Chapter 3: Encounter

Biting her fingers, Spice still cannot forget her embarrassing situation earlier. "Ugh! That's embarrassing!" she squealed silently as she recalled what had happened before their class started.

(Flashback)

Dumbfounded, Spice stared at the woman standing in front of her. "Now, shall we start again?" the woman smiled earnestly. "Please introduce yourself, Ms. Leblanc."

Facing her classmates again with a stiff smile, Spice seemed to want to die of shame in front of her classmates. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Cinnamon Spice Leblanc."

"Who? Leblanc?"

"Is she the one that the director himself favored?"

"She looks familiar."

Spice could not help but feel awkward as she heard the murmurs of her classmates. One by one, Spice scanned her classmates' faces as if to see if she knew some of them until her gaze reached a man sitting at the end. To her horror, the same person threw a knife at the dorm. To make the situation worse, the person was also staring at her as a smirk formed in his mouth, making Spice's blood boil.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Spice cursed silently as she kept on giving him a deadly stare.

"Alright, class! Maybe some of you know this already, but Ms. Leblanc is our new transfer student. She won the full scholarship given by the school director himself during the contest at Dulce Brielle," the teacher interrupted as she smiled at Spice. "Please proceed to the back deck. Your seat will be next to Mr. Allard".

Kale's smirk widened into an insulting grin as the teacher pointed at him. "Kale, I'll be appointing you as Spice's partner in the meantime for the paired activities," the teacher added.

"B-but," Spice complained when she heard the teacher say, "Maybe I can be paired with someone else?"

"I'm sorry, but Kale is the one who doesn't have a partner for the paired activities, Ms. Leblanc. Besides, Kale is an excellent student since he is also the class president, so it will be easier for you to catch up in class if he is your partner. You may now proceed to your desk, Ms. Leblanc," were the teacher's final words to her. Spice frowned and went to her seat.

"Talk about being unlucky," Spice muttered as she reluctantly sat beside Kale.

After he sat down, Kale suddenly looked towards him and said, "Looking forward to working with you, Spice," he whispered as he gave Spice a playful wink.

Spice shivered as she rolled her eyes toward Kale. "Oh boy, this is going to be a nightmare," Spice whined silently.

****

"Spice? Hello? Earth to Spice?" attracted the attention of the woman who approached her as she waved her hand in front of Spice. "Oh, Saffron, it's you," she answered.

"Are you okay? You looked like an idiot earlier," Saffron asked as she sat down to face her.

"Nah, I'm fine. I still haven't moved on from the shame I suffered earlier," she moaned. Saffron chuckled at her. "Well, that was unexpected anyway. Why were you almost late?" she asked her.

"I forgot to set my alarm, and then, unfortunately, I bumped into someone who was also a student earlier while I was running towards our room. I did not realize that the teacher was not there yet. I was confused when I entered the room," she explained to Saffron. "To make things worse, Kale became my temporary partner."

"You know, having Kale as a partner is not bad. He is an excellent partner and a top student here at MFSCA. In addition, many of our female classmates would love to have Kale as their partner. Please wait until you see what he can do, Spice. I'm pretty sure you'll be amazed by him too." Saffron reassured her.

Spice gave her a big sigh. "Well, I'm already pretty sure that he is a cocky jerk, and I hate him, so I don't need to know more about him." Saffron just teasingly grinned at her. "If you say so, anyways, is there anything else interesting that happened to you earlier?

"Well, there was this student I bumped into earlier. I did not mean it. I apologized immediately, but she was with her two friends, who suddenly got mad at me because I accidentally bumped into her. Such a shame, she does have nice golden curly hair," she lazily answered as she sipped on her juice.

"Two girls? A girl with golden curly hair? Wait, is the one you bumped into named Blanche?" Saffron asked her eagerly.

"Yup, I think that was her name," she answered. Saffron looked at her with widening eyes and said, "Spice, you have to be careful in getting onto her wrong side. Blanche is well known in our cluster as a queen bitch—bee, I mean."

