Like Teacher, Like Son (Chapter 1)

The sun was setting almost near the horizon of the fields, giving Madeline and her new friend just an hour of light left. They were having a picnic in an open field, just the two of them and their gracious lunch of sliced turkey sandwiches and small fruits. They spent almost two hours in the field just talking, eating and looking into each other's eyes. Madeline met her friend during the summer. She just bumped into him at the mall and they were stuck on each other ever since. To Madeline, he looks similar to Zac Efron with a mix of Jesse McCartney. This was their fourth date.
"The sky looks so beautiful when it sets like that," Madeline opined, gazing upon the coming twilight.
"I agree," her friend consented.
"Don't you like the glow that illuminates my face?" She turned her attention to her friend and held the hair that covered her cheeks to show off her flawless face.
Her friend chuckled. "I sure do."
"Thank you." She let go of her wavy, blonde hair. "I really like spending time with you, Zeke."
"I like spending time with you, too."
"Good. And can I say that I am so glad that you're going to Laguna Beach High. Now I can see you almost every day."
"And you know I love seeing your gorgeous face."
"Oh, who doesn't?"
Zeke laughed his sexy laugh. "I can't get over how confident you are. The girls I used to date usually had low self-esteem. But being with you is easy. I don't have to tell you that you're beautiful because you already know."
"That's cool, right?"
"So cool."
"Well, I think everyone is beautiful and it's important for them to realize that. I was born knowing that I was beautiful. Besides, no one looks like me."
"Although, you kinda do look like Cassie Scerbo. From that show?"
"Cassie Scerbo was in the Slumber Party Girls."
"What's that?"
"A girl group that you never heard of but I have. My friend, Lizzie, loves them." She started singing, "Don't be M.I.A., we're gonna make you L.O.L. B.T.W., this is all for you."
Zeke was not afraid to laugh at Madeline for singing such a ridiculous song.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Madeline giggled, looking down.
"No, it was cute."
Madeline looked up. "Thanks." She took a glance at the dusk of the sky again. "I don't want this day to end but we got to get home. Curfews, right?"
"You're not going home without giving me a kiss. And another grape."
Madeline tittered. "If you say so."
She disconnected a green grape from its vines which settled in a clear plastic container in between the couple. She popped the grape in Zeke's clean mouth then slowly locked lips with him before he ate the sweet berry.
"Tasty," he winked at her.
Madeline smirked at Zeke while twirling her hair, being the flirtatious coquette that she was.

Thanks for Giving (Chapter 5)

During the midst of Thanksgiving dinner, when the girls were finished with their food, they hung out in Debra's small bedroom. The parents and children spent time in the cramped living room, getting to know each other, much better than anyone would have expected. The girls sat in their own special ways on the bed.

"What is everyone thankful for?" Madeline decided to ask.

The girls clamored, half of them groaned.

"Come on! We should all be able to answer this. We're sisters."

Lizzie couldn't resist but to grin. "You're right. We're all sisters."

She held hands with Andrea who was grateful to clasp her exotic manicured hand.

"I'll go first," insisted Madeline. "I'm thankful for a big house and money."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Of course you would say that."

"What? You think I take it for granted?"

"Not at all!"

"That's how I feel. I'm grateful that my parents are rich so I can have everything I want."

"Okay, now it's time for the poor person to speak," said Skye.

Lizzie and Madeline giggled.

"Um... I'm grateful for my band. I love to rock out and I can only do that with my band so I'm grateful for David, Sean and Kent."

"I'm not grateful for Sean," admitted Madeline. "If I'm going to be honest."

Skye scoffed. "Which you never are."

"I'm not a big liar. You guys make me look like a bigger liar than I already am."

"Then don't lie so much," said Andrea.

"You're telling me that you don't like Sean one bit?" inquired Skye.

"Of course I like Sean," Madeline confessed. "But in a friendly way... if we are friends. If he wasn't so weird, maybe I wouldn't find him repulsive."

"Good to know you have a heart. Um, I'm just grateful for rock music, man. And I'm also grateful for my crazy, pale mother."

"Aw!" Lizzie uttered.

"She really wants me to have a family which includes a dad. But basically, she is all the dad that I need."

"Your mom's a man?"

"No! I've seen her naked."

"Alright, we're done listening to you, Skye," said Andrea.

