Chapter 441: Chapter 441: 1 Million (7– Final)
(Sorry for the hiatus. I have a writer’s block for this story. I’m going to warn you, it’s going to get weird from this point. I returned because of a lot of the people here messaged me, and I feel like I couldn’t disappoint them. Feel free to thank those people. I’m going to post 10 chap, and then I’ll dump Chapter on a weekly basis from now on)
[General POV]
Haley wiped her tears. "Damn it." she mumbled.
Claire asked, "What’s wrong honey?"
But instead of Haley, Phil turned around with a face full of tears and snot. I’m just so sad for him." He said with a shaky voice.
Claire was taken aback and snapped with frustration, "Phil!"
"Dad, wipe your face. That’s really embarrassing." Haley couldn’t help but giggle as she saw it, and her mood lifted.
There were a lot of crying faces in the crowd. Edward’s song had tugged into their heartstrings.
On stage, sweat was dripping off Edward’s chin. His skin glistened, and his hair a little wet.
After singing ’Human’, Edward sang a couple more songs for half an hour until it was time for the finale.
"Now, for my final song," he said. The crowd exclaimed with disappointment. It was almost 12 o’clock, but most people still had a lot of energy.
"I’m going to need a little extra help with this one." He grinned.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, give a big round of applause to Selena Gomez!" He said, opening his right hand wide and pointed at the singer.
It was a special performance for the finale of the concert. A duet.
Selena wore a tight, one piece dress with sequins and high heels. Her hair was blown to be more voluminous, and she looked quite mature. Selena ran her hand around Edward’s back flirtingly.
His eyes followed her as she took her place on stage.
The fans cheered wildly as they remembered the song from the Pandemic song playlist.
♫♪♫♪♫♪
[ Señorita – Shawn Mendez, Camila Cabello]
Selena sang melodically, "♫♪ I love it when you call me señorita! I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya ♫♪"
She pointed at Edward flirtingly, "♫♪ But every touch is ooh, la-la-la ♫♪"
"♫♪ It’s true, la-la-la ♫♪"
"♫♪ Ooh, I should be running. Ooh, you keep me coming for ya ♫♪"
The fans squealed and screamed in excitement. Their pupils dilated, and it became slightly dazed.
Edward gazed at Selena intently and crooned with a sweet voice.
"♫♪ Land in Miami, The air was hot from summer rain, Sweat dripping off me♫♪"
"♫♪ Before I even knew her name, la-la-la♫♪"
He went closer to her and ran his fingers on her cheek.
"♫♪ It felt like ooh, la-la-la ♫♪"
Their intense gazes were filmed in close up on the big screen.
"♫♪ Yeah, no♫♪"
Selena turned and tried to walk away, but Edward pulled her wrist, spun her into his arm, and pulled one of her legs up to lean against him.
"♫♪ Sapphire moonlight. We danced for hours in the sand♫♪"
He took her hand and began dancing with her.
"♫♪ Tequila Sunrise♫♪"
"♫♪ Her body fit right in my hands, la-la-la♫♪" Edward spun Selena away. As she ran, he chased her slightly.
"Oh my god." Claire was taken aback and she covered Luke’s ear slightly.
"♫♪ It felt like ooh, la-la-la, yeah ♫♪"
Both of them harmonized together. Selena had her back against Edward, and he looked longingly at her.
Together, they sang, "♫♪ I love it when you call me señorita~ I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya. But every touch is ooh, la-la-la. It’s true, la-la-la. Ooh, I should be running♫♪"
Edward grabbed Selena and spun her back again. The crowd squealed in excitement, their faces blushed slightly.
"♫♪ Ooh, you know I love it when you call me señorita~ I wish it wasn’t so damn hard to leave ya! But every touch is ooh, la-la-la. It’s true, la-la-la. Ooh, I should be running~ Ooh, you keep me coming for ya♫♪"
The intense eye contact and them running their hands all over the other’s body caused one blonde girl to get irritated. And it wasn’t Edward’s girlfriend.
Taylor harrumped and threw her drink to the side.
Selena walked around Edward in a circle, her right hand touched his chest and she dragged it to his back.