"Well, jokes on you. I think she already hates me," she mumbled lifelessly. "Was it my fault that I accidentally bumped into her? I didn't mean for it to happen anyway."

"Uhuh, to make things worse for you, Kale became your partner, and Blanche is so into Kale. I feel like you are not God's favorite since you are super unlucky," Saffron added teasingly.

"Saaaaaff, what am I going to do?" she cried.

"Why did it happen like that?" Saffron laughed at her. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it anyway. I suggest you stay away from Blanche as much as possible and just endure being with Kale in the meantime.” Spice sighed deeply as if surrendering to her current situation. They heard a crashing sound from the table next to theirs as they continued chatting. They both turned around to see what it was.

"Are you kidding me?" a woman shouted, "This is what you call food? That's worse than dog food!" She stomped on the spilled food.

Biting her lips, the student cleaned up the messed-up food on the floor. "I'm sorry, I'll do it again," she answered, crying.

"Do it again? How many times have you said that, Ms. Allaire? Third? How many times do you want?" the woman mockingly sneered at the student. "You don't deserve to stay here."

Frowning, Spice stood up to go over the commotion. "Oh no, don't go there, Spice." Saffron tried to stop her, but she quickly avoided her and immediately approached the crying student.

Spice dipped her finger at the remaining clump of food on the floor, and suddenly the crying student was surprised by what she was doing. "Potato? A little bit mushy, but the taste is okay. It just lacks some herbs," Spice retorted to the angry woman.

The woman raised her brow at Spice. "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you think you know better than me?"

Spice shrugged as she helped the student up. "No, I did not say that I'm better than you are, but don't you think you are being too dramatic over this dish? It has a flaw, but it tastes quite good."

Saffron immediately pulled Spice to her side, and she whispered in her ear, "Spice, please, you don't want to anger her even more. That's Ms. Yarra Babineaux, one of the Chef étoilé in our school."

Spice stared blankly at Saffron,” Chef étoilé? What's that?"

Saffron was about to answer when the woman laughed sarcastically, "Such confidence to talk back at me, yet you don't even know what's a Chef étoilé?" Mrs. Babineaux crossed her arms as she faced Spice, "Now I do remember, you are the transfer student who won a scholarship through an eating contest at Dulce Brielle. You dare to defy me when you only got admitted at MFSCA due to an eating competition?"

Despite the insult, Spice smugly scrutinized Ms. Babineaux, saying, "At least I'm not someone who's having a hard time tasting food due to the lack of saliva. How long have you been chewing on sugar-free gum, Madam?"

The students gasped at what they had heard and glanced at the teacher, humiliated in front of them. Ms. Babineaux pressed her lips in a thin line and glared at Spice.

"You-!" she was about to yell when the school bell rang. "We are not done yet. I'll make sure you will pay for this humiliation, transfer student," she muttered angrily as she walked out of the cafeteria.

"Just what the hell were you thinking to Spice? You just made Ms. Babineaux your enemy!" Saffron scolded Spice. " Do you know what that even means? One of these months, she might be our teacher, and you lady will be screwed."

Unbothered, Spice glanced at the student who was quietly staring at the both of them. "Are you okay?" she asked the student, startled. The student nodded slowly at Spice.

She watched the student quiver while wiping the mess off her clothes. Spice gently offered her handkerchief to the poor girl. "Here, you can use this to wipe that off." The girl hesitantly accepted the cloth as she muttered thanks to Spice.

Saffron rolled her eyes at Spice, as the latter did not even listen to her sermon. "Anyway, aren't you Clementine Allaire from the M section?" Saffron questioned the girl.

Starting with a vacant expression, Clementine nodded. " I'm very sorry if you got involved with the commotion earlier," she apologetically mumbled to both of them.

"It's alright, and she was being too dramatic, actually. It was her fault anyway; she's having a taste problem, and she took it out on you," Spice consoled.

"Hey, how did you even know she was having a taste problem?" Saffron asked curiously. Spice smiled broadly at the two ladies. "It was easy. I've smelled her breath, and I'm guessing she's been chewing gum for quite a while now."

