Chapter 114: Popular Girl Street Cred (2)

[General POV]

The pitter patter of Haley's footsteps who was trying to set up for the party made Mitchell feel guilty about doing nothing while sitting on the living room sofa. He sighed and stood up before asking, "Haley. Do you need any help?"

"Huh? Yeah Uncle Mitch! Go Make Alex change out of her gaudy clothes." Haley turned to Mitchell and pointed her finger toward Alex. She had finished setting up the snacks station, and brought out a dozen soda bottles.

The iconic red plastic cups were arranged neatly on the concession stand. Popcorns, pretzels, donuts, and various foods filled the living room with a sweet smell. The sound system was set up by Phil, and it was currently playing the song, [Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love]

For entertainment, a ping pong table was set up in the backyard. A Wii tennis game was also set up in the living room, together with a game of cards, jenga, and a few others.

"Hmm…I think I got it all." Haley mumbled to herself.

[Mitchell POV]

"Today is Sunday…and After a long week at work, I just wanted to relax a bit." Mitchell said with a tired face. "Why can't I relax at my house? Ha!!." He laughed self-deprecatingly as he faced the question.

"Maybe because I'm just so sick of the baby talk."

-Flashback-

"Aguuggugu. Adadadada."

"Uwauwaua. Dadadada. Come on Lily. Say it with me."

Mitchell walked in the living room, and turned back as soon as he saw Cam with Lily sitting on the couch.

The silent Lily was wide-eyed as she gazed incomprehensibly at the babbling Cam, who recently just learned that baby talk may increase affection among baby and parents, which in turn placed Mitchell in an unending noise pollution torture by his partner.

-Flashback ends-

"I just…I just need to get away from it…just for a little bit." Mitchell confessed. That was also the reason why he came by so early to meet up with Claire.

[commentary ends]

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Alex protested.

Haley turned to her sister and said, "Well first of all, that's a cookie-"

"It's the EARTH! This is a NASA shirt!" Alex retorted as she showed the blue Nasa logo on her oversized white t-shirt.

"More like, 'NAAAA, You ain't wearing that to my party, go change.' I already picked out some clothes for you. Go put that on."

Both Mitchell and Alex were taken aback when they heard what Haley said. "You did?" Mitchell asked.

Haley replied in frustration, "Uncle Mitch, My name is written in a magazine today! I have a reputation to keep. If you're staying for the party, I will ask you to go change your shoes too."

"What's wrong with my shoes?!" Mitchell asked in disbelief as he showed his shoes.

Alex grunted and walked to Haley to protest, but Haley stopped what she was doing and glared at her until she backed down.

"...Okay okay. I'll go change." Alex rolled her eyes before stomping her foot to her room to change.

As Mitchell was left alone with Haley, he asked whisperingly while wearing a concerned smile, "Seriously, What's wrong with my shoes?"

Haley avoided his eyes as she had a lot of work to do right now, and didn't want to spend 30 minutes telling Mitchell what was wrong with his outfits today.

Mitchell sighed and asked, "Aren't you changing your clothes too?"

Haley was still in her casual clothes, and she finally realized it when Mitchell pointed it out. "Thanks Uncle Mitch. Also, if the cake comes, can you help me pay for it?"

"Sure." Mitchell replied casually as he took the money from Haley.

The doorbell rang just a minute after Haley had gone upstairs. Mitchell thought it was the cake guy, therefore he went to open the door.

"Hey-yo! What's UP Haley's Uncle! Beautiful Day, yeah?" A few teenage boys had already arrived at the party and they entered the house without any warning. They high-fived Mitchell and he responded instinctively towards them.

"Um. Wait-" Mitchell tried to stop them after getting his sanity, but to no avail.

"Hi. Can we also go in?" A group of teenage girls appeared and greeted Mitchell too, following the leads of the boys.

"Ummmm…." Mitchell didn't know what to do at this moment as Phil was still at the store, and there weren't any other adults there at the house.

He sighed and said, "Sure. Haley will come down in just a minute." He took out his phone and texted Claire about the situation, hoping that she would come back soon.

