Serendipitous

Chapter 10

It was now Monday, my third week at college, and I wasnt sure how I currently felt; Raven's behaviour and subsequent reaction on Saturday had a slightly larger impact on me than I would've liked.

I spent the rest of my shift feeling sorry for myself because I was lusting after a woman who couldn't reciprocate my feelings. I can tell Mia and Skye are aware of the tension between us, while the rest of the class is completely unaware.

I just looked down and avoided her eyes, knowing that if I looked into them, I'd want to demand answers for what happened that night, which I knew couldn't happen, so this was the better option.

Who would've guessed that a woman I've known for less than three weeks could come into my life so abruptly and have the smallest things affect me in such dramatic ways? Certainly not me!

And then she spoke, in that soft, sweet, and gentle voice, informing us all of our plans for the day. She had told us on Friday that today's cooking lesson would be a surprise and that the ingredients would be provided, but from what I've witnessed so far, I'm not sure I like her surprises.

"Right class, today we will make a classic carbonara dish, making the pasta and sauce from scratch and topping it with cooked bacon and grated cheese." This sounded like a lot of fun, but I was feeling down.

Skye turned to face me, her eyes wide with concern "Something doesn't seem right, would you like to come to my house on Thursday to discuss it? I'll invite Mia as well." This was something I needed to get off my chest, so I gave it some serious thinking and decided it sounded good. "Yeah that would be great, thanks, Skye."

When it came to Mia and Skye, I felt like I could tell them anything because they wouldn't criticise me. Talking to someone might be able to help me in sorting out certain concerns. For the time being, I'll put Saturday's events behind me and focus on creating this carbonara.

She'd told us to walk up to the front and get method sheets while she weighed out the items we'd need for the entire group. I waited for everyone else to get theirs before getting my own, she gave me a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes like the other ones did but I ignored it and took the ingredients from her and walked back to my spot.

She cleared her throat before picking up the sheet which we all now possessed. "This is your guide, follow it and your food will turn out perfect, you may begin." With that, the class was dismissed.

I followed the instructions, which were to combine the pasta ingredients in a bowl, roll them into a ball, and then place it on the table, where it would be rolled into a thin sheet, about a coin's width deep, before we had to go over and place it inside the pasta thinning and rolling machine.

I did it fairly quickly because I was one of the first to finish it, putting my pasta mixture in and rolling it before putting it in again and cutting it into small narrow lines; it now looked like raw linguine pasta.

I returned my pasta to my station and set it aside before getting a deep sauce pan, filling it with boiling water, and turning the heat to low-high. I put the pasta in the boiling water and washed my hands before starting on the sauce.

I took a smaller sauce pan and placed it next to my pasta on the stove, then added butter, milk, and flower, whisking any lumps out so it was smooth.

Once it had slightly thickened, I added some grated cheese and seasoning then let it melt down, creating a creamy textured cheese sauce.

The pasta was ready by the time I finished making the sauce. I removed the pasta from the heat and drained it in a strainer before plating it and covering it in my cheese sauce.

To finish my meal, I quickly cooked some bacon and chopped it into small pieces, placing it on top of the dish and then sprinkling the remaining cheese on top.

Miss O'conner was walking around the classroom checking on everyone's work, and it appeared that Mia, Jake, a girl named Larissa, and myself had perfected the dish.

I turned to Mia and gave her a wide grin "Well done, Mia. Your cooking is improving by the day." She was concerned at first that her cooking would not come out as well as she had hoped.

"Skye, what happened?" I asked, turning to look at Skye's carbonara and giving her a sympathetic smile. Skye's dish had great pasta, but it was coated in a thick, blotchy sauce that stood as a solid blob on top of the pasta, which is what made Mia giggle.

The bacon was stuck inside this blotchy blob. "I'm not sure, I think I accidentally used corn flower instead of plain flower," Skye said, slightly scolding Mia. This caused Mia and I, as well as some of our other classmates, to burst out laughing.

"Oh? "Do you both find this funny?" She glared at us both before grabbing a piece of her blotchy sauce left over in the pan with either hand and smearing it down both mine and Mia's faces.

Our jaws were gaping open as we stared at her in disbelief. I turned to Mia and we couldn't help but find our current state as amusing as the rest of the class did. I watched as a chunk of the thick sauce dripped down Mia's chin and onto the floor.

Miss O'conner had been keeping an eye on us the entire time, but she chose not to say anything, allowing us to have our little fun before realising that everyone had finished and was simply watching us 3 being a mess.

"Mia and Evelyn, please go wash your faces and then we can examine and review everyone's dish one by one," Miss O'conner chuckled at our situation and offered me a small smile that appeared more genuine than the one she gave me at the start of the class. We exchanged nods and moved to separate sinks to wash our faces.

I'm feeling a bit better now; Mia and Skye have this way of making me forget about my problems when we're together. These two are quickly becoming important people in my life.

A//N This story just reached 100 reads, which is cool. Thank you for reading. (: