BEAU • [4:11 p.m.]
"Wait, do I add the lemon peels? Like, do I put the actual peels or something?"
"Grate it, Beau. Grate it!" I heard my sister holler from outside the kitchen. "I'm busy over here!"
I groaned back, grabbing a random lemon from the bowl and started peeling it off.
Two days have passed and I didn't get a chance to talk with Piper yet. It was a good thing Callista didn't bother mentioning to Piper in English class about the upsetting incident in Flinnway. I was scrambling for an explanation back then, but Pascal called me right after they left and threatened that he'll "Beat my ass if you don't do your job."
I wouldn't want to lie again, since the more I lie, the more I will surely open more bumps in the road. And obviously I still need the money for my dad's car, and Pascal's got it.
Knowing that I have nothing else better to do, I headed to my sister's cake and pastry shop near Flinnway right after school for some lemon squares to sate my appetite. Mei's lemon squares were the best, and they are proven to make you forget all your problems after one bite.
Well, it worked for me, that is.
My sister took interest in culinary way back in France when she was about six years old, where should would accompany our mom in baking cupcakes at home during the weekends. She did one batch of it all by herself and my parents said I ate it all in one seating. That was when we knew that she was a born to be a pastry chef.
She started selling cupcakes and lemon squares here in Massachusetts when she was eight years old, but the former was the biggest hit. So big, actually, that it was featured in our local newspaper and was mentioned in the morning news on the radio. Of course, the more that people demanded, the more she supplied. After ten years, my then eighteen-year old sister opened up her first small shop near Flinnway, where we currently are right now.
In ten years, her goal was to open up her own restaurant, and of course, I was nothing but proud of my sister because I know she can do that. She was living the dream, obviously.
As for me, I was not. I was good at eating Mei's desserts, not making them. I fucking suck at baking. There was a reason she was the chef in the family, not me.
She was presently a part-time student in the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and I swear to god I don't know how she could balance attending school and managing her own business.
"Okay, it says here to use an electric mixer on high speed!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I haven't touched an electric mixer in my life. I mean, Mei hired someone to do this, but her employees only works thrice a week, and unfortunately it was not today.
A head emerged from the doorway. "Hey, if you want some lemon squares, go make some," she said, a trickle of sweat going down her forehead. "Besides, I'm busy retrofitting the whole shop."
I scoffed in return. "Mei, you're not retrofitting your shop, you're just redecorating it."
Mei furrowed her eyebrows at me, as she placed her hands on her hips. "Whatever, retrofitting is like, totally a cooler word."
"Please tell me you're doing that Valley Girl accent on purpose," I annoyingly responded, flipping the switch of the electric mixer on and began mixing the ingredients from the bowl.
"OMG, is it like, showing? I have this new classmate from Cambridge and she's from San Fernando in Cali and maybe—"
"Just stop talking and please help me out," I retorted, as I couldn't control the electric mixer with my bare hands anymore. The contents are spilling out of the bowl and soon enough the whole kitchen will be a complete, lemon-scented catastrophe. "Mei!"
Mei ran to my aid and flip off the switch of the electric mixer. "Goodness Beau, just give me that!"
I immediately stepped away from the electric mixer and sat down near the counter. "Can you just please make me some lemon squares? School's been so stressful these past few days," I said, exhaustion evident in my voice.
Mei smiled with concern and tiptoed as she patted my head. She knew that eating her lemon squares were the cure to my current hassles in life. Maybe it had something to do with the lemons? Was it the aroma of it? Or the fact that it was Yellow, like Piper's favorite color?
And in that moment, I mentally slammed on the brakes of my racing thoughts.
How the hell did Piper get in the picture? I shook my head at the thought. Beau, you're a fool for even thinking about her.
"Alright, fine. Let's switch roles. I'll continue making these lemon squares that you just made, while you decorate the rest of the shop," she offered, taking something out from the pockets of her apron and handing me a bunch of pictures.
"What are these?" I asked, receiving the photos. "Are they your childhood photos?"
"Well, our childhood photos. It's a bunch of old Polaroid pictures I randomly found lying on my apartment. I don't know how it got there, but I figured I'd put it in good use by creating this..." she held her hands animatedly into the air;
"...awesome Polaroid banner hanging inside the shop, don't you think?" She finished, her eyes glimmering as if she had just created the most original idea ever.
I waved her photos to her as I raise a brow. "I've never pegged you as a DIY kind of person. Oh wait! Let me guess. Did Starfish suggested this?"
