Chapter 17: Shoot (Part 3)

-Edward POV-

After Claire decided that I was coming, she didn't spare a minute to call up Cam and Mitch who just landed from Vietnam using the landline.

Phil had gotten back from his house showing and was bothering me as Luke was at a soccer match. I couldn't even code in peace after I got my laptop back from Alex.

When I returned to the living room, I saw her peeking at my homework assignment and studying them with utmost interest. I couldn't even tease her as she ran to her room after announcing she's going to do her homework and no one should bother her unless absolutely necessary.

"...He made the cake for you. So pretty too." Claire said to Cam over the phone.

"Oh my god. I can't wait to see it!" Cam said in a high-pitched excited voice from the other line. His voice turned to normal and he asked, "Can I talk to him?"

Claire handed me the phone, "Here. He wants to talk to you."

The moment I put the phone on my left ear, Cam immediately asked with a serious tone, "Did you tell them about the baby?"

"Nah. I didn't. I won't steal your spotlight." I replied with a whisper as I moved further away from Claire so that she couldn't hear the conversation.

"At least you know I belong underneath a spotlight." Cam said, his tone became much softer than before.

"For a theater production underneath the bowling alley," I joked. He exploded into some ramblings about being the lead in plays or something, but I tuned all that out.

Claire tilted her head in puzzlement and tried to overhear even as I walked away by following me from behind.

"Can you give me some privacy please?" I said and stopped her from following me.

"Claire, you're being rude." Phil said calmly. "MEE?" Claire was flabbergasted by the reactions. "IT was MY… CALL!"

I ignored Claire who needed calming down from Phil and continued talking to Cam.

I could hear the anxiousness in Cam's voice from the call, "I am waving at Mitchell right now. He doesn't know that the family is meeting tonight- I need to end the call. By the way, congratulations on creating the entertainment agency. Pepper just told us about it before. I need to go now before Mitch got suspici- BRING YOUR GUITAR- *beep* *beep*"

"Hello? What do you mean by agency? Hello? Helloo?" I tried to get more information about the matter, but Cam's phone was turned off. "What the hell did Pepper do?" I muttered as I took the phone from my ear.

"What happened?" Claire asked.

"I don't know. He said something about Mitchell and what they did in Vietnam. Apparently Mitchell doesn't like the way he looks right now and they are considering breaking up." I said.

"What?" Phil and Claire were surprised by the sudden information.

"Nooo! Not Cam!!" Haley heard the conversation as she was sitting at the dinner table at that time. Even Alex who was peeking at my laptop screen turned to look at her mom and dad.

"What's wrong with Cam?" Alex asked, rushing toward the kitchen. I knew I was making more trouble for Mitch and Cam, but I still wanted to do it.

"It's not confirmed yet. They are going to announce it at their house. We should wait." I said.

"I should call them right now!" Claire said and snatched the phone from me. However, the line was shut off when she tried to call Cam.

"Try Mitchell." Phil said hurriedly, standing behind Claire. Claire nodded and tried, but the same thing happened as Mitchell's phone was still shut off from the flight.

"What did they do in Vietnam Ed?" Claire said.

"I don't know. Cam was so emotional that I didn't catch on to all of what he said." I said, pranking the entire family at the same time. Luke returned from his soccer match after getting dropped off by his friend's mom.

"What's happening?" Luke said as he entered the kitchen and saw all the people there freaking out – except for me.

'Was it too much? Ahh I don't care anymore. It's too late to stop it now.' I thought to myself.

"Claire. Relax. We will know when we get there." Phil said, comforting Claire. "Besides, Edward doesn't know for sure that is what he said. Right?" Phil turned to me at the last word.

"Yeah. I think so." I replied ambiguously.

"I..I need to call dad." Claire said. She then called Jay and was greeted cheerfully by her dad.

"What's up hun? Did you finally get Manny's messages?" Jay asked.

"Dad- What message?" Claire was so distracted by the question that she prioritized that instead of warning her dad about her behavior later on. She quickly searched for notes near the telephone to check for the messages.

"There aren't any messages?" Claire said in confusion.