Skye reached across the bed and playfully slapped Andrea on her thigh.

Andrea chuckled. "I'm grateful for my family. I love my parents and my sisters. Without them, I am nothing so I'm grateful for them."

"If you didn't have a mother, where would you get your fighting skills?" asked Madeline.

The girls laughed.

"True, true. Also, I'm grateful for great style. Holla!"

The girls laughed again altogether.

"I'm grateful for the gardens of the world," started Debra. "I'm thankful for flowers of every color and green grass and clean water,"

"I knew you were going to say that," spilled Andrea. "'The gardens and flowers and grass--' Of course, you'd say that."

"Why wouldn't I? It's a part of me, especially the water."

"Aren't we two percent water?" asked Lizzie.

"We're ninety percent water," corrected Skye.

"Really?! That means we're liquid."

"Not quite, Liz', but  quite," said Madeline. "What are you grateful for?"

"My parents. Even though they could be a little less religious, I love them for the way they are. I'm grateful for the clothes I wear behind their backs. But importantly, I'm grateful for you guys. My besties. My best friends forever."

"Oh, I'm grateful for you, too, Lizzie," smiled Madeline.

"She said all of us," notified Andrea. "Not just you, Maddie."

"I'm thankful for all of you, too," agreed Debra. "Thank you, guys, for being there for me through thick and thin."

"Sickness and in health?" added Lizzie.

"Of course."

"Thank you, guys, for being the only friends I can get," said Skye.

Madeline jokingly threw one of Debra's pillow at Skye's face. Skye laughed and handled the pillow.

"Thank you, guys, for tolerating my bad behavior," said Andrea. "I know I'm a lot to handle."

"Thank you, guys, for accepting me for who I am which is a perfect human being," Madeline said. "I don't know who I would be without you, girls, and... just thank you for being you."

"Aw," Debra uttered before hugging Madeline.

"Gee, I don't want to cry."

"We don't want you to either," said Skye. "Your makeup will run."

The girls giggled before squeezing each other in a group huddle.

"I love you," said Madeline.

"We love you, too," Debra responded.

"Is there more pumpkin pie?" asked Andrea.

"Heh, I don't know. My dad bought a small pie."

"Dang it." Andrea released her girlfriends. "My mom probably went at it already."

"Get some turkey. I ain't eating that."

"Vegetarian!" Lizzie called playfully.

All of the girls giggled, getting tangled in their huddle, making a knot of their friendship.

Thanks for Giving (Chapter 4)

