113 Chapter 113: Popular Girl Street Cred. (1)

[Haley POV]

"DAD! DID YOU GET IT!?" I yelled as I ran towards the kitchen after waking up as early as 9 am on a Sunday– a day in which I usually slept till noon.

"I GOT IT!" Dad turned with the GQ magazine in his right hand, and he opened up his arms wide expecting a hug. But instead, I snatched the magazine in his hand as I ran past him before breaking my momentum a few steps away.

Disappointed, Dad shook his head lightly before grinning widely and said, "It's on page 13."

I flipped through the pages furiously before finally landing on Edward's modeling page where he wore the outfit I designed for him.

"OH. HE REALLY DID IT! I T-Thought he was lying!" I muttered, extremely touched by Ed's decision, even though I felt that he was only doing so as charity.

'There was no way that I could ever be good enough to design something that was worth being included in any magazines…right?'

Alex and my mother were holding the same magazine each in their hands with Alex staying as far away as possible from mom as I read through the article.

Alex read the article out loud before I could finish, "The intricate design of the outfit designed by Miss Haley Dunphy managed to maximize the charm of the necklace. We're looking forward to seeing more interesting designs from her in the future."

"Good for you Haley. You finally know which career path you're going to take after you finish highschool." Alex added with a hint of lethargy in her tone.

I could feel my blood rushing to my cheeks as I heard it. "Ugh…Why does he have to do this now? I'm not prepared for this!" I muttered in dissatisfaction as I ran away from the kitchen to hide my embarrassment amidst my family's laughter.

I wanted to call Edward and admonish him, but he had the Billboard interview today and was going to be out of reach till 2 in the afternoon.

"Brilliant bastard." I cursed while having a smile on my face before making my way towards Abby's house as I received an urgent text from her telling me to come over.

*Ding Dong*

As I waited in front of the cottage-styled house, Abby's mother Desiree opened the door while wearing only an apron. I widened my eyes as I stuttered, "D-D-Desire. Why are you naked?"

"Huh? I am wearing something underneath." Desiree turned despite my shock. Soon my mind eased as I saw the dress she was wearing behind the apron. Before I could say anything, she hugged me and said in a giddy tone, "Congrats Haley! I saw the article! I'm really proud of you!"

Her affectionate demeanor made me slightly abashed, and I couldn't find any words to reply to her enthusiasm. Luckily for me, Abby called out from afar, "MOM! Is that Haley!? Let her in! I'm in my room!"

"Okay~" Desiree responded before she asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, not yet."

"When you finish whatever it is you girls are doing, then come to the kitchen. I will cook some breakfast." She said before she turned and walked away.

"Or…you know…just buy it…" I muttered in a low voice.

"HALEY!" Abby called out again.

"COMING!" I replied and I ran to her room quickly, only to be met with a mess even bigger than in my own room.

"Uhhh… What's happening?" I asked as I looked at Abby who was only wearing her underwear and was standing in the middle of her room, with all of her outfits scattered on the bed and on the floor.

"Help me Haley~" Abby whined as she ran and hugged me, burying my face inside her chest as she did so.

"Ugh," I forcefully looked upward while still in her embrace in order to breathe and said, "Explain."

She released me and said, "Well… Remember the time where Ed made dinner for everyone in your grandpa's house?"

"Uh-huh"

"I made a bet with Ed on whether your mom would jump into the pool or not…"

I widened my eyes and said urgently, "And?"

"I… Lost…and Now, Ed is cashing in that bet… He wants me… To wear something pink and girlish to the party. Something that will remind him of Princess Bubblegum or Bubble from the Powerpuff girls."

I face-palmed at my friend's luck, while also feeling a bit jealous inside, but I hid that feeling carefully and said," Okay. Do you have anything pink-"

I knew it was a stupid question as it came out of my mouth as all the dresses scattered around were either black or white.

With a sigh, I said, "We got a lot of work to do."

…

[Edward POV]

'I need to rest.'

"EDWARD! Look over here!" The photographers called out as I walked in front of the Billboard Building wearing a leather jacket and ripped jeans. They snapped countless pictures of me while I posed for them.

'I need more sleep.'