"Don't worry about that. I'm giving the phone to Manny." Jay said and gave Manny the phone.

"Dad- I want to talk to yo-"

"Hey Claire." Manny said, already intercepting the call from Claire.

"Do you have Edward's phone number? I tried asking Luke before, but he didn't call back after a long time." Manny explained. Claire turned to Luke with a stern expression. "Did Manny call you before?"

"Yeah. He asked for Ed's number so he could call and say thanks. I don't have his number, so I called Alex. But then I shot her and she cut the call." Luke explained. Claire paused for a second to analyze the story, but she didn't get mad at Luke for his simplistic ways of thinking.

"Edward is here. He's been hanging with us the entire day. Here, talk to him." Claire said and passed the phone to me. But before she released her grip from the phone, she warned me, "Don't let him cut off the call. I need to talk to my dad after."

I gulped my saliva and nodded carefully, "Okay. I will make sure of it."

Claire turned to Luke and Phil as I talked with Manny. "It's four fifteen," she said.

Phil turned to the calendar and said to Luke solemnly as he patted his shoulder, "It's time buddy. I will wait for you outside. Come out when you're ready."

Phil walked briskly outside as he grabbed Luke's BB gun.

"Ooouuugh." Luke whined and stomped off to his room to get ready.

I smirked and called out to Alex while I was hearing what Manny was saying, "Hey, Luke is getting shot. Let's go watch it."

"...Okay." Alex replied after hesitating for a while. "What's the matter with you? Why are you avoiding me again?" I asked.

Alex opened her mouth, but she didn't reply as if cats had run away with her tongue.

[Alex's commentary]

"I saw his plans on the computer. He organised his files very neatly." Alex started by complementing the man whose privacy she had invaded. Then, she lowered her head and said, "He has made plans when he's moving to Wisconsin after this school year."

Alex only glanced at the laptop files, and didn't read the details thoroughly after getting distracted by Edward's homework files.

"I couldn't help it. He explained the process of mitosis even better than my teacher did. I…got distracted and I couldn't read much of anything else." Alex looked at the camera guiltily.

"I guess my first friend is going to move away." Alex said sadly.

[Commentary ends.]

"Why are you working so hard to create the website?" Alex suddenly asked me.

"Hmm? To let my dad get rich and don't have to close down his business. What else?"

[Alex's commentary]

"So. There is a chance!" Alex said in excitement. "I need to convince her to accept the job without pressuring her about it. She also cannot know about this as…how can I explain how I knew then?"

[Commentary ends]

"Oh." Alex replied shortly and walked in front of me.

"Edward, did you hear what I said?" Manny asked from the phone.

"Yeah I do. You did really well. But why are you quitting again?" I asked Manny as I watched Luke and Phil facing each other from the patio. (A/N: Place where Dylan got shot.)

Haley wanted to see her brother's misery too, so she stood beside Alex – who's standing on my right.

"Okay. I will text you later." I said to Manny to end the call, "Can you give the phone back to Jay? Claire needs to talk about something with Jay."

"Luke, what are you wearing buddy?" I shouted from the patio to Luke who's in the middle of the backyard.

" Yeah Buddy, what are you wearing?" Phil laughed as he saw the sight of his son. Luke was wearing a puffy jacket, 3 pairs of hats, and a lot of other apparel.

"Nothing." Luke said.

"Uh-uh. No jacket." Phil said. "One hat.How many pairs of underwear do you have on?" Phil sets up his son to take the shot.

"One." Luke replied. Phil stared at him in distrust, so he confessed after sighing, "Six."

"Why are they watching this?" Luke said while pointing at me and the girls.

"Hey, it's a free country!" Alex said before Phil could speak up for Luke. Phil shook his head and turned to Luke again.

"You heard what Alex said." Phil said. He took a deep breath and readied himself, "I want you to know,I'm not enjoying this."

"But this is an important lesson that you're learning. So, soak it. Keep it." Phil said, gesturing at his brain to make sure Luke did the same.

Phil cleared his throat and aimed the BB gun at Luke while holding it with two hands.

"You're too close. It's gonna hurt." Luke whined and flinched as the muzzle of the gun was aimed at him.