Disgusted, Saffron wrinkled her nose. "How the hell did you even smell her breath when she wasn't even anywhere near you earlier?"

Spice looked at Saffron with a poker face. "Uh, I used my nose?" Clementine suddenly laughed at Spice's answer while Saffron angrily hit her. As the mood lightened around them, the bell suddenly chimed, hinting at the start of the next class period.

"Well, there goes our signal; bye, Clementine; see you around," Saffron said goodbye to her.

"Uhm, bye! And Spice, thank you very much for your help earlier," Clementine said as she bowed at them. “Thank you very much," she said again as she said farewell to them.

Saffron and Spice were happily talking in the classroom when suddenly someone came inside. Saffron gasped as she nudged Spice to see who went inside. "Now you're in big trouble; look who just came in," Saffron whispered to Spice.

Spice glanced up from her phone to see who had just walked through the door. The room suddenly became silent as the woman walked across the floor, her gaze seeming to travel across every corner of the room before settling on Spice. The woman gave Spice a cold smirk as she moved towards the head chef’s area. Spice recognized the smirk and understood its meaning: she was not welcome in the kitchen. The students began to murmur in confusion, as none of them had been prepared for the woman’s hostility.

“Isn’t that Ms. Babineaux? Why is she here?”

“Tough luck on us; she’s one of the most hated star chefs in MFSCA.”

"Alright, I'll be the one to handle today's lesson." Everyone gathered at their assigned stations."

Spice took a deep breath, looked around the room, and went to her cooking area. Cutting off the students' curious murmurs, Ms. Babineaux crossed her arms and silenced the classroom with a stern look. Students were stunned by the sudden silence and exchanged nervous glances, not daring to speak another word. For a few moments, the only noise in the room was the ticking of the clock.

Just then, Ms. Babineaux put a tray on top of the table and opened the lid, saying, "For today's lesson, all of you will be making pommes de terre fondantes." Immediately, the room was filled with agitated murmurs as the students moved closer to get a look at what they were going to be creating.

"It's fondant potatoes,"

"Damn, that's a side dish."

"Why did she even choose that?"

The students continued to murmur among themselves as the teacher continued to explain why fondant potatoes had been chosen as the side dish for the day.

“French side dish pommes de terre fondantes, also known as fondant potatoes, In this dish, potatoes are cut into cylinders and pan-fried on both sides before being roasted in a stock and butter sauce in the oven. The outcome is a flavorful potato that is brown and crispy on the outside and creamy and tender on the inside.” Ms. Babineaux sat in her chair and looked intently at Spice, saying, "I expect all of you to recreate this dish with no problem. We will see if all of you are worthy to be students at MFSCA "

Just then, the students scrambled around to get each of their ingredients. Spice went to gather her ingredients, and as she passed by the teacher's table, Ms. Babineaux whispered to her, "You'll pay for what you did to me earlier." Spice stopped in her tracks and stared at Ms. Babineaux, giving her a smug look as she returned to her station.

After putting together the ingredients for the fondant potatoes, Spice started to wash the potatoes and peel them accordingly. When Spice was finished, she started to cut the potatoes in half and set them aside as they were done. “Cutting them equally so that they can be cooked at the same time," she whispered to herself. Spice then submerged the potatoes in a dish of ice water to drain the starch. A lighter and fluffier potato results from the starch being drawn out by the cold water. She then uses a kitchen towel to dry them off before seasoning with salt and pepper. Spice then added the potatoes and carefully turned them until they were golden brown in a large pan that had been heated with olive oil over medium heat. She thought back to the advice her father had given her when she was learning how to cook: "Thirty seconds on each side to produce the ideal crisp." After the potatoes had been thoroughly fried on both sides, Spice added the butter and thyme to the skillet and cooked them until the butter started to bubble.