Okay, so Starfish was Mei's best friend. She was currently in Juilliard now, taking up Drama. Starfish was this cool, hipster girl who was so into arts and dope fashion and theater. She cited Andy Warhol and Lea Salonga as her heroes. As to why she got the nickname Starfish—don't even ask.
"Pft, it's the same thing as creating a cake or a pastry—it's still, you know, DIY-y," she trailed off, not sure if she was hearing herself correctly. She quickly shook her head and shooed me off.
"Just get on with it okay, little brother?" she said, and started to flip the electric mixer once again.
I walked out the door towards the semi-finished Polaroid banner Mei was doing and began picking up a wooden peg, attaching the photo to the wall one by one.
One of the pictures that I clipped on was Mei back when she was five years old, her brunette hair in braids, grinning. Mei just loved to smile. She would smile at everyone, be it at someone she knew or at a complete stranger. She said so because she has such good set of teeth, and she didn't want to waste it by not smiling. I mentally snorted at her logic. She was so full of herself sometimes.
I was also holding a Polaroid picture of a younger me back in France, holding a miniature statue of the Eiffel Tower.
Hey, I look like a young, charming lad here.
There was another picture, around maybe a decade ago, of Pascal and Mei together. For a bunch of ten, eleven-year olds, they looked pretty wasted here.
I was busy flipping through the Polaroid pictures that I wasn't planning on finishing the board anymore. Mei probably wouldn't mind.
"Hello?"
The soft-spoken voice startled me and I spun my head around followed by my entire body, faced with the person I least expected it to be.
"Hi," I blurted out. Her light blue eyes stared right back at me, causing my mind to wander back to last weekend. She didn't seem faze at my presence, like she just seemingly forgot the incident that happened entirely.
"Is your sister here?" Piper asked, standing by the entrance door.
I pointed back to the kitchen, unable to speak. What the hell was happening to me? Was I the fazed one?
I heard Mei's voice coming from the back door. "Hi, welcome to The Slice of Life—oh my god! Piper!"
Both Piper and I almost jumped at Mei's loud shrill. She ran towards Piper and gave her the biggest hug she could ever give. It'll be a miracle if Piper could still breathe.
"Hey, don't hug her too tight," I jokingly warned her, easing the tension between Piper and I.
She let go and held Piper's hand instead. "Why little brother, you jealous?" she asked me with a mischievous smile creeping up her lips.
I replied annoyingly. "Where did that come from?"
Me...jealous of Mei...hugging Piper? It wasn't like I wanted to hug Piper or anything. Of course I didn't.
She gave me a nasty-looking face before settling down with a silly grin towards Piper. "How are you, Piper? It's been forever since I last saw you!"
Piper replied, chuckling awkwardly. "It's only been a week."
I was surprised at what I heard. Does that mean she goes to my sister's shop every week? "Wait, you're a regular customer here?"
Piper and Mei nodded in unison. "Is that a bad thing?" Mei inquired.
"No," I murmured, and was rendered almost speechless.
Mei flashed me a smile in return and went back talking with Piper. "Okay good. Are you ordering the usual?" Mei asked, as Piper approvingly shook her head.
She already had her usual? The close relationship between the two of them was ticking me off. I didn't know Mei and Piper were amigas. Well, whatever. Mei had a soft spot for Piper. She loved her like a sister.
Mei went back to the kitchen and I followed her, leaving Piper behind.
"Why don't you accompany Piper outside?" Mei asked, getting the lemon squares from the oven and pulling a knife from the drawer.
"Is that her usual?" I asked, ignoring her question. She nodded her head, and began slicing the lemon squares into twelve bars.
"Yes! Just like you, lemon squares are her favorite. You and Piper used to eat these like hungry wolves back when you guys were little, don't you remember that?" I ignored her question again, leaning at the counter.
Yes, of course I remember that. We would copy Mei and began to experiment on our lemon squares. The outcome was something quite terrible, but we eat it, anyway. Mei would serve us legit lemon squares right after plus Piper's mom would whip us up some delicious chocolate milkshakes.
"Beau, you're spacing out, let's go outside," Mei remarked, a tray of freshly-made lemon squares in her hands.
I opened the door for her and I went out after. We saw Piper holding some of the Polaroid pictures that was once resting on a chair, and she seemed amused at what she was seeing.
"Look at this," she told us, holding up a photo of a young boy and girl at the beach.
"Oh I love that picture! You and Beau looked adorable over there. Well, Piper's more adorable that is," Mei chimed in, as she was busy adding the finishing touches for her signature lemon square behind the counter.
"What did Mei mean by that?" I surprisingly asked, and walked towards Piper. She looked up to me and she showed me a picture of us together at the beach. As soon as I took the photo from her, she went straight to Mei to observe what she what she was doing.