…

-Port-

"Of course his name wouldn't be in the list. He's sneaking in!" Claire mumbled to herself as she read the guest list for the party today.

The ship's crew were getting ready to sail into a different port to pick up the celebrities guests at the appointed times, bringing stocks of foods and alcohol into storage as they cleaned up the ship's deck.

[Claire's commentary]

"What's the plan here? The plan is simple. I just get into the ship, find out where Edward is hiding, and then bring him out. He promised to be there for the girls' party, so he needs to keep that promise."

[commentary ends]

Following her plans, Claire snuck into the ship in search of the teenager.

"Listen up people! We need to sail out earlier than we thought! Or the marina will be packed today." Dwayne, the ship's captain for today, explained to his crew, not knowing that they had a stowaway on board.

Claire was looking left and right as she walked through the cabin's hallway, and finally, she saw a glimpse of a boy in a red shirt and khaki pants at the end of the corridor. The boy wore a baseball cap, and now was entering the staff's locker room.

"Gotcha!" Claire exclaimed before she stealthily moved towards the room.

"BUSTED!" She sprang the door wide open, only to freeze when she found out that she had captured the wrong boy who was midway in taking off his pants.

"Umm.. What?" Dylan was also frozen by the suddenness. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I thought you were Edward. You know…Same clothes." Claire was flabbergasted and she tried to explain herself.

"Oh. This. This is Ed's. He borrowed my shirt, so I'm wearing his." Dylan explained without pulling his pants up and just stood there in his underwear.

"I'm really sorry for this!" Claire said as she slowly closed the door of the locker room. As Dylan was out of sight, Claire suddenly heard the ship's horn blaring.

"Huh?! Wait No No NO NO!" Claire hurriedly ran outside to the deck, only to find out that the ship had left the port!

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!" She shouted grudgingly when she realized that she had been tricked. "HALEYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!"

…

[Edward POV]

After I finished singing the song, the audience applauded my performance. Jerry said, "I don't even remember when was the last time someone sang for a billboard interview so seriously."

"Ah, you mean I should have sung casually?" I said in a joking manner, making the audience laugh.

The interview went on for another 30 minutes before it ended. A few fans came out to ask for a picture after the interview.

A couple of them kissed my cheeks as their friend snapped the pictures. As I had to maintain my image as a public figure, I kept my boundaries with the fans, especially with those who were asking me for my personal contact info.

While Pepper was talking with the executives, Jerry asked me, "There's a live studio recording for the Black Eyed Peas right now. Wanna watch them sing?"

I looked at my watch and thought, ' I still have time. Haley said the party is at 3… I don't think that there is anyone who's going to come before 3.30.'

I assumed so because Haley's friends were from the popular student cliques. As far as I know, no popular kids would come early for a party.

"Sure. But I have to get going in 10 minutes." I said as I ignored the fact that it was a quarter to 3.

…

[General POV]

As Haley was excessive with the invites, the house was crowded in just under 10 minutes when the girls were changing. Haley was shocked when she saw the filled living room as she walked downstairs. She was wearing a brown, high waisted long skirt and a collared long sleeve yellow shirt. She also did her hair up in a bun, and added a touch of elegance in her looks with transparent frame fake glasses and black high heels.

"Why are you guys here so early?" She asked with widened eyes.

"Are you kidding ?? Rumor has it Edward Newgatewe is going to be here so everyone is going to come. If we didn't come early, then it'd be impossible to get in." One of the boys shouted. There was a line outside of the house, with numerous teenagers waiting in anticipation for the party of the year.

"Haley! How many people did you invite?!" Alex asked in disbelief and a bit of fear as she followed Haley from behind.

Alex was forced to wear a blue blouse with frilly sleeves and short skirt. Haley also put a blue hairband on her hair, and forced her to wear star earrings. It was the first time for Alex to dress up at a party, and a lot of boys were looking at her, which made her a bit anxious and uncomfortable.