She crooned, "♫♪ Locked in the hotel! There’s just some things that never change♫♪"
"♫♪ You say we’re just friends. But friends don’t know the way you taste, la-la-la ♫♪"
Haley widened her eyes. Lily, the fan club president, almost has blood coming off her nose.
"♫♪ ’Cause you know it’s been a long time coming. Don’t you let me fall, oh~♫♪"
They harmonized again, "♫♪ Ooh, when your lips undress me. Hooked on your tongue. Ooh, love, your kiss is deadly ♫♪"
Their faces went an inch away from each other. "♫♪ Don’t stop♫♪"
"AHHH!" Lily squealed, blood rushing to her head.
"The lyrics are sooo dirty!" Claire was frustrated. "Doesn’t he realize there’s a lot of kids around?"
"Mom, what do they mean when they say don’t stop?" Luke asked.
Claire was stupified.
Edward and Selena harmonized again, their dance became slightly steamy.
"♫♪ I love it when you call me señorita~ I wish I could pretend I didn’t need ya ♫♪"
"♫♪ But every touch is ooh, la-la-la~ It’s true, la-la-la~♫♪"
"♫♪ Ooh, I should be running~ Ooh, you know I love it when you call me señorita. I wish it wasn’t so damn hard to leave ya. But every touch is ooh, la-la-la.♫♪"
"♫♪It’s true, la-la-la (true, la-la)♫♪"
"♫♪Ooh, I should be running. Ooh, you keep me coming for ya. ♫♪"
"♫♪ All along I’ve been coming for ya (for ya)♫♪"
Taylor shuddered. "The double meaning in this is so obvious."
"♫♪ And I hope it meant something to ya (ooh)♫♪"
Selena and Edward put their foreheads together. The fans were blushing again.
"♫♪ Call my name, I’ll be coming for ya♫♪"
Selena then threw her head back while Edward held her by her waist.
"♫♪ Coming for ya, coming for ya, coming for ya♫♪"
She jumped on his body, wrapping her legs around his waist.
Haley covered her cheeks with her hand as she was flushed from the lyrics and the steamy performance.
"♫♪For yaaaa ~ For ya♫♪"
Edward vocalized, " (oh, she loves it when I call)"
They harmonized again until the end. "♫♪For ya♫♪"
"♫♪Ooh, I should be running♫♪"
"♫♪Ooh, you keep me coming for ya♫♪"
"KYAA!!!" Several girls screamed. Selena was blushing on stage. Edward put her down carefully and grinned.
Then, both of them waved at the crowd.
"Thank you for coming, everyone." Edward said. "See you tomorrow for the next day’s concert!"
The crowd applauded thunderously as Edward entered the backstage.
Edward played some of his songs as they were leaving the concert venue. As the venue has 1 million people, all of the androids and staff were incredibly busy in organizing the exit.
The majority of people stayed in camps and in their camper van around the city. Edward made sure to have a lot of patrols around to ensure people’s safety.
...
The concert ended shortly after. Backstage, Edward was wiping his sweat when a little girl approached him.
"Hey! We were interrupted before." Edward greeted her happily. "What’s your name?" He asked.
The 10 year old girl blushed and said, "I’m Kimberly."
"Nice to meet you Kimberly." Edward patted her head, and she almost fainted in shock.
Because the microphone was snatched away, Edward called her into the backstage to make it up to her.
Her parents were elated since the staff let them in too, otherwise it would be quite weird for Edward to be calling a 10 year old alone to his waiting room.
They took pictures with him, and the girl kissed him on the cheek.
Edward waved them goodbye and as they left, his girlfriend entered the room.
"Huh? Why are you pouting?" He asked with a slight confusion.
Barbara’s forehead vein throbbed and she said bitingly, "No wonder all of your exes almost went crazy. You are attention seeking man-whore."
Edward threw his hands up in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He asked.
" ’ Friends don’t know the way you taste,’ LA. LA. LA." She said with a flat delivery.
"You’re talking like you don’t know how she taste too–"
Barbara rushed and cupped Edward’s mouth before he could finish. Pepper, Robin, Frankie and Renaldo approached them, and heard everything.
Frankie sighed and said, "Edward. What did we talk about when dealing with your new girlfriend?"
Edward pushed Barbara’s hand away and held it. "Avoid bringing up the past."
