Flour Power
"I still don't see why I have to come, Caity," Nathanial Gray complained to his girlfriend as she parked in front of Washington Elementary School.
"Because," Caitlyn Gellar reminded him. "I told Miss Bise I was bringing a friend and Mitchie's sick, remember?"
"Sick," Nate scoffed. "Yeah, right. She'll be sick when she gets an STD from Shane."
"Nate!" Caitlyn exclaimed, shocked, as she unbuckled her seat belt.
"Oh, you know she lied about being sick," Nate said, rolling his eyes. "Shane's probably picked her up by now, and they're going to see a movie. Why can't we follow their lead?"
"Aw, come on, Nate!" Caitlyn said. "This'll be fun!"
"Chasing after first graders while trying to teach them to bake cookies is a strange way to have fun," Nate commented, still buckled into the passenger seat. Caitlyn sighed and unbuckled him.
"Humor me."
They climbed out of Caitlyn's Civic, and walked hand in hand to the office.
"Hi," Caitlyn said to the lady begin the desk. "I'm Caitlyn Gellar, and this is Nate Gray. We're here to help Miss Bise with her bake sale."
Nate sighed, leaning against the wall. Oh, sure, the one day he has a break from recording and Caitlyn has the day off from school is the day she volunteers for charity work. He'd much rather spend the day at the movies or even at the mall than wrangle little, sticky kids. Heck, even sitting at home on the couch watching South Park re-runs would be better than that!
But Caitlyn was a stubborn sixteen-year-old, and it was, unfortunately, one of the many traits he loved about her.
Which is why, on an overcast Wednesday morning, Nate found himself being dragged along the elementary school halls by his girlfriend, a tacky visitors pass around his neck, and a complain on his lips.
"Caitlyn, you know I love you," he sighed. "But, seriously-"
"Look Nate," Caitlyn cut in sharply, suddenly spinning around to face him. "I grew up in this school. And because she changes grades often, Miss Bise was my teacher for three years out of six. She was always my favorite and when my mom said she wanted me to help her with her bake sale, I figured it was going to be my way of repaying her for teaching me everything she did."
By now, Caitlyn was seriously huffy, and Nate was quite scared.
"So you and I can go in there," she continued, her voice rising. "Help her kids make cookie dough and brownie mix, have a good time and make the best of it, or you can leave. And if you leave, we are over. Forever. If you leave, I never want to see you again!"
Why me? Nate thought despairingly. He sighed and looked into Caitlyn's furious hazel eyes. He just couldn't bear to have her leave him. So, he managed a smile (grimace) and kissed her cheek.
"We both know my decision," he murmured. "I'm sorry, Caitlyn. I didn't know this was so important to you. But if it makes you happy…" and keeps us together, he thought. "…then let's go."
Caitlyn beamed. "Thanks Nate," she said, kissing him quickly before pulling him along again. She seemed to know right where to go, and soon arrived at room 114. Nate could hear happy (and loud) voices through the door. He took a deep breath, and allowed Caitlyn to pull him to his almost certain doom.
"Hi, Miss Bise!" Caitlyn said, smiling, as she walked inside the classroom.
"Hello, Caitlyn!" A thin, cheerful looking woman closely resembling Ellen DeGeneres waltzed out from behind her desk, smiling. "Thank you so much for coming. And who is this?"
Nate felt the woman's blue eyes fall on him, but he was too busy trying not to panic to answer.
There were so…many…little…kids. He felt slightly woozy, and made a mental note to never have children.
"This is my b…my friend Nate." Caitlyn's voice reached him. How? He had no idea. There were only eighteen first graders in the classroom, but but…calling them loud would be an understatement, even to Nate, who was used to Jason's guitar, and him and Shane's voices blare out of huge speakers for hours on end.
These kids were seriously rowdy.
A little blond boy was being chased by a pig-tailed little girl, squealing wordlessly. The girl was either laughing or screaming, but Nate was almost sure the sound was something happy. More children were standing or sitting in desks, giggling to one another.
"Teddy's got cooties!" one little girl sang, then giggled with her friend. A red haired boy with glasses, presumably Teddy, stuck his tongue out her and frowned.
"Hey! You're Nate Gray!" a small voice squealed. A small blonde girl stared up at him, smiling, her two front teeth missing.
"Um…yep," Nate said nervously. "Who are you?"
"I'm Madelyn!"
Before Nate could answer, Miss Bise clapped her hands.
"Okay, boys and girls!" she said cheerfully. "Take a seat on the Adventure Carpet!"
Adventure Carpet? Nate thought sarcastically as all the kids surged and sat down on the carpet. Wow.
The carpet was covered with safari hats and animals, jungle animals, trains, airplanes, you name it. Creative…
Caitlyn was at his side then, and pulled him to stand next to her and Miss Bise, who was standing in front of the children and speaking. Nate sighed. Here we go with the 'fun,' he thought.
