Changed For The Better

Baking Fail

"Ryan no it goes in later!"

"Did you even buy the flour?"

"Yes it's right there!"

"That's the wrong flour!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!!"

"Yes, trust me it is!"

"Is it actually?" I laughed, we were having one of those joking arguments. You know when you've sort of given up on actually doing something right because it's gone so wrong? Yeah that's the stage we were at.

"Yes look, you were supposed to get plain not self raising"

I laughed at how domestic we sounded. "It's fine we can just not put the other stuff in it, the power that makes it go poof"

"You mean the baking powder which will make it rise?" He asked raising one eyebrow and smirking.

"Yeah that" I replied.

"I mean we can try. At this point we have nothing to lose" he sighed as he leant against the counter.

"Oh I'm sorry Ryan"

"What for?"

"Well you always plan these really cute dates, I couldn't even bake a batch of muffins without failing and buying the wrong flour and now it won't even work"

"Oh no that's okay."

"Yeah you keep saying that but I can tell that you don't mean it. I can see you're disappointed."

"Trust me, it's okay. Even if you can't bake muffins, or even make toast, I'll still enjoy this time I get to spend with you"

"So you don't care that I'm a fail?"

"Not in the slightest" he laughed as he shook his head. "Besides, we haven't failed yet. We can still just not add the baking powder. It could still work?"

"Yeah. I mean who needs baking powder anyway?"

"Not us because we have self raising flour!"

"Yeah!"

We turned back to the big mixing bowl where there sat a mess. It was more like a sludgey, gross looking, thick soup that should never have existed.

"Shall we start again?" I asked.

"Yeah, and this time it will be better"

"Well it can't be much worse"

We got rid of the terrible one and washed the bowl, then I set the recipe book up again and we started over. If it doesn't work this time then I'm giving up and doing something else. Ryan can keep going if he wants, he's more determined than me to succeed.

Ryan helped me understand the recipe, which was considerably difficult since it was a recipe book for children. It made me feel like an idiot that I couldn't make sense of it. Luckily Ryan didn't judge me, he just explained it to me as if it was normal for me to not get it.

It reminded me of how hard I find reading, which isn't something I had forgotten, but I hadn't thought about it for all of summer. It really puts me off going back to school. Not that I want to go anyway. Not with the reputation and history I have in that place, along with all the exams and stress and revision we have coming up this year.

Anyway, I stood at the stove melting the chocolate while Ryan sorted out the whole flour predicament that I had gotten us into. Oops. All I knew was that I had to stir the chocolate until it was melted, ten whisk it in with the thing Ryan was doing. Other than that, I was pretty much useless.

I snapped out of my daydream when everything suddenly went all white and I started choking on thin air. I could hear Ryan laughing and soon realised that he had blown flour in my face off the palm of his hand.

"Oh it's on Reeves!"

"You're gonna regret that statement Riley"

I ran to his side of the room and grabbed a handful of flour before lobbing in his direction...completely missing him and causing a mess on the floor. He paused in his tracks and just stared at me with a blank expression.

"Really? Is that all you've got? Really?"

"Shut up I have bad aim"

"I can see that"

I grabbed another handful and ran closer to him so I could throw it straight in his face. I didn't realise quite how much flour I had in my hand until it was all over Ryan's face, hair and his shirt. Whoops.

He looked himself up and down before smiling at me deviously. "Really?" He repeated from earlier.

"Oh yeah" I replied. "Not so smug now are you?"

He simply smiled in return, and before I knew it an egg had hit me in the chest. Oh no this is it! Flour is one thing, but an egg? He' not getting way with that one! He began chasing me round the kitchen with another egg, and as I ran past I grabbed hold of the cocoa powder and began throwing handfuls at him.

We were both laughing hysterically by this point, and running round the kitchen in circles like total idiots. It was a lot of fun....until Luke came in.

"What is going on in here!" he yelled. Oh no he does not sound happy at all. We both stopped in our tracks and looked at him guiltily. There was no way of hiding it now. We had made a massive mess all over the kitchen and were standing there with the evidence all over ourselves and in our hands, not saying anything. Yeah we were so busted.

"Ryan" he started calmly. "Go get yourself cleaned up. Marie, I'll see you in my office"

Excuse me but why am I the only one getting told off for this? It was Ryan who started it not me! I'm not taking all the blame for this. Luckily, Ryan spoke up before I had the chance to.

"No Luke, it was me too. Don't punish Marie for something I did"

"Well I did it too" I added.

"But I started it" Ryan finished. "So I deserve to be punished too"

"Oh trust me you will be" Luke replied, confusing the both of us. "But for now, I need you to get cleaned up so I can talk to Marie"

"Can't I get cleaned up too?"

"Just do as I say and don't make this any worse for yourselves. And as soon as I'm done with the two of you, you'll be back in here cleaning up this mess"

"What about the muffins?" I asked, instantly realising that my question wasn't the most ideal thing to say.

"I'll get the twins to finish them" he replied, damn. "So Ryan, upstairs. Marie, office, now!"

I looked at Ryan who was looking at the ground. I guess that's our day ruined then. It's a shame. It was actually starting to go well and all, I think the universe just hates me.