The Prince

Part 10

"I don't have much hope for a job, mate," Travis looked forlornly at Noah.

"Come on, there are a few more places to check still and there is the convenience store."

"But I don't want to work in a convenience store!" He moped. That's so lame and the hours are worse."

"A job's a job. Right now, I don't the two of us can be very fussy. So far you've shot down everything and we're running out of time." It had been a long morning of walking around and talking as if he was the most perfect person in the whole world. He didn't realise how much work the hunt was going to be but he was getting desperate.

"Okay, let's try the pizza place around the corner." Their excitement after finding out they were hiring was soon dampened when they realised there was only one slot.

"You take it." Noah insisted after some consideration. He could see how excited Travis was at the thought of working at a pizzeria and he didn't mind working at a convenience store.

"You sure? You're not just saying that to get out of job hunting?"

"If it helps, let's go to the bakery across the road and see if they have anything for me." He appeased his friend.

Half an hour later, Noah walked out as excited as Travis. They'd both gotten a job that seemed as if it would be interesting and it was near each other.

"That was a stroke of genius, mate!" Travis excitedly bounced next to him as they walked to the bus stop. "At least we'll have some extra cash in hand. Although, it's a pity that you get better pay than me, still, I get free pizza!"

"Now you don't have to sneak food into the house!" Noah laughed at the gleeful expression on his friend's face. It already felt like something was going his way this year, he thought, getting on the bus, on his way home. In the end, everything worked itself out.

--

"Dad, did you see the old sleeping bags?" Skye poked his head into the kitchen where Jackson was baking, with flour scattered around his bare feet.

"In the den somewhere." He briefly looked up from kneading dough. "Why do you want the old ones anyway? Your grandmother bought you a new one recently, didn't she?"

"I want to use it for the tree house." He stepped closer to see what Jackson was busy with. "Bread?"

"Sort of." He said grimly, stopping to reach for a batch of biscuits on a stand. "Here, try one of these and tell me what you think?"

He nervously took a sniff of the cookie after taking it, but it smelled pleasant like vanilla, so he quickly bit into it. He was uncertain of what he was tasting and what was happening in his mouth for a brief period of time. His taste buds turned off because, they, for some reason were unable to comprehend what they were tasting.

He swallowed the biscuit with great difficulty, keeping his face as straight as possible. He knew that trying to open his mouth to speak would be detrimental to both of them.

"Well?"

"That was, well yes, that was an interesting experience." He slowly said while making his way over to the fridge to grab some milk. Normally he would be forced to pour it into a glass,  but with Jackson around, drinking straight out of the bottle had become standard practice. Josh and Raymond of course hated what they were doing.

"No," he sighed, "they're terrible. They tasted a bit funny, but I thought it was just me. Anyway, back to the drawing board." He miserably looked at the mess in front of him, before looking at Skye.

"So, what are we doing to the tree house?" His grin was back, the baking forgotten.

"I'm not doing anything with the tree house. Go back to your baking Pappie."