"I don't know!! Don't ask me that." Haley replied fearfully before she greeted her friends with an awkward smile.

"Haley! Alex!" A familiar voice called out to them. Haley and Alex turned to see Abby and Tara standing near the walls– ignoring the boys who were trying to talk to them.

The boys were ogling Abby as she was wearing a tight, low cut pink strappy dress and had her hair tied up in a ponytail. Her figure was accentuated in the dress, and the football team leader who got his nose broken by Abby before kept making motorboating gestures with his friends as he looked at Abby.

"I hate Ed." Abby cursed to herself as she talked to Haley and Tara.

"Where's Enid?" Alex asked as she looked around.

Tara replied, "She's…here…somewhere. She always disappears on her own at parties though, so you don't have to wait for her."

Alex nodded and said, "I'm going to find Jenna and Elsa."

"Alex! Wait! Should we…kick a few people out?" Haley asked with a concerned whisper.

Alex scrunched her face in disbelief and fell into deep thoughts as she struggled to walk through the crowd. The smell of aftershave, perfumes, and deodorant assaulted her senses as she brushed with a few people, which made her profoundly dizzy. "Should we really?" She muttered.

The crowd separated into various groups, and the kids mingled with one another. It quickly became rowdy, and Haley was continuously smiling and talking to people while carrying a plastic cup in her hand, smoothly maneuvering through the crowd of people.

"Hey. Haley. Is Edward Newgate coming?" A tall, brunette, highschool senior with skimpy clothing asked.

"Yeah he will Anais. Also, put on a sweater!" Haley admonished the slutty senior whose main intention of coming here today was to seduce a rich artist, or become his side piece. She would graduate high school in less than a month after all. She needed a source of 'income' after this to live comfortably.

"Nah. I wanna be prepared." Anais said as she pulled down her top to reveal her cleavage even further.

While Haley was talking, an uninvited guest suddenly came into the house.

"OH MY GOD! THIS HOUSE IS SO SHABBY! IS EDWARD REALLY COMING?!" The uninvited guest talked in a loud tone from the front door, attracting the attention of the people nearby.

"Hmm?" Jenna who was nearby turned to look at the loudmouth, and she scoffed as she saw who she was. Despite her current fight with Edward, Jenna still came to the party, as the party was held by Alex, not him.

Jenna walked to the front door before the intruder could step into the house and confronted her. "Madelyn. You remember your restraining order right? Ed filed it and got it approved really fast so I'm assuming it's still valid."

Madelyn froze, while the people nearby laughed at her reaction. Embarrassed, she said, "Sh-shut up! Edward isn't here anyway!"

"Yeah, so come on in." Jenna suddenly invited her with a wave of her hand. Haley finally realized the conflict at the door, and moved quickly to back Jenna up in case Madelyn tried to start something.

"Huh. Why…?" Madelyn halted her steps, confused by the sudden politeness.

"I mean. I do wanna see how you scurry when he comes here after this." Jenna said with a smirk, which made Haley laugh out loud, and Madelyn's face turned red in embarrassment!

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Maldelyn stomped her feet and turned back quickly. Before she knew whether Ed was coming or not, she couldn't do anything against the party. She was feeling dejected as the party was hyped out to be the party of the year by the entire school, but she couldn't be invited into it.

"If I cannot be there, then….I WILL MAKE SURE THE PARTY IS RUINED!" She vowed to herself as she walked to the car where her ex-boyfriend Brian– who once tried to jump Edward and got his ass handed to himself, was waiting for her.

"Hey-"

"Shut up!" Madelyn shouted at the boy before he could even say anything.

Inside the house. Haley's eyes darted between her group of friends as she took a sip of the soda with an anxious feeling gnawing at her heart. Alex walked by and whispered, "He's not answering the phone."

"Hmm. Try to check with Pepper." Haley said.

Abby noticed Haley and Alex's action. She leaned in and said, "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing. Ed will be here." Haley replied nervously before she walked away.

"I'm not asking about that." Abby mumbled to herself.

