029. Happiness
Characters: Leni, Luca, & Fritz
Genre: Comedy/Romance/Family
Rating: T
Time Period: sophomore year of high school
Ludwig's Troubles with the Ladies are Totally Caused by Genetics
Luca Beilschmidt was convinced that whoever had decided to make home economics a mandatory course—effective just this past year—was a secret sadist and most likely someone who had a personal grudge against him.
He felt that it was a reasonable theory and that it was only strengthened when you took three specific pieces of evidence into consideration.
Number one: Out of the three home economics teachers that he could have been assigned to—two of whom he knew for a fact were very sweet, kind women who graded almost entirely on participation and effort—he had been placed in the classroom of the one who often sent students home in tears and actually graded on skill. Something which he did not possess much of…
Number two: What were they going to be working on for the first few weeks of class? Cooking.
…Of course. He didn't even want to think about what that meant right now.
And number three: Whatever power-at-be that had decided to punish him in this manner had decided to make everything even worse by making sure that she was also in his class.
Leni Koenig.
Someone up there hated him.
"We'll be beginning now, class…" And Luca jumped slightly at the sudden bark coming from the front of the classroom. From their teacher who was glaring at them like they were all ants that she'd enjoy squishing underfoot. "Get with your partners and then I'll tell you what station you're going to be working at for today…"
Probably the only good thing about this class was the fact that they hadn't been assigned partners and that his friend, Peter Katte, had also been consigned to this hell. And Peter actually knew how to cook passably well.
Unlike himself. Since he managed to burn everything that he touched when he was standing inside a kitchen.
"Station number three…" The teacher always took these incredibly long pauses between phrases. "Leni Koenig and Frederick Koenig."
Leni Koenig.
Seriously, why did she have to be in this class? If she had to be in one of his classes, then why couldn't it have been math or science or something like that? A class that didn't involve blenders and ovens and griddles and open flames and sharp knives and plates that would be so easy to smash to pieces against the floor?
"Station number four… Luca Beilschmidt and Peter Katte."
And that was the last piece of evidence that he'd ever need to prove that someone somewhere had a personal vendetta against him.
"Looks like we're going to be working with Leni~." And it didn't help anything when Peter whispered that right into his ear in a sing-song voice. "You going to actually ask her out this time or you going to pussy out like usual?"
Luca sent him his most withering glare in response. Since that remark definitely didn't warrant an actual response.
"Aw, come on…" Luca proceeded to ignore his friend by grabbing his home economics folder from where it had been resting on top of his other textbooks and walking off toward the door leading to the other classroom that held the kitchens. "It's not like she's dating somebody else right now. I heard that she turned down both the football team's captain and the wrestling team's captain last week."
"And that's supposed to make me feel more confident?"
"Sure." Luca could see her already standing at her station, leaning against the counter with her back facing them. Her brother, Fritz, was standing on the other side, completely engrossed in the ancient-looking book that he was holding.
"I mean," And he'd almost forgotten about Peter's presence. "It shows that the brawny musclemen aren't her type. And you're nowhere close to a brawny muscleman, so maybe you've got a chance!"
…If they hadn't been in the middle of class…
But they were in class right now, so he was able to ignore his so-called-friend and proceeded toward their kitchen station. He sent a quick, polite nod toward Fritz and Leni—thank God she hadn't noticed them yet—and then picked up the sheet of paper resting on the counter that would give them their recipe.
"Why don't you let me do this one, bro?" And it was pulled out of his hands before he could even consider a response. "You've got more important things to be worrying about and I do need to pass this course. Although I will admit that it was pretty funny to see Ms. Quincey about to blow after you managed to set off the fire alarm…"
…Luca would infinitely prefer to forget about that day.
Particularly with Leni Koenig only standing a few feet away, just on the other side of the counter that separated the two kitchen stations.
She and her brother had already started working on their recipe—something that apparently involved quite a lot of chocolate—and were doing so in almost-complete silence. Which was a little strange, he thought. Since he knew that Leni tended to be the sort of person that enjoyed talking while she worked.
And her brother looked a little annoyed. Strange.
Luca really knew quite a bit about Leni. But, of course, so did everyone else in this school. She was popular with both her peers and the teachers, after all. She was at the top of most of her classes and a member of the cheer squad. Fritz was her only sibling—her older brother.
And there were all of those little rumours floating about… There was one stating that she'd been asked out by dozens of guys in her life and yet she always turned them down. The most recent victims had included the captain of the football team and the captain of the wrestling team. Both very attractive and well-liked guys.
Much more attractive and well-liked than him.
