Chapter 48: Concert Game
(Sorry that I didnt post last night😅, I was in the hospital. I will continue posting from today onwards)
[Edward POV]
'20 minutes. So how will I pass the time?' I thought as I saw the stage conductor timecard.
Suddenly, a light bulb lit up above my head as I got an idea. Not even the brilliant mind of Edward Newgate could actually know that a decision that I made in a second today would hunt me for such a long long time in the future.
"Oh I know that look." Haley suddenly muttered from the audience seats.
"What look?" Tara asked while intrigued.
"That was the same look he had before he created Photograph." Haley explained.
Abby interjected, "Was that the time when he created a song in just a few minutes?"
Haley turned toward my ex-girlfriend and said, "yep."
Turning my attention to the crowd, I said, "I have a confession to make."
The crowd suddenly became silent as the tone of my voice was a solemn one.
"The award ceremony that Taylor was attending has run a little bit late, and she won't be able to get here in another 20 minutes."
The crowd gasped and some booed when I said that. Even the organizers were frustrated as they thought it was a secret that needed to be kept. However, they grossly underestimated a fan's loyalty and adoration for their favorite artist.
"Therefore, they want me to play another song to drag the time."
"IS HE FUCKING CRAZY!?" Mr Killington asked in astonishment and anger.
"The problem is, I have only one other song planned for this evening. I'm going to need your help if I need to play another song." I said, making the crowd greatly confused by the sudden request.
"Instead of me deciding what song I'm going to play today, You guys will." I smirked at the crowd, causing them to exclaim in awe.
"We'll decide what that will be using a game. You may shout out title words for me about the song's you want me to play. Or just random words. It's up to you. If one of the random words is in my future album list, I will debut it here."
The crowd cheered as I said that. At this moment, little did I know that almost ⅕ of the crowd here had become my true fans and the rest of them were really close to falling to my charms.
"And another thing." I added, causing the crowd to feel quiet again.
"If…The word resonated with me…Maybe…Just Maybe…I will create a song on the spot based on the idea I get from that keyword."
The entire crowd fell silent for a minute before they exploded into thunderous questioning such as "Is it true? Will you really?" and so on.
Their enthusiasm almost made me shrink back down, but I laughed the nerves away and said, "Yes. It's true. Ahh…For my own safety, I won't tell you if the song is from my album, or I just created this on the spot. Do we have a deal?"
At the audience seat, Phil asked, "Why for his safety?"
Cam explained, "To make sure people won't try to claim it or sue for credit."
"Ah I see. So he's doing a very dangerous thing right now?" Phil asked.
"Yup. I'm making sure Pepper calls Harvey so that she can get started on the copyright for any new song instantly." Mitchell added and called Harvey immediately. Luckily, the lawyer had a ticket and was at the concert at that very moment, standing backstage near Pepper.
"What do we do? Should we stop him?" Harvey asked Pepper.
Pepper gave her a side eye and said, "Harvey. If you're going to work here for a long time, I suggest you adapt to the current situation as soon as possible as this is not the first..or last time he would do such a thing. Not that this is a threat but if you can't keep up with him then you will leave me no choice but to let you go..."
"Why should I adapt to this?" Harvey asked as she didn't mind Pepper's last remark at all. In fact, she felt that the condition was fair.
"Cause we will never stop him from doing what he wants to do, except when it's truly harmful for him. After all, copyright claims are just a small nuisance right?" Pepper said with a smirk as he knew it would lit up a fire inside the woman's heart.
"That's true." Harvey replied as she believed in her capabilities to tear apart any false claim for the song.
"Believe me, this won't be the last time you'll need to do it. Do you know how long he took to create the songs 'Photograph' and 'Me and My Broken Heart' ?"
Pepper finally turned his head entirely, locked eyes with Harvey and said with a smirk, "Less than 5 minutes."
Harvey was shaken to her core as she heard that, not to mention the eavesdropping stage conductor Mr Killington and the dancers who had heard everything the duo was saying from the start.
"Wait seriously?" Kaya exclaimed in wonder.
"Dang. He's really a prodigy huh. No wonder." Anna added to Kaya's awe.
As the clamoring died down, I said, "The audience seat is divided into 10 sections. So every section will get one chance to do it. Just walk up to the mic set up for the Q and A session with Taylor after this and shout out your word."
"We'll start with the last one from the right, Section J." I said and pointed at the edge of the concert hall. As half of the crowd today consisted of college students, it was easy for me to do an audience participation as their mind was more open than the general audience.
The staff was suddenly busy with my sudden game and they led the first participant for today to the microphone. A geeky, glasses-wearing white girl with blonde hair and sweater vest tapped the microphone to make sure it was on before she said, "Hi Edward. I really like your songs…A-A-Are you really serious about creating t-them on t-the on the spot?"
Some people laughed at the girl's nervousness, but my smiling face calmed her down.
"Yes. I am. What's your name?"
"L-Lily."
"What a nice name." I said and the crowd teasingly exclaimed, "uuuu" as they saw me flirt.
Ignoring all of them, Lily said, "I wonder if you can do a song…with the word…Fairytale?"
