Chapter 11: Dinner (Part 2)

(A/N: An additional Chapter since I reached 1K collections!! Next chapter will be on Monday as I mentioned before, or if I reached 2k collection next lol)

The California sky darkened as the sun was setting. The childrens who were playing outside of the Dunphy's house entered their house, face full of elation and sweats. Not only the child, but the adults had the same expression on their face – well one of them did.

"Phil, why are you all sweaty- You know what, both you and Luke will go wash up. Dinner is almost ready."

Claire was a bit surprised as she laid eyes on her husband and father. Jay had an angry scowl on his face, while Phil was full of smiles despite them being totally sweaty and exhausted.

"Dad, you and Manny too." Claire commanded, not caring at all about her angry father.

"¡Ay Papito, did you have fun?" Gloria asked, dapping a handkerchief on Manny's forehead to remove the sweats.

"I did mom. Ed is really fun." Manny said with a bright smile on his face. "He's a good teacher too." Manny added.

Holding a ball in his hand, Luke said, "Yeah. I wish he was my coach. All my coach did was ask us to have fun."

"And that isn't good?" Claire said in a concerned tone while crossing her arms.

"I want to have fun too. But I also want to defeat the other team." Luke replied. Claire nodded slightly and pushed Luke into the bathroom.

"Ed…" Claire turned to the boy who'd just entered the house.

"What? I'm sorry that Luke hit a vase, but I'd already fixed it." I replied as I watched the complicated expression on Claire's face.

"You're fine." Claire said dismissively, making me a bit confused.

"¡Ayy, Why you don't sweat like the others did?" Gloria asked in a teasing manner with one hand on her waist, another holding a cucumber.

"Why would a coach ever sweat?" I replied with a sly smile on my face. A smile that made Jay who'd just returned from cleaning up increased in temper.

"He only shouted the order, we did all the running." Jay complained plus whining as he used a clean cloth to wipe down his wet face. Gloria laughed at his misery while Claire chuckled at Jay as he started to rant.

"I thought you like playing with Phil. I saw you break into a wide smile a few times. You even have that innocent child-like laughter with you." I poured some oil into the flames I was on. I also made sure Phil was within earshot as I said that.

"Really Jay. I loved playing with you. We should do that-" Phil was touched and on the brink of tearing up. He tried to hug Jay with his sweaty body, but Jay turned to me and started to rant angrily.

"Don't speak nonsense. The only time I had a smile on my face, was when the practice was over!"

Jay then stomped off to his car, to take a clean cloth he kept in his car trunk and to get away from the emotional Phil.

"Wow. You're brave aren't you. Making fun of my dad like that. Usually boys will be scared and quake in their boots in front of him." Claire complimented while holding a glass of wine in her hand.

"Jay? He's a big teddy bear. He's not scary at all." I said as I washed my hand and cleaned up a bit for dinner.

" You're in big trouble. I don't think he will let this matter go so easily." Manny said as he got back from cleaning up.

"That's okay. It's not like I will meet him again after this." I said while rubbing Manny's head. "This feels nice." I muttered as I kept rubbing his head.

"And expensive." Manny said and swatted my hand away. We laughed together and sat in front of the tv with Luke while the adults were preparing for dinner. I'd offered to help, but Claire and Gloria rejected my offer and asked me to rest.

It was fun talking to the boys. We quickly became friends. I talked with Manny and Luke for a while, and finally, the dinner was ready.

Sitting in front of me was Manny, and Luke sat on my right side. On my left was…Alex.

"Hello again. Why is it so hard to meet you in your own home?" I asked the hair-band wearing girl teasingly.

"Shut up. Don't talk to me." Alex said while complaining inwardly because of the seating arrangement. Haley sat in front of Alex, smirking at her sister because of her misery.

"Really? Even after we fell for each other before?" I asked in an innocent voice. Alex's jaw dropped, while Claire who sat nearby froze while picking up a bowl of salad from the table.

"We fall on the ground, not fall for each other!" Alex said begrudgingly.

[Claire Commentary]

"Oh my god, What have I done? Did I just really invite a hormonal teen into my house, and serve my kids toward him on a silver platter?" Claire said in a panicked voice.

Beside her, Phil laughed at the statement. "Claire. They are just kids. Besides, Edward was only playing around. It's normal for a boy his age to want to tease girls. I did that too before. "

"You don't know that PHIL!" Claire said anxiously.

"Besides. Even if they dated, it wouldn't be the most terrible thing in the world." Phil continued. However, Claire glared at him, prompting him to stop.