Light flashes made me a bit dizzy, but I endured it and plastered a fake smile on my face.

"Hey, Edward, When is your Album coming out?" A reporter shouted his question while pressing the shutter button on his camera.

"I may pull the Album release forward, and release it this Summer as I start the tour so keep an eye out for that if you want to get the exclusive release in the venue store." I replied casually. The hyena-like reporters snapped their cameras again, not shying away with the flash photography method as I responded to their preliminary interview today.

"Are you touring together with Taylor?"

"What made you decide to collaborate with Em**em? Are you trying to get famous through controversy too?"

"Who is your 'Enemy'? Can you name them?"

"What's your height?"

"Are you a virgin?"

I ignored all of the scandalous questions and just waved at the reporters before Pepper came by to escort me into the building.

"You did well." Pepper whispered.

"I know." I replied with a cocky smirk, which made Pepper roll his eyes.

"Also, what is this? Why are you wearing a leather jacket? Are you finally going to become a bad boy in this industry? I knew I shouldn't have gotten that M&M to help you-"

"Stop spiralling. I just forgot to bring a change of clothes to the docks yesterday. This is Dylan's."

"That troglodyte? We need to get you out of that, like, right now before his stupidity infects you." Pepper said decisively before he passed me over to the support staff.

Pepper was shocked when he saw my new outfit. I was wearing an unbuttoned, oversized black blazer which suited me perfectly, revealing my toned abs and healthy-tanned looking skin. I paired it up with high waisted baggy pants and thick black boots, and last but not least, a chain necklace on my neck.

"They told you to dress comfortably for the interview." Pepper said in a surprised manner before looking at my abs, "Also…How?"

"Diet and workout. Nah, it was only a suggestion. Also, I'm comfortable in this."

"Yeah, but a lot of young girls won't be afterward. And maybe some of their mothers too." Pepper scoffed. I snapped my fingers and said, "That is…the point."

He shook his head defeatedly and said, "At least put on a jacket. It's cold inside the studio."

"For a 5 minute interview?" I asked in confusion.

"5 minutes is the total screen time, but you're going to reshoot the scene a few times- Wait." He turned towards me and said, "I don't think you'll need to reshoot, so just be comfortable if you want."

I nodded as I had the same thoughts as him and entered the Billboard interview studio.

Although there will be an interviewer in the studio, the shots wouldn't only consist of my introduction to the music industry. Jerry, the interview today would only serve as a guide for me to handle my speech well.

Jerry sat in front of me, out of the camera. He smiled and we shook hands together. He commented, "You know, Justin came here with a black sweater. I really wish he had your fashion sense."

"Well he is still young." I replied jokingly.

"You are the same age he was when he started." Jerry muttered silently to himself as he checked out his notes and then smiled and said, "Okay. Are you ready? Why don't we start with the greeting."

I grinned, which made Pepper, who was watching from the side, have goosebumps on the back of his neck. "What else is he planning to do now?" Pepper muttered.

"Hey What's up Guys. This is a very special Billboard Interview.Yes today we have for the very first time the fastest rising star in the music industry, Edward Newgate." I greeted the audience with a cocky look on my face as I sat leaning back on the chair and had my legs crossed together.

"Wait- That's not…" Jerry tried to explain as I had changed the order of the company and artist name, but he received death stares from the girls inside the studio, which made him promptly shut up.

"Any problems??" I asked, acting innocently.

"N-Nah. Nothing's wrong." Jerry said while shaking his hand dismissively, not wanting to get into trouble.

'When a man is handsome enough, he will be given a lot of concessions in this world. Thank god I was born handsome in this life.' I thought to myself as I gave a light wave to the female staff members circling around the studio to watch my interview. They covered their mouth, giggled and blushed as they waved back while I faced the interview questions casually.

"Ok so, why don't you start by introducing your new singles."

"This is kinda confusing because I have released 2 separate sets of singles in the span of a month, and they tell two separate and different stories the first one is called 'Love and HeartBreak', and the new one is called 'Dragon Dreams' (Imagine is to much of a copy of the Beatles song) . Both were written and produced by myself, and their themes differ greatly from one another."

