Culinaria L'amore

Culinaria L'amore Chapter Twenty-One

School on Monday was nothing out of the ordinary. Amelia reminded me about the upcoming party and Mr. Whittson scolded me when I added the wrong kind of dried shrimp into the mixture of lamp and green onions. By the time Garrett's class was wrapping up, I was nearing absolute exhaustion.

"So do you want to hang out with us today? We're going to go get frozen yogurt." Amelia said, clutching her books closer to her chest as the wind messed up her curly red updo.

I sighed at looked at my watch. The golden hands seemed to blur together and neither one looked longer than the other. Garrett had asked me to catch a ride from him at around seven and that was half an hour away, but I didn't want Amelia driving me back to the institute and wondering why there was a limo waiting for me..

"I think I'll skip tonight." I muttered breezily. "Got some plans already. But thanks for the offer."

"Plans? With lover-boy?" Amelia asked casting me a mischevious look.

For a second I looked at her and panicked. Then I realized that she had been refering to Harrison, not Garrett.

"Harrison, you mean? No, I'm not chilling with him. Just because we're suppose to get together Saturday-"

"What do you mean supposed to?" Amelia cut me off, giving me a bewildered look. "You're not ditching him are you? He's one hot piece of meat that you should most definitely not pass up."

Inside, it felt that going on a casual outing with Harrison was like betraying Garrett. "No, no, I'm still going. It was just a reference to the fact that yes we're hanging out Saturday, but that doesn't mean today.

"Alright. Just double checking hun. Well I got to scat, everyone wants yogurt and apparently I'm paying."

I bid my farewells to Amelia before reentering the East Wing, and heading to Garrett's classroom where I had been minutes before.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked, entering the vanilla scented classroom to find Garrett scribbling away at a piece of paper.

"Nothing much. What's up with you?"

"Just waiting for you to finish so we can finally meet your partner chef." An awkward silence followed as neither of us knew what to do. After last night's confessions and yesterday's kisses, it seemed like neither of us knew how to proceed.

"Come here." Garrett finally said, breaking the tense quietness. He looked at me with blue green eyes, a sign that meant he wasn't irritated but relaxed.

I obeyed and walked to his desk, situating myself on a clean part of the surface. Garrett looked behind me to make sure the door was closed before pulling me into his warm embrace.

I breathed in his vanilla soap scent, enjoying the comfort his strong arms brought me. Though he was wearing a slightly scratchy wool sweater, I could still feel his hard muscles under the material, and I buried my face into his neck.

"Now I feel better." Garrett muttered after we had finished hugging. He got up and stretched before continuing. "Wanna head out now? Alonzo's probably pulling out his hair by now if I truly know him."

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When we got back to the mansion, a bright, fire engine red Corvette was parked sloppily in the driveway, slanted so much that Garrett couldn't get past. Hearing him cuss, we got out of the car and into the house where Yivanni was reading a magazine.

"Thank God you're home Garrett. That man is driving me crazy. He is much worse than your friend Toben, much worse."

Garrett and I gave each other a bemused look. If this Alonzo was worse than Toben in Yivanni's opinion, he must be a keeper.