"She’s mad, so what should you do?" Frankie asked again.
"Bring her to Barbados for 3 weeks of passionate love-making–"
"No." Frankie interjected quickly. "Comfort her."
"No, the Barbados things sound really nice." Barbara said with a childish grin.
Pepper chuckled and said, "Ahh. That really sounds nice."
Renaldo was still communicating with the staff through his earpiece. He suddenly interjected, "Eddy. Some people claim they are from the military and want us to transfer the ’Medusa’ girl to their detainment facility."
"Medusa?" Pepper’s eyes widened. "That’s a really good name."
"Yeah, definitely more suitable compared to Salamander." Edward agreed with Pepper.
Robin, Frankie and Barbara nodded in agreement too.
"Tell them the girl’s not with us anymore." Edward replied.
Pepper raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? You want to protect her even though she tried to hurt you?"
Robin added with a cold, "It doesn’t seem necessary to protect her. We can fight the military now, but–"
"Robin. Shhh!" Edward stopped her hurriedly. He turned to Pepper and said, "I wasn’t trying to protect her. She really is not with us. She escaped with the other detainees shortly after the concert ended."
"Escaped?" Pepper was shocked.
...
The detainment compound.
Streaks of red liquid on the wall. Opened cages, bent metal bars. Food scattered on the ground.
R.M and Jenna were taken aback as they saw the sight.
Captain Awesome, the self-proclaimed leader of the group, approached the two quickly and said, "Several people broke in and grabbed everyone out. We couldn’t stop them."
"Oh my god, we were gone for only 10 minutes." Jenna muttered with shock.
"What’s this?" R.M stuck his finger into the red liquid and sniffed it. "Ketchup?"
"Oh yeah, I was holding a ketchup bottle at that time. I spurted it everywhere." Captain Awesome said casually.
"Where did you go? I thought you were in the perimeter?" He asked, a bit confused.
Jenna and R.M exchanged secret glances.
"Did you get in a scuffle? Your lipstick is a little smudged." He asked Jenna.
Jenna quickly changed the subject, "How many intruders were there?"
"Around three. They were led by someone named Mouse." Captain Awesome said with a sigh. "His power is really shocking."
"He can control mice?" R.M asked casually.
"Yup." Captain Awsome replied and said, "I’ll go see if I can find traces of where they went."
As the soldier left, Jenna pulled R.M to the side and whispered, "This is all your fault!"
"Me? You’re the one who threw herself on me." R.M replied, a little disgruntled.
Jenna blushed and said, "Well— I was just trying to see if the side effects were still there. You’re the bad one– trying to take advantage of a vulnerable girl."
"First of all, you don’t have any side effects anymore. Secondly, you’re the one who dragged me away, you’re the one who took off her spandex–"
Jenna covered R.M’s mouth from over his hood quickly. "Let’s move on. We should go and see if we can find their traces."
"No, there’s no need for that." R.M said flatly.
Jenna raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
R.M let them go on purpose. He knew they were breaking into the detainment center while Jenna was sucking on his tongue before, but opted not to do anything.
It was the easiest way to avoid getting any entanglement with any of the interested parties who wanted to find the espers.
Some of them lost their powers anyway, so by letting them go, they could return to their normal life without any hassle.
"Anyway, you want to continue to make out?" R.M asked.
Jenna was taken aback, and then stomped away angrily. "No I don’t want to! Jerkwad!"
...
Backstage. Edward was suddenly greeted by a crying Finneas when he entered his friend’s waiting room.
"What happened?" He asked with concern.
"I... I lost the chance." Finneas cried heavily.
"Shut up Finn!" Alex interjected quickly, her face blushed.
"She would’ve let me hit. I decided to watch your performance instead." Finneas whined.
Edward looked at him sympathetically and said, "You’re a good friend Finn. But, you’re a dumbass. I wouldn’t have done the same for you."
"Both of you are dumbasses." Alex yelled in frustration and embarrassment. "Why aren’t you with your girlfriend?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, we’re going to do it–"
"NOT THAT!" Alex interjected quickly. Enid, Jacob and Elsa returned to the room after going to check out the hidden passages.
"Edward. There’s a tunnel that leads right to the residential area." Jacob said with amazement. "Like the one Bill Clinton used to sneak Madonna into the White House."
