Chapter 270: College Experience (2)

Chapter 270: Chapter 270: College Experience (2)

[Edward POV]

Frankie and I went to a popular restaurant nearby, but by a lucky coincidence, it was the restaurant where the saying, "What Market Are You Shopping At!?" was born.

"You seem really excited for some reason." Frankie said after she saw my eyes scouring the venue after we ordered our lunch.

"I am excited." I replied with a grin.

Without a change of expression, Frankie asked, "Oh, really? Does it have anything to do with the group of people you're talking about? The girl in the bright yellow sweater?"

Taken aback for a bit, I replied with a grin, "You meant the bright yellow 'grandma' sweater."

Frankie asked again, "Are you finally ready to move on?"

My excitement diminished, and I frowned, "I'm not interested in Annie. And why would you think that in the first place?"

"It's just that, you have...a specific...taste... From what I heard about you." She replied. Baffled for a second, I said, "Well, you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh, but I am worried." Frankie said decisively.

She looked right at me and continued, "The last couple of weeks, you seem unlike your usual self. It made me worried about your well-being."

Narrowing my eyes, I looked up to Frankie and asked, "Why are you suddenly getting into the topic? Can't we just have a nice lunch?"

Frankie thought for a second before replying, "I feel, right now, you're becoming one of my responsibilities as I could be seen as a mother figure. And one of the mother figure's tasks is to make sure to ask their dependent about what is bothering them, and ensure that they could talk about it in a safe environment, especially if it was about their love life. So I took the initiative to ask."

Her words made me stunned speechless for a minute. "Edward?" She called worriedly.

"S-Sorry, my mind blanked out when I heard about 'mother figure'." I said with slightly accelerated breathing.

Inside my mind, I was racking my brain, wondering when did my dad and her take the next step in their relationship that she's referring herself to my mother figure now. Will I have a stepmom soon?

Frankie asked, "Would you like me to repeat–"

"No need." I shook my hand quickly. "Now where is that damn quail?" I turned around to check if the food was ready, in an effort to change the topic of the conversation, but Frankie was relentless.

"The waitress told us the food will be out in half an hour. We have, 25 minutes left." Frankie checked her watch before adding, "Don't worry about the food. We can talk without anyone bothering us."

"Alright then, since you want to have a real conversation, let's do it then." I sighed as I gave up trying to avoid talking to her. "Just so you know, me being reluctant in answering any questions isn't because of you. I actually like having you in my life."

"Thank you for that. I like your presence in my life too." Frankie smiled and replied. "Can you tell me, why do you seem like you are not willing to move on?" She asked.

I took a deep breath and said, "Shark Tales."

Frankie was dumbfounded, "Excuse me?"

"Watch Shark Tales. Then, you'll understand it." I said with a smirk. "And don't use 'I don't watch TV' as an excuse. You can find the story on Netflix."

"Alright then." Frankie smiled, "If that's what it takes to understand your situation, then, I'll be willing to make the sacrifice."

I groaned before I chuckled, "Why are you watching TV like I'm asking you to save the world or something."

After the food came, we switched to talking about Greendale college. Frankie said, "Do you know they have a class about ladders there?"

"There's also a class called, "When is it okay to shake a baby", "wand making", "Baby talk", "history of ice cream" – which sounds pretty awesome, and I'd like to get on that class." I muttered.

"And for the 'when is it okay to shake a baby', the answer is never. It's never okay to shake a baby." Frankie commented.

I raised my eyebrow, "I know that."

"There's too many redundancies in the administrative process of the entire college. Like you planned, I leveraged our investment offer for an administrative consultant position, in which I'd be able to make some differences." Frankie added.

I nodded and said, "We're only here for 2 days, so just focus on the major part. Such as, the roof of the cafeteria is made of styrofoam–"

"IT'S MADE OF STYROFOAM?!" Frankie was shocked, her body jerked, which made her clinked her utensil on the plate. Her reaction made people turn their heads towards us for a second before continuing their lunch.

"Yeah. And they have a butt load of frisbee on top of the styrofoam roof, so that's just an accident waiting to happen." I shrugged casually.

As we ate the food, I received a notification from an agent stationed in the college. "Frankie, we need to hurry up. There's going to be a performance there that I'd like to catch." I said as I ate the food hurriedly.

Frankie however, continued eating at her own pace. I looked at her in confusion, in which she said, "Forcing myself to eat faster will risk indigestion, and if I want to fix the entire college in 2 days, I need to be in a perfect condition."

"Alright then. No rush. I can miss the song 'Britta You're A B'. Wait, sorry, the song's name is 'Getting Rid of Britta."

"Britta?" Frankie asked, confused.

