Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: How dare you fantasise about my mother?!

Highschool. Cafeteria.

Abby was sitting alone as usual, eating a sandwich that her mother had packed for her. While sitting, she browsed through the IT world news using her Iphone. It was then Haley approached her.

"Hey. Can I sit here?" Haley asked as she stood anxiously in front of the circular table.

Abby didn\'t have the best reputation in school – not because she\'s a goth girl, but on the first day in school, she smacked a boy with a food tray in the face as he insulted her mother. After that, no one dared to mess with Abby.

Abby raised her head to glance at Haley and said with indifference, "Sure. Just sit. It\'s not like I own the table."

Abby had never known who Haley was in the two months she had transferred to the school, nor did she bothered to get to know anyone here. She would leave soon anyway, so why bother to make friends here.

Haley sat down and stared at Abby, wondering why she didn\'t start the conversation. She had never started a conversation on her own before. People usually start the conversation for her as she was pretty. Using a plastic fork, Haley tried to eat the food she bought from the cafeteria, but her eyes couldn\'t move away from Abby.

Abby felt that someone was staring at her as she continued reading the news. She raised her head up the second time, and saw Haley was looking weirdly at her.

"What\'s the matter doe eyes?" Abby asked as if she was talking to a little girl.

"Y-You...don\'t know who I am?" Haley asked while feeling extremely shocked inside.

"Are you...somebody important that has or would have a direct impact in human\'s lives while you\'re living?" Abby asked sarcastically.

Haley however, didn\'t catch a word of what Abby had just said. "I\'m...Haley. You know, the one who..."

"The one who makes her boyfriend attack an innocent boy. I know you now." Abby said in excitement as she thought Haley was going to pick a fight with her.

"I didn\'t make Dylan do anything!" Haley said desperately. "I told him to call me if something happened, but he didn\'t even try to do that."

Abby was a bit surprised as the petite girl started to vent at her.

"Wait- How did you two meet again?" Abby asked as she realised that she didn\'t know the whole story of what happened between Haley and Edward.

"He\'s close to my dad and my brother Luke, so my brother Luke stole a cake from his house...Wait, I need to tell you about the dinner...No, the fight with the band...and then..." Haley told Abby everything in a rapid fire sentence.

Although Abby was flustered, she managed to capture everything Haley had said even though she basically didn\'t stop talking for about 5 minutes.

"So this morning, I texted him again..But he didn\'t reply. When Dylan come to school, I-"

"Haley. Wait." Abby said while holding her hurting head. "Let me understand it first. So Edward had come to your house to welcome your uncle\'s baby, and your boyfriend attacked him for that? Is he an idiot?" Abby asked.

"He is." Suddenly, Tara – Haley\'s best friend joined in at the seat without even asking Abby\'s permission. "There\'s no doubt Dylan is an idiot. So... I got some new... news. First, Edward didn\'t break Dylan\'s nose, Brian did."

"WHAT!?" Haley exclaimed in a high pitched voice. Abby was confused when her lonely lunch time changed into a hot topic tv show, but she was too curious about Edward to stop listening to the popular girls.

"Yeah. I heard it from Madelyn. Brian was the one that started to fight with Edward. But he was beaten badly by him, causing Dylan to interfere. And then, Brian accidentally punched Dylan\'s nose while Dylan was holding Edward still."

Abby whistled as she was impressed by Edward\'s feats. "So how did Eddy get injured?" Abby asked.

"So listen to this. Edward turned after knocking both Dylan and Brian to the ground, and he stepped on a rake. The stick was smacked to his face, causing him to fall to his knees. One of the neighbours\' kids saw the fight and I got the news from him." Tara explained while holding back her laugh.

She was one of the rare few kids in the school that decided to investigate something before she succumbed to rumours, making her one of the most trusted gossip sources in the school. On another note, she was also a journalist for the school newspaper.

"Ahh that\'s why he didn\'t tell me about it." Abby mumbled and took out her phone. She smiled mischievously and sent a text to Edward asking him how the rake tasted.

