Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Truth or Lie.

    [Edward POV]

    After finishing the entire soup without giving Haley a bite, I took a screwdriver and started to open up the backup heart monitor that the doctor provided without taking off the one I was wearing.

    "Oh. Simple enough. I just need to tweak the sound system a bit." I mumbled before making some modification to the backup machine.

    "What are you doing?" Haley asked in confusion after she walked into the living room from the kitchen.

    "This is a backup heart monitor. Do you dare to wear it?" I asked her with a sly grin. Haley was taken aback and then refused, "No! I don''t want to."

    "Just for one minute." I pleaded.

    She blushed and said, "No! I don''t want to expose what I''m thinking. Like you did."

    [Haley''s commentary]

    "It''s pretty dangerous. If that thing beeped in front of my family, then my mom won''t let me stay alone with him anymore. But I think my dad would push us to be together, so I''m torn on whether to do it or not."

    [Commentary ends]

    "Come on. I''ll personally put it on you." I tried to persuade her. She was hesitant before her eyes lit up in realization and smacked me on the shoulder, "YOU JUST WANT TO TOUCH MY BOOBS!"

    "Ah. You caught that huh." I joked while Haley gave me a side eye but with a face full of smiles.

    "Edward. Are you feeling okay now?" Phil asked in a careful manner as he entered the house through the backyard door after settling the grill with my dad.

    I shook my head and complained, "No no. Don''t do that."

    "Do what?"

    "Treat me like I''m going to break at the slightest touch. The only way you should greet me is by giving an excited shout like you always do. If you continue doing this Phil, I''ll... resent you." I spoke honestly.

    Phil and Haley were taken aback, and they fell into contemplation. Phil smiled wryly and scratched his cheek before changing his expression and shouted, "ED! Are you excited for the fireworks!"

    "Now that''s what I''m talking about!" I stood up and gave Phil a light hug before we went to the backyard together. "So Phil, wanna play with this?"

    His eyes lit up as he saw the backup heart monitor, "Play? How?"

    "Simple. The sensitivity of this thing is outstanding. It can even detect the heart fluctuation if you lie about something. Same as a lie detector." I muttered some nonsense before giving it to his hand.

    He hesitated a bit before seeing the heart monitor on my chest. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Tell me a secret"

    I rolled my eyes in disbelief before saying, "Alex had her first kiss today." Phil was taken aback, and even Haley followed us from behind was shocked. Both of them automatically gazed at the heart monitor, and found out it wasn''t beeping.

    "Wait. Really?" Haley''s eyes lit up, but Phil was depressed, "Wait Haley. It could STILL be a lie. Unless we see the-"

    "I have an STD." I mumbled with my hand in my pocket, and then the heart monitor started beeping. Phil''s face turned deadpan and he knew that he couldn''t argue with my statement anymore.

    Soon, Cam and Mitch joined in the party together with Lily. Gloria, Jay and Manny also arrived after getting back from the parade, together with Alex after Jay picked her up.

    "Hi Gloria. Nice dress." I complimented as I saw her red, white and blue themed dress that hugged her body. She smiled and said, "Thanks. Manny didn''t like it. He said that I looked like the flag."

    I laughed a bit before explaining to the others about the ''lie detector'' game. "So, do any of you guys dare?"

    Mitchell creased his eyebrow and said, "I don''t know. I think that this will bring disaster to our already strange relationship."

    "Why? Do you have something to hide?" Cam accused him directly. Mitchell blanked out, while Jay tried to stand up and run, "I''m leaving-"

    "Come on Dad! Let''s try it." Claire persuaded him while holding the edge of his shirt to prevent him from going away.

    "Yeah. It''s not like you have something to hide...Right Jay?" Gloria said with a smile while hiding her murderous gaze. Jay sighed and said, "One question. Just one."

    "To be clear, one question each, or one question total-" Phil tried to get a clear statement.

    "Total." Jay said gruffly.

    "Alex. Will you do the honor of squirting some lube on Jay''s chest and place the electrodes there?" I asked Alex who was standing behind me calmly.

    "Wait. I''m starting? No, let Phil start it first." Jay pointed at Phil.

    "No. Let Claire start first." Phil pointed at Claire.

    "Wow, you really are suspicious of your own wife huh? I wonder what question you have loaded in your mind." I chuckled a bit, which made Claire'' face freeze.

    [Claire''s commentary]

    "This situation is turning dangerous." She muttered. "A few days ago, I donated Phil''s ''FUN'' shoes because he never wore them. It was a Chewbacca shoe or something, anyway it was furry, and I didn''t like it anywhere near my closet."

    Flashback to Claire screaming as she noticed the shoe inside the dim closet space.

    Back to the commentary, "I even thought it was a raccoon a few times. I just couldn''t take it anymore. So...I went behind his back."

    [Commentary ends]

    "Can I squirt the lube?"

    All the people there turned to look at me– no, towards Luke who''s standing behind me who tried to mimic my voice. My heart monitor almost exploded as I really thought that I had blurted out my thoughts, but luckily I didn''t.

    Claire smiled and said, "Well you can''t." Alex rolled her eyes at Luke before helping Claire set up the machine.

    After a minute, Claire was already strapped into the machine. "Me. My question first!" Phil shouted.

    Claire looked nervous, and she whispered, "Don''t ask anything embarrassing Phil."

    "Don''t worry. I only have one question." Phil smirked slyly before asking, "Do you think I''m funny?"

    "Well..." Claire hesitated for a while, not knowing how to answer the question. "Umm...funny is a subjective thing." Claire mumbled.

    "Well come on, the question is not that hard. Answer it with Yes or No." Mitchell urged while laughing at Claire''s misery, not knowing that Cam was silently taking note of his reaction.

