Part 3: Concerning Home Economics

CONCERNING HOME ECONOMICS

The air was thick with curses and howls of rage as the tension between Skyler and Trent escalated to a climax. Their quarrel over rugby passed the point where old grudges had been dug up and moved into the stage where neither one knew why they'd begun fighting in the first place. Still, they knew it was a matter of honor or pride or something equally as important. The two boys and their friend, Sage, presently occupied an otherwise vacant dorm room.

"Shut up!" Bellowed Sage as she slapped the backs of the boys' heads in unison. They turned to her with angry eyes and wounded skulls.

"Why did you do that?" Trent howled as he rubbed his tender neck.

"Because I am sick of your squabbling," Sage fumed as she set her hands on her curvy hips. "You've been going on like this all day. 'Am not', 'Are too', 'Am not', 'Are too'... You're behaving like you're back in primary school!"

Trent had the grace to look guilty and lowered his brown eyes to the floor, but Skyler stood his ground without the slightest flinch. "Who asked for your opinion?" growled the latter.

"No one, but fortunately for you, I know when my services are needed." The brown haired girl flashed them a toothy grin. Sage maintained her stance between the two boys, looking from one to the other every few seconds to make sure they didn't come to fists. "Look, why don't you just discuss the problem like men?"

"We are discussing the problem like men," Skyler said as he threw his hands up in aggravation. He took to pacing the floor, but kept his grey-blue eyes fixed on Sage. "This is how men settle differences."

She matched his angry gaze without wavering. "Well, it isn't getting you very far is it? I suggest you settle this the way women settle arguments."

"Oh? You mean by whining until one or the other of you dies from it?" Skyler hissed, "Or we could go behind each other's backs and spread vindictive rumors about how so-and-so's a skank and an idiot."

Trent chimed in with, "Or play vicious mind games on each other-"


"And anyone who might have ever been involved in any way, shape or form with the other girl or her circle of friends."

Skyler and Trent shared a laugh, then remembered they were fighting and fixed their gazes on opposite corners. After Sage talked herself out of punching both their faces in, she said, without the slightest hint of humor, "I suggest a bake-off."

***

"It's really dark." Trent whispered as he, Skyler, and Sage crept down the long, unlit hallway.

"Thanks Trent," Skyler said in a voice thick with sarcasm. "Did you take an after school course on how to point out the bleeding obvious or is it a natural talent?"

"That was uncalled for," Sage said as loudly as she dared. "Take it back, Sky."

The blond haired boy was defiant. "No."

"Take it back," she insisted. Trent stood next to her grinning deviously at Sky.

"No!"

Sage lunged at Skyler and pinned him against the cold brick wall. His efforts to escape were thwarted with a swift jab in the ribs. "You take that back right now, Sky, or so help me..."

Even in the dim light her green eyes were vibrant, and Sky found himself staring at them. He stopped trying to break free of her and just looked. He wondered how such a little person could have so much power.

"Fine," he breathed. "I take it back." They stared at each other again. The look of anger in Sage's eyes melted, giving way to something else and much was said without the slightest trace of noise. Suddenly, she jerked away from him, as if she'd just touched a flame and was now running from it. Trent saw their reactions to each other and rolled his eyes. Almost everyone at the academy knew Sky and Sage were made for each other. The only people who didn't know were the two, hard-headed lovers themselves.

"Good." Sage's voice was higher than usual, but she corrected it with the clearing of her throat. "Now we can go," she said in a tone more confident than she felt. She squared her shoulders and they resumed walking down the hall.

Every thirty feet or so was a square window that let in the moonlight and lit their way. It was long past curfew and if they were caught, they would be in serious trouble. The halls were long, wide, and nearly identical. New students at the boarding school got lost all the time, but the trio had been attending three years and easily solved the labyrinth of corridors. They took a left, another left, a right, went straight past the east wing, and there it was; the home economics classroom.

The door was locked, but not impossible to get through. The building was old and the locks were simple, easily broken into with nothing more than a paperclip. Trent broke in and they were able to get inside without a hitch. They locked the door behind them, drew the blinds, and flipped on the light. They saw a line of ovens, two well stocked refrigerators, cabinets full to the brim with cooking supplies, a dish washer,and a bookshelf full of nothing but recipe books.

"Here we are," Sage announced as she surveyed the room with pride. Home Economics was by far her best class, the only one she consistantly passed, and she loved cooking. It was what she did when she was frustrated, happy, or simply felt like doing something productive. It was a good way to relieve stress when neither Sky nor Trent were up for sparring.

The boys looked at the room in a much different way than their female accomplice. Sky's left eyebrow was raised as he looked skeptically from one side of the room to the other and Trent simply didn't know what to make of it. He scratched his head and looked to Sage as he spoke. "What do we do now?"

