|58| • Amelia
I could hardly keep my eyes closed!
Today was the first day of culinary school!
Springing up from my bed, I stretched out with a grin on my face.
A week had gone by rather fast, in such a short amount of time, I'd went on a rollercoaster of feelings.
When Evie went to see Florescent that day, I felt my heart drop.
I was sick to the stomach, constantly imagining them kissing or going a step further.
I couldn't even look him in the eyes when he got back!
Thank God we smoothened things out.
I honestly didn't like arguing or being angry with me, it weighed me down and I could barely think of anything else.
He did try to make it up to me the next day, I found it rather cute.
He whipped up an English breakfast — at least his version of it, taking me on a date in the afternoon.
There was no way I could stay angry at that man for a long time!
Good thing I forgave easily.
"Lord, I'm so excited!" I squealed, twirling around my room as I arranged my bed, going to the vanity table to see my reflection.
I'd decided to sleep in my room last night — much to Evie's reluctance.
I was beaming, my cheeks were a shade lighter from how hard I smiled, giggling, I ran back to my bed to hug mister panda.
"Are you happy for me, mister panda? I'm so excited!
It's going to be my first day at culinary school!
Not just any culinary school, but Gaston's!
" The realisation hit me as I said this.
Goodness, I couldn't believe I was in. Tuition wasn't a problem, distance wasn't an issue, I was in!
Not to mention — I had a group of friends waiting for me.
How blessed could I be?
"Thank you Lord. Thank you, thank you!" After squealing about an amount of excitement into a grinning mister panda, I jumped back on my feet.
I had to get there before nine o'clock, classes were going to run until four.
I planned to take a train there because I didn't want to bother Evie, but he immediately dismissed my worries.
Saying he wanted to drop me. At this rate, he was going to late for his job!
Rushing to the bathroom, I pulled off my nightgown, neatly folding it into the iron rack before stepping into the glass cubicle.
The cold droplets of water poured vigorously on my body, making me squeal, tending up.
I was so excited that I forgot to turn on the heater!
Once my body got used to it, I squirted the shower gel into my sponge, humming as I washed my body. What was I to expected today? I hadn't seen the group since the admission, I wondered how they were doing. Taking my face scrub, I circled it on my face, closing my eyes.
I was really going to live my dream, huh?
I was done rather quickly, drying my body with the towel before coming to my bedroom and into the walk-in closet.
"What to wear...?" I mumbled to myself, searching the clothes I had.
I settled for a black jeans which clung to my waist but flailed at the bottom, paired with a body hug grey shirt which stopped at my waist. Putting on my black converse, I was done styling myself.
A knock brought back my attention, he was awake!
"Come in!" I called out with a grin. Evie opened the door, poking his head into the space.
He was already dressed up, looking as dashing as ever.
His hair was swooped to the side, I noticed his beards had grown out.
He looked even more manly now, my stomach fluttered at this.
"Oh, you're up and ready." Everest said, his eyebrows raised. I nodded, going to take out a scrunchy and pack up my hair. "Someone's buzzing I'm sure." He said, walking in.
"Can you tell?"
Everest chuckled, his hands going to hold my waist from behind me.
"Of course I can. How'd you sleep?" Heat warmed my cheeks when I looked at our reflection, he had his eyes on me, his thumb brushing my skin.
Trying to ignore how my body reacted being pressed against his, I stretched to get my brush, sleeking my front hair to the side.
"I slept well, woke up feeling on cloud nine." I replied, giggling at the ticklish feeling of his kisses on my neck. "How'd you sleep?" I hoped the nightmares didn't return. Even if he didn't want to talk about it, I was still worried.
"Like a baby." When he said this, my shoulder relaxed in relief. That was good.
"You look good, my dear." Everest worded smoothly, his hands moving from my waist down to my bum. "Real good." I blushed when he gave it a squeeze.
"Okay, back up mister." Flustered, I moved away from him, I wasn't still used to him touching me that way. Honestly? I liked it, a bit too much. "My bad," Everest said with a sly grin, raising his hands in surrender.
"I made breakfast, so make sure you eat up before we leave." He did? When did this man wake up? Gosh, I felt like such a slob now. Pouting, I tiptoed to give him a peck on his lips, his mustache tickling the top of my lips. "Thank you."
"Of course."
"You don't have to take me, you know? I can just take the bus, or a train—" I tired once more, feeling bad that he'd be late to the mechanic shop. "It's your first day, baby. I want to take you. If you want to go on your own later on, of course you can."
Playing with my hands, I nodded.
