Kyle smiled and took the cutting knife. proceeded to cut the huge potato slices into smaller pieces.
“Thanks, Heloise,” he said as he cut through the potatoes.
“For what?” She cut a chicken piece to look at the insides. Not a trace of pink left. Perfect. She began pouring the cream into the pan for the cream sauce.
“For doing all of this with me. For teaching me cooking and everything.”
Heloise turned her head towards Kyle as she set the carton of heavy cream on the counter. His eyes looked through Heloise as if he had something else he wanted to add, but was too shy to do so.
“No problem,” she replied. The two of them locked eyes for a few moments and Heloise felt the same shiver she’d felt when she touched Kyle’s hand. The memories of their time spent together came over her, overwhelming her with feelings that she’d never had before. She’d almost forgotten all about the food until she heard the sizzle of the last of the butter melting in the saucepan on the stove..
“Oh yes. The potatoes. Are these good?” he asked, gesturing to the potato pieces on the cutting board. Though his cutting technique wasn’t quite there yet, Heloise wasn’t going to be too hard on him. He’d just learned it, after all! What mattered was that the potatoes were now a more manageable size.
“Perfect,” she responded.
Kyle came up next to Heloise and placed the cut up potatoes into a buttered sauce pan on a back burner to the left behind the pan that contained her chicken and cream sauce. The potatoes sizzled as they hit the pan, mixing with the melted butter and fresh herbs that had been placed at the bottom. The smells of the tarragon in her chicken and cream sauce and the sage on the potatoes filled every corner of the kitchen, even drifting out into the living room where the rest of her family sat either reading or watching television.
“You know, I’m reluctant to mention this to you since we’re both in such a good mood..... But I know you’ve been thinking long and hard for a while about next year in college. And have you ever given any thought to going to culinary school instead? I know you’ve been accepted to VCU and JMU, but you seem so comfortable here in the kitchen, and I can just see the way you light up when you’re cooking.”
Heloise took the chicken out of the pan so that she could start making the cream sauce, contemplating how she would answer his question. She wasn’t sure exactly what she should say to him, since she wasn’t even sure how she really felt herself.
“Kyle, can you hand me that plate there so I could put the chicken on it? And make sure you keep the potatoes going. You don’t want them to burn.”
He turned and grabbed an empty plate from the counter and handed it to Heloise. He picked up a large plastic spoon and began stirring the potatoes, occasionally glancing at Heloise in anticipation of her answer.
Kyle brought up something that had been on her mind for two months, ever since that late March night when she cooked a blanquette de veau for her family with only minimal assistance from her father. Nothing else in the world made her happier than being in the kitchen making food. It was her time to focus on something positive, her time to create something that she and her family would enjoy. It especially appealed to the science side of her that liked knowing exactly how things worked and why. Cooking was a science into itself, even if many others did not see it that way.
However, she had no idea how becoming a cook would really work out for her. She would be starting out at the very bottom and it would take years, if not more, to even become mildly successful. In the back of her mind, she also had the idea of opening her own restaurant to share her French food knowledge with the world, but she was too worried about how successful it would be. So many restaurants fail, or so she had read online, not to mention it would take away much of her life. What if she grew to hate the very thing she loved? She couldn’t bear to do that with cooking.
Even more, if she decided to change her mind at this point, how could she change it at such a late stage? She had already been accepted to every college she had applied to and it was important for her parents that she go to college, especially with how hard she had worked for the last four years with AP classes and more difficult classes. Ever since she was a child, she had wanted to work in physics, more specifically working at a particle accelerator thanks to a field trip she took in fifth grade. She had always enjoyed science classes, but that visit made her want to make a career out of science. They were always looking for people like her, much more than they would with cooking. At least, that’s how Heloise saw it.
“Yes I have thought about it Kyle.” Heloise switched off her burner, since the sauce had thickened nicely and was almost ready to serve. “And I’m just going to make cooking a hobby and something I enjoy doing. You have to have things in life that you like but don’t necessarily earn money from. And I think that’s what cooking is for me.”
“If you’re sure. You just seem so happy with cooking that I thought that might be better for you in the long run. And when you’re happy..... you just light up the room and it’s wonderful to see. And now I hope I haven’t said too much.”
Heloise chuckled. “No no no, it’s fine. Really. It’s just.....” She found her voice trailing off as she looked over the wonderful meal that was about to be served to Kyle and her family. “I don’t know. I’ll give it more thought I suppose.”
“You don’t have to. It’s just something I know you’d been thinking about and I just want you to be happy.”
The food was a hit with her family as always. There was a reason it was one of her favorite recipes, not just because of the mélange of ingredients in the meal that really stood out. There were never any leftovers when she made that meal.
After such a delicious meal, Heloise was grateful that she and Kyle would have plenty of time to digest their food during a movie. After dinner, they walked the few blocks to downtown and took in a movie, another romantic comedy.
“Well that was an all right movie,” Kyle shrugged as they waited to cross the street leading from the theater to the town park across the street.