"Boys and girls," Miss Bise was saying. "Today, we are going to make the dough for our bake sale! Here to help us is my old favorite student, Caitlyn. You may call her Miss Caitlyn."
"Hi, Miss Caitlyn!" the children chorused.
"And this is her friend…um…" Miss Bise looked helplessly at Nate.
"I'm Nate," he supplied. "You can just call me that."
"You're Nate from Connect 3!" a raven haired, blue eyed girl piped up. "My sister has your posters in her room! She kisses them every night before she goes to bed!"
…Awkward.
Nate blinked, no knowing what to say as the children giggled. "Um…"
"Nate, how about you take the boys down to the kitchen?" Miss Bise broke in. "Get them started on the brownie mix. Actually…" Miss Bise changed course. "Let's everyone go down to the kitchen. Caitlyn, would you lead the way?"
"Sure, Miss Bise."
As the kids, the teens and the teacher left the classroom, Nate saw the little girl from earlier (Madeline? Madison?) tug on Caitlyn's jeans.
"Is he your boyfriend?" she teased. Nate chuckled under his breath. Caitlyn glanced back at him and smiled at the girl.
"No, I've just known him for a long time. He's my best friend."
The girl nodded seriously. Nate sighed and led his group of tiny people to the school's kitchen. It was pretty big, with lots of stainless steel and chrome, a lot like the kitchen at Connect 3's house. He was impressed.
And then he turned around and found himself staring at eighteen overly-excited little kids.
He gulped. They stared back. Miss Bise was nowhere to be seen.
"C…Caity?" he asked. "What do we do now?" Where'd Miss Bise gone?!
"Here we go!" Miss Bise danced back into the kitchen. She placed something white on both of the teens heads. Nate touched his.
A chef's hat.
A chef's hat.
How cliché…how embarrassing. He sighed as the class giggled. Miss Bise paid no attention and clapped her hands.
"Okay, boys and girls!" she said. "Caitlyn, you are going to take the girls and start mixing the dough for cookies. Nate, you'll take the boys and start the brownie mix. Okay?" The teens nodded, the children separated, and the teacher handed Nate and Caitlyn the recipes before leaving to check on something unknown. Nate glanced at his and sighed again, for the millionth time that day.
Unfortunately…Nate was a master in the kitchen.
No wonder. Shane and Jason couldn't make ice, let alone a decent snack, so he was stuck cooking for them on tour most days. And even he learned after a while.
"Okay, dudes," he sighed. "Let's do this thing."
All the pots and necessary equipment for baking was already set out, so Nate led the boys to one side of the kitchen. He told them what to get and soon they were standing on stools, pouring the already pre-measured ingredients into the mixing bowls. Caitlyn's group did the same thing, and Nate eventually wandered over to what the boys called "The Icky Girls Territory!". He stood on one side of the counter while Caitlyn helped one girl crack an egg into her bowl. She smiled at him. The children's cheerful chatter echoed around them.
"See?" Caitlyn said. "This was fun."
Nate blinked. "Caitlyn, I know I may have said this before, and I love you, but you really need to learn the definition of-"
"EE!" one girl shrieked, hitting her mixing cup full of flour.
It flew…and Nate got a face full of white dusting.
He coughed and blinked. The girls giggled…including Caitlyn…even though Caitlyn really burst into total laughter, so hard she had to grab the counter. Nate sighed and looked at her.
"Caitlyn…my dear…" he said. "Do you find this amusing?"
"Well I…I…" But Caitlyn couldn't finish.
"In that case," Nate said, inching for the sack of flour. "I have something that will make it even funnier."
"W-what?" Caitlyn gasped out, still laughing at her boyfriend.
"This!" and he flung a handful at her face.
Bulls…eye.
She gasped, blinking rapidly. The boys, including Nate, burst into laughter.
"Nate!" Caitlyn screeched.
And then…
Chaos.
Flour…everywhere.
"WAR!" someone shouted.
Pandemonium.
"Kids, no!" Caitlyn shouted. "We can't-"
And she got more flour in the face.
It shot through the air in clouds whist the genders cried out, laughed, and battled on. Nate laughed harder. He and Caitlyn ducked under the table. She was already covered in powder, as he was sure he was.
"Is this fun now?!" Caitlyn asked, exasperated.
"Well…yeah," Nate admitted. "Thanks for bringing me, Caitlyn."
"You're wel-"
"WHAT ON EARTH?!"
Silence.
Miss Bise had returned.
"Caitlyn…what happened?" she gasped.
"Miss Bise, I can explain everything." Nate stood quickly. Miss Bise stared at him.
"And?" she demanded. Nate looked around; white. Everywhere. On everything.
He took a deep breath.
And it came to him.
"Well, you see, ma'am," Nate said. "We were teaching the kids the power of flour."