"Good. Now go eat." Evie uttered with a grin, his hands going to my butt once more. "Evie!" I giggled, pushing his chest, but not hard enough for him to move away. "What? They're really soft,"
"Evie!" Gosh! How could he say this so boldly? He cracked up, taking his hands off — but not after spanking it, "I'll be waiting, pretty girl." He hummed, leaving my room with a whistle.
Blushing, I turned back to the mirror. "Stop staring at me, you pervert.
" I huffed, glaring at my reflection. Now my insides felt all hot.
Shaking my head, I moved around to get my bag ready, not knowing what I'd need for the class, I picked up some essentials: my phone, tissue, Vaseline and lip balm.
I was done in no time, slinging my shoulder bag on as I walked into the kitchen where Everest was, pouring himself a glass of cranberry juice.
I saw the breakfast he prepared sitting on the dining table.
A plate of oats and milk, two pieces of toast, bacon and eggs.
This made me giggle, I told him I wanted to try eating oats a few weeks ago, I guess he remembered.
"Thank you, babe." Those words left my lips effortlessly, Evie nodded, gulping his juice.
"Here's some honey, use as much as you want.
" He placed the plastic container on the table, rubbing circles on my back.
"You've eaten already?" Everest chuckled when I asked this.
"Yeah, I woke up hours ago, ate shortly after.
" I pouted. "It's alright baby, just eat up. "
He left to the living room, while I stayed out, stuffing my mouth with the delicious meal.
The oats mixed with honey and milk tasted amazing!
Smiling to myself, I continued to eat while the television played from behind me, Evie's hearty laughter making its way to my ears as well.
This was nice...and comfortable, somehow, I felt like we were our own little family — okay, perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration.
..but was it so bad to wish? I definitely wasn't ready to be a mother or anything, but it would be nice being someone's wife.
What am I saying?!
Shaking my head, heat warmed my cheeks. Where was my little mind running to? Wife? Gee, I honestly needed to take a few steps back. Shoving the remaining oats in my mouth, I slowly chewed the bacon, my heart thumping at the thought.
When I was done, I picked up the plates, making sure to scrub it clean and place it back on the rack, waving my hands in the air as I walked towards the man engrossed in the television.
This was new, I didn't know Evie liked watching TV until now.
Feeling giddy, I wrapped my arms around him from behind. He flinched before relaxing into me.
"Hey," I said shyly. Evie grinned, tilting his head to kiss my cheeks.
"You ready?" I could stay this way forever!
He was so warm, his hair scented of bubblegum shampoo.
How cute was that? Nodding, I took my bag from the dining, walking back to him.
He was already on his feet, turning off the television.
"You know, I didn't think you watched television." I said, deciding to tease him on it. Evie snorted, opening the door for me after turning off all the lights. "What did you think I did in my free time?" He asked with a cute, confused expression.
Giggling, I walked down the stairs. "I don't know, read the newspaper?" He cracked up at my words, we went into the truck and he started the ignition. "First off, I do read newspapers when I see them. Secondly, are you trying to insinuate something?" He asked with his eyebrows raised inquisitively.
Shrugging my shoulders, I gave him a coy smile. "Well yeah, you are an old man. So I thought you did old man things."
"Old man things?" He laughed.
"Yeah, like, not watch television? Read a book while squinting..." I went up, twirling the bouncy strand of hair I'd packed up. He laughed throwing his head back, "Old?" Evie's hands went to my thigh, gripping it. "You wouldn't be saying that soon." He completed, winking at me.
What did that even mean?!
My cheeks were heated now, pouting, I let my imagination do the work.
No! Bad imagination, now I was imagining all sorts of lewd things.
"Pervert." I heard Evie say with a snicker, making me gasp.
"I am not!" He hummed, keeping his hand on my thigh, slowly rubbing on it.
Huffing, I looked away, watching the landscape run with us.
My first day of culinary school...my insides bubbled in excitement.
This was a new chapter of my life, and I was so glad to be stepping into it with Everest.
The ride was about thirty minutes, we pulled into the same car park Evie drove us to on the audition day.
It felt good knowing I was coming here because I was chosen.
A tap on my lap brought my attention back to my handsome man.
I hummed, still stealing glances from the academy.
"You have your schedule and all, right?
" Everest called out, drawing my eyes from the window, I looked towards him, smiling.
"They'll give us that when we get in, besides, I'm not as nervous.
I have Raul, Arnold and Kaji by my side.
" I said, sighing in contentment. They had messaged me yesterday, adding me to their group chat.
I was so flattered!
Humming, Everest leaned in, cupping my shoulders.
"So you're all set, then?" He asked with a smile of his own.
A little part of me wanted to stay in the car a bit longer, cuddle with me and let him make me smile with his words.
If I did that, I'd definitely be late for class.