“Yeah, the usual boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, blah blah. The same thing since the beginning of time. Oh well.” Heloise shrugged and smiled. “I wasn’t really paying attention to the movie, to be honest.”
There was a break in traffic and the crowd around them crossed the street. In his usual way, Kyle held out his arm, gesturing to Heloise to go first in front of him. She chuckled and said thanks, stepping out in front of him with her hand still in his.
“So you weren’t paying much attention to the movie then either. Would it have had to do with my arm around you, by any chance?” Kyle and Heloise crossed the street with a crowd of others who were crossing at the same time. He raised his eyebrows several times in a flirty way.
“Maybe. Come on, you can’t be telling me you actually paid attention to it either.” Heloise gave Kyle a playful punch on the shoulder. “Or maybe you’re even more of a romantic comedy fan than I thought.”
Kyle laughed out loud, leading Heloise toward an empty park bench under a bright, tall light that illuminated part of the park. “Hey, as long as it’s a good story, I’ll pay attention. But okay, since we’re being honest here, no, I didn’t pay attention to it either.”
“Ha! I knew it! Besides, I did watch the entire movie from your shoulder. So no wonder you couldn’t pay attention.” Now it was Heloise’s turn to raise her eyebrows several times, much to Kyle’s amusement. He seemed to enjoy these little flirty exchanges.
As they sat down on the cold bench, Heloise started rubbing her forearms with her hands, trying to keep warm. Though the day was a bright and delightfully humid-free seventy-two degrees, by nightfall, the temperature had dropped such that Eloise wished that she’d brought a light coat with her. All she was wearing was a simple pair of jeans and a scoop neck white shirt with cap sleeves, an outfit that worked during the warmer daytime but failed to keep her warm in the fifty degree nighttime weather.
&nb
sp; She giggled as Kyle put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulders again. She quite liked this position, especially with her face so close to his and her ear next to his neck. Heloise felt his pulse going faster and faster and she felt relieved knowing he was just as nervous as she was.
“I hope you don’t mind that I brought us here right after the movie. I just.... wanted to be alone with you for a few minutes,” Kyle said with a trace of anxiety in his voice.
Heloise lifted her head up from his shoulders to look at Kyle’s face. Everything she’d been thinking about him earlier that evening came back to her. The meals they’d cooked together. The hours spent watching television with their arms around each other. The nights spent with his friends playing games. What she loved most was that Kyle didn’t mind that she knew how to cut potatoes better than he did or that she could do complicated math problems without much trouble. He wasn’t intimidated by her. As a matter of fact, he reveled in it. Not to mention that they had a chemistry together that she hadn’t felt with anyone else before. They just worked.
“Kyle, I just wanted to say thank you so much for these last five months. Really. I’ve loved spending time with you.”
He didn’t respond with words. Instead, Kyle lifted his free hand to cradle Heloise’s face between his trembling hands. Oh my God, he’s going to kiss me....... was the constant refrain in her head as she looked up at Kyle. She took a deep breath and asked with tears in her eyes, “You said there... was something you were going to ask me?”
“In a minute.”
Then came the moment that Heloise had been expecting and hoping for months. Any thoughts that had been in her head before Kyle’s lips came to hers were immediately swept away. All she noticed was her heart that felt like it would explode in her chest and how beautiful but awkward the whole experience was. She’d never been this close to anyone else, but also she wasn’t sure what exactly to do with her hands or her lips, or the extra spit that was exchanged between them as they figured out what to do with their lips. Maybe I’ll just follow what he does.
Whatever she was doing, he must have enjoyed it because he then put both of his arms around her neck to draw her closer to him. Heloise followed suit, putting her arms around his neck and putting her hand on the back of his hair. He let out a little sound and he pulled away a little bit. He rested his forehead against Heloise’s, a V-shaped space between the rest of their faces.
“I’m sorry, I must’ve done something wrong. I’ve never been kissed before, oh God, did I ruin it?” Great, just the right thing to do after someone kisses you. Go all self-doubting on him. Good job. Heloise wanted to turn into a puddle on the bench, her mind a complete blank. She looked down at first, then finally looked straight at Kyle.
“No no no, Heloise. Because here’s what I want to ask you.” He put one of his hands in her hair and the other on her face, his hands still trembling a little bit. “Heloise DeGarmo, will you do me the honor....”
“Yes?” Heloise couldn’t think anymore at this point, her eyes completely focused on Kyle.
“Will you be my girlfriend and come to the prom with me? I know it’s not until early June, but I wanted to make sure you aren’t already going with anyone else....” His voice trembled as he spoke. Heloise had never seen him so vulnerable.
“Yes! You have to be kidding me! Yes yes, a thousand times yes! Kyle, there’s no one else I would rather go with. Yes. Yes! Oh my God....”
“Oh thank you....” Kyle spoke breathlessly as he leaned in for another kiss. There was no awkwardness this time of wondering what to do with hands or lips. This time it was a passionate and absolutely perfect kiss that was everything Heloise had hoped for.
