Chapter 10

Author's POV

"Pearl! Nate! Luke! Mark and Lan! Come here, it's urgent! "Jacob yelled at the top of his voice as he sat on the couch in the living room.

"What's the yelling all about? "Luke asked as he walked into the room with the others in toll. They all sat down together, some on the loveseat and the others on the floor.

"So... ?" Nate asked as he stared at Jacob waiting for him to speak up.

They all stared at him waiting for his response with confusion etched on their faces.

"I'm hungry" Jacob rubbed his tummy trying to show how hungry he was. He fluttered his eyes cutely still staring at them.

The house was so quiet that only the cooing of birds outside could be heard.

Nate's face was blank. He showed no expression and just relaxed on the couch with his legs spread out.

The others were glaring at Jacob so hard that he suddenly felt awkward.

"W-what I meant was that what are we gonna eat tonight?" he stuttered correcting himself as he felt uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving.

Pearl sighed already fed up with the silence.

"We can just pick two people who can cook to prepare dinner for us, it's that simple" she shrugged annoyed at being called for such a petty issue.

"Um...that's the problem, can any of us cook?"Mark asked with a funny expression on his face.

"Pearl, you are the girl here, you can cook, right? "Luke asked as they all stared at her with hope in their eyes.

Pearl awkwardly scratched her neck as she averted their gazes making them all sigh in defeat.

"Sorry guys but I never learned how to cook, never needed it"She smiled shyly feeling embarrassed.

" What a disgrace" Nate chuckled shaking his head.

Pearl glared at him as she threw a couch pillow at him hitting him on his head.

Nate ignored her antics, still chuckling.

"Nate how about you? "Luke directed the question at a stunned Nate.

"Um...well yeah I think so?" Nate replied sounding more like a question than an answer.

Lan scoffed at the helpless confused look on his brother's face.

"Don't tell him to cook if you don't want your kitchen in flames" Lan said laughing.

" Hey! I-i can cook! Who prepared the pancakes that day huh?" Nate scoffed feeling insulted.

The rest of them were confused about who to believe. They stared helplessly at each other not knowing if they can trust Nate with their stomachs.

"Okay. What can you cook Nate? "Jacob asked with hope glittering in his eyes.

"Uhh... Pancakes? "Nate replied confused at the question.

"And? "They all chorused.

"Ummm... Just pancakes"Nate replied embarrassed.

Pearl and lan couldn't hold in their laughter. Their eyes glistened with tears as they laughed at his expense.

Jacob, Mark, and Luke covered their faces embarrassed by their friend.

"Okay enough. It's not like any of you can cook, so you have no right to laugh at me" Nate said looking flushed.

" A-at least we never said we could unlike somebody" Pearl replied forcing herself to breathe and not break out in another wave of laughter.

"Tch.. pancakes. "Mark scoffed as he stared at Nate in disbelief wondering how he could be so stupid.

"How about you?"Luke asked as he directed his gaze at Jacob.

Jacob waved his hands as he shook his head.

"Me neither" Mark added.

They all stared at Luke with hope.

"Don't stare at me, I am the one asking the questions. If I could cook I wouldn't have asked" Luke said.

They all sighed in defeat.

" Then we are toast! "Pearl exclaimed as she held her face.

Lan cleared his throat softly getting their attention.

They suddenly realized that they didn't ask him.

"Lan! Our hero! "Luke exclaimed looking excited.

Everyone's face brightened except for lan who looked like all life was sucked out of him.

"Well, I... "He trailed off as he saw how they looked at him with newfound hope in their eyes. Not wanting to disappoint them he gulped and smiled at them.

"Yeah. I can cook... I hope"The last part he added under his breath.

"This would be interesting"Nate mumbled to himself as he smiled coyly waiting for the disaster to present itself.

"Great! Oh, you are such a lifesaver! "Pearl exclaimed dramatically covering Lan's face with kisses.

"You're the best bro" Luke patted him on the shoulder.

"So.. um what do we have? "Lan asked them softly.

"Hm... how about pasta? "Mark suggested.

"Pasta sounds fine" Luke nodded agreeing to the pasta.

" Then pasta it is"Jacob yelled happy to finally have good food in his tummy.

"Okay chop to the kitchen chef. "They all pushed lan to the kitchen giving him a thumbs up as they left the kitchen back to the lounge.

"Let's watch a movie during dinner" Luke suggested.

"I agree but which movie will we watch? "Jacob asked

" Let's see what they have on Netflix"Mark picked up the remote control and switched to Netflix.

"Oh oh... Kissing booth!"Pearl exclaimed as she patted his lap pointing at it.

"Urghhhhhh...."All the boys groaned not liking the idea.

"No way, I am not watching some stupid film where different people get to kiss for charity," Nate said with distaste in his mouth.

" Horrifying to watch"Mark added.

"I rather pluck my eyeballs out" Luke added as he squeezed his nose.

" It's not that bad you know"Pearl rolled her eyes.

"Okay...how about that one, zombie apocalypse? looks interesting" Nate pointed.

" Um...a horror movie? Are you sure?"Pearl asked feeling scared. She hates horror movies a lot. They give her the creeps making her shiver with fear thinking it's gonna crawl out of the television.

"Don't tell me you are scared?"Nate raised a brow challengingly.

Pearl scoffed offended" of course not. Zombie apocalypse it is."She nodded putting up a brave front.

The rest couldn't utter a word. They didn't want to look less like a man so they all nodded agreeing to the movie.

The movie was selected and ready as they all choose their seats pairing up as they waited for the movie.

"Lan, how's the food coming up?"Jacob yelled.

"Um...so far so hor--I mean good. Will be ready in a few" he replied from the kitchen.

" Sweet" Jacob exclaimed buzzing with happiness.

" But my nose is still dry Lan can't smell anything except for Mark's bad breath fanning my goddamn face," Luke said.

" Hey! my breath doesn't stink" Mark hit him with a pillow offended. He sneakily sniffed his breath trying to catch a smell.

Luke snickered once he caught him in the action.

"Uh-huh... you will smell it when I am done"Lan replied from the kitchen.

" Let's just hope the kitchen is still alive till then" Nate muttered smiling evilly.