187 Chapter 187: VMA News.
[Edward POV]
"You don't have anything to do here. Want to follow me back to LA?" I asked Max teasingly.
She played along, widened her eyes and answered excitedly, "Yes. We just need to stop by my apartment and get my stuff– which all fans fit into a small trash bag…"
Randall and Haley were alarmed when they heard about the discussion.
"Wait… WHAT!?" Haley exclaimed in disbelief while crossing her arms together. Randall said urgently, "Edward. You shouldn't do that."
"What? I'm pretty sure that she and I are brother and sister." I said convincingly.
Max placed her right arm around my neck and compared our faces, "Yes. Can't you guys see that?"
Max and I messed with Randall and Haley for a while as we waited for Pepper. We surprisingly became good friends after we talked to each other for a while.
Right now, we were still in the waiting room in Jimmy Fallon's The Late Night Show studio. It has been an hour since the recording, and I was already late to get home.
I checked my watch and said with concern, "Damn. I don't think I can make it to the team dinner."
"Again?" Haley commented.
I nodded towards her and said, "Yeah…the flight's going to take 5 hours. We'll be home around 11, and I promised them that I will be there 9.30– which was already late enough as it is."
"Wait. There's a text from Uncle Cam." Haley held her arms at me as if gesturing to me to wait a second before concluding anything.
"He said the team cannot make it to the team dinner today. Tyler, and a few others cannot make it. They didn't even come to practice today. And it's not that they are trying to protest how things have been going, but Tyler sounded really disturbed when Uncle Cam called him before."
I felt conflicted– relieved and dejected at the same time. "Why? What's going on? What happened to him?" I asked nosily. Simultaneously, I was paying attention to Max and Randall's argument about her cupcakes.
He said she couldn't even give the cupcakes to me, so she couldn't be trusted. Max replied back with if we want cupcakes so much, we should stop by her apartment because there's 4 of them left there.
And Randall retorted back with saying she's only saying that as an excuse for her to get her stuff and come with us to LA. I was pretty sure that Max is going to fuck Randall soon. Not that they were vibing or anything, but Max's standard is really low, and she would just fuck him to win the argument.
Haley continued amidst the bickering, "Uncle Cam doesn't know. And he's trying to find out."
"Let him make Jacob try to find out. Cam sniffing around a couple of highschool boys can be construed as very creepy." I advised.
Haley paused, looked at me weirdly, before her eyes lit up with realization, "You're right. It's going to seem very creepy."
Phil then came in with Alex and Luke after going sightseeing in New York City. Luke was wearing an NYC hat, while Alex was holding a couple of food bags and drinks. Alex said, "I figured you guys will be hungry."
"Starving." I said and patted her head gently, "You did good young padawan."
She rolled her eyes and brushed my hand away fiercely, "Don't pat my head Darth Prankious."
I snorted a bit and said, "That's great. I'm going to use that one all the time."
Haley was texting and she shouted in excitement, "EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING! I FOUND OUT WHY!!"
"Why what?" Phil asked while putting on his NYC hat.
I explained to him casually, "Why a few of the players didn't come to practice today."
"Ahh. High School stuff." Phil said.
"Tyler got his girlfriend pregnant!" Haley shouted. Max automatically perked up her ear and she pressed her stomach and asked herself, "I am? Oh wait. I'm not in highschool anymore. I know about protection now."
I froze for a bit and my legs automatically turned towards the door. Then, I realized that she mentioned Tyler who did that and felt relieved. Alex narrowed her eyes at my reaction but I ignored her and went to Haley. "You're being serious?" I asked.
"Look! Tara found out! Tyler and Lisa went to the pharmacy and got a pregnancy test. The pharmacist there is her neighbor." Haley explained. "Oh my god. She's going to get so fattt!!" She exclaimed subconsciously.
Haley giggled as she texted with Tara, and then slowly raised her eyes to look at the people around her as she felt their gazed. "What?" She asked.
I giggled before shaking my head disapprovingly at her while she was confused. I turned to Phil and asked him, "Phil, you don't mind Max going back with us to LA, right?"
Haley puts her phone down quickly, "YOU'RE STILL ON THAT?!"
"What? Every celebrity does it." I said while shrugging.
