163 Chapter 163: Platinum award on First day?
[General POV]
-Documentary narration, voiced by James Earl Jones. -
7th of July. 'Breaking' Album was available for sale in hundreds of stores all across the country.
Fans queued in line to get the album – mostly consisting of female members of the population, and their male partners that were dragged along reluctantly to accompany them.
A journalist interviewed one of the female fans, asking what time they started waiting in line for the album. The next footage showed the interview that had been conducted:
-Footage started-
Gloria Delgado smiled and waved to the camera while Jay Pritchett brood beside her.
Jay mumbled to himself quietly, "We can just buy it from him. We know him."
"We've been here since 6 am. I thought we were going to be the first in line…but already there were hundreds of people lining up." Gloria smiled before pointing at the huge line in front of her.
"I'd rather go to church than wait here like this." Jay continued mumbling. "Is the store open yet?"
"No. 5 more minutes." Gloria replied while checking her watch.
In Colorado, the interviewer there interviewed the neat looking girl with a horrendous fashion sense – Annie Edison.
"I've been here since midnight. But if you want to ask when did people start to queue up, it was around 4 am."
The interviewer asked, perplexed, "Then why did you come here at 12 am?"
Annie was a bit confused and replied with an expression that says,' isn't it obvious?'
"Because, I want to be the first one to get it?"
-Footage ended.-
James Earl Jones continued narrating, "A historic day indeed. After the beginning of the internet era of information, sales of a new artist's album were declining."
"However, Edward Newgate, a prepubescent, aspiring artist managed to create a historic record, in getting the GOLD certification status, in the United States alone, by surpassing 500, 000 million album units in sales."
"Not only that, he managed to break the last artist's record for the fastest selling album, "Eminem: The Eminem Show, released in 2002, which hit 2 million units in global sales, in just one day."
"Will Edward Newgate manage to break the record for the fastest album selling of all times, held by Micheal Jackson himself, in his album, 'Bad' released in 1987. An album that cemented itself to be top record in the USA – 7 million units sold globally in his first week?"
"Despite all of the amazing success, the whereabouts of Edward Newgate is still unknown. Numerous attempts for an interview were declined by his agency, citing that 'Edward is still in recuperation after his health scare'."
…
[Edward POV]
As I watched the MTV interviews about my album release, I smiled, alone inside the empty house, after Grandma made everyone there go to church for the Sunday mass.
Luckily for me, Grandma saw Amy and Maggie trying to attack me last night, so I just need to pretend that they made my 'cracked rib' pain flared up.
I celebrated after grandma had left, and while I was trying to prepare for my hiking date, my grandpa caught me in the act and pushed *ehem* blackmail *Ehem* me into releasing the cows onto the field while he handled the horses.
"Hmm…I didn't think that she was going to go to church this morning. I didn't forget that grandma said she met her at the church, so I guess I selectively ignored the fact." I muttered dejectedly.
I sighed and turned off the TV before changing my clothes into a simple tank top and old jeans and went out to the field to release the cows for their grazing time. I also brought my grandpa's guitar with me to pass the time. Although he promised me that he would be quick, I didn't believe him.
I sat on the wooden fence while wearing a cowboy hat and held the guitar in my hand.
"Hmm…There's no one around." I turned to look, "So I guess I can play something I like, and won't seem nerdy in front of others. Isn't that right Apollo?" I said to the old dog sitting in front of me.
"Arf-"
"Good boi." I throw him a treat before picking the guitar strings. "As I'm watching an open field, what else comes to mind except for middle earth?"
"Arf."
"I know I know. There's a lot. But bear with me." I spoke to the condescending dog as he gave me a side eye.
[Ed Sheeran - I See Fire]
"♫♪Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin's sons♫♪"
Unaware that my sincere singing had captured the attention of the animals around, I was enjoying watching Apollo's reaction. He pretended not to like it, but his tail was wagging.
"♫♪If this is to end in fire
Then we should all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night♫♪"
"♫♪Calling out father oh
Stand by and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on
The mountain side (high)♫♪"
"♫♪And if we should die tonight
Then we should all die together
Raise a glass of wine for the last time♫♪"
"♫♪Calling out father oh
Prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on
The mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky♫♪"
"♫♪Now I see fire
Inside the mountain
And I see fire
Burning the trees
And I see fire
Hollowing souls
And I see fire
Blood in the breeze
And I hope that you remember me♫♪"
"MOOOO!!!"
"QUACK QUACK QUACK!"
"Oink Oink Oink"
"Beek Beek!"
I was startled when I realised that I was surrounded by farm animals after I stopped. I almost fell backward from the fence, but luckily I managed to hold it with my left hand to stabilise myself.
"What the-"
"Moo. (Continue.)"
"Beek. (Or will bump you)"
"Quack. (Make you birdfeed)"
"Oink. (Or bacon)"
"Alright alright. Shut up." I scolded the animals as they stared at me instead of running all over the field as usual.
