Chapter 12
Xena tried her best to keep it ingether. “Looks like we’re going to need you to cook,” she said. “But don’t worry. We won’t just sit around doing nothing. Ed be happy to help with the cleanup”
Jackson tightened his fists, a sheer creeping onto his face.
“Let Janie cook? Are you serious? Our family never let her cook”
Xena’s face went pale. “I didn’t mean any disrespect. I’m just not great at cooking I felt we had no choice. I’m sorry”
Ryan jumped in without thinking, “Nena is simple. She has no hidden agendas,”
Jackson scoffed. You seem to know her pretty well. Are you like the voice in her head or something?
Ryan was caught off guard for a second, stammering out, “Your”
Xena quickly pulled Ryan back, feeling guilty as her cheeks flushed. T’m so sorry, this is all my fault. Please don’t fight
Deep down, she was sure Janic must have said something bad about her to Jackson.
Jackson rolled his eyes and said, “Come on, I don’t get mad that easily. Don’t flatter yourself. Who do you think you are?*
Everyone around them was shocked. Just the day before, Jackson had been pretty quiet, and while they weren’t best buddies, things hadn’t been bad between them either.
They could feel Jackson’s disdain in the air, and Xena looked like she might cry any second.
Ryan couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted, “Enough, Jackson! Even if she messed up her words, she didn’t mean anything by it. Why treat her like that?!”
Meanwhile, the director was practically jumping for joy with excitement. He thought that would make the show a hit.
Jackson shot Ryan a look of disgust before turning to his cherished Janie, who interjected, “Given your expertise in discerning malice in others, you’re aware that Jackson was merely being forthright. So why treat an honest man this way?”
[Hahaha, I didn’t know Jackson could be so sharp–tongued. I’m his huge fan now!]
[Don’t fight because of me–Jackson: What’s your problem? Who do you think you are?]
[Jackson is just a kind and straightforward guy! Janie, you’re so eloquent, I love you!]
[But isn’t Jackson going too far? Isn’t he bullying Xena?]
Jackson’s face turned beet red at Janie’s remarks.
David couldn’t help but burst into laughter, finding Janie’s response just too adorable. Jason and Molly joined in the laughter as well.
Ryan was left speechless. Xena was clenching her fists so hard her nails were almost digging into her skin.
Jackson’s face flushed as he exclaimed, Janie!”
Emily tried to defuse the situation, “Alright, let’s get back to what we were discussing. Where were we? Oh, right, the division.
of labor.”
Jason asked. “Molly, can’t you cook either?”
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Molly nodded in agreement.
Jason then inquired. “What about Mr. Moore?”
Jacksons, suppressing his self–satisfaction, replied nonchalantly, I know a little about cooking”
Jason smiled. “Then it’s Mr. Moore, Miss Janie, and Mr. Smith who can cook, so I might have to ask you all to step up”
He quickly added, “We’ll handle the other tasks, is that okay?”
Day
remained noncommittal.
Jackson frowned. “Do we have to cook and do the dishes all the time?”
He didn’t sign up for this to be a chef and serve others, especially not Janie, the little princess he wanted to spoil.
Jason quickly jumped in, “It’s not like that! We’ll do other stuff too, we won’t make it all on you.”
907
Jackson scoffed. “What other jobs are there besides cooking and doing the dishes?” He thought that way and said it out loud.
Jason froze up. “And cleaning, chopping wood, handling of ingredients, you know, all that stuff”
He seemed a bit guilty about it and added awkwardly, “How about we do the dishes? What does everyone think?”
Xena looked hesitant. She had been pampered at home and never did any chores.
With
a pained expression, she admitted, “Whenever I do the dishes, I always end up breaking them, but I’ll give it a shot?
Jackson rolled his eyes again.
Jason chuckled nervously, “I haven’t washed dishes either, but I’ll do my best to help lighten the load!!”
Jackson and the others were totally at a loss for words when they heard that
[Jackson is so shy! Super adorable!]
[Come on, you guys can’t do anything. You’re just proud of letting others handle everything for you!]
[Hey, don’t say that. They didn’t mean it like that.]
[Then you tell me what they mean.)
Jackson’s mouth twitched. “Lighten our load? How nice of you! Looks like you’ve decided this is all on us.”
David looked displeased as well.
Jason quickly jumped in, “I didn’t mean it like that! We just aren’t great at cooking, so we’ll have to count on you guys.”
Ryan and the others seemed to agree with him.
Seeing their reactions, Jackson and David were a bit ticked off.
Noticing Jackson was listening to Janie, Jason turned to her. “Hey, Miss Janie, what do you think?”
Janie looked up gently. “Honestly, I object.”
Jason’s expression tightened. “What’s wrong with it?”
David remained silent and glanced over at Janie.
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Janie replied casually, “You all know the reason I won’t go into detail. I don’t want to cook all the time especially for people I’m not close to
Jackson immediately chimed in. “Yeah, same here!”
David smiled and added, “It’s okay to cook once in a while, but honestly, I’m not a fan of doing it all the time either.
Jason was left speechless along with everyone else.
Nena asked. “But we really can’t cook. What should we do?
Janie said coolly. “That’s your problem. The theme here is self–sufficiency–do it yourself and eat well”
She gave Nena a small smile and said, “If you can’t learn to cook, then it might be best to step aside and let someone else take your place
Her words were polite but had an edge that caught everyone off guard.
[Wow! I thought you were a sweet girl, but I had no idea you were this brave!]
[Telling Neha to leave? Do you think you’re in charge here?]
I totally agree with her. If you don’t know how to cook, just learn. There are a lot of people who want to come to this show. Let someone else have a shot at it! My idol would really appreciate this chance if she could come!]
A smile flickered across Jackson’s face as David’s grin became more genuine.
Ryan
couldn’t help but glance at Janie–she seemed familiar yet different somehow.
Jason barely managed to say something. That makes sense.”
Emily frowned and said, “Janie, we’re all family here! Why be so cold about it?”
Jackson’s smile faded away.
He thought, “This variety show was getting less fun by the minute. I wouldn’t be this way if
With a hint of confusion, Janie asked, “How did we suddenly become family? Where am I being cold?”
She looked so innocent like she really didn’t get what Emily was saying.
Emily was momentarily at a loss for words and surprisingly couldn’t come up with a comeback.
“You want us to do all the cooking and dishes?” Janie shook her head slowly, “If that’s the case, you guys are being too bossy,”
Emily was completely speechless. She never expected that the seemingly sweet Janie would have such a sharp response.
[Wow! Janie is really adorable!]
[Adorable? I think she’s kind of rude.]
[Janie is cute, but you seem impolite.]
