelief, "What? NO! Babe You can tell everyone."
Selena chuckled and then said, "There's going to be a party in the gymnasium tonight."
"Huh?" Cam was confused. "They are filming the prom scene inside the gym right? So how is there a party?"
Selena said with excitement, "That is the party!"
Everyone exclaimed in realization. Selena then added, "So I need to take Ty to go shopping for clothes right now. We need to wear the dress we wear to a normal prom."
Cam became nervous, "Did Edward confirm this? Has anyone asked him, or the staff members there?"
"It's fine. We already asked Haley." Selena said before she grabbed Tyler. "Let's go babe. We need to rush. Edward will be here in an hour."
Almost all of the team members left quickly to go and get ready for the party, leaving Cam speechless and alone in the middle of the football field.
"Haley, what have you done?" Cam muttered with nervousness and fear.
[Haley's commentary]
"I didn't do anything! UHH!!"
[Commentary ends]
…
[Edward POV]
I stopped by the Dunphy's house with Taylor while on my way to school. Luke opened the door and then immediately asked me, "Hey. How did you get that eagle to land on you?"
Taylor heard it and snickered. I was taken aback and then smiled, "I don't know. Maybe she just loves me. Have you tried standing on a hill and held out your arms for them?"
"For hours!" Luke said grudgingly. "Come on in. Mom's not here. She has already gone to your school."
"Oh. I thought we were eating here?" I asked in confusion as I entered the house. We went directly to the kitchen where I saw Jay was stirring a huge pot of sauce with an unhappy expression.
"Edward. Can't you just hire some kitchen helpers to cook for you today?" Jay asked with a grumpy tone as he wiped his hand with a kitchen towel.
"Umm…I was planning to do that, but your wife, and your wife," I pointed at Phil who was standing by the dining table too, "wanted to do it."
"Wait. So she forced me to take a half day just to take over her job?" Jay said in disbelief. "All of this won't happen if you had just invited her to New York yesterday ED." Jay sighed.
I was confused, "I did invite her. Manny said she couldn't go."
"He said what?"
While Jay was ruminating about the story, Phil greeted me happily and said, "Hey Ed! How's your shoot?"
"It was tough because someone kept messing around." I said. Taylor slapped my arm from behind and defended herself, "It was you! You're the one messing around."
I chuckled and teased, "Well I've never said it was you." She rolled her eyes and said, "Thank you guys for inviting me here today."
Jay showed a kind grandfather smile and said, "Well, you're welcome."
"What are you guys cooking?" I asked. Phil grinned and said, "We have all of your favorites here. Your assistant helped me write down the recipes."
"Wow. That's amazing." I exclaimed as I checked out the food. "Did Randall work overtime for this? Or is he slacking on his job in New York?" I asked teasingly.
Phil smiled and said, "No. It's not Randall. It's your computer assistant. You know, the one you hire to be on standby in your laptop?"
"?" I was confused. "I didn't hire anyone?"
Gloria suddenly walked in with an open arm, "Hola Hola! Edward! It's so nice to see you!"
Then, she gave me a big hug. Jay smirked as he saw her behavior and asked, "Where's Haley?"
"Haley is with Claire and Edward's teacher. They are on their way." Gloria replied.
I checked the clock and said, "Hey. It's 4.30. Can we have dinner now? Cause, I'm starving."
Everyone was surprised. Phil's eyes became nervous and he said, "Wait. What?"