Edward replied, "Like a 70\'s cartoon with ambiguous sexual connotations and racist jokes." Abby laughed out loud to the reply, causing the two girls who sat with her to tilt their head in confusion.

"So anyway, how long have you two been dating?" Tara asked as she tilted her body forward toward Abby. Abby smiled and got her face closer to Tara. She then whispered, "None of your beeswax."

Haley was curious about how similar Abby and Edward were. She wanted to ask Abby whether she knew that Edward was gay, or hinted at it, but as Tara was around, she didn\'t bring up the subject.

Tara wasn\'t angry at all and she said playfully, "Come on. I told you about the rake. Do you know how hard it is for me to get that info?"

"Have you guys kissed yet? Is he a good kisser? Does he play his songs for you? Has he entered your room?" Tara asked rapid fire questions, similar to how Haley talked non-stop before, causing Abby to get another headache.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. and Yes."

*CRACK*

Abby heard a cracking sound, but she didn\'t know where. She ignored the sound and turned to the expression of the girls in front of her. One was frozen, while the other one was extremely excited as she got to hear some awesome news.

Abby lied as she wanted to play around a little while longer – while simultaneously making trouble for Edward, as she understood that Haley had something inside her chest for that dear friend of hers. She could guess what Haley was feeling as Haley could barely smile when she heard the answer to Tara\'s questions.

The school bell rang, and Abby stood up slowly from her seat while smiling softly, "It\'s been awful talking to you ladies. May we never speak again."

Haley and Tara were stunned by Abby\'s words. They couldn\'t help but watch Abby\'s back as she walked seductively toward her next class.

"She\'s...so cool." Tara muttered. Haley was shocked by her friend\'s words and said, "What are you talking about?!"

Tara turned to Haley and said, "By the way, do you have a crush on Edward?"

"..." Haley was speechless at the question. She asked in concern, "Have you gone crazy today?" Haley then noticed that her fork had been broken. \'When did this happen?\' She thought as she held the broken fork.

...

-Edward POV-

I picked up Abby at highschool under the scrutinising gaze of the hormonal teenagers who had a crush on Abby.

"You know, I\'m beginning to question whether we did the right thing this morning." I said to Abby as we started our journey to the giant Costco warehouse where they sold everything from children\'s crib to coffin.

"Costco, providing everything you need from birth to death." Abby came out with a slogan for the place as we arrived there. After buying the car battery, I cycled home carefully as the battery was pretty heavy.

"I made a bad decision today. Not only do I have a 105 pound goth cargo, but I really believe that adding another 50 pound car battery was a good idea."

Abby took offence and pinched my waist as I assumed her weight wrongly. "I\'m only 90!"

As I sweated while cycling to an uphill street, I said while huffing my breath, "Really? Sure doesn\'t feel like it."

"You\'re the one who\'s too weak!" She smacked my back and used her legs to push the bicycle forward to seem less heavy. No matter what she said, I knew that she weighed over 100 pounds.

We arrived at her place in half an hour. I parked my bicycle next to Desiree\'s car and Abby finally got off the bike after making me carry her all the way into the driveway.

With a face full of satisfaction, Abby said, "Wait a minute. I will bring some lemonade for you."

"Sure. And bring your mom\'s car key too." I said while wiping my sweat with my shirt. I was pretty lucky to be wearing a dark coloured shirt today, otherwise people would\'ve seen my sweat through my shirt.

I unbuttoned my shirt entirely as Abby entered the house, taking off my shirt and only wore my light green undershirt to fix the car. Abby came out with Desiree who insisted on giving me the drink herself.

"Edward, I have troubled you today. Would you like to come inside? I\'ve made some snacks." Desiree offered.

"That will be wonderful. I will wait until I finish this." I said and then I teased, "If only someone was 10 pounds lighter, I might not be too troubled." Abby showed her middle finger from behind her mother, and she hid the middle finger as her mother turned toward her.

"Honey, could you go get some clean towels for Eddy? He\'s sweating a lot." Desiree asked in a calm tone.