"You know, the blonde with a sour puss and leather vest. She was among the group of people I was talking with." I explained.

"Are you familiar with that group of people? You just met them today?" Frankie asked with suspicion. "Why do you know so much about them?"

"Um...This food is delicious isn't it?"

The crowd dismissed the lyrics as the song was quite catchy " ?? And now we're hiding in my car, I let you see my scars. Escape the dark for just one night, Your heart makes me explode with light??"

The chorus repeated, and some of the crowd even sang along to the song. Even I sang along to it.

"?? Baby, maybe! Maybe I will steal you, steal you! Just so I can feel you, feel you!

Maybe that will heal you, heal you! On the inside??"

Abed commented, "This seems like a song made by a sexual predator."

I defended Dylan, "He did ask for consent first in the other lyrics." Abed thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Dylan screamed " ??Underneath the willow tree!!!!! Wearing nothing else but me!!!!??"

"Oh my god." I burst into laughter as I saw Dylan grinding on the microphone stand. Anais covered her face, she couldn't even look straight into Dylan.

Dylan sang passionately, "Babe, I just wanna do you! Do you wanna do me! Underneath the moonlight?"

"??Baby, Baby. This is why you need me, relieve me. Close your eyes and breath deep, breath deep. Let me set your mind free till the sunrise.??"

As the song finished, the commenter said, "Incredible performance by Dylan Marshall who sang sexually charged lyrics from the bottom of his heart. It made us wonder if his girlfriend made him become involuntarily celibate for him to express himself in a song like this."

Anais exploded into anger and throw a bottle to the commenter, "Fuck you dude!"

"Anais!" Dylan was shocked to see his fiancee getting angry. Anais stormed off the hall in humiliation, and Dylan quickly chased after him.

"I wonder what she's so mad about. He got into the top 3. He's going to perform again tomorrow." The commenter announced while rubbing his sore head.

I laughed and said, "This day just kept getting better and better."

...

[General POV]

In the infirmary. Laying on the bed, Annie slowly opened her eyes. Shirley quickly stood up from her seat and held Annie's hand.

"Annie! You made us all worried!" Shirley said. Annie held her hurting forehead and asked, "What happened?"

Shirley widened her eyes, "You don't remember?"

Annie thought about it and replied, "I remember being in the study group, and there's another guy there." Her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered, "Wait. Did that really happen? He's...really here? Oh no- I feel light headed again."

In the administration building, Frankie led the meeting with the school board and Dean Pelton. She said, "The school will be closed for 2 weeks for the infrastructure improvement. It's quite fortunate considering that it's Thanksgiving weekend, so the students won't miss much in their studies."

"Um, school will end on 10 December. If they didn't come here in the final week, then we would have to postpone the final exam." Dean Pelton said. "Can we do the construction work after school ends?"

The bald dean wore a headband with Edward's name on it. He was desperate to meet Edward, but Frankie wouldn't let him do that.

"And risk the lives of the students? I don't think so." Frankie replied decisively.

The school board said, "We can opt for an outdoor style class. The students that need to take the exams can do it in the gym or the field or something. I think the more important question is, how much money will he donate to the school."

Dean Pelton asked, "And, does he need his own statue? I still have my contacts from when I made the Luis Guzman statue."

Frankie replied, "You don't need to worry about that. And for the budget, we'll finalize the discussions first before we talk numbers. Let's talk about the coyote problem. And here, I see that you have a stable?"

...

[Edward POV]

Abed and I moved to a lounge room as we continued our conversation about the school.

Abed said, "In most TV shows, the change for the better happens at the final season. If you try to fix Greendale now, it'll lose the thing that makes Greendale special."

"I get what you mean." I replied. "However, while resolving conflict early can diminish the story's appeal, in real life, everyone wants the change to come as fast as possible."

Abed was silent for a while and asked, "So,resolving conflicts instead of dragging it out for multiple seasons is good? How can the audience be invested in the story then?"

"Focus on character dynamics and special theme episodes." I replied. "You know, interesting episodes such as Treasure Hunting?" I pushed the vending machine away, revealing a trap door underneath the carpet.

Abed widened his eyes, and he said, "So, down there, there's buried treasure?"

"Yes." I replied. "Want to join me in the adventure?" I invited him.

Abed paused for a second before he said, "Be right back. I need to get a leather jacket."

"You're trying to be Nicholas Cage in 'National Treasures'?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes." Abed replied casually. I sighed and said, "You have 5 minutes, then, I'll do it by myself. Also, keep this a secret. Don't tell anyone about this."

"I won't." Abed rushed off to his dorm to get his stuff and came back less than 5 minutes after. Mimicking Nicolas Cage's voice, he said, "I'm going to steal the declaration of independence."