"For 'Love and Heartbreak', we can see the journey of someone who's going through… living through a new process with his new love, but we also see his dark past and the clear pain leftover from his recent Heartbreak. The song Grenade especially resonated with a lot of the fans, and it has cemented its place in the Billboard 1st rank for 3 weeks now."

"'Dragon Dreams' however I will admit is very personal and important to me since it's based on my trauma and it was created to inspire those who are going through some difficult times. I hope that those songs can lend support to anyone hearing them and let them know that they are not alone, so they know that it does get better."

"Awwww…" The female members of the staff exclaimed unconsciously, which irked Jerry very much. He turned towards them and gestured for them to shut up, but again, he was met with deathly stares the second he tried that.

I chuckled a bit before continuing with the interview.

"Did the song's success affect my life? Yeah, definitely. My life was completely turned over, thanks to Pepper Saltzman who decided to take a shot and invest in me. He saw something no one else had before and decided to bet on me. When I first started, I was just singing for fun you know? Just for me and my close group of friends and family. But now, I'm very thankful that I had the opportunity to share it with the rest of the world."

Interviewer: Wow, what a story. One can not ignore how deep your own journey has been. But if you had to pick just a few things. What would you say were the biggest changes to your daily life, your everyday routine?

"Well, to be honest it really turned everything upside down. I went from lazing around everyday and my day being mostly free to a completely busy schedule. We are actually preparing a LOT of stuff that will be coming out soon. Some things will of course be reserved for my Superfan subscribers but if you keep an ear out I'm sure you might be hearing news soon So…" I chuckled at my own play, but the women around me were basically laughing out loud.

"I knew that a lot of artists out there were annoyed that I didn't follow the "industry standard" to becoming a singer, which is basically flying around to radio stations everyday, and touring the country.. But I don't feel bad about that, not in the least. I'm still young and today we have a LOT of amazing tools to get stuff out there. I honestly think it's a bit underutilized so I jumped on it . While they might think I'm a newbie, the results speak for themselves, don't they?? Besides, I have been performing at an international level since I was 7 years old, so technically I'm not 'new'."

My words were filled with confidence, and there wasn't any trace of worry in my face as I faced the questions. The interview continued for a few questions more before Jerry decided to take a break.

"That's it for the beginning. Nice Job Edward. Now, we need to record the songs to be played in the background of the interview. We'll go with Grenade, as it is your most popular song right now."

"Yeah I thought so too. Will you bring the piano here or…?"

Jerry smiled and said, "Of course."

I thought that I would need to move into another location to record it. But again seeing 4 sweaty buff men pushing the piano into the studio changed my thoughts. 'Big companies indeed have their own ways of doing things…'

I smiled politely at the buff men before sitting on the piano chair and tuning the key a little bit before I started singing the song live. My [Soul Voice] was instinctively activated at this time, and the audience was immediately captivated by my singing.

…

[General POV]

While Edward was conducting the interview, Haley finally returned home after doing some last minute shopping with Tara and Abby for the party. She raised her eyebrows when she returned as she saw her Uncle Mitchell and her mother were both lolly gagging in the living room while looking at the magazine article.

"Haley! I showed your article to Nana, and she said she's very proud of you. Your grandpa also said the same thing, and he promised you a gift…whatever you want…You know, as long as it's still reasonable and not dangerous." Claire backpedaled slowly as she continued her sentence while grabbing Haley's hand.

"Really? I mean. Mom, aren't you going to work?" Haley asked while feeling fidgety inside.

'If mom stayed, then the whole party would be ruined.' She thought to herself. And this wasn't based on her prejudice on her mother, but from the data of the various parties she held before– all destroyed by her mother's nosiness. That's why she vowed to never hold a party when her mother was around.

"Well… I thought about it…And I think … I should stay here. Celebrate with Alex. Let her know that I'm proud of her." Claire said while avoiding Haley's eyes.

The stalled gears inside Haley's mind churned for the first time in a while as she thought about the whole thing. "Okay. If that's your choice." She walked to the kitchen, pretending to be okay with the whole thing.

"Huh. That was easy." Claire muttered in confusion as what she predicted didn't come through.

Mitchell added whisperingly, "I told you she's not planning to have a wild party with you gone."