"Who? Who does that?... And what exactly are they doing? What insidious scheme are you planning next?" Pepper suddenly swaggered in with a paper fan on his hand.
Haley tattled quickly before I could reply, "Edward wants to bring Max with him to LA! And let her stay at his house!"
"Really? That's interesting." Pepper whispered to himself.
"You're on his side?" Haley exclaimed, aggrieved.
Max chuckled and then walked beside me, "Calm down Malibu Barbie. I can't believe you still haven't got that he was joking. Are you guys even dating?"
"W-Wh-What Joke- We're not!" Haley stammered for a while before shouting unconvincingly to Max.
"Awww. So you're not coming?" I pouted.
Max pinched my cheek and giggled, "Sorry. You're pretty awesome, but I have a friend here that means so much to me. I can't leave him behind."
"Really? You're attached to someone?" Randall commented. Max glared at him and said, "I am human you know? It's Earl from the diner. He's already 72 years old. I can't let him be there alone. He'll die early from boredom if I'm not around."
"Also. I really can't go back with you, cause I'm pretty sure this guy is giving me daddy issues I never knew I had." Max said as she pointed to Phil.
…
Max left with Randall to get me some cupcakes from her apartment. While they were gone, I had a serious talk with Pepper.
"What's going on? Why are you so late?" I asked.
Pepper fanned his face and said aggrieved, "Well. Good news and bad news. The good thing is, you can come to the VMA. But, the bad news is, our agency doesn't really have any inside connection to MTV, so you can't be nominated."
"They tried to play it off as 'you're too young', but they were hinting about needing some money or benefits to smooth things over. They are doing it on purpose since the voting starts the day after tomorrow." Pepper added.
I shook my head and then said, "Don't worry about that. Marshall and Dre have already talked to me about this. They are going to be my backer, so those MTV guys can't really demand anything from us."
Pepper slapped his fan shut and leaned forward, "You should've told me that sooner! I had already agreed to a date with the most gaudy and boring looking man there."
I chuckled and apologized, "I'm sorry about that. But, in their defense, they must've looked like that because they were compared to your outstanding outfit."
Pepper smiled smugly and dramatically sling his scarf on his neck, "That's a given."
"What about Taylor and Coldplay?" I asked as I sipped some coffee.
"Both of them are fine. Taylor's Love Story music video is nominated, so she might have a chance to win." Pepper said with excitement.
"She will win." I replied decisively.
Pepper flashed a kind smile before he became solemn again, "But Coldplay could only be there as a guest. They won't be able to release a new album before the VMA, and even if they could, they wouldn't be able to gain any traction with their songs, so our effort will be wasted."
"How about performance?" I asked.
Pepper nodded and said, "They can if they join you on stage."
"Alright. So they will sing Viva La Vida together with me." I said.
Pepper opened his fan again and said, "Good plan. Anyway, I'm going to need to stay in New York for a couple of days to finalize a few things. Ah, what do you want to do about Taylor's new mv? We did get a slot for a promotion performance, but the mv isn't ready yet. We only have 3 more days."
"Huh? I thought we have 10 more days?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah. 10 more days till the VMAs, but her MV needs to be on MTV for about a week for her to be eligible to promote it there."
"Wait–Whose rule is this?" I asked, aggrieved.
"MTV's." Pepper replied casually. "So, the MV needs to be done in 3 days."
"FFFF-FUCK!" I cursed.
"Now that we have cleared all of that. Tell me, why do you like Max so much?" Pepper's serious face disappeared and he became gossipy instantly.
"Her boobs of course." I replied instantly. Pepper scoffed disdainfully and said, "I've seen you turn down a lot of amazing breasted girls during your tour even when they were throwing themselves right at you. You're not that superficial."
I chuckled and joked, "Yeah I am. I'm very superficial."
"If you don't want to tell me, fine. I will just ask Haley about it. HALEY-"
"Alright. Stop." I grabbed Pepper's raised hand and slowly lowered it. "You win." I snorted disdainfully at him.
He smiled innocently and said, "So…"
"Well…She doesn't really have any ambition… She had a terrible childhood that she became emotionally shut down. She can't really trust anyone, but once someone managed to bypass her defense, she would die for that person." I said slowly.