"My little baby…" Claire said in a soft voice while reminiscing about Alex growing up.

[Jay and Gloria Commentary]

"He's a wonderful boy. So mature, and so polite." Gloria complimented heavily while gesturing with her arms.

"He's a bit like Manny, and also Luke…He could also be said as the combination of those two." Jay said gruffly.

"Stop pouting!" Gloria smacked Jay's shoulder and said. "You can play with Phil again later."

"I'm not pouting. The kid is telling lies. I am NOT looking forward to playing again with Phil. Not now. Not ever!"

[Commentary ends]

"Yeah Edward. You fall together, not fall for each other." Claire said in a decisive manner. I shrugged and continued eating the chicken.

"By the way, Dy– The band that you auditioned for before…they said you can come play with them if you want." Haley said.

"Audition? Why does he need to audition?" That statement unexpectedly came from Alex, causing me to be confused and turned to look at her face.

"He's nominated for the GLOBAL CHILD PRODIGY award, in the music category at the age of 7! He won multiple awards in various competitions – whether its school level, or state level. How dumb were the people in this band to reject a person as capable as him into their group?"

The group stopped what they were doing and turned their attention into the conversation. I smiled at Alex, causing her to blush and avoiding my gaze.

"I don't know you're my fan." I teased.

"Shut up. I'm not. Well…not now." Alex replied as she continued eating, pretending that I wasn't next to her.

The adult started to interject in the kids' conversation, getting away from their own.

"What? Really?" Gloria asked with widened eyes.

"Ed?" Phil asked.

"That's true. All of it was before my downfall though. Now, my skills have deteriorated." I answered honestly. Haley's eyes shook as she understood the situation.

"If you're so skillful, why do you want to join an upstart band? You can just be…a member of the orchestra or something…" Haley said in a shaky voice.

Inside, she cursed Brian and her girlfriend for making the band accept them, and not Edward. She knew how serious Dylan was with his band, and Edward could've brought the band to new heights. Now, the opportunity was wasted.

"Can we not get into the subject? That's a sore topic for me, and I don't want to relive that life." I replied while I cleaned my mouth with the napkin.

Phil grabbed my shoulder, passing by Alex in the seat placement. "Okay. We will not get into that topic. Haley, you should stop it too." Phil said using a soft tone.

"He didn't need a band now. He does well on his own." Luke said. Claire nodded, "That's true."

"What are you talking about?" Jay asked.

"That kid, he's a wonderful singer. Phil, Luke, Haley and I watched his show yesterday." Claire explained. Gloria clapped her hand in excitement, "Ayy! A star!"

"No. Not a star." I quickly interjected. "I did get called back to play tomorrow, but I have no transportation to get there, so I guess this is the end of my career-"

"Nonsense! I will bring you to the cafe!" Phil offered without thinking. I pumped my fist in my mind as I managed to secure the guardian and the transportation.

"You sing?" Alex asked, feeling a bit dejected that she didn't come to the show yesterday.

"A little bit. I will do a private concert, just for you later." I said using a whisper.

"Shut up! Stop teasing me!" Alex yelled while whispering to avoid her mother hearing the invitation. After dinner, Phil brought out the dessert.

"Finally! I've been waiting for this!" Luke said in excitement, pumping his fist in the air as the giant oreo was placed in the middle of the table.

"What's this?" Haley asked.

"Oreo cheesecake. I made it myself." I replied.

"Wait, how many people are there?" Phil said while holding a knife. He then counted the people inside the room one by one.

"Nine people. So…how do I cut it?" Phil said.

"Just cut it into 10 pieces. 1 sliver will be kept for the hungry one later at night." I replied.

"Yeah…So how…to cut into 10?"

I sighed and picked up the knife from Phil. First, I cut the cake into a wide 'X' shape. Then, I cut it once through the narrow X, and twice on the wide X shape, making 10 pieces of the same sized cake.

"Done."

"Nice job Ed." Phil said as he used a knife to pick up a piece for Claire. It was the piece that was taken a spoonful off before.

"This is yours. You already touched it before." Phil said teasingly.

"This is REALLY good! Did you make it yourself?" Manny asked excitedly as he took a spoonful of the cake.

"I did. It isn't too sweet right?" I asked.

"No. It's fine." Jay replied indifferently.

[Jay commentary]

"It was delicious. But I'm not giving the little liar the satisfaction."

[Commentary ends]

"The last piece is mine!" Luke demanded, and ran away while holding the last piece of the cake.