The next day, everyone was a little shaken up over the altercation at Madeline's house. The girls truly thought their parents, especially their mothers, would instantly get along. But they obviously hated each other and hate each other more after the night. So the girls came up with a plan to get them together again to start over. They knew that their parents wouldn't feel comfortable agreeing to seeing one another again so this is what the girls came up with. Since Debra was going to celebrate the second day of Thanksgiving at her own home, she told her dad that Madeline's parents would like to come over and apologize. Since he didn't really get involved, Debra's dad agreed to having them over. Madeline told her parents that they were invited courteously over Debra's bungalow. They agreed to come over, thinking that they would be the only guests there. Then the girls told their parents the same thing. They all agreed to see Debra's dad and brother once more.
The families arrived to Debra's bungalow individually. When the girls arrived with their families, they moved them to separate rooms inside the house so they wouldn't see each other. Debra's mother was the last to arrive at the house. She greeted and hugged her daughter like she had no problem. The girls waited in the living room.
"Hello, sweetie," she said. "Hello, sweetie's friends."
Debra's friends waved to her.
"You know I love your friends better than their moms. Your friends are good people; their mothers aren't."
"My mom is actually a good person," said Madeline.
"I know. She made a nice dinner. Too bad she walked all over it."
"Well, you did throw a boob at her face."
"I did? I don't remember."
"Can I get my parents out now?" whispered Lizzie to Madeline.
"Yeah," Madeline nodded.
"What are you talking about?" asked Mrs. Lincoln.
"Oh, nothing," said Lizzie, walking backwards out of the living room. "My parents aren't here."
"What?"
"Oh, nothing." Lizzie ran into the hallway.
"I like Lizzie," said Debra's mother. "Lizzie's nice. I don't mind seeing less Lizzie."
Soon, Lizzie entered the living room with her parents. When Lizzie's mother laid eyes on Debra's mother, she instantly showed a face of disgust.
"What is she doing here?" Lizzie's mom groaned.
"Mom, she's here so you two can settle your differences," replied Lizzie.
"Lizzie, I ought to ground you."
"I've read that bible several times, mommy, so you know I wouldn't like that."
"Excuse me, I think I left the water running in the bano," said Andrea, getting up from the couch. She walked out of the living room into the hallway.
"Why does she have water running out of a banjo?" asked Debra's mom.
"That's not important, mom," said her daughter. "What's important is that you apologize to Mrs. Duvall."
"I'm not apologizing to this Sunday school teacher."
"Well, do you want to apologize, mom?" asked Lizzie.
"No, I don't want to apologize," said her mother. "I stick to what I said."
"Come on, Mrs. Duvall," said Madeline. "Think about what God would do."
"Oh, shut up."
Soon after, Andrea walked back into the living room with her parents and her younger sisters. Immediately, when Andrea's mother saw Lizzie's mother, she made a face.
She began to utter really fast and angrily, "Oh, tienes un montón de nervios venir aquí. Yo no te creo. Yo podría caer usted en este momento. No tienes ni idea, novia."
"English, please!" ordered Lizzie's mother.
"She said she's sorry and she likes your sweater," lied Andrea.
"I said no such thing," said her mom. "I'm still angry at you."
"And I'm still angry at you," said Lizzie's mother.
"Do you want to get your mother now?" whispered Debra to Skye.
"Oh, yeah, I should," replied Skye. She yelled, "Mom!"
Later, her mother walked out until she faced the living room.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked. Then she gazed upon the other parents. "Oh, these people again?"
"We ain't too excited to see you either," said Andrea's mother.
"Debra, why are these crazy people here in my house?" asked her mom.
"Uh, this is my house," said Debra's father, standing up from the couch. "You live in your house."
"What are you talking about 'crazy people'?" questioned Skye's mother. "You're the one taking out your rubber breasts and pointing your long fingernails at people."
"You're just jealous 'cause I have the money to do my nails," said Debra's mother. "You look like your nails have never seen a drop of moisturizer."
"Excuse me, I got to go-- yeah," said Madeline, sprinting out of the room to go deep into the hall.
