The Cookoff

Anne

Anne pulled her apron on, ready to cook. She was a volunteer for the soup kitchen. She went to help out there every Wednesday, after school. It was so great to make a difference and help others and it certainly didn't hurt that it envoloved cooking. Anne loved to cook. She had been Chef Anne, ever since age 4. She could make her own recipes and new all the cooking terms and techniques under the stars. She even wrote her recipes down and hoped she could sell it as a cookbook, one day. Anne was just about ready to start making a pizza pie, when she saw the one and only, Melanie, walk through the door. What was she doing here? Melanie looked down at her feet, obviously trying to avoid Anne. Anne had been feeling guilty all week since the meeting in the principal's office on Monday. She hadn't heard what the punishment had been, but she was guessing this was it. The troublemakers were usually sent here to learn a lesson as community service. Mr. Rinaldi, the suprivisor for soup kithen, called Anne over.

"This is Melanie and she is knew to the soup kitchen. Can you help her get started?" he asked, hopefully. Anne felt butterflies in her stomach.

"Ummm... okay," she said, reluctantly. "The aprons hang here and the tools are all sorted in shelves below that cabinet. I am baking a cake for Sally. She is turning 75 and the poor thing has been coming here for years. She is like family. I guess you can just pass me the ingredients. "

"Can I bake the cake, myself? I know how to cook and bake."

Anne hesitated, "I kind of wanted to do it since it was for Sally, she is like a grandmother to me. Maybe you can bake some ziti."

"Okay."