"It's supposed to hurt!" Phil said while amusing himself at Luke's reactions.

"And why are you smiling?" Luke asked accusingly at his dad.

"I'm- What?" Phil was surprised as he realized, he was in fact, smiling.

"Yeah Dad? Why are you smiling?" Alex teased with a smile. Phil didn't get out of his stance and said with a raised voice, "I didn't know!"

"Could it be, you wanted to shoot Luke for a long time now?" I added fuel to the fire.

"Yeah Dad. Shoot him until your heart is satisfied. Shoot him for all of us too." Haley joined the fun.

"Shoot him! Shoot him! Shoot him!" Me and the girls chanted to give Phil some courage. Phil's eyes twitched from the pressure, and he put his finger on his trigger.

"Shoot him! Shoot him! Shoot him!"

Luke winced and could barely open his eyes from the anticipation. We waited for almost a minute, but the picture in front of us seemed frozen.

"Shoot him already. My throat is sore." Haley said whiningly.

"Oh, forget it. I can't do this." Phil relaxed his stance and his nerves. " The point is you're scared. I think you've learned your lesson."

"BOO!!" We expressed our dissatisfaction to Phil teasingly. Alex showed a thumbs down at Phil, causing him to feel distressed. Luke was excited and turned toward us and showed his tongue to mock.

Suddenly, Phil accidentally pulled the trigger slightly while pointing the gun at Luke. The small BB pellet flew immediately toward Luke's right arm and crashed into it, causing some ripples on his skin.

"OWW!" Luke yelled in pain. He whimpered and grabbed his hurting arm. "You hit my bone!"

"It was an accident!" Phil hurriedly ran toward Luke and checked the place he had shot at.

"I thought you were my friend!" Luke said accusingly.

" I..Am.. your friend." Phil said hurriedly to comfort Luke.

"Way to go Dad!" Haley cheered. "You rock dad!" Alex cheered. "That's for stealing my cake!" I shouted. Both of the girls turned toward me with a confused expression. "That's your reason?" Haley asked.

"Yeah. Why else would I be supporting Phil?" I replied.

Luke became mad and tried to grab the gun from Phil. He pulled the gun that was still in our hand and the muzzle of the gun was aligned with us.

"What's happening?" Claire walked toward us after talking with Jay on the phone.

"Get down!" I yelled to Alex and Haley, pushing them to avoid the muzzle as Luke pulled it toward us.

Phil accidentally pressed the trigger, and another BB gun pellet was shot from the gun. It flew directly toward me, but I had already gotten out of its way. But Claire wasn't so lucky. The bullet flew and hit Claire's right chest.

"Ouch!" Claire screamed after she got hit by the gun.

"PHIL!" Claire yelled at Phil after she saw the gun in his hand. Phil looked down, and said,"What is with this thing?" before he threw the gun at the floor. The gun fired one last time as it slammed to the ground, hitting Phil's inner thigh.

"OWW!" Phil screamed as he got shot by his own mistake.

"Are you okay mom?" Alex said as Haley and her ran toward their mother to check up on her.

"I guess you need to shoot Phil next. That is the rule right?" I said casually, whispering words as sweet as a devil's temptation to Claire.

"You're…" Haley said, and Alex continued as Haley couldn't find the words, "Psychotic."

"Yeah. That." Haley agreed with Alex.

I shrugged and said dismissively, "I prefer the term agent of chaos."

"I will definitely shoot him again later." Claire gritted her teeth and stared at Phil who's running around in the backyard while rubbing his leg to ease the pain.

As Claire chased the girls and me away to get ready, Phil and Luke finally entered the house after seriously considering running away and only returning when Claire had calmed down. Unfortunately for them, they need to get to Cam and Mitch's place soon.

"Claire. I didn't mean to." Phil said pitifully. "I would never-"

"I'll deal with you later in our room." Claire said and snatched the gun from Phil's hand.

"With handcuffs and a uniform?" I muttered underneath my breath and it was only audible to Haley who's near me as we sat on the living room sofa, already ready to travel. She smiled and almost laughed. She smacked my arm quickly, "Don't!"