"I mean, who even- Who lets you guys out?!" I accused the goats.
"Beek! (weak Lock)"
They moo'd and beek'd at me while I was holding a guitar, trying to get me to play a song for them again.
"I hate that I can understand what you're thinking." I cursed at the cows while staring at them in dissatisfaction. Even though they can't smile or show emotions, I could sense that they were snickering at my misery.
"Go and eat! Scatter! Otherwise grandpa won't let me go back home!" I shouted at them, but they still kept staring patiently at me. If my grandpa saw this, he would chain me to the ranch forever. I need to handle the situation quickly!
I rubbed my head in frustration, wondering why the hell did I bring my guitar here. Originally, I was planning on fiddling on it while I waited for my grandpa to come back, as he said he would.
"Apollo, you too?"
"Arf!" The English shepherd dog barked at me in excitement while wagging his tail, before he called his descendants to the field. Even a stray cat came with the puppies, and they kept nudging their heads at my feet, as if trying to encourage me to play.
"Damn it." The ice around my cold heart melted, and my expression eased up.
"Okay. One more. But when someone comes you guys all need to scatter! Promise me that, and I will do it!" I made a deal with them.
They replied in their respective sounds, which indicated that they understood me.
"Alright. Then, follow my lead."
"And this time…
We're going to get funky~
Funky~!"
I took out my phone and played the music for [Cha Cha Slide].
♫♪Everybody clap your hands♫♪
"Quack. (No Ducking Hand)
"Ah right. Sorry. This'll make this verse awkward." I muttered as I smiled apologetically at them. They swayed their body in excitement as I instructed them to dance, at the same time doing the dance on my own.
♫♪Clap, clap, clap, clap your hands
Clap, clap, clap, clap your hands
Alright now, we're going to do the basic step♫♪
"♫♪To the left
Take it back now, y'all♫♪"
"Nice." I exclaimed as I saw most of them could do it. "If someone sees this, it'll be like the weirdest dream they've ever dreamt."
"♫♪One hop this time
Right foot, let's stomp
Left foot, let's stomp
Cha cha real smooth♫♪"
I smiled and laughed as I watched the animals doing the silly dance of their own.
"♫♪Turn it out
To the left
Take it back now y'all
One hop this time
Right foot, let's stomp
Left foot, let's stomp
Cha cha now y'all
Now it's time to get funky♫♪"
It's free dance time. Apollo and his puppies shook their bodies in front of me while the cat stretched itself a few times.
"♫♪To the right now
To the left
Take it back now y'all
One hop this time
One hop this time
Right foot two stomps
Left foot two stomps
Slide to the left
Slide to the right
Criss cross!
Criss cross!
Cha cha real smooth♫♪"
I was having fun, unaware of a worn down car rolling to the side of the field slowly. The man inside of it rubbed his eyes a few times, not believing what he was seeing was real.
"♫♪ Let's go to work
To the left
Take it back now y'all
Two hops this time
Two hops this time
Right foot two stomps
Left foot two stomps
Hands on you knees, hands on your knees
Get funky with it
Oh yeah
Come on, cha cha now y'all♫♪"
I wanted to continue, but as I turned back while dancing, I saw my uncle Aaron who just got back from handling his divorce matter inside his car, stunned speechless with his mouth agape.
"Quack! (Scatter!)" The animals quickly ran away in the presence of another human being, leaving me alone there– stunned as I met my uncle's eyes.
"W-W-W." The scruffy looking man in an oversized suit stammered. My thoughts raced to find the solution for this situation, and I finally got an idea.
I smirked at him and said, "No one will believe you." Then, I walked away as I saw my grandpa coming from afar.
My uncle stayed there for a while with his face blanked out. I ran away quickly before my grandpa could give me anymore work, and used my uncle's pickup truck to get to the hiking trail entrance.
…
While I was on the road to get to the hiking trail up the hill, I received a call from Pepper.
"GOLD ED! Your album passed 500,000 sales in just a few hours!" Pepper shouted in excitement, causing me to distance my phone from my ear a bit to protect my ear.
"Well, I knew it would happen based on the pre-orders. W-"
"DON'T TRY TO CALM ME DOWN! I WANT TO FEEL THIS RUSH FOREVER! OH MY GOD!"
"Pepper? Pepper, are you okay?" I asked him after hearing he was out of breath.
"I'm fine. Just dizzy from the head rush." Pepper said before getting excited again, "RIAA is sending people to give us the Gold album certificate today. Although….They are asking for an interview."
"Well you can set it up when I get back in 2 days."
"2 days? I thought you were not coming back till the 10th?"
"Nah. I'm coming back on the 9th, before midnight. So I'll be there on the 10th."
"Ah I see. Ed, how are you feeling right now? Do you feel the same rush as I do?!" Pepper asked.