"Geez, mom, why can't you just put things in the past?" Skye asked frustrated.
"Because they think they can walk all over me because I'm pale and poor," her mom answered. "But as an adult, I will never let that happen. Besides, they were talking bad about your dad."
"I don't have a dad."
"Yes, you do. He's just not... around."
"Leave that girl alone," pleaded Andrea's mother.
"She's my daughter."
"And I'm your whupper."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm gonna whup you until you turn into Cool Whip because my foot's been itching to get out of this shoe."
"Don't let her take off the shoe," warned her husband.
"Relax, you old bags," Debra's mom commanded. "There's no need for violence right now."
After she said that, Madeline made an entrance with her lavish mother and father. Her mother's forehead crinkled when she spied Debra's mother.
"You!" she hissed.
"You!" Mrs. Lincoln growled.
Suddenly, the two went at it for Round 2. They lunged at each other and grappled one another with such force. They were both angry; still angry about what happened the other night. The families backed up to make room for the feisty mothers. The girls were looking at the two with surprised eyes and some of them put out their hands, indecisive of whether to break them up or not.
"Mom, stop!" Madeline ordered.
"I got money on the blonde one," said Andrea's dad.
"Oh, I think the Lincoln is going to win this one," opined Lizzie's father.
"Guys, my wife is not some cock in a cockfight," said Madeline's father.
Debra's brother, Leroy, started, "Speaking of which--"
Debra slapped him across the face before he could say anything.
"Mom, Mrs. Lincoln, you stop it!" Madeline came closer to the two.
"I'll handle this," said Andrea, walking over the fighting moms. She stuck her arms between the struggling women and pushed them away from one another. With her strength, the two were thrown down onto the floor from Andrea's force.
"You're strong," commented Debra's mother.
"Are you two serious?" snapped Madeline. "You're grown women. Fighting in front of your children?"
"Yeah, this is complete bull crud," agreed Lizzie. "Excuse my language."
"You guys listen up, okay? The only reason we invited you here and yesterday to these Thanksgiving dinners is because we wanted you all to get along. Me, Liz', Debra, Andrea and Skye are going to be friends forever. We're like sisters so we wanted you all to be like one big family. And we thought that you guys were mature enough to become friends since you're all adults. You're supposed to be wiser than us. So you guys better get it together or we'll send you to bed early without dinner."
"Yeah, with no dessert," added Lizzie.
"And no television for a month," said Andrea.
"And no phone," said Skye.
"Going out late will be no more," Debra said.
"Test us," Madeline dared.
"Gee, our little girl is growing up fast," said her mother, putting her hand on her chest.
Her husband put his arm around her.
"Oh, we're sorry, girls," apologized Andrea's mother. "We had no idea how close you all were."
"Well, we're very close," said Andrea, "so you all are going to have to get along."
"You're right," Lizzie's mom agreed. "Listen, I'm sorry for saying you have a thousand relatives living in your house," she said to the beautiful mother of Andrea.
"I'm sorry for calling you Brother Theresa," said Andrea's mother. "You don't look like a man at all."
"I'm sorry for forgetting your name," said Skye's mother to Madeline's mother, "and disrespecting you inside your house."
"It's okay," Madeline's mom, shaking her head a bit. "I'm sorry for calling you Kristen Stewart."
"That's okay. I am kind of pale."
"Mother, do you have something to say to Mrs. King?" asked Debra.
Her mother sighed. "I'm sorry for trying to kill you. Again. And I'm sorry for throwing my fake boobie in your face. That was uncalled for."
Madeline's mother smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate your apology. Besides, I can't get mad at a blonde."
"Me, neither!"
The two lighted up with smiles, immediately forgetting their differences.
"Since everyone is sorry," started Andrea, "can we have Thanksgiving dinner together like a family?"
Everyone in the room agreed, with overlapping "Yes's" and "Of course's".
"The food is in the kitchen," mentioned Debra's dad. "If there isn't enough turkey, I can make some turkey sandwiches for y'all."
Debra walked over to her pudgy father. "Dad, don't be petty," she whispered.

