Cookies! (Open)

[Angel Laveaux]

A magnolia by any other name would smell just as sweet, and it perfumed the air around the blonde, along with strawberries and the homey scents of baking. She wore a simple white shirt and jeans with some running shoes, nothing too fancy, and she kept her wild hair in a braid that kept most of the flyaways under control. Today, she was favoring the brunette color of her hair, and it was little thought to control her power to make that simple change.

She never needed to dye her hair.

For now, her fingers itched to make something, so she had asked permission earlier from the home economics teacher to use the home ec room to bake. She walked along the courtyard and entered the classrooms hall, and located the room she needed to use. Her backpack was overflowing with baking ingredients and containers to store all her treats, and she set it on the counter as she pulled out her apron. Made when she was younger by her mother, the purple fabric was covered in words that spoke of her Cajun heritage, and a few French words as well.

Keeping her braid over her shoulder, she pulled out a large cooking bowl and began making a large batch of chocolate chunk cookies. Once they were in the oven, she began the making of beignets, her brother and her father’s favorite dessert. Soon the smells of baking were wafting around the room, mixing in with her scent of magnolia and strawberry, and the smells of cookies were flowing out of the room, inviting any lost soul to inspect…and maybe beg for a cookie.

[Aaron Walker]

AJ was wandering around the hallways of the school looking for someone to hang out with. Not that he needed company to keep himself entertained, but he was trying to stay out of his dorm room for the day. He wasn’t sure how to feel about his new roommate, Isaac, at the moment. And Jordan was being his usual dull self. He had planned to head outside for most of the day, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. So here he was with Plan B. Roaming the halls to find something interesting.

He kept his eyes on the floor, as usual scanning for anything that could add to the ever growing collection of items in his pockets. He’d already found a few colored paperclips, two nickels, and a AAA battery.

And then he smelled it.

Warm cookies.

He almost ran into a trashcan as he rounded the corner into the home ec room, a grin quickly spreading across his face. He hopped up on a counter near where the girl was cooking, his eyes locked on the oven where the smell of wondrous sugar was baking.

“Hi,” he said, tearing his eyes away from the oven window. “Are those chocolate chips I smell in there? Cuz it sure smells like that. And I’m sure you can’t eat them all. Unless you’ve got plans for them already… but maybe they’ll be at least one that’s a little burnt or something, right?”

Hopefully she could understand AJ’s way of begging for a snack.

[Angel Laveaux]

Lost in the kitchen, immersed in her cooking, the young lady didn’t notice that she had gathered attention from the scents of her baking. Rustling of clothing and a quick movement out of the corner of her eye made her look up just as she was preparing the beignets for the fryer, and she was startled by a brunette boy sitting on the counter, watching her and talking. From his words, she gathered that he was complimenting her and begging her for a cookie at the same time.

“Hello there,” she stammered quietly, her thick Cajun accent flowing in her voice. “C-can you get off the counter please? It’s unsanitary for the cookies.” At that moment, the timer on the oven dinged loudly, and she grabbed the oven mitts before opening the oven. The smell of cookies multiplied tenfold, and she bent over to grab the hot sheet and place it on top of the oven. Taking the other sheet, she put it in the oven and closed the door before looking at the boy.

“Yes, it’s chocolate chunk cookies,” she answered, her cheeks pink as she remembered his questions. “And you can surely have one as soon as they’re cool enough. I love to share my baking.” A genuine shy smile crossed her plush lips as she held out a hand for him to shake. “My name’s Angel, and I apologize for not answering your questions earlier. Who might you be?”

[Aaron Walker]

At first, AJ completely ignored her request. Her accent was something he had only heard on television before and he couldn’t help but enjoy it before he had the chance to actually process what she had said. “Oh…uh…yeah…” he said, hopping down off the counter only to jump back up onto a table sitting near the oven. “Sorry about that.”

When the oven opened, AJ almost jumped into it in his eagerness. He hopped down, following the scent of the cookies in an almost cartoon manner. “I have to wait?” he asked, staring at the cookies on the sheet. “But everyone knows they taste best straight out of the oven. Maybe we can find someone who power helps cool down cookies faster.” He tore his eyes away from the cookie sheet long enough to glance around the room as if the meta he hoped for might magically appear.

He shook her hand vigorously. “Sharing is awesome. And your cookies smells awesome. So I love that you love to share it.” He grinned. “Angel? I wish I had a cool name like that. Maybe my parents coulda names me Cherub or something. Or maybe Bouncy Ball. I like those.” He laughed at the idea, already forgetting that he had failed to tell Angel what his name actually was. “I coulda used BB as my nick name. You know, like a BB gun?”

[Angel Laveaux]

His joke made her smile as she scraped the cookies off the cookie sheet and onto a cooking rack to cool, setting the pan in the empty sink to cool off as well. “You’ll burn your tongue if you eat them right now,” she replied as she took off the oven mitts and walked to her plate of unfinished beignets waiting to go into the fryer. The oil bubbled like a storm, ready to make delicious pastries as the boy babbled about nicknames.

“I know,” she said as she dropped the batter into the oil. “But that isn’t your name, and that’s what I asked for.” The tone of a parent to a child, but she was smiling when she turned around. This boy was fun to talk to, and he liked her cooking, which put him in good graces with her. She checked on the cookies in the oven before starting to wash dishes. “My name is short for Angelique, it’s French. I’m from New Orleans, if the accent didn’t give it away.”