There were the little things too. He knew that she liked roses, especially yellow ones. And she liked to wear little butterfly-shaped hairpins in her hair. She was the type of person who always stuck up for people if they were being bullied.
And she was incredibly beautiful. One of those rare people who managed to be just as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside.
All of that taken into account, it really wasn't surprising that he'd ended up falling for her. And it also wasn't surprising that he'd never actually been able to work up the nerve to do anything about it. She was beautiful, popular… Most of the guys in this school would love to date her.
"Here," and he was suddenly brought back to earth by the feel of a bowl being shoved into his hands. "If you're just gonna stand around, then at least start mixing this up. And don't stop until I tell you."
Well, at least that was one thing that he could do.
Luca began to mix the ingredients together while simultaneously, surreptitiously watching the siblings, who seemed to be silently fighting or something. He could practically feel the tension radiating from the two… Which was really really strange…
"Dude, careful or you're going to spill everywhere…"
And Luca almost jumped at the sudden remark coming from his friend, who'd managed to grab the spoon right out of his hand and was now smirking down at him. Laughingly remarking, "Bro, you have got it bad. Just ask her already or I'll do it for you."
"Ask who what?"
And, for a moment, Luca feared that his heart had actually leapt right out of his chest. He half expected to look down and see it lying right there on the overly-polished floor, still beating of course. Just because that would be absolutely disgusting.
Because Leni was standing right there. Leaning over the counter separating them. Right there.
Right there.
"Hey, Leni." And Peter just talked to her, like it was perfectly normal. Like she wasn't the most beautiful being to ever walk the face of the earth. "What's up?"
"I actually wanted to ask you something, Peter." She smiled as she tilted her head to the side, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder in the process. "Would you mind switching partners? Fritz is being a dick."
Wha—what?
Luca must have blacked out in the next few seconds because he completely missed Peter's response. He was too busy having a minor mental breakdown.
Okay, this had to be a dream.
This had to be a very very very very very messed up dream. In a few seconds Luca knew that he would suddenly jolt awake to the sound of his mother smashing a plate to pieces against the kitchen floor while attempting to make breakfast—his mother was a bit of a klutz who really should just give up and buy plastic plates…
After all, this was the perfect setting for this sort of dream—or more likely nightmare. Because only he would ever be able to imagine the girl of his dreams in home economics. Also known as hell…
…And—and why wasn't he waking up?
"…Yoohoo, anybody home?"
And that was the moment Luca finally jerked back to reality. To find Leni standing right in front of him, leaning in close enough that he could smell her perfume. Something orangey? Peter was gone, over with Fritz who was glaring in Luca's general direction. Which was terrifying…
And Leni was still standing there? Staring at him with a mischievous, absolutely bewitching smirk?
"Uh…uh…hello, Leni…" And that was not how his voice usually sounded. He usually didn't sound like a dying rodent when he spoke. "How are…?"
"So I think you're cute and that we should go to homecoming together."
…Eh?
Maybe he'd died. Maybe he'd finally blown up the entire kitchen and managed to kill himself in the process. And this was his version of heaven—or hell—he wasn't sure which yet… Or he was just hallucinating. Because if there was one thing that Luca Beilschmidt knew without a doubt, it was that there was no way that Leni Koenig would ever ask him out. For one thing, she was light-years out of his league and for another thing…
"So what do you say? You can come pick me up at six. We could go have dinner before or something like that."
…Eh?
"Uh…I…" He couldn't speak. And finally he just decided to move his head up and down in a sort of nod-like thing. Still not positive that he was currently breathing.
"Awesome! So we should finish this cake then!"
…Wha—what had just happened?
And Luca was pretty sure that something life-changing had just happened. Something incredibly incredibly life-changing.
A/N: Somebody said once upon a time that they want more Luca. So here you go. Luca in all of his adorable awkwardness. xD I wasn't planning on doing another chapter of Compiling so quickly, but I found this almost finished in one of my journals and figured I might as well finish it up.
On a random note… I was in a geeky mood, so I did some playing around with names in here. Koenig—Leni & Fritz's last name—means "king" in German. And Luca's friend Peter is named after (slash based on, although I didn't get much into that) on two of Frederick II's childhood friends.
The Pleasantville!verse… Full of lots and lots and lots of historical references that no one but me would ever get unless I pointed them out. xD
How it relates to the topic? Much happiness will be caused by this random invitation to go to Homecoming. ;D Haha.
Next one is Under the Rain. (Kind of an odd one…)
Oh, and just to ask you guys. Do you have any requests for this? Like certain characters, certain events you want to see more in depth? I need more ideas. Haha. ;D I reuploaded the list of prompts to my deviantart if you want to go look at what's in store in the future.