    Haley grabbed my shirt sleeves and gestured at me to lower my head. She then whispered, "Are you trying to spread chaos again?"

    Gloria''s smile froze and she avoided people''s eyes. "Pass."

    "Wait, you can pass the question?" Phil muttered in disbelief, wondering why he didn''t think about it before.

    "Alright then. Did you ever keep a machete in the back of your car?" I asked again.

    Gloria cleared her throat and then mumbled, "Yes. A long time ago."

    "Wait, let me ask you next. Are you still keeping a deadly weapon in your car nowadays?" Jay asked with a hint of concern.

    Gloria yelled, "PASS!"

    "Nuh-uh. You can only Pass one time." Jay interjected quickly. Gloria''s eyes shook and she muttered, "No?"

    *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

    [Gloria''s commentary]

    "I knew I should''ve put some thumbtacks in my shoes to throw off the lie test." Gloria slapped her forehead as she was disappointed in herself for not using the knowledge and experience she had.

    [Commentary ends]

    "Okay. Let''s explode some fireworks~" Gloria stood up and she pulled the electrodes from her cleavage before handing it over to Alex. Then, she walked away.

    "Wait. Gloria, we still haven''t done Jay and Mitch." I tried to persuade her. "Hold on, hold on. Why just us?" Jay asked with a sly look.

    "What do you mean?" I was taken aback at first, but then I realized it.

    "Well you are wearing the machine now. So why not you? And Haley''s already almost 16, so why exclude her?" Jay said.

    "Sure. Strap on the lie detector on a teenage girl. That''s like handing a loaded gun to her parents and helping them aim it at the back of her head." I muttered in concern before turning to Haley, "Run. I''ll take the heat on this one."

    She smiled and said, "I''ll run after watching you answer the question."

    "Well I heard something interesting about the hot tub while I was installing it." Jay suddenly exposed me. "Did you put on extra security there because you wanted to soak in it nude?"

    "Well not just me, but yes." I replied casually, not embarrassed about my motives at all.

    "Oh. We should borrow it sometimes." Phil mumbled, which caused Claire to glare at him.

    "Me me me me!" Gloria raised her hand and shouted excitedly, "Are you dating Taylor?"

    "Not at the moment. Alright, last question." I turned to the crowd, and then Phil raised his arms up quickly, "Well... my question is kinda sensitive."

    "I don''t mind it." I replied, as I was controlling the result anyway.

    "Okay then. It can be all of us, or either one of us, but do you have someone here that you find attractive?"

    The crowd ''Oooh'' while Haley blushed, but then I answered casually, "Yeah. I do."

    The beep didn''t go off, and they ''OOOh'' once more. "And it''s Claire." I added, causing Phil to freeze. "And also Gloria." I added again, and Jay froze.

    "And a little bit of Jay." I added once more, causing Jay to shake, and Gloria to froze.

    "What the hell-" Jay cursed, but his lips were curling a bit. Then, I took out the car key that I modified in my pocket and pressed the switch in front of them.

    *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

    "AH! You little scoundrel!" Jay grumbled before laughing out loud. "You''ve been lying to us, and manipulating us." Cam muttered in disbelief.

    "That''s horrifying, and also quite ingenious." Claire muttered in astonishment. I made a performer''s bow before saying, "You guys figure out which one is the lie and truth on your own."

    "Oh no mister. You''re not brushing this thing off." Claire grabbed my shirt before I could walk away. Phil was excited and he said quickly, "Claire, you didn''t think I was funny?"

    Claire was taken aback and she said quickly, "What? Phil, I think you''re SOO FUNNY! YOU''RE THE FUNNIEST MAN I''VE EVER MET!"

    "If you really think so, then strap on the lie detector to test it again!" Mitchell asked quickly.

    "Well I''m really thankful that he stopped the show before it got to me." Jay grumbled while sipping his beer.

    My dad finished grilling the meat while I was being admonished by the group of people, and before long, the night sky darkened.

    My friends all gathered inside my house before we moved towards an open field together, at a desolate place outside the neighborhood.

    Jacob and his family were here. Elsa and Jenna came together. Finneas and Billie rode their bikes here along with Enid and Abraham came with his cousin who carried a truckload of fireworks with him.

    "Ummm... Can you guys all stand behind me? Or you know, just generally far far away from here?"

    *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

    "Ed. Your heart is racing. What''s wrong?" My dad asked in confusion. Haley and my friends had a worried expression on their faces.

    "Nothing. Nothing. I just have a bad feeling being around explosive things." I mumbled as I feared for the worse.

    I honestly don''t know whether having the fire immunity skill was a good thing or a bad thing for me. It made me become very anxious whenever I could think about a possible situation where I could need it.

    "Don''t worry. My cousin is a licensed firework starter!" Abraham shouted in excitement.

    "There''s something like that?" My aunt asked him in astonishment. He shrugged and said, "There is when your name is registered by the police."

    "Are you sure you didn''t mean arsonist?" I asked him jokingly. Then, his cousin lit up the firework, and it flew up into the sky.

    *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

    A beautiful greenish firework exploded and illuminated the night sky. My nervousness soon lightened as I saw that everything was going well.

    "HE SAID WHAT?" Alex shouted to her dad while the firework was ongoing. "You told my dad Finneas kissed me?!" She shouted at me in anger.

    Finneas was taken aback when he heard it, while Jenna was excited as she heard the tantalizing piece of information/slander.

    I laughed as I was chased by Alex for a while as we watched the fireworks. It took almost 30 minutes for the fireworks to end, and after hanging out with my friends for over 2 hours in that place, we finally retired for the day