"I'm all set," I whispered, staring into his dreamy eyes.
Was it just me or did Everest become more attractive?
My tummy swirled at the fact that he had his eyes on me.
"Have a good day, baby." Everest moved up to kiss my forehead, I almost melted at the attention. Blushing, I nodded. "I will, you do too okay?" He chuckled, caressing my neck before letting go.
"I will, when do you close, I'll come pick you up."
This made me giggled, he couldn't keep cutting his work short for me, Abel would be frustrated sooner than later, I heard he was getting pretty good with cars and had great customer service.
"You don't need to! Maybe Kaji or one of them will take me home.
If not, I'll take a train back. Don't worry.
I'm a big girl." Everest smirked at this. "Are you sure, darling?"
All these endearments swelled in my chest.
"I'm sure, don't worry about it." Moving swiftly, I pecked his cheeks, quickly pulling away. I still wasn't hundred per cent bold when making moves on him. A charming smile pulled his lips.
"I love you." He said softly when I came down from the truck. Blushing, my heart began pumping faster again. Gosh! This man. "I-I love you too." I said lowly, closing the door quickly in embarrassment.
Turning around, I huffed out in relief.
I was finally here.
Gaston's Culinary Dream.
Pulling my phone out, I brought it to my ear while walking to the building they used for classes.
There were people scattered around, groups had already been formed and the air was calm.
I smiled to myself, looking around for anyone I knew.
From what the email said, we would get our times table on the first day, which was today.
Humming, I looked at my phone, Kaji wasn't answering her call.
"Okay, maybe I'll just check a post board or something." I whispered to myself, walking to one of the boards on the wall I saw people linger to stare at. As expected, it had the different classes which were available, but only bath numbers were assigned to it.
What batch would I be part of?
"Hey look! I knew that was her!" A familiar voice called out before I felt a pair of arms drag me down with a back hug.
Squealing, I almost lost my balance. "Whoa, Kaji, you're gonna make her fall.
" I heard Arnold scold, his heavy steps making its way to us.
I grinned. Finally, a group I was familiar with.
"Hey guys!" I hugged Kaji, she was quite the hugger, her slim arms brought warmth with such a tight hug. Facing Arnold, I waved happily, he grinned. "Hey Amelia, how are you?" He moved to give me a side hug which I received with a big smile.
"I was calling you, Kaji."
Kaji drew her eyebrows together, "You were?"
"See? I told you to stop putting your phone on silent.
" Arnold sassed, smirking at the girl who was already glaring at him.
She stuck her tongue out, taking her phone from her back to remove it from silence.
Giggling at their little bicker, my head turned to look for Raul.
He hadn't said a word since they came. Raul was already smiling at me, his hands tucked into his jeans.
He had trimmed his beards, and his hair was a bit more curly now. He looked good.
"Hey," I breathed out, smiling.
Raul smiled a lazy smile, walking towards me.
"Long time no see, Amelia." He spread his arms to hug me.
Unlike Arnold's, it wasn't a side hug. Perhaps he was a hugger like Kaji?
I shrugged, walking into his arms to hug him.
He scented of vanilla. "How are you?" He asked, close to my ear, it kinda tickled.
"I'm excited for one. I'm also a bit confused because I don't know what batch I'm gonna be in. He hummed, going to see where I pointed to. "Oh, did you guys get a batch number?" Raul asked, Kaji and Arnold faced us, nodding. "It was on the email."
It was?
Quickly I checked the email once more, perhaps I was so excited that I glanced over it absentmindedly.
What if we were in different batches? That meant I'd be alone.
My heart began to beat harder, I didn't want to separate from them when we just got together.
Nervously, I looked up. "U-uh what batch are you guys in? "
Kaji smiled, placing her hands on her hip. "I'm in batch 2, same as Arnold. What about you?"
My shoulders sank when I saw my batch number. One. Just great. Pouting, I told them. Kaji's smile faltered. "That's okay, there'll be breaks for us to meet up, right?" She said, I could tell she noticed my frown and wanted to make me feel better.
"I guess so."
A hand wrapped around my shoulder, making me flinch but relax when I realized it was Raul, and he was smirking at me. "Why the long face, Amelia? I'm also in Batch 1."
When he said this, relief washed over me. He was?
I grinned, "Sweet!"
Raul laughed, "Thank God I'm not stuck with these bickering two." He snickered, mocking Arnold and Kaji. They glared back at him, playfully.
"Liar, you're just glad you're in the same batch as Amelia over here." Kaji snorted, flipping him off. Raul tittered, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't say I'm not." His palm cupped my shoulders as he said this.
Looking over at him, I blushed, grateful that at least one of them was going to be with me.