"She joked around a lot to ease the pain. Despite her mean attitude, she is actually kinda nice, although she is slutty."
Then, I realized something. About how she used sex as an escape. How she took care of the elderly cashier because he is a father figure to her. "She's… similar to me."
To be exact, she was similar to me from my past life. Once a child has to find ways to take care of themselves growing up, they become accustomed to keeping everyone else at bay so as to not let themselves get hurt again.
Pepper nodded in understanding and said, "That's why you're calling her your sister? Because you guys have a lot in common?"
"Yes. And also, it's because I really believe that my life will be so much more interesting if I have a sibling like her." I said jokingly.
"Hmm.." Pepper thought for a while. He seemed to decide something, then he turned to me and said, "And lastly before you go back home. What's this I hear about you, cursing out the live audience today?"
"I did?"
"Yeah. You said that you hate everyone there. In a song."
…
[General POV]
The Late Night Show interview today was broadcasted on TV when Edward was on the plane, so he couldn't see the show live. Despite that, the rating of the show almost quadrupled from the previous day interview, and it was almost catching up with the popular late night show programs in the country.
It was all thanks to a short video Edward posted on his Instagram where he and Jimmy put on a skit about tonight's show. That boosted the show's rating as young kids would've never wanted to watch the show as it was.
Lily, the fanclub president said urgently to her army of collaborators, "Post everything on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook– I want everyone to know about this! If we missed it, then there's no chance for us to watch it again!"
Although she was exaggerating, compared to Edward's interviews on his streaming sites where they could watch it over and over at their own time, broadcast television programs were really lacking.
Taylor was glued in front of the TV with Selena by her side as they watched the show.
"Why is he even there?" Selena said disdainfully. "No one knows who Jimmy Fallon is."
"Edward has a vision. We need to trust him. And if it doesn't work, tease him." Taylor joked.
Selena narrowed her eyes as she gazed at Taylor, "Don't change the subject. Till when are you going to stay next to him, without even telling him about it?"
Taylor chuckled nervously, "You make it seem like I'm some sort of crazy, obsessed… stalker-y Ex girlfriend or anything– I'm just trying to see how long it'll take him to realize I was staying here."
"I found the binocular next to your bed." Selena exposed Taylor.
"Shh. His interview is starting." Taylor said dismissively and gestured for Selena to shut up. They were hooked by the banter and the bagel skits, which made them laugh a few times.
Then, Jimmy suddenly took out the photo of Taylor and Edward– taken from the Gala and showed it to the audience.
[Jimmy: But…Rather than a Sith lord, we actually preferred you in… some romance genre…Maybe a story of Romeo and Juliet?"
Edward: I knew this would come out!]
Taylor's eyes glistened in anticipation as she heard about the topic. She shook the unfortunate Selena beside her, "He's talking about us!"
Selena rolled her eyes and said, "You already know this! He discussed it with you before he went over!"
"Yeah…But he didn't tell me what he was going to talk about." Taylor defended as to not let Selena break her delusions.
[Edward: Honestly, I….don't like being there… all that much.]
Taylor, Selena, and most of Edward's fans who were watching were a bit surprised when they heard that.
[Edward: I just think that you need a certain level of maturity to…survive in these types of events. Or maybe because it was my first time there, I don't feel quite comfortable.]
Taylor snorted and said, "Liar. He adapted in a second."
[Edward: I didn't really fit in at the event until I met with Versace. And Confession Father Jimmy?
Jimmy: Yes Child?
The crowd laughed as the duo pretended once more.
Edward: If I didn't want to get to the dance, I would've never stayed there.
The crowd gasped and then cheered explosively after that. ]
Taylor covered her mouth and her face was blushing from excitement. Selena fanned Taylor's face in understanding and said, "Calm down! Calm down! You know he's using ambiguous words on purpose! He had already told you about this! Don't tap into your suppressed insanity again."
While Selena was trying hard to persuade the heavy breathing Taylor, the fans were already going crazy all over twitter about the story. It cemented the already solid relationship speculation amongst the two of them.
In the full broadcasted interview, the story about the lint remover and also the cronut were removed, and the others were kept behind. As people saw Edward creating a new game with Jimmy, and absolutely destroying the impression of MJ singing Sesame Street theme song, the internet exploded.
