The Thing about Falling ✓

Three • The Thing about Cookies

Athena
It had been two days since movie night and I got up extra early to bake some cookies in the lunch hall. The staff didn't mind me a bit and I was grateful they let me do my thing in here without getting punished or something for starting as early as four in the morning.

Clearly, I am not a morning person. It's a pretty well known fact, actually. Neither is Owen, to be honest. Waking up this early before class starts might as well be a habit and I'd like to practice it as early as now. It sucks that I have to wait til around 10 or 11am for Owen to get his ass off bed but I could use some time for myself. I like being productive.

It was nearing 7am now and I had just finished my possibly best and most perfect batch of gooey, chocolate chip cookies to send to Maya. Well, if I did know how to bake them in the first place, I could've woken up at five or something but I didn't. I know almost nothing about baking and I had just searched up this recipe last night when the idea popped into my head.

As soon as I pulled out my 3rd batch of cookies, I was greeted by the warm aroma of chocolate mixed in with dough and butter. I smiled to myself as I placed them onto a nearby table and let them sit for a while so they're not too hot when I go in for a taste test.

The previous batches were awful. The first was too dry but okay and the second one lacked eggs because this absolute buffoon forgot.

They were a total waste of good ingredients and I couldn't just throw them away. The first batch, I decided, was for Charlie and the other senior advisers. They weren't that bad but they weren't perfect as well. If they're okay, then I guess I could give it a go.

The second batch was tricky. I didn't want anyone to eat them let alone see them because aside from the fact that they didn't have any eggs in them, they were burnt. Black as night. A total waste.

I cracked a few open earlier and thankfully, the insides were still brown. I was thinking of giving them to some birds since they do love bread and cookies are technically thin, circular bread pieces topped with whatever chocolate or raisin or oatmeal I want.

A few minutes passed, I prayed silently that this batch of cookies would be the last I would make. Not just now; forever, maybe. I wouldn't want to go through the process of failing to make baked goods that were supposed to be easy again.

I picked one cookie up and felt its texture and consistency in my hands. I smiled wider.

They were soft.

One point for me, then.

The chocolate chips I put in before also melted beautifully on the surface of the cookie and it seems to resemble marbled granite too. Pools of warm, dark chocolate melting in your mouth. Sweet baby Jesus, if you're awake this time in the morning, please make these cookies perfect.

I raised the cookie up to my mouth and took a small bite cautiously. I chewed it slowly, deciphering whether it is up to my standards or not and might I say,

they're heavenly.

The cookies were a little crunchy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside, I could just eat them all myself.

But I didn't.

I planned to give half to Owen and the other half to Maya. I knew I was too irrational and immature last time and the thought of disappointing both of them kept me up at night.

I don't want to keep Owen all to myself and he could use some friends here at uni. He needs more support more than ever here. Maya, on the other hand, was just a sweet girl who wanted some friends too. I was horrible to both of them and I knew I owed them an apology. A proper one.