Abby stared at me and gestured that she was watching me menacingly as she left me alone with her mom. She wanted me to behave around her mother, and there wasn\'t any possibility of that happening if she wasn\'t around.

I opened the car engine trunk and started to check on the battery. It took me only 25 minutes to change the car battery and check for any other damage on the engine.

My mechanical talent was kicking in, and a schematic of the engine popped up in my mind. Of course, I needed the knowledge of the engine for the talent to assist me, which I had already learned before from my grandfather in Wisconsin.

"Okay. You can start the engine now." I signalled Desiree who was sitting in the driver\'s seat with my dirty hand. She turned the car keys, and started up the engine smoothly. Desiree shouted excitedly from inside the car. "IT WORKED! I DON\'T BELIEVE IT!"

To be honest, she was only letting me try because I was a friend of her daughter. She didn\'t expect me to be able to fix the car at all.

"Alright. Done!" I said and I closed the trunk of the car. Abby who was watching me clapped slowly with a face full of mockery. "Now, you can get a hug from my mom. Good for you, kid with mommy issues."

"Hmm?" I was confused by her statement. Suddenly, Desiree ran towards me and hugged me tightly within her embrace. My face was buried in her F-Cup chest as she was taller than me with the heel\'s she was wearing.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Desiree said as she jumped in excitement with my face still buried in her chest.

"MOM!" Abby was horrified by the incident and stopped her mom immediately. Unknowingly, her only friend had motorboated her mom on the first day they had met each other. "Get off him!" Abby said, pulling me out from my state of bliss.

"Please come in, Eddy... I will cook you something special for your help today!" Desiree said excitedly and almost skipped to her front door.

"I will go home and take a bath first. Can I come by in an hour?" I asked as I was too sweaty and my hands were dirty from checking the car engine before.

"Sure. We will wait for you. Make sure you come by!" Desiree said excitedly and entered the house to prepare for the guest.

Abby stared at me angrily, "So, did you enjoy being buried in my mom\'s boobs? Do you want me to bury you in our back garden next?"

"Hey, she hugged me. I am helpless about it." I shook my head to further irritate Abby and suddenly I moved closer to her.

"What?" Abby was stunned that our faces suddenly became so close together. I touched her face all over and said, "You know, you\'re really pretty."

Abby finally saw that my hands were dirty. "You son of a b-"

"Abby. Come help me." Desiree shouted from behind, causing Abby to turn and respond to her mother. "Okay!"

As she turned back to deal with me, I had already rode my bike back to my place.

"BASTARD!" Abby yelled at me from afar.

...

In the kitchen at the Dunphy\'s house, Phil finally heard about what happened to Edward after he came back from work in the afternoon.

"And you waited until now to tell me?!" Phil asked Claire in a concerned tone and he tried to walk to Edward\'s house.

"Phil! Ted already said he\'s fine! Are you his dad!" Claire said in disbelief after seeing Phil\'s attachment to the kid. Phil was reluctant to let the matter go and he looked at the front door longingly.

"Listen to me Phil. I decided to take the job!" Claire tried to change the subject and shared her big news at the same time.

"Really? What changed your mind?" Phil asked with a supportive smile.

"Well. Alex did." Claire said. "She told me how proud she was about me getting the job offer. She said she didn\'t expect that her mom was so highly sought after and I should take the job as soon as possible as Edward told her a few people have been applying for the job."

[Alex\'s commentary.]

Alex shook her head at the camera.

"No one is applying for the job. Ed didn\'t even create an ad cause he believed my mom would take the job."

"He has like a blind confidence in my family. I don\'t know why." Alex said in confusion. "Even I don\'t even trust my family, and he could do it so easily."

"At the very least, my mom\'s critical point of view could help Edward when he trusts the wrong person in the business." Alex exposed her plans and why she wanted Claire to take the job.

"There is no way mom is just going to be working at home." Alex said confidently. "One way or another, she would try to grasp the entire business to try and control it too."

[Commentary ends.]