@Scarlett_Johannson : Oh my god. I didn't expect it when Ed told me to watch the show today. I got goosebumps. (hugging body.emoji)
@RDJ replying to Scarlet_Johannson: What happened? I missed it!
@ConanOBrian: THAT WAS AMAZING! And what a nice tribute to our King of Pop.
@TheJackson: It sure was.
@KellyClarkson: Never has it crossed my mind a desire to see someone impressioning Stevie Wonder singing one of my songs. And now, it's all I could ever think about! Wonder if you can make it a full song? @Edward_Newgate
A lot of people missed the broadcast, but then, Jimmy released a few short clips of the interviews on Youtube. Those who wanted to see the highlight were relieved, but then they learned that they had missed the part where Edward played a song game with the crowd, and was aggrieved again.
After a thorough discussion between Jimmy and Edward's PR representative, the video was decided to be held back as it could strike people as condescending if it was taken out of context.
The interview and the performance were a set, and Jimmy couldn't get the clearance from the TV network to upload a long duration video on the internet. Still, it wouldn't be for long since there was a high demand for it, and all it was going to do was help the network's status and push Jimmy's show to the forefront compared to other late night shows. Any idiot would see that it was more beneficial for them to release it rather than keeping it for themselves.
Jimmy's name started to become widespread all over the internet. As he watched the rating graph with his director, he cried a bit and said, "I waited for so long…Everyone! Edward Newgate… will forever be… our hero!"
In California, Edward's family and friends were also having a viewing party. Claire, Ted, Gloria, Sal, Mitch and Cam, Jay and Manny, were all gathered at Ted's living room.
Mitch teased Claire, "You could've watched the show live, Claire."
Cam added with a smirk, "But instead, you HAD to indulge in your appetite. Honestly Ted. You need to watch her around Edward."
Ted smirked and piled on the teasing, "Well based on what Edward told me, I agreed with him."
Claire rolled her eyes and retorted, "I didn't do that on purpose! And please stop this 'Let's rub Claire's misery in her face' party."
Gloria chuckled and added, "But you did eat all of Phil's and Luke's donuts on purpose, yes?"
Manny shook his head to show his disappointment to Claire while he was walking by.
[Manny's commentary]
"Am I mad that all of the other kids in this family got the experience of watching the show live? I am not. Edward invited me too, but…I don't want to spend most of my days inside a plane."
[Commentary ends]
Jay finally spoke up, "Alright. She made a mistake. Let's move on. Cam, let's talk about your football team."
Cam's eyes lit up as he was finally the center of attention. He said, "Oh my god, you won't believe what happened during training today."
While Cam was gossiping at the watch party, another intense discussion was held at Jenna's new house near Jay's mansion. Enid and Jenna were comforting Elsa on the couch while Jacob was staring blankly at the ceiling.
Enid muttered, "Y-You should take the test first. Nothing is confirmed yet…right?"
…
[Edward POV]
Inside the plane. I was working on my laptop when Haley suddenly walked near me. I stopped what I was doing and turned towards her, "What is it?"
She pretended to be confused, "I…walked here, definitely not to bother you. I wanted to tell you something, but I forgot."
"Well…Then, I guess you have to stay here until you remember it." I flirted. She tried to cover up her smile, which made her seem even cuter, and said, "No. I don't want to bother you with your work."
I closed my laptop and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure that what you're going to tell me is more important than my work."
Suddenly we shuddered as we saw Phil smiling kindly at us from afar. "Umm…" Haley stammered, and then her phone chimed.
I grinned and said jokingly, "Why? Is there another girl who got pregnant today?"
Haley chuckled and said, "14 girls! All on the same day! I'm sure that it's just a mass hysteria or something."
Alex said disdainfully from afar, "Stop talking like that's your opinion. You don't even know what Mass Hysteria meant before I explained it to you!"
We ignored the pissed off middle child who was getting jet lag from the constant air travel. Haley checked her phone and then her expression froze.
"What's going on?" I asked with concern, then I suddenly got a notification on my phone. It was a private message from Enid, telling me about the situation.
"Elsa's…pregnant? WHAT THE ACTUAL FU-"
