Ylisse High (Fire Emblem: Awakening fanfic)

Home Ec

Well, that Gaius guy was pretty weird, but... I can't seem to stay angry at him. Does that mean we're friends? I push the thoughts away as I rush to the Home Ec room.

I get in at about the same time as everyone else. I spot a familiar head of blue hair, but it's quickly washed away by many other students. A tall boy hurries in after Chrom, careful not to injure the crowds. He's dressed exactly how the pamphlet for the school suggested, with a dark blue blazer, gray slacks, and a crisp white dress shirt with a little piece of string tied into a perfect bow holding the collar even higher. His blue eyes dart around nervously, as if someone was about to assassinate Chrom.

"Frederick! Hurry up!" Chrom calls, waving.

"Yes, milord! As soon as I get through!" His pushing intensifies as Chrom rolls his eyes.

"What have I said about calling me 'milord?!?!?'" he shouts, but Frederick doesn't seem to notice.

I chuckle and scout for an empty seat. Like in Chemicals, there's one with nobody there. I figure I should opt for that one and hope whoever usually uses the table doesn't have a full group quite yet.

Eventually, my new team separates from the crowd. I recognize two of them: the girl with short red hair, and the tall praying girl. The redhead is wearing a white short-sleeve that looks like it's from the track team, a pair of gray pants that are probably from the men's section, and runners. Her red blazer is hanging on her arm, one of which she has planted on her hip. The praying girl has a white button-down, a pair of white pants, and a cream blazer. Her long blonde hair is held back from her face with braids, somewhat like mine. The third girl, the one I don't recognize, has super-long hair that's a few shades lighter red than the sporty girl's, and is tied up into pigtails that almost hit the floor. Her face, I must say, is very pretty, though it would probably look better without the scowl she's placed upon it. She's wearing a tawny blouse, a short black skirt, and a blazer that matches her shirt. She has a little red bow on the collar of the shirt, though it doesn't look like a bowtie.

"I just don't freaking get why I have to be in this class, is all I'm saying," the sporty one says as they walk over. "I'll be damned if I'm ever good at cooking, and like hell I'm gonna get married, make the food and let the man walk all over me!"

"I truly pray that your disregard for the meaning of the words you say improves, Sully," the tall girl replies. Long-Red simply turns her nose up a little, flips one of her lengthy pigtails back behind her shoulder and continues walking--no, strutting, in her heels.

When they get to the table, they pause their conversation long enough to notice me. Tall smiles in this sort of mysterious, all knowing way, almost like a saint. Long Red tuts, reminding me a little of Maribelle, but seems interested. Sully grins and takes about initiative.

"Hey! You're new, aren'tcha? I'm Sully! The girly-looking priest boy here," she gestures to the tall blonde, "is Libra." I'm a little shocked. Libra... But he's so pretty... "And the little girly one here is--"

"I can introduce myself! I'm Severa, okay? Don't you dare forget!" She turns to Sully. "And 'girly one?' I am not--"

"Oh really?" Sully smirks. "So I suppose that I'm supposed to believe that when you spend your entire lunch hour in the washroom with your makeup kit and a mirror that you're actually taking a s--"

"That's enough, girls," Libra says calmly. I'm surprised he isn't angrier that Sully called him a girly man. Strangely, they obey, sitting at opposite ends of the table, with Sully beside me and Libra beside Severa. I can still feel the icy glares between them. Luckily, the teacher chooses this moment to begin the class.

"Alright then, students! Today, we'll be making pancakes!" The class perks up at the prospect. Simple to make, tasty... Perfect, right?

Within fifteen minutes of the instructions being given, I'm almost done with the help of Libra, Severa's completely finished, though she isn't eating them, and Sully's corner of the table is a complete mess. Her stove element is red hot and burning the globs of lumpy, wrong-looking batter into the surface, her apron is just as covered as the counter, and she still isn't accepting help.

"I can do it myself! Plus, if I fail bad enough, maybe if I'm lucky they'll kick me out ta this damnclass!" she shouts, ststirring the batter even harder.

Finally, the painful procedure of watching Sully cook is over. Severa's pancakes look perfect and fluffy, like they're in a commercial. Libra's look great too, reminding me of weekend mornings making breakfast. Mine don't look too shabby either, if I may say so.

"Well, damn. That isn't what I thought they'd look like," Sully says, looking down at her plate. Her pancakes aren't even remotely round, more abstract and oblong. They're blackened and smell like the fire extinguisher we'd used when they caught flame when Sully left them to pick a fight with someone.

She actually looks kind of disappointed. Against my better judgment and knowing that I'll regret it soon, I decide to do !my work of charity for they day. I walk over, pick up the top pancake, and eat it.

It's disgusting.

I force myself to chew it long enough that I don't choke on the bits, then swallow it. It crawls down my throat like it's deliberately prolonging my pain. It then sits in my stomach like a rock.

"N...Not bad..." I choke out. Sully smiles at me, though it could just be because I look stupid. Suddenly, Libra reaches over and grabs one too, and then finally, not wanting to be left out, Severa does the same. By the time they manage to swallow the pancakes, Sully's smile is back. We wait a few moments to let Severa and Libra get over the worst of the aftertaste, then burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah!" I say after we're done, wiping tears from my eyes, partially from laughing and partially from the pancake's taste coming back. "I forgot to introduce myself!" I hit myself on the for head. "I'm Becca. And you, Sully, are an awful cook." We laugh again, and don't stop til the lunch bell rings.