She turned to look at him, her braid falling down her back and her silvery blue eyes looking at him. “I think the cookies are cool now, if you want to have one,” she said as she dried her hands and checked on her beignets. The cookies were indeed cool, and ready to be eaten by eager mouths. This was what Angel loved, making food for people who loved what she made.

[Aaron Walker]

“Awh come on,” AJ said, only half-whining. “What’s a little burnt tongue for warm melty goodness? Small price to pay, I think.” He sighed and leaned back against the table to wait. It was hard for him and he tapped his fingers against his knee, glancing up at the clock in the room.

He looked up to watch Angel drop some sort of batter into the bubbling oil. “What are those?” he asked, walking away from his warm-cookie-guarding post to inspect. “Deep fried cookies?”

“Oh yeah…My name’s AJ. Short for Aaron James, but that’s way too much to remember,” he said, not picking up on her tone but returning her smile. “French? Cool! No wonder you can cook and stuff. I think I read somewhere that they have awesome pastries over there. Can you make those too?” He asked, licking his lips at the thought.

New Orleans, so that’s where that accent’s from, he thought to himself. I feel like I shoulda known that. Wait isn’t that where they make everything spicy, like Cajun or whatever?

“Um…you didn’t put hot sauce in the cookies or anything?” he asked, continuing his thought out-loud. He gave the cookies a worried look, glancing around the kitchen for her ingredients.

When she said they were ready, he picked up on hesitantly. Still worried about possible hot spice hidden behind the chocolate chunks, he sniffed at one cautiously.

[Angel Laveaux]

“Beignets,” she replied, looking at him as he sniffed the cookies. A small giggle passed her lips. “They’re a pastry that I can fill with jelly or melted chocolate or something and they’re sprinkled with powdered sugar. Utterly delicious.” He gave his name and she smiled. “AJ…a nice name. I can make just about anything, my father taught me how to bake.”

As she used a spatula to bob for beignets, she heard his question and laughed, gripping the side of the fryer. Her laugh was musical, filling the room with song. “No hot sauce, I promise,” she told him with a chuckle as she finished grabbing all the beignets and putting them on a rack to dry off and cool. She dropped more batter into the oil and grabbed the cookie in his hand gently.

Taking a bite, she smiled. “See? No hot sauce, or tabasco as I know it. These are normal, spiceless cookies. They’re quite tasty.” Feeling playful, she put the rest of the cookie into his mouth, making him taste the flavors on his tongue. “See?”

[Aaron Walker]

“Beignets,” AJ said, slowing repeating the word as he eyed them. “Well I do love sugar, especially the powdered kind.” Since AJ wasn’t much of a cook, unless you count hotdogs or s’mores over a fire, the prospect of fresh cookies and dessert was a real treat for him. He was already planning to track down Angel more often with the hopes that he could catch her cooking often.

AJ watched Angel take a bite of the cookies, carefully searching her face to see if she was lying. He still wasn’t quite sure he could trust her, but the cookies did smell delicious. He was about to finally take a bite when she shoved one into his mouth.

For a second he was to shocked to chew. Then he started laughing, almost spewing the cookie back at her. Next came a little chocking as he tried to control his laughter. “Wow…,” he said closing his eyes to savor the warm chocolate in his mouth. “Since you almost chocked me to death with the first one, can I have another?” he asked, already picking up one.

“Are those done now too?” he asked, pointing to where the beignets were cooling off. “I’d feel bad giving all my attention to these chocolate cookies. Wouldn’t want your desserts getting jealous, right?”

[Angel Laveaux]

“Yes, you can have another cookie,” she told him, putting the beignets on a cooling rack to let the oil drip off before she coated them in sugar. She looked up when he asked if the beignets were done, and she shook her head. “These need to cool off before I put the sugar on them, but you’ll have the first batch, I promise,” she said with a laugh, taking all of the pastries out of the oil before adding more batter and making more.

“I promise also, my desserts don’t get jealous,” she said with a wink, coming over to him after wiping her hands. This boy made her smile, which said a lot; normally she was too shy to talk to anyone, except her twin and her sister. When baking was involved, she was pretty much an open book. “I love baking; it makes people happy, and it makes me happy when people like my baking. I’ve been doing it for years.” Her fingers found a stray cookie and she bit into it, the flavors on her tongue making her smile happily.

After finishing the cookie, she checked on her beignets and sprinkled at least a ton of powdered sugar on them. Putting two on a plate, she came back and set them in front of him before going back and taking the second batch out of the oil. Finally taking a break, she came back to the counter and looked at her…friend. Yes, friend. A shy smile graced her face as she pushed the plate closer.

“Go ahead, try one.”

[Aaron Walker]

AJ beamed at the invited to have another cookie. He crammed one into his mouth while also slipping one into his pocket to save for later. He watched eagerly as she finished preparing the beignets. “Adding sugar is always good,” he said as he watched the cookies on the cooling rack. If only I had super cookie cooling powers, he thought. As he waited very unpatiently, bouncing on his heels.

He smiled at the girl when she spoke again. He had almost forgotten she was there, since he had been concentrating on how to cool cookies faster so much. “Well I’m jealous of your desserts,” he said. “Please tell me that you cook a lot. Like everyday. With lots of sugar. Cuz ya know, you should do what makes you happy.” He gave her a hopeful, questioning, big-eyed look.

He followed his new friend (and to AJ anyone would could stand being around him for longer than thirty seconds was a friend) around as she added the finishing touches to her dessert. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging. The words were hardly out of her mouth before he had already finished eating his first one. “You’re really good at this,” he said between bites.