Chapter 138: Summer Plans.

(i'm sick af this week. i'll post another chap tomorrow to make up for monday)

[Edward POV]

"You guys are so heavy!" I groaned as I rubbed my sore back after forcing all the people off me. Jenna and Enid happily rolled around my giant bed while Alex, Billie and Elsa were sitting on the edge. The boys were all kicked out from the bed and were spread all over the room.

Holding a Metallica album, Finneas asked quizzically, "You listen to heavy metal? That's…unexpected."

"That's Abby's." I replied casually before taking out 3 sets of suits from the closet. I laid them down on the bed while I took off my shirt, making the girls squeal in surprise.

"Shut up! This is my room! I can be naked in here if I want!" I said in a sarcastic manner as I threw my shirt to Enid. She grabbed the shirt and sniffed it before saying, "Go ahead. Be naked. We won't mind~"

"I would mind. I don't want my girl to look at other naked men." Jacob said in a serious manner.

"Too late." Jenna said with a chuckle, causing Elsa to blush. "Shut up!" Elsa said before attacking Jenna.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jacob asked in worry and confusion.

"Porn. She watched porn." I explained simply, which made Jacob sigh in relief and Elsa threw a pillow at me in embarrassment.

"GO DIE! ALL OF YOU!" She exploded before running away. As we laughed, Finneas suddenly asked, "So, now that summer's here? What are you guys going to do?"

Abraham was fiddling with the illegal items he snatched from the contraband pile in school and replied, "I don't have a plan yet. What about you?"

Finneas replied, "I'm not sure, but my mom usually brings us to our beach house in Montauk for summer. We'll spend a few weeks there, usually after the 4th of July."

Billie nodded before saying, "If any of you guys want, you can come with us. We're usually bored out of our minds there."

"Hmm? Your parent's don't take you guys sightseeing?" I asked in confusion.

Finneas and Billie looked at each other before Billie replied, "Well…they usually spend some time at another couple's house. I don't know what they do there though."

I nodded while inwardly replying, "Swinging", but not saying it to the kids as I didn't want to ruin their perception of their parents.

"Montauk? That's a coincidence. I usually go there with my family too. Not my dad though, he is busy training his team in the summer." Jacob added after bringing the angry Elsa back into the room and made her sit on his lap as he patted her head to calm her down.

"Ahh, you guys could play together then. Maybe try some surfing or skinny dipping." Abraham joked. Jenna and Enid were watching me the whole time as I tried on my suit, and then Alex laughed as she saw the sight.

"AHAHA, the suit is small! What are you? The HULK?" She joked as I checked out my reflection in the mirror. The suit was great, but too bad for me, I had already outgrown it.

"Can you believe that I had this suit tailor-made just 2 months ago?" I said as I took off the shirt and was left shirtless again. "Finneas, this was never worn. Try it. See if it fits you." I threw the suit to Finneas before he blushed and said, "I don't want to undress-"

"Go outside the room or use the toilet next door if you're shy." I said with a tone of disbelief. Finneas realized it and ran away quickly as the group laughed at him.

"Hmm…I remember you being my height before. Now…you even got muscles." Jenna said before she touched my abs without me realizing it. Enid was jealous and she pinned Jenna down before saying urgently, "I want to touch too!"

I took a step back before she could, which made her pout in dissatisfaction. I laughed before saying, "I…I don't know whether all of this can fit me. I asked Pepper to bring my suit this morning from the office, but I don't know if he already did."

"Oh. Your aunt told me to remind you, your stuff is in the living room. I'll go get it." Alex said before she ran out of the room. Suddenly, I heard both Alex and Finneas let out a horrified yell, and Alex scolding Finneas for being naked in the corridor.

As they were arguing, Enid asked, "Ed, you're going to see your grandparents right?"

"Yeah. I'll be staying at the ranch for a while. Hopefully they really have installed wifi there, or I'll be living like it's the middle ages all over again."

"Ranch? Your family has a ranch?" Jenna asked curiously.

"Yeah. Horses, cows, sheeps. Usually my grandpa and I just ride horses around the place while my cousins annoy me for as long as I stay there."

