Used To Be Me

Chapter 44: Remember

Anna's Pov

"I can't believe we're doing this."

"Well, you have no choice." Riley mused. She continuously swiped her thumb across her cellphone screen.

"Please Riley! It doesn't have to be this way." I pleaded desperately.

"Stop being over dramatic. Baking a simple cake isn't that difficult."

"That's where you're completely wrong." I interjected. "I'll practically demolish the entire house down within fifteen minutes! And frankly, I want to actually live by the time you leave."

"Didn't you always bake different kinds of pastries with David?"
Riley glanced in my direction pointedly.

"Well, to be honest not exactly. He would normally do most of the work while I watched him at a 'safe and unharmful distance.'" I air quoted with my fingers; a phrase David had constantly repeated during our tines of baking. I particularly didn't mind about the situation though. I absolutely loved the view of watching him look so concentrated and focused on a task; measuring and mixing every component to perfection.

"Well, what are the things you can't do?" She questioned, her gaze still focused on her device.

I squinted my eyes and furrowed my eyebrows in thought. "I can't measure the ingredients because I'll always spill too much or too little easily, and I'll get it more on the floor than into the bowl. I can't mix the ingredients, or the batter would go flying all of the kitchen. I can't pour the batter into the baking pan because I would most likely drop the mixing bowl with my butter fingers. I can't put in or take out the pan of the oven because I could either burn you or myself. Believe me, all of these aspects come from experience."

"Oh my gosh, you're helpless." Riley whined. "What can you do?"

"Hmm, last time David finally upgraded me to preheating the oven."

"Are you serious?" My best friend scoffed, her hand drooping with her phone clutched beneath her fingertips. "You're just pressing buttons!"

"Well that's at least something! David even high fived me for it! I must be doing something right then! Without the preheated oven, you wouldn't be able to bake the cake. Knowledge of the brain."

"Well it seems you don't have much of this so called 'knowledge' in your brain either." She mocked, receiving a playful glare from me.

"Yeah, oh how much I have missed your insults. Love it." I sarcastically said.

"Too bad, you know you love me. There's no denying this beauty." She put her hands on her hips, dramtically wiggling her hips in emphasis.

"Yeah, yeah." I waved her off. After a few seconds, my face softened at the presence of my best friend. "You know, I really missed you."

"I really missed you too." She replied with a genuine smile. She diverted her irises back to her phone, and her eyes lighted up in ecstasy. She held up her cell in front of my face, a recipe for vanilla cake. "This one! Simple, but effective."

"Hm, quoting my boys I see. " I smirked. Although Riley was not entirely of a fan of One Direction, I would always force her to watch a marathon of YouTube videos of the band's moments and memories. Believe me, more videos than any regular person would ever need. However, she grew to favor their personalities and often childish behavior. She claimed that since we were best friends, she didn't mind one bit about my obsession, and I couldn't be more thankful for a nonjudgmental best friend.

I took one last glance at the list of the ingredients needed for the cake and started pacing the kitchen. I managed to find the elements for the dessert; eggs, milk, flour, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and heavy cream. I placed all of the items on the island counter in the center of the kitchen while Riley retrieved a bowl, measuring cups, and mixer.