"Why that word?" I asked.
She pushed the side of her glasses up and said, "I…never heard a song about that before."
"Then I guess you'll love Taylor's next album. Oops, did I spoil it for you?" I said with calculated mistakes, causing the crowd to explode in cheers once more.
"I will consider your keyword for my next album, Beautiful Miss Lily. However, I cannot do it today." I said, earning a disappointed exclamation from the crowd.
"Section I representatives, Please come to the mic." The staff member said to the young man in section I. We talked a bit before he told me his keyword.
"My word is superhero."
"Superhero?" I said and started to think. "Who is your favorite superhero Mr Jensen?"
"Of course it's Batman! No... It's Spiderman!" Jensen said after thinking deeply about the topic.
Then, I suddenly get an idea inside my mind. It wasn't a song that I had heard before in my previous life, but an idea that suddenly burst out inside my mind.
'Damn NEWGATE! What monstrous talent!' I thought as I rearranged the musical notes and lyrics inside my mind.
"Wait... I think..I got something…But…I will combine it with Miss Lily's keyword before."
"I don't mind. The song is yours." Jensen replied to the microphone.
I nodded and said to the entire crowd, "But I didn't have the capability to create the entire song here yet. So I will just play a snippet for the song. Is that okay?!"
"YESSS!!" The crowd replied in excitement, wondering if my talent was really true, or I was just a kid with an overblown ego that needed some humiliation in my life before I would be humble.
Picking the guitar strings on my red guitar, I muttered, "Wait. I need to create the melody first."
About 20 seconds after I played some random melody, I said, "Okay. I'm ready."
"He's a very crazy kid." Jay muttered as his heart couldn't help but beat quicker as I took a deep breath.
[Something Just like this- Coldplay]
"♫♪ I've been reading books of old…The legends and the myths…Achilles and his gold…Hercules and his gifts…Spider-Man's control…And Batman with his fists…And clearly, I don't see myself upon that list…♫♪"
"HOLY SHIT!" Jensen exclaimed while goosebumps appeared on his skin. Even Jay got goosebumps as he heard it. "Son of a gun!" Jay exclaimed.
"♫♪But she said, "Where'd you wanna go? How much you wanna risk? I'm not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts…Some superhero…Some fairytale bliss…Just something I can turn to…Somebody I can kiss…I want something just like this…♫♪"
Lily widened her eyes as she heard it and couldn't help but shout, "I LOVE YOU EDWARD!!"
"♫♪Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo, doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo♫♪"
"And that's it." I said as I finished the snippet of my new song. The crowd was silent as they needed to process what just happened.
"YEAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" They exploded into thunderous applause as they couldn't help but acknowledge my talent. I chuckled slightly and raised my hand up to calm the crowd down. At this moment, the entire crowd had become the puppet controlled by my strings, just waiting for me to dictate their next reactions.
"I haven't kept my promise to perform a full song yet. So Section H. Please give me your keyword."
However, not all of the people who gave me the keyword were of sound mind.
Section H: Mummy.
Section G: Milk
Section F: Useless
Section E: Meat
Section D: Somebody.
Finally, it was section C, and I managed to waste 15 minutes of the time needed to waste before I performed my last song.
The representative for section C was unexpectedly a young kid –barely 9 years old.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Lewis." The kid replied shyly.
"And what word did you have in mind Lewis?" I asked.
"...It's…Worthless."
My mind was stunned as I heard his keyword. The random word had unexpectedly touched the soul of my past life that I couldn't help but have a hallucination that my adult self was saying the word to me.
"Are you okay?" Lewis asked as I seemed out of it. Pepper, my dad, and the family that I was close to also became concerned as my face turned ashen at this moment.
While shaking my head, I said, "I'm fine. May I know why the keyword comes to your mind Lewis?" I asked him without mocking him.
"My…uncle…Before I was born…He committed suicide…He said…His life was worthless…I couldn't help but wonder about the keyword."
"I see…And…if you could say something to him right now, what would that be?" I asked.
"I guess…I would want to know…if there is something I could do about it.." The young boy answered without any dishonesty in his words.
"I see…" I said and fell into deep thought about the keyword and the situation.
"Lewis." I suddenly called out to him. "I guess today is your lucky day."
Patting my upper left chest two times, I said, " I will play something that would convey the feeling for people like us."
"Wait. Did you create a new song?" Lewis asked in astonishment.
Holding my finger to my lip, I said, " That's a secret."
I walked toward the keyboardist while the crowd was murmuring amongst themselves and they couldn't help but to be looking forward to what I was going to do next.
"Jess.. Can I borrow the keyboard?" I asked the asian girl.
"Sure." Jess said and the band member helped me set up by bringing the keyboard to the center stage.
I spoke to the crowd casually with my face focusing on the keyboard as I set it up. "The minute I received the news about playing here today, my manager told me that I need to play some of my happier songs. But this song will hurt you guys and made you cry like a lil Bi-"
Forcefully stopping myself, I turned to the crowd and said, "Forgot I can't curse today because the show is for the general audience."
My act earned me some laughter from the crowd. I cracked my fingers before I said, "Enjoy the next song, titled, Before You Go."
