Ivory (Sequel to Porcelain)

Chapter 6: Apron Style

Cooking class took place in one of the largest classrooms in the whole school, due to it being the only elective anyone could actually sign up for, making it twice the size of a typical class. Thus, it was crowded. Very. I could hear all the laughing and talking erupting from the classroom even when I was still far down the hall. It sounded like the entire school had been stuffed into one room. But when I actually walked inside, I found out it was much worse than I'd thought. Despite me arriving ten minutes early, I had a pretty hard time finding a seat.

The room was set up sort of like our lab classrooms, several rectangle-shaped metal tables filling the room front to back, with two stools to each table. I spotted my sister at one of these tables at the very front of the classroom and I moved to join her, but then saw that the seat next to her was already taken by a girl with bouncy short hair.

I sighed and looked around, beginning to get a little overwhelmed by all the kids around me. How one earth was I supposed to find a seat? It seemed like everyone had already claimed a table-were there even any empty ones left? Would I end up having to sit on the floor, or worse: up front with the teacher?

But right when I was about to get really stressed about this, I felt relief. There was an empty table by the back windows that I hadn't noticed at first. I made for it at once, but right as I was just about to make it, when I was mere inches from claiming it, someone slammed their navy blue backpack on the table, making me stop right in my tracks.

Seriously?!

I felt myself get annoyed. I had obviously seen that table first!

But then the owner of the backpack stepped in front of me and I was so surprised I actually gasped. "Kwangmin?!"

He grinned. "You thought I was some jerk stealing your table, didn't you?"

I glared up at him. "Um, yes."

Kwangmin sat down on one of the stools and smiled up at me. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure we could sit together."

"Oh, whatever," I said, plopping down on the stool next to him. "Did you have fun in geography?"

"Ugh, I hated it," he groaned. "I thought I wouldn't hate it as much as literature, but now I'm wishing I had signed up for that class after all. At least I would've been with you. Plus, so many girls tried to get me to talk to them the entire time. It was very annoying."

"Really?" I asked incredulously. "Isn't that what guys like though? Being liked by lots of girls?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a guy, Eunji. I'm a porcelain being, which means, in my eyes, all girls are irritating. Except you, of course, although sometimes when you make fun of my fashion sense-"

"Porcelain being??" I asked, once again latching onto the only not-embarrassing part of what he'd said.

He shrugged. "I think it sounds fancier and more sophisticated than just a doll."

I chuckled. "You would think that."

There was a moment of shy, comfortable silence, and then Kwangmin said, "What about you? Did you enjoy your literature class?"

"I enjoyed the material, but I had a hard time keeping up with the teacher's pace. The notes I took were terrible, but some guy sitting next to me said I could take a look at his if I needed to. For some reason, it took him like no effort to write perfect notes. It was almost like he knew what the teacher was going to say and had already written it down before he'd even spoken."

But I guess all Kwangmin heard from what I'd just said was 'some guy sitting next to me.'

"What guy? Why was he sitting next to you?" he demanded.