Thanks for Giving (Chapter 3)

On the first night of Thanksgiving, all of the girls brought their families. Before the night, they notified their parents of the invitation to have a free dinner at Madeline's house. All of the parents luckily agreed and they all made their way to the manor. Madeline's parents invited the families in with courtesy and directed them all to the dining room. Through the door came mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. There was enough chairs for the small five families. Madeline's mother fixed the plates full of food that she cooked with the help of Sonya, the Latina maid. The families sat down with their kids and awkwardly ate the food present in front of them. To break the silence, Lizzie was the first to start the conversation.
"Who listens to gospel music?"
"I listen to it when we're at church," responded Debra's father. "But when we get home, I like to listen to Ghostface Killah! Holla!" He raised his arms multiple times in the air up and down.
"Dad, please don't embarrass me," Debra begged in a gentle voice.
"I like a little hip hop myself," confessed Andrea's father. "My favorite song is 'Gasolina' by Daddy Yankee."
"I like Nicki Minaj," admitted Andrea's mother.
"I don't know any of those people," spilled Lizzie's mom.
"You don't like hip hop?"
"Oh, I hate hip hop. It's so... raunchy."
"It's not that bad," Lizzie's father commented.
Lizzie's mother gave her husband a death glare.
"But if my honey hates it, I hate it as well. I don't secretly listen to it with my Walkman in the bathroom."
"I wasn't thinking that," said his wife.
"Yeah, me, neither."
"I love your hair, Mrs. Lincoln," Madeline commented.
Debra's mother flipped her long, honey-blonde hair behind her shoulder. "Thank you, sweetie!"
"Don't you like her hair, mom?"
Madeline's mother put down the glass of wine which she was sipping. "Uh, yes. It's quite nice. You know, I admire people with blonde hair."
"I can tell," smiled Debra's mom.
"Were you born like that?"
"Oh, no. Sadly, no. This is a wig I made myself."
"So you're bald?" asked Lizzie's mom.
"No, I just have no hair."
"So bald?"
"No, I mean I have really short hair."
"So you're almost bald?"
"Honey, why does it matter?" asked Lizzie's dad.
"It doesn't matter. I just don't understand why people cut their hair and put on wigs. Hair looks good either way."
"I did not cut my hair," said Debra's mother. "It fell out. So it's short like Halle Berry's."
"So you're Halle Berry bald?"
"Nobody's bald!" shouted Skye.
"Skye, don't talk to her like that," demanded her mother.
"But she's--"
"Ah!"
Skye scrunched her lips and looked at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry about that, Mrs. Devil."
"It's Duvall," Lizzie's mom corrected.
"Oh, sorry about that."
"So, Skye, where's your dad?" asked Madeline's mother.
"I don't have a dad," Skye answered.
"Oh."
"She has a dad," said Skye's mother. "We just don't know where he is. Possibly in Alabama? Maybe Connecticut?"
"Sorry to hear that," said Madeline's dad.
"It's okay," shrugged Skye. "It's been seventeen years. I don't care."
"Of course you care, Skye," said Skye's mother.
"I mean if I actually met him at all, yeah, I would care. But I've never seen him so I don't care."
"Skye, you care."
"I care about my friends. I care about you. I don't care about my dad. Honestly. Strap me to a lie detector. It will say, 'Telling the truth'."
"Lie detectors don't use words," Madeline's mother commented.
"I know how lie detectors work."
"Don't talk to her like that," Skye's mom demanded.
"I was just--"
"Ah!"
Skye looked at the ceiling again.
"Sorry about that, Mrs. Sting."
"Mrs. King," Madeline's mom corrected. "Maybe you should've learned how to get the names right."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying it would've been polite to learn our names correctly, especially mine's. It is my house."
"Oh, just because you have a big house means I have to respect you?"
"No, but if you're going to be inside my house, respect is what I deserve."
"What is happening?" Lizzie asked with some fright.
"Why do you deserve respect?" questioned Ms. Carter. "Should I bow down to you because you wear country club sweaters and you dip your hair in glitter?"
"I don't dip my hair in glitter," said Mrs. King. "I use a hairspray that has glitter in it so ha! Or should I say, 'Ah'?"
"Don't you make fun of my 'Ah's'."
"Ladies, calm down," commanded Lizzie's mother. "There's no need to fight. I get it: Skye doesn't want to care about having a father. But fathers are very important."
"Uh, why should she care about her dad when he has never been there?" asked Andrea's father.
"Everyone needs a family."
"But she has a family."
"I mean a real family as in two parents and two children. Not one mom and one daughter or a thousand relatives that live in one house like you have."
"Oh, no, your racist self did not just say that!"
"Who wants cake?" Madeline asked loudly, motioning her hands toward the plastic container of store bought white-frosted cake. "It's red velvet."
"Red velvet is very special," Debra added.
"I'm just saying: it's not normal to not care about your dad," said Lizzie's mom.
