First Day at School

"they chose for me, but I want to learn." Nel said, she wondered what they'd be doing today. "does she usually ignore us and just writes on the board, or does she teach too?"

"She likes to write out the recipes first and then she'll demonstrate," Vale said. "She's not actually bad at teaching," he had to admit even if he didn't want to. "People learn different ways, right? So she tries to do it all. The visual reminder of the recipe, then talking it out and showing how to do it. Then she goes around and helps each table with parts they might be struggling with." He shrugged. Today they were making steak fajitas.

"Ah. Makes sense. We can make these easily." Nel said, the recipe was so simple. At least she thought so. "We will get you an A+ and watch her simmer with anger." she said with somewhat of an evil grin.

Vale perked up then. "I like you," he decided. "I can actually cook to a point. Prep work isn't hard as long as I don't have to touch the peppers." There were some but they were bell peppers which weren't especially hot. "So I can do that if you can do that actual working with fire part..."

Bell peppers were so not spicy at all. So she had faith in him. "I can do that. Handle spices, chilli peppers and tasting. To make sure it's good. You can just sweat at the sight of it." Nel grinned, poor baby ice fox.

"So attractive," Vale said with a roll of his eyes. "At least we have lunch after this. I always toss the food but it might actually be good this time." He was not going to get something nice and cold to eat too. He wasn't sure what yet but it was definitely going to be something to cool him back down.

Class progressed once the teacher was done displaying the recipe. Now simple prep work should have been common knowledge for the humans so how to handle a knife and how to properly slice each vegetable and meat wouldn't be an issue for Nel. But for the fiends, this was all rather new, and repetition is what helped things stick.

Vale could work with a knife and he knew enough to separate the meat from the veggies as instructed. So he prepped everything as perfectly as he could manage. He wasn't doing it for grades or his teacher but he wanted Nel to do well so the food had to look good. He could do his part if she'd do the actual cooking part. Not even the slicing of the onions bothered him as there was a trick to that as well.

It was easy for Nel, though she hadn't done as much as some humans might. But part of her role as doormat was also domesticated slave. If it wasn't good enough, it would be thrown, literally, in her face and she was made to redo.

So she slowly chopped the veggies and the steak into strips and seasoned them before cooking them to medium perfection.

Vale had done most of the chopping and then stepped back to let her finish touching the stuff he wasn't so good with, like the meat and the peppers. From there he let her cook and season them, moving as far from the open flame under the pan as he was allowed to be without making it obvious what he was doing.

Now, there was a chilled appetizer that went with this meal. A kind of salsa, as it were, but his table hadn't been assigned to make that. Because anything he could actually excel at was skipped over when it came to him. So while she could have handled the fajitas on his own while he made the other part of the meal, that wasn't assigned to them. Which meant they had less to do and were done quicker than the rest.

Nel made short work of the fajita's. It was very easy to make. Even the sauces, which she made two types so the teacher could have a choice. Then she arranged them perfectly on the plate, with the two bowls of dip either side. "I think we did really good. What do you think?"

"Well it doesn't look burned or under cooked. I consider that a pass," Vale said, smiling in that class for the first time. "She might not like me but I don't think she'll dock your grade just to spite me." He hoped not.

"she will regret it if she does. Now I kind of want her too." Nel said, she had even put a garnish on the plate and a lil ice heart drawn with the extra sauces.

Nel was going to be disappointed. Ms. Reed found nothing lacking in the dish that they had prepared and gave them a passing grade. She didn't seem at all happy about it. With all other tables full, there was no one else she could give Nel to either.

Nel smirked smugly at her as she looked so incredibly pissed. It was much fun. She held her hand up to Vale. "High fives are still cool, right?"

"They very much are," Vale said and gave her a high five. "Oh did you see her face? She's so pissed! Best class ever!" He exclaimed, excited. "But I am not eating that," he added. "You can have it. And if you don't want it, just pack it up and give it to someone at lunch."

"I'll see if anyone else wants some. But I'll eat one or two." Nel said with the biggest grin. She'd get some fries too as she had lunch money. "Do we get to leave now?"

"Eh, might as well," Vale said. "There's nothing left for us to do. And since you're new, I can give you a bit of a tour around the lunchroom. We'll just get there early is all." Vale packed up his things and the food, careful not to actually touch it with his hands. Then he escorted Nel out without saying anything to the teacher.

Nel just giggled. "Is the lunch room big enough for a tour?" She asked as she pulled her bat bag strap higher on her shoulder.

"It's not so much the lunchroom as the people," Vale said. "There's all the social groups, the who's who, you know? It helps to know who belongs in what group so you know who will be friendly with you and who won't."

The lunchroom wasn't super full when they got there. He'd taken his time walking there though. "So the colored tables point out which tamer types sit where," he said. "Obviously people can mix it up but it's not usual." He continued the tour, just showing her this and that. "And then this one is ours. We tend to sit with staff because we're all friendly with them."

"Ah, that's cool. But don't you get teased for it?" Nel asked, she wasn't judging. But it wasn't deemed cool if you sat with the teachers at some schools.

"Not when you sit with the staff that we sit with," Vale said. "We have some of the hottest people on the staff at our table. Plus Miri is one of the most popular girls in the school. And Sirius is up there as far as the boys go too. So...no one is going to make fun of us."

"Fair enough then, many.. Uh... Guy people sit with us, other than you and Sirius?" Nel asked, kicking the toe of her boot against the floor nervously.

"Uh...just Gaius and Trent," Vale replied. "Mostly. Sometimes a few of the other boys will join us but most of the time they do their own thing. We've got a few people out today for a field trip or meets so there won't be many of us."

"Ohhh. Okay that's good." Nel said quietly and nervously pulled at her skirt. "Not that there's anything wrong with you.'

"Of course there isn't," Vale said with a laugh. "I am fabulous and perfect as I am!" He thought that Nel was silly. He really didn't catch on what her whole nervous about boys thing was other than the shy girl not being able to talk to hot boys. "Have a seat. Do you want me to get you something? Or are you good with those?"

"Oh, I'll just get some fries. Do you want anything?" Nel asked, because she wasn't good at accepting things from others, but liked to get them stuff.