II. Tiana, September 6

Tiana hurried excitedly down the stairs to the basement level of the palatial WDHS building, where the culinary classrooms were, along with other vocational classrooms. She was signed up for the introductory culinary class. She would have taken the class last year, but it was a popular class and had filled up quickly. She hoped next year to be able to sign up for the two-year culinary program the school offered. Cooking was Tia's passion, what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She knew that doing well in the advanced high school culinary classes would help her get into a university with an esteemed culinary program.

She hurried into the room just as the bell rang and took the only empty stool left. She found herself sitting next to a somewhat ambiguous-looking guy with black hair and mid-toned skin. He flashed her a charming smile. Tia rolled her eyes. She wasn't quite as easy to impress as most girls.

"Hello class," a stout old woman wearing small, circular sunglasses said, raising her arms to get everyone's attention. "I'm Ms. Odie, but y'all can call me Mama."

She continued her introduction to the class and then took attendance. As it turned out, the smiley guy was Naveen Maldon. Tia should have realized this. His reputation preceded him. The guitar-playing Naveen went around charming every girl in the school, but he never seemed to go on more than one date with any of them. He was most certainly what one might consider a "player." Tia very much looked forward to not letting him work his charms over her. Mama announced that everyone would be partnering up with whomever they had sat next to, and would be cooking with them for the duration of the class. Tia stifled a groan.

This should be interesting, Tiana thought, looking over at Naveen, who once again flashed his pearly whites.

She couldn't help but guffaw, "Okay, you're gonna have to stop doing that."

Naveen looked troubled, obviously disturbed that his boyish face wasn't serving its normal function, "Doing what?"

"That cheesy smile thing," Tia said. "Seriously, do girls actually fall for that?"

Naveen crossed his arms.

"Aha," Tia said. "I take it from your pout that you're not used to rejection."

"I'm not pouting," he said defensively.

"Sulking, then," Tia said.

"I am not sulking!" he said.

"You two! Do I need to separate you?" Mama asked.

"No," Tia and Naveen said in unison, then looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Mama.

Mama handed out instructions for a simple soup, basically a pretest to see what level the different students were at as far as cooking skills. Tia quickly found that Naveen was hopeless. He accidentally added sugar to the soup instead of salt and didn't know a single word of simple cooking terminology. Tia wound up forcing him to step aside and took over, starting the soup over from scratch after the sugar fiasco and still finishing before any other group. Mama came over to sample the soup. She took a ladle and sipped a bit of soup tentatively.

"My!" she said in a tone that Tia wasn't sure of at first. "Why Tiana, this soup is simply delightful. I couldn't have made it better myself! I had nothing else prepared for the class, so if you'd like, you and your partner may leave early."

"Thank you, Ms. Odie," Tia said, gathering her things.

"Mama," she corrected.

"Right. Mama," Tia nodded, then headed out of the room, ignoring the other students' contemptuous looks.

"Hey, wait up!" Naveen said, catching up to Tia. "Have you got a problem with me, or—"

"No, I don't have a problem with you," Tiana said, continuing to walk down the hall, eyes forward, not looking at Naveen. "Just… if you think you're going to be able to charm me like you've charmed every other girl in this school, you've got another thing coming, mister."

Naveen looked taken aback, "I—"

"Don't bother," Tiana said, waving a dismissive hand. "I know what you were trying to do."

"Well, I'm sorry if I offended you," Naveen said. "Where are you headed to? May I join you?"

"No," Tiana said, somewhat abruptly.

"No? And why not?"

"Because—I'm going—to the ladies' room," Tiana said, spotting the restrooms up ahead and an escape.

"Well, where are you going after that? I'll wait," Naveen said, following her up to the bathroom door.

"Um, I'm—" Tiana looked around somewhat frantically—Naveen could see her panicking, though he couldn't quite figure out why. She wasn't quite sure herself. "I'm going to be a while. I need to, um, freshen up my makeup!"

She let out a nervous laugh and began pushing the door open.

"Wait," Naveen said, and she hesitated. "At least tell me—can we be partners in cooking class from now on? I know I'm not very good, but… I do want to learn and it seems like you have a lot you could teach me."

"Um, yeah, sure," Tiana said, quickly pushing the door open. "Goodbye!"

