Chapter 24: Jake
Madison ran up to her room and opened up the door making the small kitten wake up. She stretched and yawned. Madison grabbed the shoebox with the kitten and small towel in it. She then ran back out of the building and headed towards the park. She found a really big tree and sat at the base of it. She then grabbed the small kitten and towel and put the towel on the ground with the kitten on top. She began to relax a little bit. The kitten got off the towel and started jumping on Madison's shoelaces. Madison smiled.
"Your name is Cali" Madison whispered to the kitten. Cali walked back up to Madison's upper body. Madison picked her up and placed her on her lap. Cali curled up and fell asleep.
Ulrich ran after yelling at Odd leaving Odd and Yumi alone. Odd looked stunned. Yumi looked at him questioningly.
"He needs some time" Odd said quietly. Yumi nodded.
"Are you okay Odd?" Yumi asked.
"I'm fine, just shocked"
"Ulrich was pretty harsh"
"It shouldn't matter to him who I date"
"Ulrich is just over protective. You're like his little brother"
"I know but I don't care that he dates you"
"Good point, wow, did I just say that?"
"Did I just hear that?"
"I think you did"
"Madison must be wearing off on me" Odd said. Yumi laughed half heartedly.
"I'm sorry Ulrich yelled at you"
"It's not your fault. I feel really bad for Madison who was here for the beginning"
"Oh my gosh, you're right"
"You said it again!"
"You are getting smarter"
"I think it's that Madison cares about school and grades so I do too"
"You're changing your ways for Madison even though she likes you just the way you are?" Odd nodded.
"I really like her"
"Yu must like her a lot"
"I do, but Ulrich doesn't know that"
"I'm sure he'll understand"
"The way he just acted, no way"
Ulrich ran as fast as he could. He couldn't believe he just had a fight with Odd. Odd of all people. His best friend, roommate, and like a little brother. He ran to his favorite tree. He sat down and started to sort his thoughts. He heard rustling and looked around. He expected to see Odd or Yumi, but instead, his eyes locked with Madison's. She was holding a small kitten.
"Hi" Ulrich said quietly.
"Hi" she said even quieter.
"Listen, I'm sorry for what I said that your heard…And didn't hear. I…"
"Ulrich, it's okay, I get it"
"You do?"
"Yeah, it's obvious you don't like me, want me to break up with Odd, and quit hanging out with you guys"
"No, Madison, you don't get it" Madison sat down next to Ulrich and placed Cali in between them. "Who's that?" Ulrich asked, pointing to Cali.
"It's my kitten, Cali. Odd gave her to me today as a going away present. Now, what don't I understand?"
"Oh, right. You're the best thing that has ever happened to Odd. He's way happier and he's paying attention in school. It's not that I don't want to hang out with you, it's just that…"
"Just what?"
"You sometimes get on my nerves"
"That's what Alexis says but since Jake didn't, I didn't think I was annoying"
"Who's Jake?"
"Oh, right, I didn't tell you, he's my little brother who's coming tomorrow morning"
"You have a little brother!"
"Yeah, he's eleven, almost twelve"
"Cool"
"Sure"
"You happy he's going to be here?"
"Yeah, he used to be my only friend until I came here"
"Okay, now I feel really bad about what I said"
"It's okay, really. You know, Jake reminds me a lot of you, or you remind me of him, something like that"
"Really? How?"
"You guys have the same hair color, kind of to yourself, annoyed by people, and pretty much have the same personality"
"Wow, so, when is he going to be here tomorrow, now I cant wait to meet him"
"6:00 tomorrow morning"
"Cool"
"Yeah"
"We better head back to our dorms, it's a big day tomorrow and Odd and Yumi are probably worried about us"
"You know, you're probably right"
The next morning, Madison was up at 5:00 straightening up the dorm room.
"What in the world are you doing?" A sleepy Alexis asked.
"Cleaning, remember, Jake is coming today which means mom and dad are coming"
"Oh my gosh!" Alexis yelled getting out of bed. She accidentally woke up Aelita. "We have to get cleaning!"
"Why do we have to clean?" Aelita asked while hopping out of bed and pulling the sheets up.
"Our parents are coming today" Madison said.
"That is a reason to clean!"
"So hurry up!" Alexis yelled. Aelita and Madison laughed at her anxiety.
"I feel bad" Madison said.
"Why?" Alexis asked.
"Yumi couldn't sleep over since I was no longer moving and the principal called her parents"
"I'm sure she won't care"
"Okay, clean!" with three girls running around cleaning, it only took fifteen minutes to clean the room. "Wow, that was fast"
"Yeah, now let's get ready" Aelita said. Alexis, Aelita, and Madison threw clothes on and did their hair. It was 5:45 when they declared themselves ready.
"What do you want to do now? Madison asked. The door opened and Yumi came running in.
"Hey guys" she said.
"Hey, question, what are you doing here?" Alexis asked.
"My parents said I could come early to meet Jake" Yumi said. Madison went over to the corner where Cali had ran to and picked her up. She took her to the center of the room and placed her on the floor and sat down. Alexis and Aelita sat on either side of her while Yumi sat across from her so they made a circle around Cali. "I think they feel sorry for me not being able to spend the night here"
"Yeah, at least you're here now" Madison said
"What were you guys doing before I came in?"
"We were thinking of something to do"
"How about we just talk?" The others nodded. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Maybe how Alexis' phone bill was 500 dollars" Madison said with a grin.