Meanwhile I fixated my eyes in the picture. I didn't get to see this while I was decorating the board. Maybe it was hidden at the very bottom of the piles of pictures Mei gave me.
The photograph was taken around eleven years ago, and Piper was wearing a green sundress while still sporting her long, flowing, natural blonde hair. I was wearing a blue striped sweatshirt, and I recalled this time around summer when Piper and I were looking at this small hermit crab and Piper was so fascinated by it because she never held one before. The look on Piper's face was cute and—
"Oh my gravy," I turned my head to the right and spotted Piper spitting out the lemon bars. Mei hurriedly went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottled water. She uncapped the top and gave it to Piper who drank the contents until the last drip.
"Piper, are you okay?" Mei asked as she circles her hand at Piper's back. I widened my eyes and went to them. Piper commented, her tongue still fighting off the aftertaste. "The lemon square doesn't taste so good."
Mei raised a brow, and took a small bite of the lemon square. She chewed it and spat it out immediately. "Ew! Beau, these are the worst lemon squares ever! What did you do?!" Mei cried, accusing me of something I didn't do.
I pointed my finger to me. "Me? Why me, that's your lemon squares!"
"Yeah, but you were the one who mixed the ingredients awhile ago! I think you added pepper instead of sugar. Really, Beau? How can you not distinguish black from white?"
"Oh," Was all I can say. I looked at Piper whose face just screamed "Wow Beau, what a letdown," to me. The air soon felt hot and my neck was beginning to turn red. "I told you I suck at baking."
Mei sighed heavily and apologized to Piper. "I'm sorry about that. I'll just give you the refrigerated batch inside the kitchen, m'kay? Wait here," Mei said to the both of us, as she disappeared to the kitchen, leaving me with Piper.
"My bad." I told Piper.
"It's okay. It's not like you were trying to poison me or anything."
The silence then began to ensue. Should this be the right time to apologize for ditching her last Saturday?
"Hey Piper, I'm sorry—"
"And here's the second, pepper-free batch!" Mei hollered, cutting me off to what I was supposed to say. I scratched the back of my head and sat down in one of the chairs. Great timing, Mei.
Mei transferred the lemon squares inside a box as Piper paid her in return. Piper then waved us goodbye and exited the door but quickly spun around, turning to Mei. "Oh, I almost forgot, I'm planning to buy some ingredients from you, would that be okay?"
"Sure, I can definitely supply! What do you need?" Mei chirped.
She fished something out from her messenger bag and gave my sister a note.
"Here's the list of ingredients. Um, I wouldn't be able to get it the next day, so Pascal will just drop by here tomorrow afternoon, if that's cool with you." After Piper said that, my sister's shining smile suddenly faded, her jaw slightly dropping.
"P-P-Pascal? You mean, your older brother?"
I transferred my eyes to Mei, who seemed to be shaking when Piper mentioned his brother's name.
"Cool. I'm super cool with it. I am super duper cool with that," Mei said, her voice cracking.
Piper smiled and waved goodbye to us again, as she walked off and hopped on her bike that was parked outside. After she fled, Mei looked at me with a nervous look on her face. What was she being jittery about?
"Beau, you have to accompany me tomorrow here at the shop. Please!"
I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "And why?"
Mei pushed some of her side bangs out and started feeling her forehead. She bit her lip and was all being fidgety. "Pascal's coming over, and I haven't seen him in almost...I don't know...two years?"
"So what? Why are you being nervous all of sudden—stop moving, Mei!" I steadied her and lead her towards an empty chair.
She placed her hands on her burning red cheeks. "You know I like him!"
Ugh, I mentally told myself. How could I forget? Of course she did. She's had a crush on Pascal ever since we were little kids. But she was different. She doesn't keep it to herself. Everyone knew. Everyone back in Hartsmith High knew, and she was pretty open about it, but the weird thing was, Pascal doesn't react to it at all, like he was oblivious to my sister's feelings.
I have to say, my sister was one hopeless case. I just have no idea if the feelings were mutual between the two of them.
I mean, Pascal's quite an awesome guy—well you know, that was if you don't provoke him by, let us say, crashing his car for example. Obviously we were just not in good terms at the moment and we all know why.
"Okay, stop overreacting, and I'll accompany you long as I don't have to bake for you ever again."
She grinned back at me. "Alright Beau Bear, deal!" She squished my cheeks, something I don't like people doing to me, even if Callista did it. I swatted her hand from my face. "Quit calling me Beau Bear."
Mei stuck her tongue out. "I can call you whatever I want."
Why was I not an only child again?