Bite My Tongue

Chapter 6 - Volunteer Work

I woke up to the smell of pancakes. The aroma had slyly made its way through the crack beneath my door and crept up on me in my bed. I shifted beneath the covers before a smile formed on my lips. Pancakes!

I threw my legs over the side of my bed and raced down the stairs. As I turned to go down the hallway I remembered that Jackson was useless at cooking. I skidded in my socks outside the kitchen door. Luckily it was closed, or Melissa would have already seen me.

I thought about turning round and going back to bed but I was going to have to face her at some point. My hand wrapped around the doorknob and I twisted it. As I pushed the door open, the smell became even more intoxicating. Melissa was quietly singing along to the radio that sat on the corner of the marble countertop. She heard the hinge creak and turned abruptly.

"Oh, it's you."

"Well who else was it going to be?" I asked, my face crinkled into a face that screamed 'dumbass'.

"Jackson. The devil. Somebody I would actually like to spend time with?"

I smiled a fake grin before leaning against the kitchen door frame. Jackson crept up behind me and ruffled the top of my hair before pushing past me.

"Ah, my two favourite girls," he said, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

"What about mum?"

"Ah, two of my favourite girls," he repeated. "Better?"

"Much."

I took a seat next to him and grabbed a plate of pancakes knowing that Melissa wouldn't say anything if Jackson was here. I drowned the fried batter in syrup before taking a bite. Melissa was watching me the entire time. She tried to do it sneakily but nothing could get passed me.

I screwed up my face as I swallowed the first bite. "Wow, did you pour the whole tube of salt in these things?"

"No," Melissa said, looking back at the half empty salt bottle behind her.

"They are a tad salty, Mel," Jackson agreed.

I laughed under my breath at her failure.

"How about you make your pancakes, Kote?" Jackson offered. "They were the best part of my day when I lived back in London."

I jumped from the chair and smiled, "Sure!"

I made my way over to the area Melissa had prepared for her mixture and poured her salty batter in the bin. I shoved her out of the way and began preparing the mixture, adding drops of lemon juice to increase the flavour.

 The smug look never leaving my face as I began to flip the pancakes into air. Making pancakes was my specialty. Flipping each pancake a couple of times before sliding them onto the black squared plate, that was sat next to the stove. When I finally had enough to feed the three of us - of course I couldn’t let Melissa starve - I settled them down onto the kitchen island. 

Taking a seat of my own I quickly took my fair share from the stack as did Jackson. Melissa however was hesitant to take some of the pancakes. It wasn’t as if I poisoned them. As interesting as the thought of poisoning her sounded I wouldn’t. I wasn’t that heartless.

Drenching my pancakes once again in syrup. When the fork neared my mouth Jackson had decided to use that moment to speak.

“Mum called.”

Placing my fork down and resting it on the edge of my plate, I raised an eyebrow asking him to continue. To which he obliged.

“She wanted to know how you are.”