In All the Betweens

2

We sit in awkward silence while eating our cake. The teacher walks around the classroom to the different groups, tasting their cakes and commenting on them. 'A little dry, maybe take it out of the oven a little earlier next time.' 'This is perfect. don't change a single thing!' 'Where is your cake?'. 

She comes walking towards our table and I can feel my nerves spiking. What if she doesn't like our cake. What if she gets a piece with an eggshell or something like that. And on top of that, our cake has no frosting.

"So, how did it go?" she asks. We all look at each other, not knowing how or who should answer.

"Well, I think it went well. Right?" I say. The others nod in unison.

"I see your cake is missing some components," Mrs Melton notes, humor lacing her voice.

Natasha starts laughing nervously. "You know. It was just not necessary. You see, I'm really trying to lose a few pounds and frosting would just add unnecessary calories and sugar to my diet. And since everyone in our group are such lovely people, they agreed we should just skip it."

Mrs Melton nods, a humorous smile playing at her lips. I am doing everything I can to not laugh out loud and so are Alexander and Dave. "So, it had nothing to do with the burning smell that came wafting through the room earlier? It smelt awfully similar to burnt chocolate, and I know from experience that chocolate burns easily."

"I told you so!" Natasha points at Alexander. He only raises his brow in response. Natasha looks to Mrs Melton as she pouts, realizing her downfall. "Aw poop..."

"It's okay Natasha. You still have plenty of cooking to do which means you have plenty of time to improve. Same goes for you Alexander. Though Natasha might have been the one to actually burn the chocolate, you two were supposed to work together. This class takes team effort."

Alexander gives a single nod, looking somewhat annoyed. Geez, lighten up man. Mrs Melton continues on, tasting the cake and writing notes in her notepad. "The cake tastes good. A little dry so maybe take it out of the oven a little earlier or use a smaller pan so the batter is spread thicker."

The class ends with everyone cleaning up their stations. The classroom is set out with six kitchen islands, all with countertops and ovens. In front of each station there are double-desks. The kitchen is relatively modern, with steel countertops and fairly new equipment.

When the bell rings and signals the end of the class, everybody files out of the room.

"So," Natasha says while walking beside me.

"So what?" I ask.

"What did you think of Alexander?" She has an exited look on her face as if I'm about to delve into a deep explanation of my thoughts of him.

"What do you mean 'what do you think'? He was nice, I guess. A little cold maybe. Good-looking." Okay, 'good-looking' is an understatement, but Natasha is way too exited as it is. And I know she's not exited for herself. She's already spoken for. That lucky bitch.

"Good looking? Good looking? That's all you have to say?" She's looking at me like I'm the dumbest person on earth.

"Well, what do you want me to say? I don't know anything about the guy. What did you think of him? You're the one who should answer the question. I mean, you're the one who baked with him. But by his cold demeanor I'll be surprised if he even talked to you at all."

"Okay, rude. You don't know if he's cold. Maybe he's just nervous. You know, cause' he's new and all," she defends

"He doesn't look like someone who gets nervous," I deadpan.