"Alright, listen up class! Since today is Valentine's Day, we'll be making heart shaped sugar cookies. This will test your ability to create identical pastries, cooked to perfection. You can also decorate them however you wish, but they must all be the same." The teacher yelled instructions from the front of the classroom. "You'll be working with a partner as well, so make sure the two of you are in sync. Now, let's see..." The teacher started naming off pre-determined partners, pairing them together.
Oliver didn't mind partners, just as long as he got to make sugar cookies. He loved sugar cookies. They could be shaped into anything and they tasted heavenly.
Home Economics was Oliver's favorite class. He'd heard this class had an emphasis on baking, so he signed up for it.
The teacher called off his name and another boy's, whom Oliver didn't know. The two claimed a station.
The other boy was slightly shorter than Oliver, with a small build. His black hair was short, with bangs that came down to just above his eyebrows. He looked incredibly shy, not making eye-contact with Oliver and holding his upper arm with his right hand. Oliver thought it'd be a good idea to be friendly with the kid, to make him feel more comfortable.
Oliver stuck out his hand to the other boy. "Hi! I'm Oliver. Haven't seen you before." The other boy looked startled.
"Y-yeah." The boy made no move to actually shake Oliver's hand, so Oliver awkwardly withdrew. Oddly, Oliver noticed that the boy looked shocked, seemingly from the not-so-shakey-handshake. Weird kid.
"Do you have a name?" Oliver prompted after a small silence. The boy pulled his gaze from where Oliver's hand had been and glanced at Oliver briefly before turning his eyes away.
"I...an."
"Ian?"
Ian nodded. "Huh. That's my cousin's name! What a coincidence." Oliver lied, attempting to break the ice with some sort of connection. Ian was clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Oliver guessed he was a freshman. He displayed typical freshmen behavior. And he looked it too.
"So what grade are you in?" Oliver decided to ask just to make sure.
Ian looked down. "Eleventh..." Ian's gaze turned upwards slightly so that his eyes peeked through his bangs. Oliver was struck with shock from Ian's answer and his adorable pose.
"Really?!" Ian jumped at Oliver's outburst. Oliver cleared his throat. "I mean, I never would have guessed. You're only a year below me." Ian didn't say anything back. Maybe that was offensive to him? Awkward. "W-well, let's get started on those cookies, shall we? I don't know about you, but I love sugar cookies." Oliver quickly turned and started getting out materials and ingredients.
"Um!"
Oliver looked over at Ian, who in turn jerked his wide-eyed gaze back down, blushing slightly.
"Hm?"
Ian's feet shifted and he fiddled with his hands. "I..." Oliver could see a blush forming on his face. "I...like them too...sugar cookies..."
Oliver beamed. This kid was too cute!
The two went through the process of making the cookies, Oliver skillfully rolling the dough, and Ian fumbling whenever Oliver leaned over to give him tips. Oliver had no idea why the kid got flustered so easily, but he was kind of starting to enjoy messing with him.
Finally, they finished baking the cookies (to perfection, Oliver might add). Now it was time for the fun part. Decorating! They discussed the design—well, Oliver did—and they decided to use white as the base with a pink outline. Oliver wanted them to be simple so they could eat them faster.
They began to decorate with the tubes of icing provided for them. Ian was surprisingly focused on his cookie, Oliver noticed. Oliver also noticed Ian was using yellow which was definitely not what they had agreed upon. "Hey, Ian, you know that's yellow, right?" Ian flinched and covered the cookie with his body, blocking Oliver's view. Oops, he startled him. "Uh, sorry." Oliver stiffly patted Ian's shoulder. "It's okay, we all make mistakes. We've got extra cookies anyway."
Ian was still. Oliver sighed. This kid was really hard to deal with. He couldn't make any sudden movements otherwise Ian would close in on himself. "C'mon, we have to finish these." Ian didn't move. "Ian?" Oliver saw that Ian's hand, which still had the yellow icing, was moving. He was using yellow on the cookie! "Ian, I told you! We're using pink and--!" Oliver cut himself off as Ian lifted his body from the counter abruptly.
Oliver looked at Ian and then down at the cookie.
Ian had decorated it correctly. A white base with pink outline. Except . . .
There were yellow words printed on it. Oliver looked more closely.
'I like you'.
Oliver tried to suppress his laughter, but failed. "Ian, are you going to give that to a girl? You're so adorable!" Ian's face exploded into a furious blush. Oliver ruffled his hair affectionately and chuckled. "Silly, you should have just told me. I probably made you mess up."
Ian, still blushing, looked up. He made solid eye-contact with Oliver.
"Y-You're wrong."
"Huh?"
Ian gently picked up the cookie and held it out to Oliver.
"It's f-f-f-for...you."
Now it was Oliver's turn to be shocked. He accepted the cookie and stared at it. It stared back. "Oh," was all he could manage to say.
Shuffling footsteps pulled his attention away from the cookie—confession!—and he watched as Ian stumbled away. He heard him squeak, "Bathroom!" to the teacher before he disappeared out the door.
Oliver returned his gaze to the cookie and blushed slightly. He lifted it to his mouth and took a bite.
He decided it was the most delicious sugar cookie he'd ever had.