The other students were diligently preoccupied with their own creations as Spice became busy with her dish. "Oh no! It's too soft! "I have to make them again!" one of the students exclaimed. As the student exclaimed their dismay, the other students continued working diligently, taking care of each step of their cooking. "It's too salty," muttered another student as he opened his pan and let out a sharp exhale. The boy cursed angrily as he started peeling some potatoes again to redo his dish. The other students looked up at him sympathetically, understanding the feeling of failure that comes with a dish that doesn't turn out as desired, and became anxious as to what their dishes might also become. The room filled with the aroma of spices and vegetables and a sense of anticipation could be felt in the air as each student anxiously tasted their dishes, waiting to see if they could be proud of the end result.

Just then, a student approached Ms. Babineaux's table and placed his dish on top; it was Kale. "I'm done," he timidly said. Ms. Babineaux raised her brow as she picked up the fork and slowly took a bite of Kale's dish. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh as she savored the flavor of the potatoes that were cooked to perfection with a sauce that was so creamy and smooth. The other students began to murmur as they witnessed Ms. Babineaux's reaction to Kale's dish.

One of the students muttered, "I bet he'll ace the test with no issues."

The other person retorted, "There's no question about that; Kale always excels in everything."

Spice, who appeared to be offended by Kale's performance, shook her head in wonder while muttering, "What a showoff," which Saffron overheard; she grinned slightly as Spice proceeded to prepare her dish.

Spice overheard Ms. Babineaux as she placed the skillet into the prepared oven to bake the potatoes until they were cooked, saying, "As expected from you, Kale, the tenderness of the potato was on target, and the flavor of the thyme increased the taste greatly; you passed."

Spice sensed eye contact. Spice noticed that Kale was giving her a smug stare as she turned to her side. Spice rolled her eyes at Kale in annoyance, and Kale responded by snickering before leaving. This conversation irritated and frustrated Spice. Putting her emotions aside, she took a quick look around and saw that the majority of the pupils had started plating their meals, while a few had already gathered around the table for Ms. Babineaux's evaluation.

The loud sound of a broken plate reverberated throughout the classroom just as everyone started to get a little excited to be evaluated, jolting everyone out of their anticipation. Ms. Babineaux hissed angrily, "What the hell is this?"

The student being evaluated shook in opposition to Ms. Babineaux's disgusted expression as she cast a glance at the broken plate. The eagerness in the room quickly turned to discomfort and embarrassment as all eyes turned to the student who had made the error.

"Did you even taste your own dish?" Ms. Babineaux exclaimed. "The potatoes are too hard, the flavor is off, and what herb did you even put in here?" She pointed them out with a sharpness that cut through the air like a knife.

"I'm sorry; I'll do it again," the student sobbed.

Ms. Babineaux took a deep breath and combed her fingers through her hair as her expression hardened. "Do not ever consider cooking again; you failed."

Hearing this, Spice's face went blank as she stared at Ms. Babineaux in disbelief. Ms. Babineaux gave her a cold look when she realized she was gazing and mouthed, "You are next," as if to threaten her. Spice shook her head, averted her eyes, and forced a deep breath as she struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Spice took a deep breath and tried to collect her thoughts while concentrating on her meal.

Saffron gave Ms. Babineaux her food a few minutes later. A mouthwatering aroma flooded the air as she opened her dish, titillating everyone in the room's senses. Saffron watched proudly as Ms. Babineaux continued to swallow, resisting the impulse to take a bite right away. Ms. Babineaux took the fork, sliced a portion of the food, looked it over, and then took a bite. She appreciated the exquisite concoction of herbs that had been utilized to improve the flavor of the dish as a burst of spices flavors hit her mouth. Everyone in the room kept their attention on Ms. Babineaux as she slowly looked up at Saffron after finishing her bite, her proud face having been replaced by one of bewilderment. She took a few more bits, noting with delight the potato's tenderness and applauding Saffron for her skill in combining various spices with the potato's natural flavor.

"Saffron, you passed," Ms. Babineaux remarked severely. "As anticipated from a member of the Dix Célestes, your herb and spice manipulation is always on target."