"But I really don't," said Skye. She meant it. She actually did.
"But why care about someone who's not there?" questioned Andrea's father, standing up. "You're backwards."
"So backwards," agreed Andrea's mother, standing up as well. "Your feet is behind your legs."
"Mami, Papi!" uttered Andrea. "¡Sentarse!"
"My feet are forward, Jennifer No-pez," said Mrs. Duvall, standing up.
Andrea's mother gaped, getting a crazy look in her eyes. "Oh, no, you didn't just call me that! I'm about to take my shoe off!"
"She's about to take her shoe off," Andrea's dad repeated.
"Who do you think you're talking to, Brother Theresa?"
"Aw! Oh!" Lizzie's mom uttered in disgust. "Did you just-- Honey, she just called me a man."
"I'm not involved," Lizzie's dad put his hands up.
"You got some nerve. You're just envious that I cover my ankles for my religion and you cover your ankles because they're cankles."
"Oh!" Andrea's mother took her high heel shoe off and slammed it on the table. "You want to pelea, Alex Borstein?!"
"Women, please settle," said Skye's mother.
"Oh, shut up, Kristen Stewart," said Madeline's mother.
"Who are you calling Kristen Stewart when ghetto Mel B is right over there?"
Debra's mother stood up. "Are you serious? No, you're calling me out because I can pay for what I got on me. Where did you get that hoodie? Urban Outsiders?"
"At least my boobs are real."
Debra's mother shook her head. "Mm-mm! Mm-mm, mm-mm! Oh, no, you did not say-- Are my boobs fake?" She looked at her ex-husband.
"I thought I wasn't allowed to look at them anymore," said Debra's dad.
"That's it. That's it. You want a piece of me? Does anyone want a piece of me? Well, I got a little piece for all of you." She pointed at Mrs. King. "You're too rich." She then pointed at Mrs. Carter. "You're too poor." Then she pointed at Mrs. Gonzalez. "You're too arriba!" Then she pointed at Mrs. Duvall. "And you're too holy grail. Boom, you're all lit up."
"Mom!" Debra said through her teeth. "Calm down. No one sanctioned you to act like this."
"I'm not Satan, Debra. But everyone of these people here are possessed."
"You know what?" started Lizzie's mom. "I take back what I said about Skye caring about her dad. I agree, no one should care for absentee parents. I mean I see my child more than Mrs. Lincoln sees hers."
Debra's mother paused, staring cold at Mrs. Duvall.
"I got to use the bathroom," said Debra, almost under her breath. She pushed her chair back and got up to run out of the dining room.
"That's it. This is about to be 'Murder-giving' 'cause I'm gonna kill you." Debra's mother reached into the tight leopard shirt and pulled out nude-colored rubber padding from her breast individually.
"Oh, she's going into the chicken cutlets!" warned Debra's father.
"How dare you? No, how dare you talk about me, Miss White Lady?"
"I am not white," corrected Lizzie's mother. "I am Italian."
"Then I'm gonna make some spaghetti sauce out of you."
Debra's mother began approaching Mrs. Duvall with her fake breast but Andrea scooted her seat back to block her way.  
"Mrs. Lincoln, why have spaghetti sauce when you can have cranberry sauce?" asked Andrea courteously. "There's plenty of it."
"What, you think you're hot stuff because your God's child?" asked Debra's mom to Lizzie's mom. "More like God's grandmother."
"You're God's transvestite," Mrs. Duvall commented.
"Andrea, I'm about to crawl over you. I'm gonna get this lady."
"Everyone please, for God's sake," stood up Madeline's mom, "just sit down and eat. There will be no yelling in this house about who's a grandmother or whatever."
"I'm not a grandmother," noted Lizzie's mother. "I don't have gray hair like you."
Mrs. King leaned on the table. "At least my daughter doesn't come into my house dressed like a--"
"The hills are alive with the sound of music!" Madeline stood up, singing loudly with high arms. "Everybody, sing along with me!"
"You know what? All you get out of my house. Get to steppin'!"
"We are adults," mentioned Andrea's mother.
"Adults!" Andrea's dad repeated.
"I don't care if you're Sonya's long lost cousins," said Madeline's mom. "You all need to get out."
"Throw me out," said Debra's mother calmly before throwing one of her rubber breasts at Mr's King's face.
"Oh, that tears it. I'm bringing Fight Club in here!"
Madeline's mother jumped on the table and crawled over the open food, knocking down her glass of wine as well. She started to get tangled up in a brawl between Andrea's mom and Debra's mom. The men got up and started shouting at their wives, pleading for them to stop fighting. Mrs. Carter got out of her seat and walked over to Mrs. Duvall who wasn't involved. They begin arguing, making the noise in the room get louder. Sonya, at a moment, entered the dining room and when she saw everyone fighting, she anxiously left the room.
"Yeah, beat her up, mommy!" cheered Andrea's sister, Linda.
"I love a good chick fight," admitted Debra's brother, Leroy.
The girls just sat there in horror, watching their parents going at it. Debra still hadn't come back. Lizzie changed her attitude into a happy one and said:
"This is going well."