Door closed, she turned and leaned against it, exhaling. What was that all about? She could not let this guy work his charms on her. She just couldn't. She wasn't the kind of girl who fell for stuff like that. But sure, she could be his cooking partner—after all, Ms. Odie had said that their partners would be lasting for the duration of the class anyway. And maybe they could even be friends. But truly, she didn't want anything more. She didn't want a guy like him, anyway. If a guy was going to flirt with her, he'd better mean it—and she knew with Naveen she was just the next girl in a very long line of flirtations and short-term "girlfriends." And she wouldn't have that. She nodded to herself assuredly, feeling confident once again.

"Um, excuse me?"

Tiana looked up—it was a gorgeous girl with her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a plain blue dress and clutching her textbooks to her chest, looking somewhat concerned.

"Yes?" Tiana said.

"You're, um—"

"Oh!" Tiana said, leaping away from the door she was blocking. "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," the girl said, waving a hand in the air. "I get lost in my daydreams all the time."

Tiana smiled at the girl and nodded.

Of course she didn't really have to go to the bathroom, and she didn't bring any makeup with her to school. She milled around by the sinks for a few minutes, just to make sure Naveen had gone, and then headed back outside to go to the library and wait for her next class.

Tiana lay on her bed, listening to Lottie babble on and on somewhat inanely. She mumbled "mm-hmms" and "yeahs" occasionally to give the impression that she was listening as she paged through a kitchen magazine, looking for new recipes to try. Occasionally Lottie would squeal about something and Tiana would pay closer attention, but mostly Lottie was just retelling old stories with more embellishment.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Lottie said. "Now you just have to listen to this—Tia, listen to this. Really."

"Okay, okay, I'm listening," Tiana said, closing the magazine.

"Okay so—you listening?—so… you remember how I was late for biology, don't you? Of course you do," she said, not giving Tiana any chance to answer. "So I ran into this boy—"

"Yes, you'd said that," Tiana said, yawning quietly so Lottie wouldn't hear—not that she was paying any attention, probably.

"Yes, well, he was absolutely gorgeous—and so charming—and just, ugh, perfect!" Lottie squealed. "If I had him as a date, I would definitely be Prom Queen."

"Lottie—you're a sophomore," Tiana said, rolling her eyes but smiling at her friend's enthusiasm.

"A girl can dream, can't she? And I've got to plan ahead!" Lottie said. "Anyway, he's a senior, so of course we'd go to the senior prom together, and—can sophomores be elected for Prom Queen if they go to the senior prom?"

"I don't think so, Lottie," Tia chuckled. "I think that honor is reserved for seniors. Anyway, I bet Snow White will be Prom Queen—she deserves it, anyway. She's gorgeous and popular, yeah, but she's also a total sweetheart."

"Yeah," Lottie said, followed by a rare pause. "Hmm, maybe I should go to Snow for some advice. Her and Prince have been dating for ages, haven't they? I've heard she's great with love advice… I bet she could give me some tips on having a boyfriend in college, and—"

"Lottie, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? Do you even know this guy's name yet?"

"Oh!" Lottie exclaimed. "I didn't tell you his name? Oh, that's the best part! It's Naveen!"

Tia sat up. Well this was certainly an… intriguing development.

"Naveen Maldon?"

"Yes! Isn't that wonderful?" Lottie gushed. "I'd never met him before today but I'd heard so much—he's super popular. Have you ever met him? I mean, tell me the boy isn't an absolute dream!"

"I have met him, actually," Tia said. "Today… for the first time."

"Is he in one of your classes?" Lottie asked. "Oh, I am so jealous."

"He's in my cooking class," Tiana said.

"Oh, a boy who likes to cook!" Lottie said. "I can just see it now—me, sitting in the kitchen after we're married while he—"

"He's a lousy cook, actually," Tiana said. "We're partners."

"Well, you'll teach him your wonderful ways—partners? Oh my god, Tia, this is wonderful!" Lottie practically screamed.

"It is?" Tiana asked, failing to see what was so wonderful about it.

"Yes!" Lottie squealed. "You could get to know him, become friends, earn his trust—and set us up together! Well, I'll probably have made a move before all that happens but, just in case—backup plan!"

"Yeah, okay, Lottie…" Tia said, rolling her eyes.