Saffron beamed, a little light of pride glowing in her eyes as she received the compliment with grace. Spice whispered, "Dix Célestes?" in a perplexed tone. Saffron received a curious glance from her regarding what Ms. Babineaux had previously remarked. Saffron's smile grew a little wider as she realized Spice was unfamiliar with the term. As she returned to her post, Saffron muttered to her, "I'll tell you later."

A few minutes later, the other pupils began to serve their meals to Ms. Babineaux; some were fortunate enough to succeed, while others were unable to satisfy the teacher's discriminating palate. Spice shifted her focus to her dish as everyone else became busier, and after finishing frying the potatoes on both sides, she added stock and baked the skillet until the potatoes were tender. The timer eventually beeped after a few minutes, signaling that the dish was complete.

Spice then brought it over to Ms. Babineaux's table for review. She received a mocking smirk from Ms. Babineaux as she approached the table. As Ms. Babineaux raised an eyebrow and mockingly remarked, "Finally, the eating contest winner who received a scholarship to study here,"

Spice steeled herself for the criticism she knew would be leveled at her and sat tensely with the dish in both hands. Spice calmly handed Ms. Babineaux the dish without flinching at her slur. The entire class gasped in shock and quickly turned their attention to Spice, whose face went blank as Ms. Babineaux clenched her jaw and yelled, "Failed!"

Spice received a dirty look in return. Ms. Babineaux smiled widely and got to her feet, facing Spice, as if content with the embarrassment she had caused her. With her head held high, Spice replied, "I disagree, ma'am," and the entire class again gasped, astonished at Spice's resilience in the face of Ms. Babineaux.

"For a student like you, who was only admitted to this school as a result of an eating contest, do you really think that your dish would pass?" Ms. Babineaux scowled at Spice as she lifted the lid of the dish on the table.

To everyone's surprise, a burst of aroma quickly filled the classroom as hot steam emerged from the plate. Everyone was rendered speechless by the aroma of Spice's dish because it made them all tingle with the desire to taste it. Ms. Babineaux stared at the dish with a look of disbelief and froze in place, resisting the urge to take a bite. Spice smiled proudly as she watched her teacher's reaction.

Before she knew it, Ms. Babineaux had brought the fork to her mouth and tasted the potatoes, her eyes widening in surprise as she did so. Her hand quickly grabbed the fork and cut into the potatoes. Various flavors danced in her mouth as she chewed. Every bite of the fondant potatoes left her wanting more as if it were the first time she had ever tasted such a dish. The tenderness of the potatoes was perfectly balanced with the subtle sweetness of the glaze, making it an irresistible and exquisite dish. She savored every bite, letting it linger on her tongue and allowing the flavor to tantalize her taste buds before slowly swallowing and letting out a contented sigh.

Ms. Babineaux queried Spice, "You've added a hint of sweet peppers, why?"

Spice smiled, glad to have been noticed, and answered her question: "I added the sweet peppers to give the dish an added sweetness as well as a hint of spice that complements the glaze, and also, I suspect that you are having a hard time tasting for a while now because of a dry mouth," she said, pausing and staring intently at Ms. Babineaux. "The peppers also provide a bit of moisture for your mouth, making it easier for you to enjoy the full flavor of the dish," she whispered to Ms. Babineaux.

Ms. Babineaux shook her head slightly and asked, "How did you even know that?"

Spice's smile deepened as she answered, "I pay attention to the people around me, and I also utilize this," indicating her nose. "I have a keen sense of smell that allows me to pick up on the subtle changes in the air around me, and I can tell what a person needs just from that."

Spice went on to elaborate. Perplexed by what Spice said, Ms. Babineaux gave her a curious look and asked, "What else can you do?"

Spice gave her a mischievous smile and said, "Just wait and see."

With a heavy sigh, Ms. Babineaux timidly smiled at Spice and said, "I have misjudged you, and for that, I'm very sorry."

Spice just shook her head and said, "It's ok, I understand."

Ms. Babineaux gave a slight nod and smiled as she reclaimed her fork and bit into the food in front of her. "You passed," she softly said as she took another bite of the delicious flavors that Spice had so expertly crafted.