"How was it 500 dollars?" Aelita asked.
"Spill!" Yumi told Alexis.
"Fine! They were long, late, conversations with Alex" Alexis said quickly.
"Aww" Madison said.
"Oh shut it"
"Fine, we should be going anyway, it's almost time"
"Okay" the four girls left and headed towards the parking lot. They just got there when a car pulled up. A guy in his mid-thirties stepped out of the driver's side and a woman about the same age came out of the passenger's side. Then a boy with brown hair, blue cargo pants, and a red shirt came out of the backseat. Madison ran up to the man and hugged him.
"I missed you too honey" He said.
"Dad, you're the greatest" Madison said. Alexis ran up to him too and she hugged him. Madison let go so he could hug Alexis. Madison went to the boy and hugged him. "Jake, you've grown again" She said.
"I know" Jake said.
"You're going to love it here. Alexis and I do"
"But you're more outgoing than me"
"Almost everyone here is nice"
"Key point, almost"
"Okay, but you can hang out with us"
"Are any of them eleven"
"Well, no, but I'm sure someone here has to be"
"Well, duh!"
"I know" Alexis came over to them.
"Do you know what room you're in or your schedule?" She asked.
"Yeah, they mailed it to us" Jake said.
"So you knew you were going to be coming here for a few days now?"
"Yeah, we wanted it to be a surprise"
"We as in who?" Madison asked.
"Dad and me"
"Figures mom wouldn't have anything to do with it. All she wanted was for me to move"
"Yeah, dad and I wanted you to stay here"
"But I thought it was dad who called to make sure my ticket was ready"
"He was really telling them that you didn't need the ticket"
"Aww, that's so nice of him"
"Yeah, he is pretty cool"
"Are you kidding! He's awesome!" Aelita and Yumi stood nearby looking strangely at them.
"What are they talking about?" Aelita asked.
"I have no clue" Yumi said. Madison, Alexis, and Jake's parents walked towards Aelita and Yumi.
"Hi" the dad said. "You must be Aelita and Yumi"
"Yeah, that's us" Yumi said.
"I'm John and this is Becky"
"It's nice to meet you" Aelita said.
"You too. Okay, which one is Yumi and which one is Aelita?"
"I'm Yumi" Yumi said.
"Right, hence the Japanese name"
"Yeah"
"Honey, we should get going soon" Becky said.
"Okay, let me say goodbye to our kids" He walked over to them and gave them each a hug. He got back into the car with his wife and drove away.
"Who do you have to share a room with?" Alexis asked Jake.
"Somebody named Jeremie Belpois"
"Oh, he's our friend. A little nerdy but he's nice"
"As long as you don't get too close to Aelita" Madison said pointing to the pink haired girl.
"I think I can do that" he said with a small smile.
"To your room!" Madison shouted picking up one of his bags. Everyone else picked one up too except for Jake who had two bags.
"Where is it?"
"This way!" she shouted while pointing to a big brick building.
"That was very specific" he said sarcastically.
"I know" they started the walk to Jeremie and now Jake's room. "We can call it the J room!"
"Why?"
"Jeremie and Jake both start with J"
"Wow. I missed your randomness"
"Aww. You did!"
"Of course. It wasn't the same. No one to scream 'Hi Suzy!' to wake me up anymore. Suzy…" He glared and shivered.
"Who's Suzy?" Aelita asked.
"A girl who has a crush on Jake" Alexis said. "It's so cute seeing early love"
"But I don't like her!" Jake said.
"I know that. That's why I used to say her name to wake you up" Madison said.
"And it worked almost everyday"
"OH! Remember the one time when you didn't believe me and she was really there!"
"Yes…"
"I let her in and you came down the stairs still not believing me and you were standing there with your mouth open and your eyes were pretty much popping out of your head. She saw you in nothing but your boxers" Madison said laughing. The others couldn't contain their laughter either.
"Okay, we all know it was funny, but that was six months ago. Can we please move on?" Jake said. His cell phone rang. "Hello?" A squeal was heard through the phone.
"Jake? It's Suzy" Suzy said.
"Hi, how'd you get my phone number?"
"One of your sisters"
"Which one?"
"The one that wasn't there during the boxer incident. I think she wore pink"
"Alexis…"
"Yeah! That one! What's the other one's name?"
"Madison…"
"Oh yeah…so….where are you?"
"France…"
"What are you doing in France!"
"I moved here…"
"So I'll never see you again…?"
"Yup" she started crying. He hung up and stared at Alexis.
"Who was that?" Alexis asked.
"Suzy"
"Oh. What did she want?"
"She wanted to know where I was at. And that you gave her my phone number!"
"Yeah, 'bout that…"
"Forget it…"
"Yes! Thank you!"
"Whatever"
"We're here" Madison said while knocking on the door.
"Jer, it's us" Yumi said.
"Come on in" A voice said through the door. The door was unlocked so they opened it up and walked in. Jeremie was at his computer. He turned around to face them.
"Jeremie, this is Jake. Our brother and your roommate" Madison said.
"Hi" Jake said.
"Hi" was the reply he got.
Sorry it took me so long. I got 9 reviews and more people added this story to alerts and favorites, but only half of the people on the alerts/favs review. Even if you just say Hi. The more reviews, the more motivation. And I know I forget about the story sometimes. If you think that I haven't updated after a while, please go to my profile and send me a PM yelling at me to update. Or email. Both work. Thank you. Now please click the purple button so I will update faster.
-Lou