*Crash*

"Oh my god! What happened!" Haley ran to the source of the sound, and found a broken lamp on the floor.

"Sorry." A dumb hunk said apologetically as he continued opening his pretzel packet and ate it as if nothing happened.

"Ugh! Idiot!" Haley mumbled before she asked everyone to stay away and reached for the broom. But as she was picking up the broken glass, it cut her finger and blood flowed out from the wound.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed. She sucked the blood in her mouth as she thought to herself, 'Is Ed really not coming? It's almost 4.'

There were over one hundred people in the beginning, but more than 3o people had left the party due to its being overly packed and lack of presence from the teenage artist whom Haley promised would be there.

"You should've been more careful." Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded from behind Haley as she was trying to see the wound in her fingers. Her face brightened up instantly, and she turned around in excitement.

"ED!" Haley hugged Edward who appeared out of knowhere without even doubting who he was. She released him and suddenly hit his chest, "Why are you so late!"

"OWw!" Ed exclaimed with a smile on his face. "I got here 10 minutes ago though?"

"Huh?" Haley widened her eyes, confused.

"Just kidding. I just got here." Ed said with a mischievous grin as he slowly grabbed Haley's hand. "We need to get this taken care of. JACOB!" He yelled suddenly.

"What?" Jacob responded, finally separating his lips from Elsa. They were making out at the corner of the house, and didn't even notice that Edward wasn't here.

"Can you help me clean this?" Ed asked.

"Sure." Jacob replied before reluctantly separating from Elsa to go sweep the broken shards away.

[Edward POV]

I walked in front of Haley to open up a path as we went through the crowd to get the first aid kit in the kitchen. Mitchell was sitting in the kitchen island chair alone, sighing as he was forced to be the guardian today as Phil suddenly had something to attend to.

As Mitchell told Phil he wanted to go home 10 minutes before, Phil suddenly received a call about a potential buyer for a pretty expensive house that was listed on the market for 3 years now. He asked Mitchell for a favor to watch over the kids as he went to close the deal, and promised that he would be back in under an hour.

"Oh my god. What happened?" Mitchell gasped as he saw the blood on Haley's hand.

"It's just a little wound." Haley replied to her uncle.

"I need to disinfect it." I said as I reached for the medical kit.

"Haley. You should've been more careful-" Mitchell tried to lecture, but Haley whisperingly shouted at him, "Uncle Mitch. Go away. Now."

"Huh?" Mitchell was confused, but as he turned towards me, he finally realized what was going on.

[Mitchell commentary]

"Haley wanted some time alone with Edward. Maybe…Maybe for her, dressing up her wounds…is romantic? I don't know-" Mitchell guessed exasperatingly, already tired from today's event.

"All I want…ALLLLLL I want….Is just to have some time to myself!" Mitchell complained. He found himself being surrounded by horny and decadent teenagers, and couldn't help but sigh.

"But God knows how I ran away from my family…and now, he's punishing me for it."

[commentary ends]

"How was your interview?" Haley asked excitedly as I opened up the alcohol sterilization pad to disinfect her wound. It was only a tiny cut on her left hand index finger, but still, I needed to take care of it properly.

"It was quite fine. Grit your teeth." I said.

"Huh? Why- OWOWOWOW!" Haley squirmed in pain as I cleaned up the wound. The searing pain when the alcohol entered the open wound made her a bit teary, and she couldn't help but kick me a few times for it.

"You should've warned me!" She yelled angrily.

I laughed a bit and said, "You're cute when you're angry."

"Hmmph!" She pouted angrily before slowly rubbing her legs on my shin which she had kicked before– apologetically, not precariously. By this time, my presence there was already exposed, and a few teens were giggling as they pointed at me, whispering about how I was flirting with Haley and the possibility of her being my girlfriend.

I put a bandaid on the wound and said, "Here. All done."

"Great! Now I can finally show you off!" Haley said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the center of the party. I smiled wryly, but I didn't complain as I already knew she was going to do this before I even got here.

"I just hope that I can get through this without causing any trouble." I whispered to myself.