Everett had decided on a Caramel Banana Upside-Down Bread. I know, it was a mouthful to say.
And we had yet to get into any of the actual instructions.
"Wait, this is riveting," he said. "This lady took her kids to the lake and they were the only ones there! Really strange, I wonder whether this will turn into a paranormal horror story."
I shrugged. "Or they were just the only ones there."
"Don't be boring, Clementine." Everett recited the rest of their adventures in the park, the playground, and the shoreline. "Her kid suddenly keels over and falls asleep in the sand. The plot thickens."
I peered over his shoulder, my curiosity getting the better of me even while I realized it would probably be something stupid.
"Now it just goes on a whole spiel about overcoming her peanut butter addiction,' Everett reported.
"Peanut butter?" I asked, mystified.
"Yes," he confirmed, "The cravings are uncontrollable. She hides the jar under her bed and wakes up at 3am to eat it like a gremlin. No spoon involved either, just finger to mouth."
"What does that have to do with the kid sleeping on the beach?"
"It's unrelated, Clementine, that was a different story."
"Oh right, of course." I rolled my eyes.
"Ooh we're getting to the good stuff now; the concept, the creation."
"Okay, what's the concept and creation?"
Everett scrolled a little more. "Okay, so she saw the bananas in the fruit basket and they were upside down, and then the whole concept occurred to her and she was like 'Eureka! A marvellous idea has struck my consciousness,' and then she just made it."
"That's it?" I asked, trying to keep my patience. "That's the whole story that led to this moment?"
"It's not about the destination Clementine, it's about the journey."
"WHAT journey?!" I practically yelled.
Everett glared at me balefully and I took a deep breath to calm myself. I needed patience if I was to spend any more time with this weirdo.
"Let's just start, okay? What ingredients do we need?" I asked.
Everett immediately smiled and the world lit up again. Damn it, it was almost enough to forget what a weirdo he was. Almost.
"We start by smushing the bananas!" he yelled, pulling a bunch of bananas out of a fruit basket and throwing it down on the counter.
"Don't just throw bananas like that, it goes bad."
"The recipe said to smush it," he insisted.
"They said to mash it, not smash it. It's different," I snapped. "You have to remove the skin and put it in a bowl and do it with a fork."
"I wasn't going to use my hand so, what do you think of me?"
I secretly had thought that he would use his fist. I mean, knowing him, it was completely plausible.
Nevertheless, Everett got out a bowl and dropped several peeled bananas in. He mashed it unnecessarily violently with the fork, glaring at me the whole time.
As if he were imagining the bananas were me.
I greased a pan lightly while he arranged the rest of the ingredients on the counter. "We need to spread half a cup of brown sugar around this."
"This packet has about half left." Everett carelessly moved to dump an open pack of sugar in the pan.
"We have to measure it!" I exclaimed as I moved to stop him. "You can't just make guesses, dude, the recipe exists for a reason."
"Sometimes, Clementine, in life, we must take chances. And sometimes, Clementine, cakes may end up with a bit extra sugar in them—it's true. But ask yourself the big questions, does a bit-too-sweet cake really destroy the future of our galaxy?"
"No it just destroys the cake, you weirdo, leave your philosophies and measure the damn sugar."
At least my irritation with him was helping me ignore the lyricism in which he said my name. The way his mouth moved to form the syllables would have been hypnotizing if not for the other garbage that always accompanied it.
"Okay, okay," he conceded, getting a measuring cup. "Let's put some nuts in it too, I have walnuts and pecans."
He dropped them in whole before I could chop them. This bread is going to fall apart the moment we pick it up from the tray. Before I could say anything about it, however, Everett was already tossing a large lump of butter into the pan.
"We have to cut the butter into squares and place it around evenly," I said aghast.
"It's all gonna melt together in the oven, dude."
"But it should melt evenly—why do I even try." I sighed. "Nevermind."
"You shouldn't worry so much about everything," Everett advised me.
"So everyone keeps telling me."
Jenna had always said I acted too serious. And she's right, I do have some trouble with cutting loose and chilling out. I seem to feel anxious over no particular thing.
Everett looked like he wanted to say something more but he held back, biting his lip and glancing away. I found it distracting to watch his overbite digging into plush lips. They were turning rather pink.
"It'll be fine, Clementine," he finally said. "I'm sure things will turn out okay."
"The...cake, you mean?" I asked, wondering whether he was reading my thoughts.
"Uh...yeah, the cake too."
Too.
Perhaps he was more perceptive than I had given him credit for.
A/n: hey y'all! If you like DC fanfics and Tomb-raider, you might enjoy this Wonder Woman x Lara Croft fantasy novella by pixelmum
Lara Croft, archaeologist and brazen tomb-raider, unearths her latest, greatest discovery: a golden apple capable of giving its bearer anything they desire. Except that everyone else seeks the apple's power, from corrupt tech companies to supernatural beings. To complicate things, the golden apple has inexplicably transported a furious Diana, queen of the Amazons, from the Olympian Realm into Lara's world. And she is beautiful when furious.