Lottie was clearly about to launch into another rant when Tia's phone beeped. She looked at it—Ariel was calling.

"Hey, Lottie, I've got Ariel calling, can we talk tomorrow?"

"Oh, sure," Lottie said. "You know me, I'd talk your ear off if you didn't stop me. Ta-ta!"

"Bye Lottie," Tiana said, and switched over to Ariel. "Ariel!"

"Hi," Ariel said somewhat shyly.

"How'd the rest of your day go?" Tia asked.

"It was alright I guess," Ariel said, and Tiana could practically hear her shrug. "How was yours?"

Tiana told Ariel about cooking class, Naveen, and her escape to the bathroom. Ariel laughed when Tia told her about Naveen's salt/sugar mix-up.

"So—any funny stories on your end?" Tiana asked. "Or… any guys you're interested in? I just got off the phone with Lottie, who's already planning to go to prom with Naveen."

"But it's only September!" Ariel exclaimed, laughing. "Wait—so are they dating?"

"No, they just met today for the first time—right before Bio, that was the guy she ran into," Tia laughed. "But yeah, she's a bit overzealous."

"So… are you interested in him?" Ariel asked.

"What? Who?" Tiana asked.

"Naveen!" Ariel said.

"Naveen? No. No way," Tiana said. "Totally not my type."

"If you say so…" Ariel said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tiana asked.

"Just… the way you talk about him… oh, never mind," Ariel said.

"Believe me, I am so not interested in Naveen Maldon," Tiana said. "So how about you? You never answered my question! Evasive much?"

"Okay, okay," Ariel said. "So there was a guy I thought was cute—but it's only the first day, so obviously I don't know a lot about him… and I haven't gotten a look at many of the guys around the school…"

"Oh, just spill!" Tiana said, intensely interested and happy that Ariel seemed to be fitting in pretty well already—well, as well as anyone could really "fit in" in high school.

"Okay, so… In Bio…"

"Ooh, it's somebody in Bio? Sorry, I'll shut up…"

"Do you know that guy, um… Eric?"

"Ooh, Eric Strand?" Tiana said. "Yup, he is a cutie—good taste, girl! Hm… yeah, you guys would totally make a cute couple."

"You think?" Ariel asked, voice brightening—then she sounded a bit disappointed. "I could never work up the courage to talk to him, though. And that Vanessa girl seemed pretty… touchy-feely with him. Are they an item or—?"

"Vanessa and Eric? Hmm, I haven't heard anything," Tiana said. "But she did seem to be lingering near him for most of the class in that creepy way of hers."

"God, she was so creepy," Ariel laughed. "I'm so glad you brought it up first… She just gave me the creeps. Ick."

They talked about Vanessa, then went on to other topics and exchanged stories from the day, but it all came back to Eric eventually.

"So, what do you know about him?" Ariel asked.

"Not too much," Tiana said. "Obviously he's a junior—I'm sure you caught that—and… He's pretty popular—good looks and all that—but I've heard he's super nice and friendly. You should just try talking to him one day! I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all. And you're gorgeous, girl, you just have to own it."

"Thanks," Ariel said bashfully, then sighed. "I don't know. I really want to talk to him, but… the thought of it just makes my legs feel like jelly."

"I know that feeling," Tia said.

"Really? You interested in somebody?" Ariel asked, a tone of suggestion in her voice—clearly implying that that "somebody" might be none other than one Naveen Maldon.

"No—no, not that somebody," Tiana said. "Actually I'm not interested in anyone at all at the moment. Well, I'm sure I'll develop my yearly crush pretty soon."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Ariel asked.

"No—haven't really had time," Tiana said, then added quickly, "not that anyone's asked me, anyway."

"Yeah, me neither," Ariel said. "But I didn't have very many close friends at my last school, either."

"Well, I'm glad you ran into me," Tia said. "I can already tell we're going to be good friends."

"Yeah," Ariel said. "I'm glad I ran into you, too. I should get going on this homework…"

"Yeah, I've got some, too," Tiana said, glancing at the clock on her phone—it was getting pretty late; they'd been talking for a while. "It was really great talking to you—I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, for sure," Ariel said brightly.

Tiana hung up the phone and flopped back down on her bed. It already looked like this year was going to be a pretty good one.