The Perfect Son: Book 9 (Completed)

Chapter One

Jacob's POV:

Perfection. The Oxford dictionary define this in a number of ways but it is also a way to describe my family. Yup. Brittany and Zac and their perfect five children. Except it wasn't true. Well not for me anyway. Every member of the family was perfect except me. I'm the black sheep. The one who doesn't quite make the grade.

Hey don't get me wrong. I'm happy in my life. I have my best friend Maddy who cheers me up every time I see her and despite my flaws I know my family love me very much. I also have my Pop. Not many people like my Pop. They find him scary and strange. He's the senior sergeant at the local police station and he still speaks with his English accent. I don't mind. It makes him unique. He always entertains me with stories about London and although my twin Josh tires easily and rudely yawns I'd be hanging on every word. I knew Mum had lived there for a while before having us kids and I always wanted to go. I knew I was his favourite grandchild although he never said it. I was the only one out of the bunch of us who had the time of day for him.

First day of school was always a drag but this year I have my sister Peyton here. Mum and Dad made us promise to look after her. Josh just rolled his eyes and gagged when he thought they weren't looking. I knew he wasn't interested. It would be up to me to step up and play the big brother.

"Jacob! I've missed you!"

I turned around to greet Maddy. Her parents had taken her away to Paris for the Summer and I missed her terribly although we kept in touch through messages. I turned around and gasped. Surely this wasn't the girl who had cried when we were parted last year. Instead of the Maddy I was used to, a beautiful young girl stood before me. Her golden hair was silky and loose. Her dark eyes looked luminous. She appeared to be wearing a hint of make up but what do I know about those things. All I knew was that my friend Maddy had changed and she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Hi uh Maddy." What was wrong with me. This was my best buddy. She was still the same person with a different wrapping. Surely she wouldn't have changed that much.

"Oh call me Madison. It sounds so much more sophisticated. You know those French girls. They are so glamorous."

I kind of blushed. I had no idea about Australian girls let alone French girls. Maddy or should I say Madison wasn't a girl to me. She's my best mate. We'd just hang out and muck around and stuff. I never thought about her as anything other than my best friend.

"Hey Jacob." My twin brother Josh appeared from out of nowhere. Being my twin people always assumed that we were exceptionally close but sometimes I felt like we were on different pages. We might look the same but we were totally different people. I love him. No doubt about it but at that moment I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to share Maddy with him. "Who's your girlfriend Jacob...hey wait a minute...MADDY?!"

Too late. Now he'd seen Maddy and how she had changed I knew he'd be sticking around. I wanted time to catch up with my friend but I knew him better than anybody and he could never go past a pretty girl without making some sort of gesture.

"Hi Josh. Yup it's me but call me Madison. I prefer it."

Josh was chatting away so easily making Maddy laugh. It made me feel useless. She was my friend and here he was taking her away from me. He never gave her the time of day before. Now he couldn't get enough of her.

My thoughts were broken by the sound of my name being called. I turned to see my sister Peyton standing there in a dress that was far too long and carrying a mountain of books.

"Josh, Jacob. Mum and Dad said you have to help me. I'm supposed to find the school office and get to my locker. I don't know where to go."

She was standing there shyly with her two best friends. They were staring at Josh and myself with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Hey Jacob will show you. Madison and I have some catching up to do." Like that he had led Maddy away. Taking her by the hand and towards the school building.

I couldn't do anything except kick the ground in frustration. Peyton's friends were still staring at me. Peyton looked so small and scared I knew I had to do the right thing. I told Peyton to follow me and headed towards the school office. As I turned I could hear one of her friends whisper, "OMG Peyton your brothers are so cute!" Great. So not only did I lose my chance to catch up with Maddy I had these little kids crushing on me. Could the first day of school get any worse?

It was lunch time by the time I caught up with Maddy again. She was apologetic saying Josh had been insistent on showing her his new locker. I didn't care. She was my friend and now I had a chance to tell her about my Summer. I was about to start when I heard Josh's booming voice.

"Hey guys. Hope you don't mind me joining you."

He sandwiched himself between Maddy and myself.

"You know Madison. Your Uncle is the worst. Did you know he sent me to the Principal's office for disrespectful behaviour."

"Uncle Brandon wouldn't have done that without good reason."

"Well I said yo Brando during roll call and he replied that his name was Mr Fisher so I said, yo Mr BRANDO Fisher. The class thought it was funny but he didn't. Stupid git."

"Hey don't talk about him like that. Brandon's cool." I felt the need to defend him for some reason. Perhaps it was for Maddy's sake.

"Don't know why you're his number one fan all of a sudden. After all he married your girlfriend Izzy."

"Hey Izzy was never my girlfriend."

"Yeh right. You're so in love with her. Sending her mushy love notes and all."

Josh laughed and laughed but Maddy just looked uncomfortable.

"Hey I was a kid. She was our Nanny. I love her like a Nanny but that's all."

"Whatever. I know you still crush on her. Anyway, Madison any plans for the weekend."

He turned his focus back to Maddy. We had made plans to go to the beach this weekend and hang out.

"I'm busy with Jacob."

Josh wasn't deterred though. He persisted and pestered until Maddy finally agreed to go out to see a movie with him. I sat there feeling low. She was my friend so why did he want to take her away from me. He already had plenty of friends. She was all I had.