"How could I not be concerned about it, Mitch? A lot of mothers called me today to ask about the party. I'm just afraid that something will in fact be going wrong."

"Isn't Phil around?" Mitchell asked.

"Yeah. But he's not exactly trustworthy when it comes to controlling the kids."

While Claire was talking to Mitchell, Alex was dragged by Haley to the kitchen by forcefully grabbing her by the arm.

"Oww. What are you doing?!" Alex asked angrily.

"Okay. I don't know why you are being so pouty with mom, but this needs to stop. Right now. Or else, we won't be able to have the party."

"Huh? Isn't mom going to work?"

"No. Apparently your sullenness made her want to stay home and comfort you instead of going to a celebrity party." Haley replied frustratingly.

"Anyway. I need you to signal me when mom is nearby okay? I will pretend not to notice her." Haley schemed as she took out her phone and sat down in the kitchen island chair.

"Uhhh…What are you doing?" Alex asked warily.

"Just believe me. Also, go hide!" Haley said before she pretended to be on a call.

Alex was confused, but she still followed along her sister's plan as she too wanted to have the party without her mom there.

[Haley's commentary]

"I was not nervous because I already had a plan B, just a little something in my back pocket in case the 'guilt-tripping' didn't pan out. What else could I do to make mum leave the house besides that? Well maybe if I added just needled a bit more on some of the thing she's been stressing about for weeks…-"

[commentary paused]

Claire walked into the kitchen to talk to Haley, but she noticed that she was giggling on her phone. Haley saw Alex's signal, and she started her mission.

"Hahaha. Ed, so you know…Mom isn't going to the yacht party, so you can sneak in there if you want."

Claire was frozen when she heard it, and she stood motionlessly to eavesdrop on the call.

"Hmm? You want me to come? But there's a party at my house….Huh? We will be doing all that? Yeah of course I want you to…Mmm I don't know. Are you sure we won't get in trouble?? What is that?...International waters don't have the same laws as the country? How nice."

Claire was flabbergasted and wanted to snatch the phone away from Haley, but Alex secretly signaled Haley to move away before she could do that.

[Claire's commentary]

"I knew something was wrong with the yacht party! Urghh! I was wondering why Haley was so okay with it, turns out they never wanted me there in the first place!" Claire said anxiously before she pointed her fingers at the camera and said, "You know what. They don't want me to go there, so that's the last place they'll expect me to be."

She grinned evilly before she said, "Of course I could stop them now but then I and the crazy one!! Me!! Crazy Claire. Even Phil turns on me when I say there is something fishy going on but NO!! Not this time this time I'll catch them in the act… Oh they are going to be so busted!"

[Haley and Alex's commentary]

"And that's how it's done." Haley said excitedly while flipping her hair back.

Alex smiled before she added, "Until Ed finds out that you used his name AND sold him out, then you'll have to deal with that next."

Haley's eyes dropped nervously and she turned to Alex before she mumbled, "Umm…"

Alex just smiled as the chaos had nothing to do with her, and she was kind of looking forward to seeing how it would all turn out. " I can't wait for the party." Alex muttered.

[commentary ends]

"Honey. I'm going to the store." Claire shouted from the front door before she pulled Phil over and said, "You're going to get the stuff for the party. So you are going to the yacht party then??"

"Why do you have to be so sneaky? I don't mind if you want to go to the party. Just keep it professional, and… stay away from the drinks." Phil said while avoiding Claire's eyes at the last part.

Claire sighed and said, "I KNOW…how to be professional. I'm not really going to the yacht party. I'm just busting someone over there."

She didn't even tell Phil or anyone else about her actions as she didn't want anyone else to warn Ed about her play. Not realizing that she was playing right into Haley's palm, Claire gave Phil a list of things to do before she got out of the house.

"Luke! Let's go, I'm dropping you off at your grandpa." Claire shouted.

"Coming!" Luke responded as he went down the stairs with a water gun in his hand. He had a tough job to do this weekend. That was, to fulfill his duty as Manny's self-appointed trainer in his journey to bettering himself.

"Let's do this." Luke said as he cocked the water gun. Claire was confused, but she brought him out of the house with her regardless.

(A/N: The whole party will be around 3 to 4 chap)