Only when Heloise walked into her house after Kyle walked her to the door for another passionate kiss did she realize she was trembling. Once the door was closed, she fell against it and sat down in front of it with her head in her hands.
“Heloise, oh my God, are you all right?” Francis was in the kitchen cleaning the stove and countertops when he heard his daughter come in. Seeing his daughter with her head in her hands just after coming back from a date worried him. He threw the sponge down on the counter and came over to Heloise.
“Is it Kyle?” Francis asked worriedly, bending down and reaching out his arms to Heloise.
She lifted her head from her hands as tears of happiness fell from her eyes onto her open hands. The evening came back to her and she softly spoke, “He kissed me. He finally kissed me and.....oh my God....”
There was no need for words. Francis enveloped his daughter in a tender hug as she sobbed with joy. “And you’ll never believe this. He also asked me to prom! He asked me to the prom and... Oh my God. I’m going. I’m going! I’m really going! Oh my God.....” Her thoughts had become so incoherent this evening that she was surprised she could still talk.
“You might have to explain to your French papa what this prom is that you are attending. We did not have those things growing up, you know.”
Heloise laughed through her sobs. “Oh it’s a dance, Papa. It’s the big dance at the end of high school where everybody dresses up and you all get together and dance the night away. And it’s a really big deal for us girls when we get asked.” She pulled back a little bit so she could watch her father’s face as she explained such a clearly American tradition.
Francis raised his eyebrows. “Well then. If it is important to you, ma fille, it is important to me too. Even if I do not understand why these things exist.” Heloise giggled at his remark and shook her head. Even her father’s understanding had its limits, it seemed.
“Félicitations, Heloise. I am sure that you and Kyle will have a wonderful time. Here.” He opened his arms again and Heloise fell into them, continuing to sob in happiness.
As Francis and Heloise embraced, Heloise heard a noise coming from behind her. She wondered if it was her mother coming out to see what the commotion was, but instead, it was Elodie.
“Did I hear right that you’re going to the prom with Kyle?”
At hearing her sister’s voice, Heloise’s face fell. She pulled herself out of her father’s arms and turned to look at her sister. Elodie was standing just outside of the study room, her mascara running in long black lines down her face as if she had been crying, but Heloise couldn’t be too sure. At any rate, she didn’t really care.
“Yes, we’re going to the prom together.” Heloise didn’t even look at her sister, instead looking around everywhere but at her face.
“Congratulations. I mean it. Kyle’s a really nice guy and you two seem to get along well.”
Heloise didn’t believe her sister. Why should Elodie start being nice now? All she did in reply was raise her eyebrows and walk over to their bedroom, with no words exchanged between them.
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday night was one of the busiest nights for Roma Pizzeria. It was also the place to go as a stopover before a movie or any other evening activity. As such, the place was teeming with people as Elodie and Duncan shared a large pepperoni and mushroom pizza at a small table near the middle of the restaurant.
So far, their date was going really well, even better than Elodie had hoped. They’d planned on meeting at the park, but it started pouring early that afternoon, typical for early April, and hadn’t let up for even a moment. So instead, Duncan came to Elodie’s house to pick her up. As soon as he sent her a quick text message to let her know that he was on the way and would be at her house soon, Elodie began racing around her bedroom, trying on different outfits until she found the right one. Elodie ultimately decided on a fitted white knit top with a scoop neckline and 3/4 sleeves with a simple black skirt and a long gold necklace with a fake diamond pendant that hung about five inches below her chest. She applied her usual makeup and left her long hair to fall down around her shoulders. She eyed herself in the mirror and was pleased at her appearance. Simple and fashionable.
Before she knew it, the doorbell rang. Elodie scampe
red around the bathroom putting away her makeup, listening to the light chat between her mom and Duncan outside.
Finally with all her makeup put away, she turned off the bathroom light and came out, trying to remember to breathe in spite of the knots in her stomach. But it was a different kind of anxiety. It was that Elodie wanted this date to go well, more than any other date she had ever been on. It was also the first time they were doing anything with any romantic implications. Even when they were good friends as children, they mainly stayed at either her house or his, or played on the playground during recess. Though most of the time they spent together was after school since he was two years ahead of her in school and the upper grades were on their own schedules. She couldn’t be sure of Duncan’s real feelings, since he was always such a reserved person anyway, but she hoped that he would like what he saw when she came out of the bathroom.
“Hey Elodie!”
There he stood in her front entryway, in the very place where Quentin had stood just a few months before. Except that this time, it was different. This was her childhood crush, the first boy she’d ever really been interested in, even if their relationship hadn’t progressed beyond friendship. Of all the boys that Elodie had ever been on a first date with, and there had been a lot over the years, he was the one she was the most interested in. With the soft way he gazed at her from across the room, his hands in his coat pockets and light jacket hanging over a half-unbuttoned solid red shirt over a white t-shirt, she thought she was going to melt like she had almost done in the park the other day. He was even more handsome now and it was almost too much for Elodie.
Keep your cool. Come on, you’re Elodie DeGarmo, one of the most popular girls in school. Keep your cool, no matter what.
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