Thanks for Giving (Chapter 2)

Later that day, when Madeline came home, she spotted her mother looking busy in the fancy kitchen. She walked right inside and approached her look-alike mom. Her mother put down the spices which she collected.
"Hello, Madeline," she greeted. "You want to help me cook the turkey?"
"Oh, no thanks," Madeline responded. "I don't touch raw meat."
"Then how are you going to cook a turkey for your family years to come?"
"I'll hire a personal chef."
"How do you know you'll have enough money to hire a chef?"
"Because I'm going to become a successful actress."
"Good to know you're still full of ambition. I'll see if Sonya wants to help me. She just got here but like I say: once your foot's through the door, you got to mop the floor. Or something."
"Yeah, before you do, I have a suggestion."
"Ooh, I like suggestions."
"Okay." Madeline combed her fingers through her blonde, wavy hair. "Since you are indecisive on whether we should invite our far-away family, how about we invite the ones who are going to be our new family?"
Madeline's mother scoffed. "What, are you getting married?"
"No, mom. Channing Tatum hasn't divorced Jenna Dewan yet. Let me rephrase that: why don't we invite my friends' families?"
"I don't know their families."
"That's why you should invite them over: to get along with them. Get to know them, befriend them."
"Uh, I don't think there's enough room for a total of five families."
"Mom, the table in the dining room is so long, it takes thirty minutes to get to the end of it."
"Well, it doesn't seem like a bad idea. I'd hate to invite your Uncle Luc. He plays with his back hairs."
"We all know that, mother."
"But that means I have to cook more food."
"Oh, Sonya will help you. She cooks better than you do anyway."
Her mother pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips.
"But when you put love in it, it tastes so good."
"That's more like it. Do you mind running some errands?"
"Sure, I'm bored enough to do so."
"I'm going to need another turkey. While you're gone, I'm gonna find the blowtorch. It might speed up the process."
        "Don't forget to wear the face mask."
        "In this outfit?"

Thanks for Giving (Chapter 1)

During the evening, the girls decided to hang out with each other at Andrea's house. Madeline picked up all of her friends in her gray Mercedes-Benz and drove them right over. For more than an hour, the girls rested in Andrea's glamorous bedroom. Lizzie stood by the closet, playing with the clothes inside. She laid her eyes on a pair of golden, glittery peep-toe heels which were on the top shelf and got ahold of them.
"Andy, can I borrow these shoes?" she gasped.
"Ask Madeline," Andrea replied. "I borrowed them from her."
"Maddie, can I borrow these shoes?"
"You can," said Madeline, "right after Andrea hands them back to me."
"I will but I haven't worn them yet," said Andrea.
"I've seen you wear them about three times."
"Yeah but I haven't worn them to anywhere good."
Lizzie giggled before putting the shoes back.
"So anyone doing anything special for Thanksgiving?" asked Madeline.
"Eating," answered Skye. "That's always special."
"I'm serious, guys."
"Are you doing anything special?" asked Andrea.
"Well, my parents are deciding whether we should invite some family over so they can make some extra food."
"Oh, I think that's nice," commented Debra. "Maybe they should invite your family."
"Uh, I don't like that idea. I'm afraid they're going to invite my Uncle Luc. He's weird."
"What does he do?" asked Skye.
"Well, he likes to rip off his back hairs."
"Ew!" uttered Lizzie. "Why would he do that?"
"Because they're long and there's so many of them. How am I supposed to know? He just does it. And my parents might invite my cousin Veronique who is greatly annoying."
"'Veronique' sounds like 'Veronica'."
"It's French for 'Veronica'."
"Ooh, I wonder what my name is in French."
"I don't know. Lizzie," Madeline uttered with an impressive French accent.
"Ooh! I'm gonna call myself that now."
"Have your parents cooked for the family before?" asked Andrea.
"Yeah, a few times," answered Madeline.
"Then why don't your parents invite our families? If that's a good idea."
"No, it's a great idea! That way, all of our families can get to know each other."
"Yeah!" said Lizzie, walking over to the bed and leaning against it. "And they'll realize how much we love each other."
"And we'll all be like one big family," added Debra.
"Of course," said Madeline. "This is such a good idea. I'm so smart."
        Andrea scrunched her forehead while looking at Madeline but immediately got over it.
"What if our families don't want to meet each other?" asked Skye.
"Why wouldn't they?" questioned Debra.
"I don't know. Some of our parents could be... different."
"Skye, none of our parents are racist," said Madeline.
"But some are religious and one of them said they would rather only have Andrea in their house." Skye looked at Debra to remind her. But Debra knew.
"Well, you can't blame my dad for that," said Debra. "You did drop my phone in a cup of soda."
"They're just jealous because I have skin color," said Andrea.
"Listen, our parents are obviously adults," said Madeline. "I think that they can maturely know how to get along just by looking at each other."
"People get pregnant looking at each other," shared Lizzie. "I heard that on TV."
"Well, stop listening to your TV, Lizzie."