"NEVER!" Phil yelled and tried to capture Luke a few times, but Luke made a fake out, causing Phil to fall to the floor.

"LUKE!" Claire yelled in astonishment as she watched her son and husband being frivolous.

"The cake is good. Can you teach me the recipe?" Gloria asked.

"Of course, I will." I replied.

"Will you play a few songs for us?" Manny asked curiously. He'd been wondering about the song's I played since dinner time.

"I don't have my instruments with me, but you can come see me in my show tomorrow night." I said.

"Sure! Can we go mom?" Manny replied and turned to Gloria.

"Of course papi." Gloria said. Jay sighed as he would be the one to drive into the cafe tomorrow.

"We have a piano." Luke interjected, face full of cream from the cake. Claire ran toward him with a napkin and wiped his mouth ruthlessly.

"Edward, it's okay. You don't have to play if you don't want to." Claire said.

"I don't mind. But I can only do a few songs with the piano. Is that okay?" I asked.

"It's okay." Manny replied.

We changed location to the living room near the fireplace. I played the song 7 Years with the piano, and turned to see their reaction.

"AYY!! Wonderful!" Gloria applauded, her chest jiggled with every clap.

"It's really great." Manny complimented.

Jay was silent as he was thrown into nostalgia after he heard the song. The song's were like his conversation with his dad while he was growing up. He couldn't help but feel a bit emotional after hearing the song.

"Jay, are you okay?" I asked after seeing him being silent.

"I am going to go home now." Jay said and walked right out the door. Gloria and Manny became flustered, and decided to follow Jay home after apologising to me and thanking me for the song and the cake.

With her arms crossed, Claire asked, "Did you

really do that?"

"Do what exactly?" I asked.

"Drinking burning liquor. Smoking… herbs…That's slang for marijuana isn't it?"

"..." I was stunned by the sudden development. "Alex, what happens when you burn alcohol?" I turned to Alex to try and dig my way out of the predicament I'm in.

"Only…water will be left?" She replied in confusion. I turned to Claire and said, "See? It's just a play on words. "

The mother breathed in relief. She then asked, "The herb?"

"I don't know what the adults smoke, so I thought it was some kind of herb." I lied obviously, but it seemed to trick Claire and Phil, and that was all I needed.

"It was tobacco-" Phil tried to explain, but Claire shut his mouth with her palm.

"See. I told you he is a good kid." Phil said in a whisper to Claire after getting her hand off.

The dinner time was finally over, and I was going to go home, but instead, I got into another argument with Haley as I hung out with the siblings in the living room.

"Now that you're back to normal, there's a party at Andrew Adlers this Saturday if you want to come." Haley said, pretending to not care about me coming or not.

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Why are you being so rude? Aren't you getting back with your friends now that you're back to normal?" Haley said in an offended tone.

Edward was one of the popular kids in school before my mom and dad got divorced, so I understand her frustration. But I'm not getting back to that life.

"The answer to that is simple. They weren't my friends in the first place. Friends don't abandon you at the first sight of trouble. You keep saying 'back to normal', as if my struggle before doesn't even matter. I am not getting back to the same shallow cliques that I used to be in before."

"Are you calling me shallow!?" Haley yelled angrily as she became offended by the statement. "And here I thought I'm being kind enough to invite you!"

"Yup. And also a bit vain." I replied.

Alex's eyes darted between the two people, not knowing what to do as the argument became heated.

"Kids. What happened?" Phil heard the argument from the kitchen and rushed to the living room. He and Claire were in the kitchen talking before.

"You know what dad? I will NEVER be friends with someone like him. In fact, I don't even understand why you accepted the invitation to be in my house if you're not wanting to become friends with popular people."

"Like I said before, vain and shallow. Wait, I think that's the same thing? Anyway, I only came here for Mr. Dunphy and Luke as they had helped me before, not for you." I replied.

"Ahh!" Haley let out an offended gasp, and stormed off to her room. "Get out of my house!" She yelled from the upper floor.

"Gladly." I replied with a smile, causing her to fume in anger. "URGHH!" She groaned and slammed the door to her room.

"So anyway, we will meet at 8.15 tomorrow?" I turned to the stunned Phil to ask for confirmation.

"Yeah…" Phil replied unconsciously. He wanted to ask about what started the argument as the kids were getting along pretty well before, but he couldn't as I changed the subject.

"Great. See you later." I waved goodbye to the family and walked calmly to my house.