"Wait. Do you wear a cowboy hat when you ride?" Jenna asked as her eyes lit up.

"Yeah. Why?" I asked in confusion.

Jenna giggled for a while and said, "Nothing. I don't have anything to do in the summer. I envy you. I want to ride horses too."

Without thinking much, I replied, "Well you could always come to the ranch-"

"YEAYY!" Jenna celebrated suddenly before I could finish my words. Enid whispered in dissatisfaction, "Lucky."

"Wait Jen. Didn't you say you were going to church camp?" Elsa suddenly asked in confusion. Jenna flinched as she remembered it and sighed depressingly. "Yeah."

All of us widened our eyes and exclaimed in disbelief, "CHURCH CAMP!?"

"You…the slut…are going to church camp?" Enid muttered in shock.

"What do you mean slut? I'm a nice girl now. Modest, Catholic girl." Jenna said jokingly. "My mom is going there to-"

"To hunt for virgin boys?" I added while still in shock. Jenna glared at me and said, "NO!"

"To make the priests break their vow of chastity?" Billie added, which impressed me a bit.

"NOOOO!....No…I guess…no?" Even Jenna was confused by her mother's intention as she thought about it.

I laughed a bit before asking, "Enid, You're going back to Transylvannia to run together with your wolf pack?"

Enid was shocked and she asked, "HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

"Wait…For real?" Abraham asked in surprise.

"Not the wolf part!" She retorted angrily before throwing her tiny fist at Abraham from afar. "But I will be going to Transylvannia to meet my grandparents. It is only for a week, and I will be back before the 4th (of July)." Enid explained.

Abraham and I breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there were nothing paranormal happening inside the room before Elsa spoke, "My mom had to work, so I usually stay at home to take care of my brothers. But this year, I could work part time at the mall!"

"Oh yeah. We could do that this year." I muttered in amusement before offering, "If you want, I could give you a part time job at my company. You're good at administrative work, so it'll be a waste for you to be selling banana split."

"Surely you jest! But I don't want to work at a boring company. I want to hang out at the mall all day!" Elsa said decisively.

"Sure sure." I said dismissively before Finneas walked into the room wearing a dashing brown suit. Alex also walked in while carrying a garment bag. I whistled at Finneas and said, "Whew. That looks great on you."

"Thanks. I also love it very much." Finneas said with a smile while still blushing as Alex looked at him.

He then turned his attention to the rest of the small suits. "Take them if you want. I don't think there's anyone else that could fit them. Wait…Maybe Leonard…"

"Leonard?" Billie asked in confusion as she walked next to his brother to check out the suit.

"Dr Leonard Hofstader. He's a Caltech experimental physicist." Alex explained.

"Why him?" Abraham asked in confusion.

"Let's just say, he only has one suit, and it's an ugly corduroy suit. So I feel pity for him." I muttered before opening the garment bag and taking out a black suit.

"Hey, have you bought the flower for your date yet?" Enid asked suddenly.

"Hmm? Wait, isn't it a corsage? Abby told me she didn't want it." I asked with a shaky tone.

"The Corsage is a flower. You should definitely bring her flowers! What the hell were you thinking!? No flowers for your date?" Alex said angrily.

I was shaken by her words, and turned to Abraham instantly, "Abraca-genie. Is there a way?"

"There is a flower shop open till 6 in the town. If you want it, we need to be fast because there will be a lot of last minute buying too for dudes in similar predicaments." Abraham said in a casual manner.

I turned to the clock and breathed in relief as it was only 5 pm. "I should ask my dad to buy it." I said before calling my dad.

"Wait. 6? Wait wait wait- Ed, prom starts at 5. Wh-what are you still doing here?" Alex asked fearfully after I finished my call.

"Oh that. Apparently Haley said only the nerds and the losers come at 5. All the cool kids will be there at 7. So Abby wants to go there at 7." I explained as I buttoned up my shirt. "Aaaand now I need to take off my pants, so all of you…get out of my room."

