Wildly Acceptable

Diana the Burnt Cookie

Diana's POV

Of course, I'm mad at her! What happened to girl code? Or just basic human decency? I sat on my bed, leg bouncing, hands shaking. I'm typically calm and that's how people see me, but there's always that brief moment backstage at a pageant or before a presentation at school where I feel like I can't breathe. Like right now, after finding out my best friend is dating my longtime crush.

Moments like these make me have serious doubt in myself. Is Anne even my real friend? Has she been telling me lies and she actually liked Charlie the whole time? I leave my bedroom and head downstairs hoping to find some kitchen alone time.

"Of course, you're in here," I sigh and sit at the island. Gilbert turns and nods, "Given your attitude, I'm gonna assume you heard about Anne and Charlie." I nod, "Why would they do that to us?" He shrugged, "Well, I'm dating Ruby and you've never openly told Charlie that you liked him," He paused for a moment, "Wanna help? I'm making cookies." I stood and moved to the counter, "Hey! These are the cookies I bought to make."

Gilbert stopped stirring the mix, "So you stir. I'll get the chocolate chips." I rolled my eyes and took the bowl. One thing I loved about our relationship is we didn't need to talk to hang out or work through things. That and baking. We always bake cookies when something bad happens. All of our baking sessions consist of cookies and silence. Just us two simultaneously working through something by baking and eating our feelings. It's one of the main things we have in common, which makes me think we get it from Mother. Gilbert dumped the whole bag of chocolate chips into the bowl causing me to stop mixing, "Why!" Gilbert smirked, "It's extra happiness." I rolled my eyes again and muttered , "It's extra heart disease."

Eventually the cookies were in the oven and we were both sitting in front of the oven staring at it, "Why don't you tell Charlie you like him?" I shrugged, "Because it's so much easier being friends. I don't want to ruin things or make it weird. But I also don't want him dating Anne." Gilbert nodded, "I get that. I also get that..." His voice trailed off, so I turned and looked at him, "Gil?" He shook his head and continued to stare at the oven. I could tell his mind was racing and I want him to open up to me, but I just have to accept that we were back to silence.

When the timer for the cookies went off, we both decided they were still a bit too soft, so we left them in for an extra two minutes. That resulted in the edges and bottoms of every last color burning. I picked up one and knocked it against the counter, it was as hard as a rock, "This is an accurate representation of my life right now." I tossed it in the trash and with one swift movement I was pulled into a hug.

Gilbert didn't say anything and neither did I. There's been lots of pressure from Mother and school and friends recently, but not a lot of hugs. Especially not from Gilbert. He's really smart, but hardly communicates his feelings in a way that is logical. Except for this hug. This hug was the best way for my older brother to say what he needed, and I completely understood every second of it.

"We could order pizza if you want," He muttered. I looked up at him and smiled. It doesn't matter what madness is going on in the world because my brother will always make it better, "Pepperoni please."