Dancing with the Player | Book #1

Emma's Cook Off

I trailed behind my parents as we took a seat in the front row right beside Emma's parents. I went into the second row and sat in between Zen and James. My eyes looked around the stadium, many people were here tonight. There were even cameras set up to film all of this.

"I'm nervous," Zen said.

"You're not even the one up there," James pointed out.

Zen rolled his eyes,"Let me rephrase that, I'm nervous for Emma."

"You shouldn't be, Emma's got this. She's an amazing cook and I believe that she will win this, no doubt," I reassured Zen.

Zen nodded his head,"Yeah you're right."

"I'm always right," I mumbled.

James chuckled,"Princess, just because you mumble it doesn't mean we can't hear what you say."

"Shut up," I snapped.

He put his hands up in surrender,"Okay, okay calm down."

"James, sometimes you're so stupid. Never and I repeat never tell a girl to calm down."

"Yes, never," I agreed with Zen.

James raised his eyebrow,"How do you know this?"

"Please, when you tell a girl to calm down when she's on her period and has horrible cramps then you'll know what I'm talking about," Zen answered.

"There's Emma!" I pointed.

Emma came out and took her place behind one of the kitchen counter. She was wearing a purple shirt under her white apron and black pants. Her opponent, Kyle took his place behind the other kitchen counter. From what Emma told me Kyle was a great cook and has been cooking since eight years old. I still believed Emma could win this competition.

I noticed the three judges were sitting. I recognized that one of them was chef Ramsay. He's been Emma's inspirations since forever. She looked up to him and wanted to cook like him. Everyone was starting to get ready which meant the competition was beginning to start soon. Emma's eyes landed on us and she quickly waved at us which we returned back.

As the competition began, the judges introduced themselves then Emma and Kyle introduced themselves. The judges went on and explained the concept of how the competition works and how the winner will be determined. Emma and Kyle would have to make 3 course meals consisting of appetizer, dinner, and dessert. For each of the meals, they both would be given an ingredient they would have to use in the meal. They will be judged on each of them then the judges will take in account of all the meals and choose a winner.

"The ingredient you will be using to make your appetizer is goat cheese."

"You will have 60 minutes for each meal," Bobbly Flay, one of the judges said.

The clock starts now!" Rachel Ray, the last judge told them.

Kyle and Emma raced into the food area to get ingredients to make their meal. They both came out and went back to their cooking stations. I watched Emma begin to cook her meal. After the 60 minutes was up, Kyle was called first to bring up his dish to the three judges. Kyle's dish was called Honey - Peppered Goat Cheese with Fig Balsamic Drizzle. The judges took a bite of his dish then stopped eating.

"It's pretty good but too much olive oil," Bobby said which Rachel agreed with.

"I don't like it too much," Ramsay said.

Next Emma was called up to present her dish to the three dishes. I bit my lip and crossed my fingers once she set the plates in front of them. Since they didn't like Kyle's dish that much I hoped they liked Emma's dish more. Emma's dish was called Poached Cherry and Goat Cheese Crostini. The judges took a bite of her dish then put down the food.

"I like it, the combination of the cherry and goat cheese go so well together," Ramsay said.

"It taste really good," Rachel agreed.

Emma smiled,"Thank you chefs."

The next round was dinner and the ingredient used was steak. I smiled once they said steak because Emma was really good at making steak. When the 60 minutes were done they called Emma up first. Emma meal was called Expresso Steak with Baked Zucchini and Potatoes. Safe to say that they loved Emma's dish which brought a big smile on my face. Yet, they loved Kyle's dish called Grilled Steak with Black Bean Shrimp too.

The last round was dessert and Bobby announced that the ingredient would be banana. The timer started and Emma and Kyle ran into the food area. I wouldn't know what dessert to make that included banana so I hoped Emma's dish would blow away the judges. However, Kyle does make good dishes that the judges had liked. I hadn't realized that there was only 10 seconds left. Emma quickly placed the food onto the plates to make them look nice and decorative.

Kyle was called up first and made Banana Pudding Parfaits. I was very nervous and hoped that they wouldn't like Kyle's dish at all. I covered my eyes not wanting to see anything. Arms wrapped around me, bringing me into their chest. All I could smell was cologne but I didn't mind since it smelled good.

"Are you okay?" He whispered in my ear, causing a shiver to go down my spine.

I nodded my head,"I'm just nervous for the outcome."

"Emma will do great, there's nothing to worry about princess."

With that I snuggled deeper into James chest as he held onto me tighter. Luckily I couldn't hear much since I was covering my ears. A couple minutes later all I could hear was silence. I guess the judges were deciding who will win the competition. The silence went away once I heard loud cheering and clapping from the audience. I took my hands off of my ears and looked up at James.

"Who won?" I asked.

James smirked,"Look for yourself."

I got out of James' arms and looked at the stage to see Emma with a wide smile on her face. My eyes moved over to Kyle who is clapping for Emma. The judges presented Emma a medal and put it over her head. She shook each of the judges hands. I would've stood up with Zen and cheer loudly for Emma but instead I raced down to the stage and hugged her.

"I knew you could do it!"

Emma giggled,"I know, I know. Thank you."

"My best friend is a winner, a winner, a winner," I sang.

"Yes a winner that gets to work with Chef Ramsay!" She cheered.

Once the competition was over we all decided to have dinner at a steakhouse restaurant called Boston Chops. It was a great night with laughter and smiles, all because of my best friend winning her cooking competition.