Sort of boyfriends || Reese Wilkerson

Chapter 1

"Gather round, gather round" the teacher cheerily says as various members of the class surrounded her. You were one of the only people under the age of eighteen there, apart from a young girl with her mother and a boy seemingly a similar age to you. You'd sworn you'd seen him before, maybe he was in your year at school. Your mom had suggested taking cooking classes as a way to socialize. Though you were reluctant at first, it was far better than the alternative of art classes for your talent in that area extended to being able to draw stick men. It  hardly seemed the place for making friends though, for most of the people there were middle aged.

"Hello all, we've got a few new faces today so make sure to make them feel welcome." She chirps. "Newbies, find yourself a partner and we'll get started. I've decided to set you all something a bit more simple today, just to introduce you to how things work." You couldn't help but sigh in annoyance, hoping you wouldn't have to approach anyone. You weren't that skilled at the art of talking to strangers, you were always left feeling embarrassed at what you'd said and would more often than not stumble over your words.

This worry, however, almost immediately evaporated as the boy you'd glanced at earlier approached you confidently. "Hey, I'm Reese. Wanna be partners?" He asks, a soft smile on his face. His hair lays spiked and the tips of hair are bleached, a contrast to his darker brunette roots. He wears a T-shirt with a worn print on, it's looks like some sort of black and white clown. You can see the words "The Garden" though it looks more like "Tho Gurden" because if how the print has faded. He wears grey trainers with frayed laces and straight jeans. "Uh, sure. But I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to baking so you'll have to be patient with me." You laugh awkwardly. "Okay" he shrugs and you approach your assigned counter.

You choose an apron and begin to attempt to tie a knot in the back but the angle is awkward and you can't quite tighten it properly. You can see Reese trying to mask his laughter at you struggling whilst he pretends to look away. This only causes a blush to creep up your neck and you to fumble further. You clear your throat, "Hey, um could you help?" You ask embarrassingly. "Thought you'd never ask." He retorts. You turn around and he quickly ties the knot, brushing his fingers against your back accidentally in the process. The contact sends an odd shiver down your spine but you ignore it and instead redirect your attention to the woman directing the class.

She finishes her demonstration and you feel pretty confident that you won't burn the building down. "Alright, time to give it a go yourself now. Remember, I'm here if you need a helping hand" she hums. Reese idly starts to prepare his ingredients as though he were on auto-pilot. You weren't sure whether to start a conversation, join him in sourcing various ingredients or leave him to do it by himself as he evidently didn't need your help. "You gonna stand around forever?" He teases "Come on, I'll show you how to prep the pastry. It's super easy" he states, grabbing the bowl off of the counter and walking over to the oven. You shake your head and follow after him, not really wanting to get stuck watching him bake for god knows how long. You grab some bowls from the cabinet nearby and set the flour and butter in one.

"You've got to crumble it with your fingers. Like this." He demonstrates, taking a chunk of the flour covered butter and pressing it between his fingers so that it breaks into several smaller pieces. He gives an encouraging, if not slightly awkward smile and continues with what he's doing himself.

After a moment of thought, you grab your mixing bowl too, hoping it wasn't the wrong size. While you're making the pastry, he continues his lecture about everything you needed to remember. You nod along politely, even if it seemed like he was giving this speech for the sole purpose of getting rid of you and your silence. When he finally concludes his spiel you feel like he's made his point.

A silence settles between you and you take the opportunity to ask him a few questions yourself "We go to the same school right?" you ask Hoping he won't mind the question. "Uhh yeah I think so, you're in the higher sets, aren't you?" he replies, focused on the custard before him. He stirs it gently, careful to not over mix it. "Second to top actually, but pretty much." Now he had confirmed it, you recalled seeing him around school. You could've sworn you'd seen him picking on other kids before but he seemed to have gone out of his way to be nice to you now. Weird, you thought, placing the pastry in the oven.

He quickly turned the oven down a gas mark, mumbling about not wanting it to be burnt. It was odd to see him be so rude to others yet so charming now. You remembered being in the same set as him briefly in elementary but he was soon moved down. During this period of a few weeks he had fought 4 other boys, put gum in a girls hair and destroyed anothers toy. He seemed to have quite the talent for baking though, perhaps academics weren't his thing.

"You been coming to these classes long then?" you ask to pass time whilst the pastry baked. You also wanted to get to know him a bit though for you found him interesting. "Only a couple months, but I was banned for a while." he admits. You notice him sticking his tongue out slightly whilst concentrating on adding a precise amount of gelatine to his dessert filling. You couldn't help but smile at the sight. "How come?" You ask. You imagined his reason being that he set something on fire or destroying some piece of equipment.

He'd already moved on to leaving it to cool, whilst taking care to stir it every now and then so it didn't set. You were impressed at his speed. "I put salt in everyone else's dishes. My parents banned me from cooking so I didn't come for a few weeks." He says matter of factly. You let out a soft chuckle, imagining the teen sneaking around and filling others dishes with salt.

He checks his watch "Can I get past real quick?" he asks, placing a hand on your waist and gently maneuvering you out the way. The touch again gave you a weird feeling, your hands getting slightly clammy and the blush returning. "I reckon that's done." he mumbles, going to retrieve the filling he had previously prepared. He takes care to fill it evenly and places a slight dusting of what you assume to be cinnamon on top, though it could have been anything else. Your knowledge on baking didn't go very far.

The teacher walks round idly to see each dessert and seems pleased with your and Reese's finished product. "Very good." she praises "I see Reese's skills are rubbing off on you already y/n." she practically sings. As she moves on to another student you ask "Is she always that nice?" for her pleasantries were yet to stop and her kindness almost weirded you out. "Oh Suzie? She's always super kind. I never seen her not smile." he replies.

You nod, taking it in and deciding you like her despite having met her only once. You both continue on as the students begin filing out of the classroom with their tarts, most of which were a success but there had been a few that lacked enough gelatine. You and Reese tried not to laugh as one just broke apart, the custard flooding through the pastry, fat drops of the filling falling into the floor.

The lesson draws to an end and you feel surprised at how quickly the session had passed. You and Reece had decided that you would both take half of your creation home. You hoped it would taste half decent, but given Reese's skill, you assumed it would.

You decided, given the opportunity, you would talk to Reese again on Monday. Perhaps there was an opportunity for a friendship or perhaps he was an asshole like everyone else you knew said. You supposed there was only one way to find out though.