The girls sniggered and said, "No~"

I had to relent and walked out of the room to change into my pants before returning.

After changing into a dashing black suit with a white undershirt and a black vest, I stood in front of the mirror to compare the looks with a black tie and a navy blue tie.

"Hmm…" I changed the ties for a while before I said, "Both of them are good… What am I saying? I look good in everything."

"Choose the olive ones. It'll bring out your eyes." Alex suddenly said.

"Hmm? Since when did you have a clue about fashion?" I asked her teasingly.

"Not me." She shook her phone as she said that, and I saw she was texting with Haley on the screen.

"I see. Olive color then." I said before throwing both ties on my hand to the bed and picking up the olive colored one.

"Now onto the next question, double windsor knot, or single windsor knot?"

"What's the difference?" Jacob asked in confusion.

"Well…if a double windsor knot, then it means…that I'm there formally. It is for official business. There will be nothing more happening in the night except for the event."

"Huh????" All of them were confused by my explanation before Enid asked, "Then, what about the single knot one?"

"That's more of a 'trying-to-seduce' my date kind of knot. There's no difference between wearing that, and not wearing anything at all."

"Hmm..you should totally go there without wearing anything." Jenna blurted out unconsciously.

"Where the hell did you learn all this stuff?" Abraham asked with a scrunched eyebrow.

"Captain Raymond Holt." I replied casually.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"Not important." I said before deciding on a knot style.

"EDDD~ Have you called the limo service yet?" My aunt suddenly shouted from downstairs.

I shouted back, "I have! They will come at 6.30!"

"Good! I'm going over to Desiree's house for a while to give her my camera!." Camila said.

I was confused so I shouted, "Why a camera?", but she was already gone.

"Of course, to take your picture later on." Alex said while laughing.

After getting ready and styling my hair, I walked downstairs and hung out with my friends as I waited for the appointed time.

"Hmmm…Ed, you have a hot tub right? We should totally come by to use it later." Abraham said sneakily.

"The construction isn't done yet. But the hot tub can be used. You guys can come if you want, but I'd rather go to the pool at Alex's grandpa's place." I said.

Alex's eyes lit up and she said, "Yeah. We should go there! I'll ask grandpa if we can hang out at his house. But…Ed, you have a busy schedule right?"

"Kinda. Starting tomorrow till 3rd of July, I have a full schedule about my album discussion, music video shootings, apps launching, and album launching. Then I'm free for one day before I have to fly over to Wisconsin."

"Damn. So what's the point of us going there if you ain't gonna be there too. I don't want to go to the pool just with Abraham. He's a perv." Enid said.

"Hey!" Abraham retorted.

"Shut up! I have seen your bag! Disgusting pervert! You know all the girls in the magazine are already old and have saggy tits by now right?" Enid shouted.

"You don't understand the value of vintage collections!" Abraham debated and tried to get me to be at his side, but I just shook my head in disappointment.

"You're not going to be here on father's day either right? My dad wanted to invite you to come play with us, but I guess he'll be disappointed again." Alex said, ignoring the bickering duo.

"Hmm? Phil does? I am here. But I'll be spending the day…you know…with my dad." I said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We have a tradition. We will buy a lottery ticket at the last moment, then spend all night long grieving at the tv when we don't win the Powerball." I said with a laugh.

…

[General POV]

After getting the call from his son, Ted drove to the flower shop immediately after getting home from work. However, he was surprised when he saw a huge crowd of people lining up at the shop – most were teenage boys in a suit.

"Ted?...Ted! Over here!" Suddenly, he heard a sound calling for him in the beginning part of the line as he was walking to the end. He turned and unexpectedly saw Desiree queuing in line and was waving at him.

He walked to her with a smile on his face and said, "What are you doing here?"

"Abby changed her mind about the corsage. So I had to buy it at the last minute. What about you?"

"Ed changed his mind about the flowers." Ted said before laughing together with Desiree.

"Dude! No cutting in the line!" A teenage boy behind Desiree said, interrupting their chatter.

"Oh, I'm-"

"He's my boyfriend!" Desiree suddenly hugged Ted's bulky arm, causing him to be abashed. "So you should stop staring at my ass, or else he will punch you."

"Umm…Shit!" The kid cursed before running away quickly as he saw Ted's scary face.

"What was that?" Ted asked in confusion.

"Just a horny teenage boy. He's been bumping on me purposely a few times." Desiree said in an aggrieved manner. "Sometimes, I wonder why this always happens to me."

"Hmm? You don't know? You're a beautiful and sexy woman. That's why-" Ted suddenly realized what he was saying, and Desiree fanned her flushing cheeks as she became embarrassed by it.

"A-Anyway. Ed and Abby huh." Desiree said, changing the topic while still holding Ted's arm as they step one foot forward in line. A blonde boy shouted, "YESS! LAST ROSE!" as he walked out of the store, making the crowd murmur in grief.

"Y-Yeah. Ed and Abby. Our children…are going to prom with each other." Ted said before wiping the sweat on his forehead.

"Hmm…Too bad, If they didn't, then maybe something could actually happen between us." Desiree said.

"Maybe." Ted replied.

"You know, we will go back to New York this Monday." Desiree added.

"Did Ed know about this?" Ted asked.

"I think he does. Abby passed the interview, and her 2 month program will start quickly."

"I see. Too bad you won't be able to see the house after the renovation is finished. I know you wanted to." Ted said, referring to the times Desiree stopped by the house, always with snacks and drinks as he was working with the construction crew.

"Nah. I was just going over there to look at you with your tank top on, all sweaty while you sawed wood." Desiree said teasingly, which made Ted cough twice.

"If I had a regret, it would be that I never went on your cruise trip." She added.

"Ahh…That reminds me, one of my friends is sick, so he left me the keys to his ship." Ted said suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"If you want, I could show you the sea tonight…"

Desiree smiled widely before she said coquettishly, "Oh… you won't mind going there…just the two of us?"

Ted thought for a while before he said, "Sure. It's a small boat anyway. I can steer it on my own."

"That's not what I mean. Forget it." Desiree said disappointedly. After getting the flowers and the corsage, they went home in their own cars, but before Desiree started her engine, Ted said assertively, "So…I'll pick you up at 8?"

"What…Su-Sure."

"Good. I'll bring some red wine." He said before he entered his car.

…

At Desiree's house. While Edward was getting ready with his friends, Abby too had her own little helpers.

"So, how do you want your hair done?" Haley asked as she was on hair duty.

"Same as usual." Abby replied, referring to her twin-tail hairstyle.

"Tch. Boring." Tara grunted as she held an eyeliner and was working on Abby's makeup.

"You wear a bra right?" Haley asked as she could see Abby's chest in the dress just by standing behind her. Abby was shocked and said, "You need to wear one?"

"OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO! In fact! I should check if you wore panties!" Tara retorted before she tried to pull Abby's skirt up. "HEY! Privacy much!" Abby pushed her skirt down before Tara could look.

After setting the hair, Haley sighed as she said, "Are you really serious? You want to wear a goth choker to prom? What will he think? There's no difference between this and a dog collar."

"Should I wear a dog collar? He'll love things like that." Abby said teasingly.

Haley rolled her eyes before taking off the choker angrily, "Wear necklaces instead! And don't you dare use black nail polish today! Nor the black lipstick!"

"No black lipstick? But I was already done with her eyes!" Tara shouted before grumbling angrily.

"What- Damn it Tara! I told you, don't do goth!"

"She told me you said it was okay!"

"Do you even know me?!"

Abby sniggered as she watched her friends were fighting before she asked, "Hey, you guys watched the show yet?"

"Yeah. We did." Tara replied.

"And…did he really sing…it for Taylor?" Abby asked hesitantly.

"Huh? Which song?" Haley asked in confusion, which made Abby feel a bit relieved.

As Haley went away to pick out the earrings from Desiree's box of jewelry, Tara whispered, "Soo…Tonight's the big night huh. Just….Just don't do anything you'll regret…okay?'

"I'll…keep that in mind."

"And if someone randomly offers you a drink, by all means, don't take it."