"I thought that was just a rumor?" Elsa asked.
Jacob turned to her and said, "No, I’m pretty sure that’s true. She gave him a sloppy too."
"I don’t think that’s real." Alex interjected, crossing her arms together.
"Not that I don’t want to discuss a sloppy top, but I have to change the subject and ask, where are we staying tonight? With Edward, or go back to the camp?" Enid asked.
"I don’t mind if you want to stay with me–"
"No, we’ll sleep in the tent." Jacob interjected. He grinned and said, "There’s a lot of people around. It seems quite fun."
Enid, Elsa, Alex and Billie stayed at Edward’s house, while Edward, Jacob, Finneas decided to stay at the camping site.
Edward was also curious about the experience.
"It feels like the 90s Woodstock out here." Edward muttered as he saw several bonfires, girls dancings, and people singing.
"Yeah, definitely. I already saw 5 topless girls as we were walking here." Jacob added, his eyes a bit dazed.
Finneas punched him in the arm. "Oww. What are you doing?"
"Elsa told me to do it if you were leering." Finneas said with a childish grin.
"Fine!" Jacob exclaimed with dissatisfaction as he rubbed his sore bicep.
"I wonder where Claire and her family are staying." Edward mumbled as he walked around the camp where hundreds of thousands of people were camping.
A few kilometers away from Edward’s spot, Phil, Luke, Claire and Haley finally arrived to their RV using a shuttle service.
"Ah, I’m so tired." Haley stretched her arms up in the air as she got off the shuttle.
"We’ll just go straight to sleep." Claire said firmly. "Definitely not sneaking out." She said to Haley.
"What? I’m really going to sleep." Haley replied, slightly taken aback.
"Oh hon, you’re not going to Edward’s place to hang out?" Phil asked.
"Phil!" Claire was frazzled and quite disappointed.
"No, I’m not going to." Haley shook her head. "In fact, I’m not going to hang out with him for a while."
"That’s too bad." Phil muttered sympathetically.
"Hi there neighbor!" A friendly dad from the RV beside them greeted them cheerfully. "Amazing performance huh?"
"It really was." Phil replied with excitement.
The dad said, "We’re going to have some food and drink some beers. Do you want to join us? We’re going to have a bonfire."
"N-No. No thanks." Claire interjected as Phil was excited. "We’re just going to get some rest."
"Okay then." The dad said with a smile, not offended at all by the rejection.
"Hey." A tall, young man waved at Haley. But she ignored him and went to bed like she said she would.
"I’m worried about her." Phil muttered as Luke and Haley had gotten inside the RV.
Claire sighed and said, "Yeah. The past Haley would’ve argued her way or tried to trick us into letting her go out on her own, but now, she even ignored the cute guy waving at her."
"Cute?" Phil scrunched his eyebrow.
Back to Edward. He hid his face with a cap and saw how people were reacting to the concert in real time.
There were a lot of discussion, speculation, and intense arguments about the songs and the performances.
Edward smiled in satisfaction when he suddenly received a text.
"Uhhh... I’m going to go back to my house." He said abruptly.
Finneas and Jacob turned to him.
"I thought we said we’re going to steal some food from people?" Jacob asked.
Finneas retorted, "You’re the only one who wants to do that."
"My girlfriend just texted me... like angrily. So I’m going to go back before the matter becomes a lot worse." Edward replied with a chuckle.
"Man." Jacob exclaimed with disappointment. "Your new girlfriend sucks."
"She does, yes." Edward replied.
"What?" Jacob was flabbergasted.
"Not that kind." Finneas grimaced. "Although, I sure hope Alex could learn a thing or two."
(They are teen boys. So conversations are a little crass.)
"Well, you can always keep on hoping." Jacob teased Finneas.
They walked back to the house together instead of separating and going to their camping site.
Edward let a drone disassemble the tent as they were all living in the house with him.
"By the way, did you really make Gloria have a baby by touching your hand on her stomach?" Jacob asked teasingly.
Edward chortled and said, "Yeah. My hands are magical."
The concert would still be going on for the next two days. Edward had prepared numerous performers for the show.
When he arrived at his place, he saw two of them inside his living room.