"Well…"
"What's with that tone? Are you not excited?" Pepper asked in astonishment.
"I'm excited. I'm excited. But right now, I'm more excited about my upcoming date."
"What? Ed. I can't hear you clearly!" Pepper shouted in confusion. I checked the mobile network line and noticed that I have only 1 bar left.
"I'm going hiking! I'll call you tonight."
"Tonight? Oh. Hiking. Alright-"
Then, all the voices disappeared and the mobile network was gone.
"Hmm, if she's late, I will be out of the grid, bored out of my mind, and most importantly, I can't even know if something happened to her or if she needs to cancel our plans." I said before I stop the car and then change the gear into reverse.
I wanted to go back to the area where I was still connected, but then I hit the brakes again.
"But, if she's already there. Then she couldn't contact me to tell me when she arrived. Damn it. Why the hell did we plan it like this?"
I tried to call her for confirmation, but the network provider said that the number was unavailable. I smiled and accelerated the car in excitement as I drove to the trail entrance, where I saw that she was already waiting for me.
Miss Allison was kicking the stone on the ground lightly as she was bored out of her mind there. As she saw my car, she brightened up and waved at me quickly.
She was confused when I waved back and got out of the car after putting it in park, "You're going hiking in jeans?"
"You going up there in heels?" I shoot back. She was wearing a black tracksuit and a black tank top, and her hair was tied up in ponytail style. She was wearing light makeup, something not too excessive as it smudged as she sweated.
"Well, people say that the trail is not too rough." She replied with a blushing embarrassed face.
"And you listened to them?" I asked teasingly, "They say that cause they live here. They are used to it."
She widened her eyes in shock and said, "Oh. Then…I did something really stupid didn't I?"
"Well not quite. I admire you for trying to look nice for me." I flirted before rummaging the back of the truck. "Luckily for you, I was prepared in case something like this happened. These are my cousin's shoes. You can use them…or you know… just destroy them."
She smiled, and hesitated, before her expression changed into a look of determination,"Ed. Before we go up there. I need to be clear on something."
"What is it?"
"We…we can't date each other. Maybe in another 2 years, when you're an adult, we can have that chance. But I need to be clear on this. We're just going together as friends."
My brows scrunched a bit, although I was confused when I heard she mentioned 2 years. Did she mistake me driving for me being older than 16?
"Okay then. Although that ruined my day, I'm still glad to be spending the evening with a gorgeous girl like you."
She was prepared for me to get mad, but not quite prepared for a compliment, so her face blushed greatly.
"N-No! No flirting too!" She said faux-angrily, which made me depressed as she looked really cute right now.
"Hey. It's either we can't date, or we can't flirt. You can only pick one." I teased her while shrugging my shoulders.
She stammered a few times, and finally gave up. Although, her smile showed that she didn't really hate it.
"After you." I said to her as I ceremoniously opened up a path for her.
"We can walk side by side. The path's big enough." She said with a confused smile.
"But then, I can't see it jiggle- I mean. Yes, we should walk side by side." I said teasingly, causing her to hide her happiness behind a scoff.
"Then you walk first!" She said,
"So you can look at my butt?"
"No one is going to be looking at anyone's butt!"
"Well, say for yourself." I said while glancing at her behind. She laughed and hit my chest lightly before grabbing my hand.
We walked side by side as we faced the hiking trail,flirting and teasing each other all the way. After passing some slippery and dangerous obstacles, we almost reached the top of the hill.
"Ah. So refreshing!" She stretched her arms back as she watched the view from the top. It took us only 40 minutes to reach the top, and overall, it was a fun experience.
"Yeah, it really is. It can't be compared to the city's air at all." I said as I sat on a rock while admiring the view.
"But I'm confused." She said suddenly.
"About what?" I asked in confusion.
"Isn't this a popular destination? Why are there no people around?" She asked while tilting her head.
I widened my eyes as I remembered something my grandpa said about a mountain lion.
"Oh shit. We need to leave. Right now." I grabbed her arm and pulled her to get to the path again.
"Hey. What's going on-"
Suddenly, we heard a roar coming from afar. Allison turned pale, and she almost blurted something out, but I pressed my finger on her lip to stop her.
"This might be superstition, but I heard from my grandma– not blood related-"
"Is that important right now?!" Allison retorted.
"Sorry." I smiled apologetically, "Well she said not to mention it's name. Or in this case, the name of the species as to not attract its attention. It might seem stupid, but let's try it out."
Allison nodded obediently and held my hand tightly as we moved down the hill in a rush. However, before we could crouch down to pass dangerous obstacles, we suddenly heard some rummaging from a bush nearby us.
We both froze on the spot, and then a white rabbit suddenly popped out of the bush. We breathed in relief, and as I turned around to comfort Allison, I saw the sight of a muscular giant cat crouching behind us.
Allison didn't notice it at first, but as she followed my line of sight, she teared up and said fearfully, "Mountain lion."
