Friends Don't Look At Friend That Way | Jake Baker

Chapter 8

"Day fourteen on the alien planet." Jake grumbles as most of the kids head out and sit on the front steps of our new home.

"Where you goin'?" Henry asks, following Charlie out the door.

"To sign up for football." Charlie answers curtly. "And no, you can't come."

"Could this place be anymore boring?" Sarah asks.

"Yeah, there's like nothing to do around here." I agree.

"I could give you a makeover." Lorraine offers.

Sarah rolls her eyes. "I'd be down for that." I state.

"Really?" Everyone asks with a different tone, some shocked, some excited, some worried.

"What?" I laugh.

"You want to have Lorraine. Give you. A makeover?" Jake asks slowly.

"Sure why not." I shrug. "I ain't got nothing better to do."

"Oh my god, I think I'm gonna pass out." Mike says dramatically.

"Oh shush Mikey." I hit his head. "Better than sitting out here and watching our strange neighbours."

"Is it?" Sarah asks.

Lorraine comes up behind me and wraps one arm around my shoulders, "Don't listen to them Maddie. This is gonna be amazing!"

"Get your arm off me Barbie." I tell her, which she listens to.

"Now lets get this over with." I say walking through the front door.

"What just happened?" I over hear Jake ask.

"I'm not sure." Kim says.

"Maybe she wants to look pretty for a change." Jessica guesses.

"She always looks pretty." Jake states in a 'duh' tone.

"Well maybe she's trying to impress someone. Maybe she's got a crush." Lorraine says nonchalantly before walking in to meet me and the bottom of the stairs.

"Come on Maddie!"

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I'm sitting on the toilet as Lorraine starts the 'makeover'.  "So how far can I go?"

"Minimal - if not no - makeup, you can do my hair but don't curl it because I hate when my hairs like that and you can pick my outfit." I tell her. "But no heels."

"Alrighty then!" She smiles. "I'm gonna start with some mascara and lip gloss before finding you an outfit."

"Okay."

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"So why'd you agree to let me do this?" Lorraine asks as she starts looking through my clothes for an outfit.

"I was bored." I answer simply.

"Are you sure its not because you wanna look pretty for Jake?" She asks with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah, I'm sure. He thinks I'm always pretty." I tell her. "He once told me I'd look pretty in a garbage bag."

"Aww! That's so cute!" She coos. "How is everything with the Jake situation?"

"Well, Mike thinks we're getting married." I inform her.

"What?" She says shocked.

"I know." I roll my eyes. "He tricked me into saying that me and Jake are getting married and he'd be best man."

"Wouldn't Charlie be best man?" Lorraine asks.

"We're not getting married!" I snap.

"Not yet!" She teases and I roll my eyes. "Anyway, has my Dad said anything else about you and Jake?"

"No but that new neighbour of ours, Dylan's mom, she thinks I'm gonna get pregnant because of Jake." I recall.

"Wow!" Lorraine breathes out, "There's a lot of opinions on your relationship."

"Friendship." I correct.

"Whatever." She rolls her eyes and chucks me some clothes. "But friends don't look at friends the way you two do."

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As the light faded and the moon rose we all gathered in Tom and Kate's room to watch Tom on TV. Lorraine sighs, "At least we get to see him on TV."

"Coach, how do you manage a family of 12 and a football team?" A reporter asks.

"Its actually 13 a-" Tom corrects before being cut off by many reporters talking over each other.

"Settle down everyone!" Shake calls.

"Where did the 13th come from?" A reporter asks.

"I think we all know where she came from." Tom jokes.

"Is it yours?" Another asks. 'It'? I'm an 'it'?

"She's not actually. We're looking after her for a friend." He informs. "Anyway, back to the original question. I manage as I've got a great team here... and a solid support system at home. Go to bed kids!"

"Okay." Kate turns the TV off. "You heard the coach. Off to bed. Here we go."

Sarah scoffs, "In Midland, we were a family. Now we're a support system?"  

"A family is a support system butch." Lorraine rolls her eyes.

The phone starts ringing as I wait for Mike at the door, but he picks the phone up. "Hello? Who this?"

A small pause before he passes the phone to his mom, "Somebody for somethin' somethin'. "

"Okay." Kate nods with a small laugh, "Go walk with Maddie."

"Come on Mikey." I hold my hand out to him, which he accepts and begins to drag me down the hall. 

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All the younger kids were gathered in the living room as Tom and Kate spoke to Nora over the phone. Eventually the call comes to an end with the arrangement of her coming down on Sunday.

"Tell me doorknob man isn't babysitting too." Sarah speaks up from beside Jake, on the other side of the room from where I sat with Nigel and Kyle on the floor.

"Yes he very well might be young lady." Kate nods. 

"And do not set his pants on fire again." Tom demands, earning support from his wife before they left.

"Classic." Sarah smirks.

"Is anybody besides me thinking our 'happier and stronger' life was actually code for 'nastier and suckier' life?" Sarah asks looking around at all of us.

"First Dad forces us to move." Mike begins.

"Then mom decides to become a career person and, like, travel the globe." Jake continues.

"Now we have to take orders from Hank, the model/actor?" Jessica finishes.

"And he hates kids too." Mark adds.

"Especially me." I mutter as I watch Nigel and Kyle play with their toys.

"Nora's blind to his evil." Jessica shrugs. "We have no choice but to intervene."

"We've got 48 hours. Let's work on a plan." Me and Sarah share the same smirk before we all huddle around the table to think of a plan.