Tao had tried to find out why Victoria hated dares so much but no one told him anything no matter how often he asked the other girls. The game continued for about half an hour until they couldn’t think of any more dares or questions, the girls were slightly reluctant when they had to either say dares or do them, another unanswered question to add to my list, he sighed. They mostly just had pretty nice dares, like going up to the other person and saying something embarrassing. Tao thankfully didn’t get anything embarrassing, there was just one question that was slightly embarrassing. It actually wasn’t embarrassing, it just was a bit too close to how he actually felt. The question was: did you date someone in the last two years. This was asked by Amber, the guys had all tensed slightly expecting Tao to become bitter or cold but he had just nodded and said, “Yes, just one though.”

Now he’s walking down the hall thinking about everything that’s happened, turning down Victoria and watching her reaction had pained him slightly, he didn’t know why but it had, then being partnered with her wasn’t bad. He had felt bad when he ran into her but he apologized and when she replied she hadn’t been cold. Cold, that was one thing that made him want to talk to her more to get her to warm up towards him, today when she told the stories, her voice was slightly animated and she had smiled when the others had laughed, he had wanted to laugh except he could only smile. The bad thing was, she hadn’t even seen him smile, she was still lost in story telling.

He was envious of her for being able to put people, even him at ease, he could sense it in the atmosphere, everyone was relaxed and comfortable. But then it had become slightly uncomfortable when Victoria left, was it her easy-going attitude? He wondered how it would have been if he was at better terms with her, if he was going out with her…no, we’re not going down that road again, he shakes his head.

Victoria checks her reflection in the mirror, her face isn’t too splotchy, and since she doesn’t wear a lot of makeup, nothing is smeared. But her eyes are red and slightly puffy but there’s nothing she can do about that, let’s just hope no one sees me. She pushes open the door and starts walking down the hall. She slightly regrets running out of the cafeteria, but her heart hadn’t gotten over him, it’ll probably take a while for it to do that.

She looks at her watch, still fifteen minutes left, might as well just get some extra studying in. She goes to her locker to get her books, she hears a noise down the hall, she looks and sees a boy by his locker, he’s too far away for her to see who he is, I hope he stays over there, I do not need someone seeing what my eyes look like right now. She closes her locker and walks towards the library, she finds a corner and opens her book.

Tao hears a locker close in the distance but he doesn’t pay too much attention to it, he’s trying to find the book he has to return to the library. There, got it, he smiles slightly. He walks down the hall and into the library, he goes to the girl at the desk. He gives her his book and asks her if there are any books she might suggest for him to read.

Victoria looks up to see Tao at the front desk, she immediately puts her head down again, one of the only people to come in the library and it’s him? She inwardly groans.

He looks around the library, there aren’t many people there today, actually, there aren’t many people in the library on most days. He came there because he enjoyed the silence and he didn’t want the stares he would receive if he just spent all his time during lunch in the cafeteria, the other guys would also come in and join him because they felt the same way. He sees one girl in the corner of the fantasy section with a couple books in front of her, probably studying, there’s something familiar about her, the black hair, the delicate frame. Then it hits him; it’s Victoria. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised about her being here, he’s seen her here many times, pretty much always in that spot.

He thanks the girl for her help and goes to the realistic fiction area, he scours the books but can't find anything interesting. His gaze falls on Victoria again, she lifts her head and rubs her eyes. He catches a glimpse of them, they’re slightly red and puffy, he looks away before she can catch him looking.

Why was she crying? For some reason he really wants to know but then he dismisses it, it’s none of your business.

He goes to the fantasy section and picks out a book. He glances at Victoria who is still immersed in her books, he sits down at his usual table and starts to read.

The lessons go by quite fast and now Victoria has something to look forward to, cooking class. It had just started and they could choose it as an extra lesson, most didn’t take it because they didn’t want extra work but to her cooking isn’t work, it’s more of a hobby.

The other girls were doing it with her, partly because they’re always hungry after school, and also because they also liked cooking. She goes to her locker and gets the rest of her stuff, they were allowed to take their jackets with to class so they could get home as quickly as possible. She walks towards the class with Krystal and Luna. Luna opens the door and they see Amber and Sulli talking at a table, the two other girls see them and wave them over.

“Hey, did you have a good day?” Amber asks.

“I studied a lot for the test tomorrow so I don’t have to study too much later.” Victoria says.

“Oh no, I completely forgot about that.” Krystal face-palms.

“You’ll be fine, you’re clever.” Victoria assures her.

The girls talk for a bit and don’t notice Chen, Luhan, and Tao walk in but Sulli does notice. She taps Victoria on the arm and points behind her.

Victoria turns and groans, “I really can't get rid of this guy can I?” She asks in a dramatic voice. The other girls laugh.

“Hello everyone and welcome to your first cooking class, today we’ll be making pancakes.” The teacher says, “I hope you all know how to make cookies, but just to make sure, I’ll write the recipe on the board.” She adds. “I’ll be putting you into partners, boy and girl. I’ll go around and pair you up.” She starts on the other side of the room.

“I wonder who I’ll be paired up with.” Sulli says.

“Same.” Krystal nods. The teacher goes to the boys behind them and pairs Luhan with Sulli, Chen with Krystal, and Tao with Victoria. I knew it, Victoria thinks while dragging her stuff to where Tao is sitting. He nods at her.
“You may start.” The teacher says.

“I’ll get the ingredients, can you get the bowl and stuff?” She asks. He nods and gets the things. She ties her hair into a ponytail and then starts stirring.

Tao sees a few strands of hair hanging in front of her face and has the sudden urge to tuck them behind her ear but stops himself.

“Could you add some sugar?” She asks. He nods and adds the sugar. After a while the pancake mix looks slightly too chunky so he adds more milk.

Victoria finishes with the mix and pours some of onto the pan. They wait silently for a few minutes until it’s ready. Tao reaches out and grabs the handle but it’s hot, very hot, he draws his hand back quickly with a hiss. Then with his other hand he puts on a mitt and picks up the pan and quickly puts it on the table. He takes off the mitt and looks at his hand, his palm and parts of his fingers are a shiny red, he looks around for the tap when a cool hand takes a hold of his and pulls him lightly to the side. A jolt of electricity runs through him and his heart rate quickens. Victoria is tugging him towards a sink her hand is holding his very lightly, she turns the tap on and runs his hand under it giving him instant relief.

“Thank you, I had no idea where the sink was.” He says quietly. Damn it, why can't my voice have a bit more emotion.

“No problem.” She replies, “Does it still hurt?” She asks with a hint of concern in her voice. Her gaze is focused on his hand.

“No, it’s fine. I think we can keep cooking.” He says starting to remove his hand from the water.

“No, not you. The pain will just come back, I’ll just put the next pancake in. Keep your hand under the water for a bit.” She looks at him. The corners of are up forming a tiny smile and all of a sudden he feels his cheeks warm, he looks down as in focusing on his hand.

“Okay, I’ll join you in a bit.” He says relieved that his voice is fine.

Victoria nods and then hurries back to the pancakes and puts the next spoonful in. Why am I blushing, all I did was help him with his burnt hand, she thinks. But when she had taken his hand, her heart had fluttered and she could feel the blood rush to her cheeks, she couldn’t look at him either. She hadn’t thought about it too much then because she wanted to make sure his hand was okay, but now she’s really nervous for some reason, why do I feel this way?