Chasing Euphoria

Chapter Twenty Three

Cassie

"Mom! Look, it's a rabbit!" I rushed over to my mother who was baking brownies in the kitchen.

Although I promised to help her, I was wandering around the house looking for anything more interesting. My legs dangled off the countertop and I didn't know much about cooking in general. Cleaning was easier, licking the spoons, spatulas, and bowls was a dream. If anything, it was better than the finished product.

She tried her best, but more often than not the top would be burnt to a crisp, the chocolate chips inside like rocks. No matter how they came out, I still ate them and told her how much I loved making them with her. Or just watching her make them. Who am I kidding, I probably made the process twice as long with my not-so-insightful comments and showing her things that she absolutely didn't care for. Despite her not being interested, she would still follow me to whatever it was like it was the most amazing thing in the world.

"Can we get a bunny?" I asked as she lifted me back up on the worktop so she could keep a close eye on me.

Handing me the spoon, she bit back a laugh at the ridiculous question. "You know I would let you get a hundred, but your father has allergies, we can't have pets in the house."

From then on, I frowned with my bottom lip out. I wanted any animal, everyone in school talked about theirs and I thought I was missing out. The sulking didn't last long, she would bribe me with a Disney movie and going to bed a little later and I would be back to my hyper self.

...

He didn't have allergies. A pet would just be another inconvenience to him.

"Can you please stop staring out of the window and help me make these?" Kristen said, hitting the side of my head with a bag of sugar.

"What was the need for that?" My voice went high pitched as I rubbed my numb scalp.

Dropping the bag next to the scales, she slammed her hands down and stared at me dumbfoundedly. "We're making brownies you idiot."

Ah yes. Brownies with Kris, not Mom.

Obediently, my hand raised to salute her and I grabbed the practically ancient recipe book from the drawer. We got bored of going through even more boxes of crap and she wanted a snack, so we found something else to do. I was surprised that there were still in-date ingredients in the house, then again, chefs would occasionally come over and cook meals. After I left, I didn't believe he would still be doing that.

Cooking and baking, in general, was not my strong point, hence why Landon tried to teach me. Most of the time, I had to order food, eat out or make simple frozen foods that could just be thrown into the oven and wouldn't be likely to give me food poisoning. Slowly, I was getting the hang of simple dishes, but he said he still had so much more to show me.

"Fuck it, you just sit and I'll do it all." Kristen pushed me down onto a stool by the island.

"I'm sorry, you know I'm no good at this," I said, glancing over the faded words before she pulled it out of my hands.

"It's fine." She murmured, turning away but quickly turning back. "What's got you so distant?"

"I'm feeling nostalgic. Let me have my moment."

She raised her hands in defense and turned back to start binding the combination of ingredients. There was no doubt she was wanting to know more, I could tell by the way she was nonstop angling her eyes to me with wonder, yet the brownies were more important in the moment.