Page 121 of The Lucky One

I was first. I walked my dishes over to Chef Sayle and placed them on the table. Chicken soup for starters, then roasted potatoes, chicken with sautéed carrots and celery and a rich sauce for flavor.

“Impressive, German,” he said, armed with a fork and pen. He tasted my creation in silence, jotting down notes, then handed me my paper, sporting a satisfied smile. “Too bad you won’t be here for Culinary next year. It was a pleasure to be your teacher. Now go enjoy your meal at your station.”

“Thank you for being the best teacher I’ve ever had,” I said, not to be an apple-polisher but because I truly meant it. I’d never had a teacher who taught me so much, who was strict yet joked around in between. I looked forward to showing Mama all the dishes I’d learned.

“Don’t be a stranger,” he said, and flashed me another brief smile before turning his attention to Breana. There was a bright A on top of my evaluation sheet.

Breana presented a tantalizing dish that lacked any visible chicken, replaced by chickpeas and what seemed like tofu.

“You didn’t make chicken?!” Chef Sayle shouted, and Breana defended her plant-based choice. I admired her for risking her final grade to stand by her principles.

She joined me at our station, holding up her B+. “It was worth it,” she said, beaming, and I nodded in agreement. For a little while we ate our food in silence.

“I didn’t know she was pregnant,” Breana said suddenly. “I told him off right after you left.”

I choked on my potato. “Okay,” was all I managed, and we left it at that.

Danielle rushed over with her grade. “Guys, I got an A+!”

“You’ve always been the Chef’s favorite,” Breana teased while I gave her a high five.

“Duh!” Danielle tossed the strands of hair peeking out of her chef’s hat.

And for a few shining moments, everything seemed all right in the world as we laughed and talked about how much we were going to miss this class.

In a whirlwind of excitement, Danielle, Kiki, Natalia and I blazed through the mall on a mission to find the perfect last-minute prom dresses. Apparently, a lot of seniors took juniors as their pretend dates so the juniors could reunite inside. They called it try-out prom, practice for the real deal next year. So on paper, Danielle was going with Paul, while Kiki was Timo’s date. As far as I knew, Jon hadn’t offered his services to anyone. I wondered if he’d show up—but quickly quashed that line of thought.

“Okay, we’re freaking way behind,” Danielle reminded us as we flipped through racks of prom dresses. “But we’ll make it work, right?”

Natalia’s triumphant “Heck yeah!” echoed through the air, sealed with a high five from Danielle. They giggled approvingly at each other before running off to another rack.

It had taken me an hour to convince Danielle to let Natalia join our try-out prom party, that Nat was cool but wouldn’t replace her as my best friend. I hadn’t realized Danielle was that sensitive, even a bit territorial. And then they’d immediately clicked, two extroverts glamming up the spotlight. I didn’t mind. It was nice to be the quiet observer again—an observer who had a voice, though.

I was squinting at a beaded turquoise number when Kiki caught me by the elbow. “Hey,” she said, sounding strangely serious.

“What’s up?”

She hesitated, tucking a strand of shiny black hair behind her ear. “I wanted to ask if you’re okay...?”

I sighed, realizing she must be referring to her going to prom with Paul. “Kiki, I’m genuinely happy for you and Paul.” Yeah, it had stung, witnessing his promposal that was worthy of a movie, but I had come to terms with it.

She cocked her head. “I wasn’t talking about Paul and me...”

I bit my tongue. “Then what?”

She shook her head slightly. “Jon... How can you deal with it so easily?”

“Oh.” No one else had dared bring him up with me yet. “I’m not dealing with it easily, Kiki. I’m trying not to think of him, but I miss him and still wish we could work, even though I know we won’t. There are too many obstacles.”

Her expression shifted to disbelief. “Yeah, um. Let’s find dresses,” she declared, and marched ahead. I scrunched my brows. Was I missing something?

Danielle and Natalia approached with a white dress in their hands. “Emily! We found just the right dress for you!” Natalia exclaimed, bouncing with excitement.

“And guess what, it’s fifty percent off! It’s in your budget!” Danielle added, matching Natalia’s enthusiasm. Each of us had a different budget, mine being the smallest of all because I was saving up for flights. Jon and I weren’t dating anymore, but I still wanted to come back and visit. Danielle’s and Natalia’s budgets were average, and Kiki’s was basically a gold mine.

Danielle held up the dress, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was stunning, the absolute perfect dress for me. Simple yet elegant, it cascaded down in waves of soft satin, snug around the waist and hips. The eggshell color gave it a timeless charm, sort of like a wedding dress. The mid-length cut, complete with a slit, promised easy movement. I silently prayed that my small boobs would fill the cutout under the flowy neckline.

“What do you say?” Danielle asked as Natalia darted off again.

---