"Maybe some baton." I continued.

Haley couldn't hold on let out a small laugh.

"You're under arrest Phil. You have been a very naughty boy-"

Haley closed my mouth with her hand as Claire and Phil walked past us from behind. Claire stopped and asked in confusion, "What?"

"Nothing." Haley replied guiltily. I nodded to agree with her as my mouth was blocked. Claire shrugged and walked away while muttering, "one thing at a time…one thing at a time…" underneath her breath.

"@#4djgm" I muttered in a muffled voice after Claire had gone past us. "What?" Haley asked in confusion.

I got annoyed and I licked her palm as she forgot to remove it.

"EWW!" Haley said and removed her hand from my mouth.

"I said, how long are you going to muzzle me."

"You can't just say that? You need to lick my hand, perv?"

"How am I going to say it if your hand is on my mouth?" I asked her back, causing her to be speechless.

"Go wash your hands." I said to her, "No. I'm going to wipe it off your shirt." Haley said and pounced at me. I quickly stood up and moved away from her.

"Okay… I'm sorry. Please wash your hands." I said, my OCD was flaring up even when it's my own saliva. "This is a VERY new shirt."

Haley grinned mischievously and tried to reach me from the sofa, "No!"

I took a few steps back, moving further away from her as she got closer to me with a devilish smile.

"No! Stay!" I shouted in a panicked state.

"What am I? A dog?" Haley grinned and started to chase me around.

"What are you guys doing?" Claire asked as she walked downstairs with Alex. She had changed her dowdy mom's clothes to a simple white long sleeved shirt and let her hair down.

Alex had changed her clothes, but it was another shirt with a peace sign, but this was green instead of grey.

"Haley had gone crazy." I said, hiding behind Claire as Haley chased me.

Haley stopped at Claire's stare, like a prey being frozen in front of a predator. "What's on your hand?" Claire asked.

"Saliva!" I exposed her as I peeked from behind Claire.

"Haley! That's dirty!" Claire said angrily. "Go wash your hands now!"

"BUT-" Haley tried to defend, but Claire urged, "NOW!"

"FINE! I'm WASHING IT!" Haley grunted and stomped off to the sink. I released Claire who went to place the cake into the car.

"Wow. 3 for 3. You managed to get everyone other than me in trouble with mom." Alex complimented. "It's a legendary feat that you can be proud of for life. Good job."

"... You forgot about this morning?" I asked her. She opened her mouth but words eluded her.

"So. I got them all." I teased Alex and walked to the minivan after picking up my gift for Lily. I also picked up my guitar as Cam requested. As I exited the house, Alex muttered, "Agent of chaos huh."

I sat in the seat furthest behind in the minivan with Luke staring on my right side.

"I will get you back for that." Luke said.

"What? I wasn't the one who shot you." I said calmly. "Don't be mad, I will save you a piece of cake after I make one." I said.

"One piece couldn't ease my anger."

I chuckled at him and said, "Two pieces. Last offer."

"Deal!" Luke said, and we shook on it.

"What about me then? I was in trouble too." Haley interjected from the front. She was sitting in front of me, and Alex sat in front of Luke. Claire and Phil were sitting in the front of the car with Phil driving it.

"You deserve it." I taunted Haley. "Ahh" She lets out an offended gasp after hearing that.

Alex let out a cackle at Haley's misery, and Haley quickly retorted, "Yeah? At least he will only get me once. How can you lose in maths…geometry?" Haley questioned herself.

"Both." I interjected to let her continue.

"Yeah. You will need to get in trouble two more times after this, while Luke and I are free to get revenge." Haley taunted.

"We're here." Claire announced after driving for only 5 minutes.

"Oh. It's close." I said. I thought they live far away from each other in the series, but it only took 5 minutes to get to Mitch's house, and 15 minutes to get to Jay's. Of course, this was by car. I returned to the conversation and said in a questioning tone, "When you say revenge…."

(A/N: I'll be taking a break on the weekends as I mentioned before. I will be busy this weekend, so I'll appreciate it if you can show me support when I'm not posting. I'll come back on Monday after the powerstone reset.)