-Edward POV-

After I had finished showering and cleaning myself up, I changed into a simple grey t-shirt with a V-type neck and matching it with a pair of jeans.

I checked my phone and saw text messages from Haley. She had texted me when I was fixing the car, so I didn\'t have time to reply to her messages yet.

Right now, she was bombarding my messages with random emojis and curse words as I didn\'t reply to her messages for so long.

Edward: \'Sup.

Haley: That\'s it? You ignored me for an entire day, and all you can say is \'Sup?

Edward: \'Sup...Haley?

I teased her with my text messages as I walked to Abby\'s house.

Haley: Forget it. Are you okay? Did you really take a rake to the face?

Edward: I won\'t answer that. Try again.

Haley: Are you really dating Abby?

Edward: For now.

[Haley\'s commentary]

"What does FOR NOW even mean?! Is he thinking of breaking up with her? Or..." Haley said in frustration, and then continued with a whisper, "...Abby knew he is gay, and was helping him get out of the mess I created."

She ruined her own hair in frustration. "ARGHH! Why the hell did these things happen!?"

[Commentary ends]

Haley: Anyway, I\'m sorry.

Edward: For what? You\'re not the one trying to punch me.

Haley: Yeah, but I caused it.

Edward: Nah, you don\'t have any blame in this. This is just the boys being stupid. Also, they couldn\'t touch me even if they tried again the second or third time, so don\'t worry about it.

I tried to comfort Haley as the incident really wasn\'t her fault. Brian\'s pent up resentment toward me was only looking for an excuse to explode. It would have happened whether or not she had posted the picture.

Haley: Why don\'t you come to my house? Dad is looking for you. He wants to go to your house, but mom won\'t let him.

Edward: I\'m actually outside right now. I\'m having dinner with Abby. Tell him I\'ll come by tomorrow.

Haley didn\'t reply for a while, so I put the phone back into my pocket as I arrived at Abby\'s house. After dinner with her mother– which was horrible by the way, Abby invited me to her room.

"Did you bring your laptop?" The makeupless Abby asked. She had to take a shower as I had ruined her makeup before.

Her room was filled with heavy metal posters and I could see the strap of her bra being wedged in her closet door, so I knew she had just cleaned the room before inviting me in. We sat on her bed and opened up each of our laptops.

"Yeah. You want to see the website right?" I said to her as I showed the website to her. The future forensic scientist was a genius in computers too and she had created a few programs of her own.

"Wait? You really created this? But how?" Abby asked in a cute shocked face as she read the codes I had created.

"Trade secret." I said teasingly.

Abby sulked and tried to comprehend the codes all on her own, but she gave up after 20 minutes.

"Teach me!" Abby closed face near me and tried to intimidate me to teach her about the codes. The smell of her shampoo entered my nose, and her eyes locked with mine.

"I won\'t~" I said in a teasing manner, causing Abby to fall into a deep thought.

"If you teach me, I will let you...touch my boobs once." Abby said, trying to look calm even though she was blushing hard.

"Eh?" My brain short-circuited after hearing what she said.

"What? You like boobs right? I saw the way you looked at my mom\'s!" Abby said.

"Yeah. Your mom\'s boobs, not your boob." I teased again. For her to offer something like that made me feel bad that I kept teasing her. "Anyway, don\'t worry, I\'ll teach you-"

Abby was agitated when she heard about her mom\'s again. She grabbed me and put me into a headlock, with my cheek against her boobs.

"Don\'t talk about my mother like that!" Abby said, trying to punish me for my transgression.

"Didn\'t you hear what I said? I will teach you! Stop this!" I said hurriedly. Even if I was an adult before, my body right now was an easily excitable teenager. If she prolonged this punishment, my body would react.

"Really?!" Abby widened her eyes in excitement, she pushed her body onto mine changing the headlock into a hug. The push caused both of us to fall on the bed with her body on top of mine.

Our faces inches away from one another. I could feel her hot breath and unusually fast heart beat as our bodies were pressed together.