[Before you go Lewis Capaldi-Piano version]
"♫♪I fell by the wayside like everyone else.I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, but I was just kidding myself. Every moment, I start to replace.'Cause now that they're gone, all I hear are the words that I needed to say.♫♪"
"That kid really did it." Pepper sighed and turned to Harvey. "Make sure to get ready."
"Okay. Don't worry. I will make sure to get the copyright for this song." Harvey said as she held her phone toward the stage.
"Did you hear that Donna? Make sure to write every single lyric he sang." Harvey said to the person on call.
"Don't disturb me then." Donna replied from the other line while accurately typing every word on the song.
"♫♪When you hurt under the surface..Like troubled water running cold..Well, time can heal, but this won't..♫♪"
Abby was lost in the lyric, and tears pooled inside her eyes. Even Haley and Tara couldn't help but be emotional as they noticed my emotions while singing this song.
"♫♪So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make your heart beat better?If only I'd have known you had a storm to weather…♫♪"
"If only we can turn back time huh." Jay muttered as he too was immersed in the song.
♫♪So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make it all stop hurting?...It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless…So, before you go…♫♪"
Lewis was looking at me with glittering eyes before he muttered with tears on his face, "Awesome."
"He will hurt his throat if he continues singing like this." Cam said in concern.
Claire's eyes shook as she heard Cam and couldn't help but wanted to stop me from singing. However, Phil said, "It's his way as an artist. He won't ever do things half way."
I know that the way I sing this song was creating a lot of pressure in my voice box, but I proceeded with it anyway. After the first chorus, the song slowed down.
" ♫♪Was never the right time, whenever you called..Went little by little by little until there was nothing at all..Our every moment, I start to replay..But all I can think about is seeing that look on your face..♫♪"
"Stop…" Haley muttered as she was torn between stopping me or letting me continue as she saw Abby crouching down and broke down crying as she heard this song.
"♫♪When you hurt under the surface..Like troubled water running cold..Well, time can heal, but this won't..♫♪"
"♫♪So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make your heart beat better?...If only I'd have known you had a storm to weather..So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make it all stop hurting?...It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless…So, before you go.."
♫♪Would we be better off by now~! If I'd have let my walls come down~!? Maybe, I guess we'll never know…You know, you knowwww~Ah…♫♪
I slowed down the music and sang with a tone as if I was talking to a friend of mine.
"♫♪Before you go, was there something I could've said to make your heart beat better?If only I'd have known you had a storm to weather…So, before you go, was there something I could've said to make it all stop hurting?..It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless..So, before you go..♫♪"
As I released my finger from the last key on the keyboard, the entire concert hall was in a pin-drop silence and the crowd was frozen in place.
With sweat dripping over my head, I finally needed to take off my jacket as my body was extremely hot at the moment.
"Did you guys enjoy the song?" I asked in confusion and intrigue as the crowd was still quiet at this time.
Then, they finally snapped out of their state and stood up from their seat before they gave me a thunderous applause!
"EDWARD! NEWGATE! EDWARD! NEWGATE!"
They chanted my name, and I couldn't control their reaction this time any more than one could control a waterfall. The applause went on for almost 2 minutes before I received the signal from the stage conductor that Taylor had arrived backstage. She was getting ready to perform and it was my cue to perform the final song.
"Did you guys have fun today?" I asked and received another explosive reaction from the crowd.
Gesturing them to lower their voice, I said, "Save your spirits for Taylor."
"Now, for my final act, it will be a pop rock song, so brace yourself." I said with a smirk. By now, more than ⅘ of the crowd there had imprinted my name inside their mind and they couldn't wait to meet me the next time I would be performing.
[3rd Person POV]
"Don't you think…he's too good?" Taylor muttered with complicated emotions as she saw the audience's reaction to Edward.
The co-writer said in a cold tone despite being a meek girl, "It doesn't matter. After all, these people came here for you. Not him."
Taylor nodded and her mood was lifted. "He's really a prodigy. I'm sure that he will be a top artist in the future."
"Don't worry. You will become a top artist too. We will make sure of it."
Signing with her current entertainment company was no different than selling her soul to the devil. Taylor longed to escape the birdcage she was in and become a free artist, but the more famous she got, the more locks her owner placed on her cage.
She couldn't help but be mesmerized by the young boy standing at the center of the stage. A free and talented artist/songwriter that made her heart skip a beat as she saw him casually interacting with the crowd.
"Hmm? Why are you still here? Go and get ready." The co-writer said and then she noticed Taylor's blushing face.
"Do you have a fever? Why is your face so red?" The co-writer asked.
"I'm fine. Just a little flushed. Let's go." Taylor changed the subject and walked to the dressing room to get herself ready.
She had made the costume change in the minivan as she was driven to the concert venue. Right now, she only needed to do some light touch ups before going on stage.
"Damn Ed. Now I have to work especially hard not to get overshadowed by you." Taylor murmured to herself but with a sincere and expectant smile on her face.
"I can't wait for you to grow up." She said as she licked her lips while watching Edward starting his final solo song for today.