She walked to the bookshelf, picked up two copies of the same book and tossed one to each of them. "Cook, of course."

***


Ten minutes later, they were still deciding what to make. Truthfully, their efforts were more focused on getting Sage to give them cooking tips, which she refused to do.

"Italian cheesecake!" exclaimed Trent. "Perfect!" He looked up from the book's glossy pages and said, "I'm part Italian... Do you think that gives me some innate, cheesecake-ing ability?"

Sage gazed at him, not sure whether on not he was joking. "No," she said when it was clear he wanted an answer. Trent looked crestfallen, but only for a moment.

"I'll do it anyway," he said as his eyes took in the page. He could make sense of about half of the directions.

His ponderings were interrupted with a shout of, "Oh my God!" which, surprisingly enough, came from Skyler. Both Trent and Sage whipped their heads around, thinking Sky must have caught himself on fire. He hadn't, however. He was standing with a cook book in hand, grinning deviously. From across the room, Sage saw him mouth the words, 'Chocolate rum cake' down to the open pages. "Does this kitchen have any..." he looked around, his eyes already searching for the item in question, "Liquor?"

Sage laughed and shook her head. "Leave it to you to find the recipes that call for alcohol."

"Yes, yes," he said, still searching. "Now where's the rum?"

She sighed then nodded to a tall cupboard in the corner. "It's in there, but the cabinet's locked."

Skyler gave Trent a look.

"Got it," said the dark haired boy, ascenting to Sky's unspoken plea as he walked over to the cabinet. He took another paper clip out of his pocket and manipulated it into a fairly straight line, then made short work of the rusty lock. "The Caribbean's finest," he chimed a moment later as he held out an almost full bottle of amber-colored liquid. "La Belle Creole."

Sky's eyes glazed over as he looked at it. He reached out to touch it and his voice was soft as he said, "I love cooking."

Sage rolled her eyes as the two boys opened the bottle and poured its contents into measuring cups. They must have forgotten their quarrel for the time being, because they raised the cups and saluted each other before taking two swift gulps.

"Sweet nectar of Heaven," Sky said after a moment of savoring the drink's flavor. "This is good." Trent nodded in agreement.

"You know it's made out of molasses, right?" It was a question, but Sage managed to make it sound like an insult.

"And Heavenly molasses it is," Trent said as he took another swig. The two boys grinned and saluted each other. "Cheers."

Sage stepped up to the counter, snatched the bottle of rum off the shelf and held it close to her. "No more," she commanded. "Except for cooking purposes and you're lucky I'm allowing that.." Both Trent and Skyler's jaws went slack as they gaped at her. "Let me see the book," she said, extending her hand to Sky. He handed it to her numbly and she placed it on the counter. "Now the measuring cup," she kept her keen eyes on the book and plucked the cup from his hands. "Thank you." The boys looked on in longing as Sage emptied the bottle's contents into the measuring cup until it got to the line marked 1/4. "For cooking purposes," she insisted as she handed the cup back to Skyler.

He nodded and frowned at the measley portion of rum he wasn't even allowed to drink. Sage walked to the cabinet, took a sip for herself, then placed it back on the shelf and locked it safely away. Trent whispered, "She's a harsh mistress."

Skyler growled, "She's a bi—"

"Excuse me?" Sage said as she cocked her head and stared him down.

"N-Nothing," he said, trying to make his voice as innocent as possible. She wasn't fooled.

"Look, we all know you haven't got the stomach for alcohol. One drink of anything and you're slurring your words and talking about how everyone around you is a mangy git. Plus, you have absolutely no self restraint." She walked to the bookshelf as she spoke and plucked a small, flimsy book from it. She waved it his direction, like an extension of her hand that pointed at him. "Really, Sky, I'm doing this for your own good."

He grumbled, but turned his attention to the book, trying to descipher the instructions. Trent did the same and Sage flipped through her book until she found what she was looking for. She walked to the nearest oven and turned the temperature to 400 degrees.

"What are you doing?" Trent asked. "I thought you weren't going to help us."

"I'm not," she stated as she walked around the large room, gathering the various ingredience she needed. "I'm baking."

***

It was a long hour in the kitchen. Trent and Skyler, while seeming to have forgotten their spat when the rum was present, remembered they weren't on good terms and started bickering again. Sage kept having to break them up and tell them to focus on cooking, gently reminding them whoever made the best dessert would be the winner. Unfortunately the boys didn't care a thing about cooking. All they wanted to do was argue.

"That's my pan you're using," said Trent.

"Is not." Skyler had a mixture of flour and chocolate all over himself.

"Is too. I saw you take it from over here." Trent looked slightly less messy, with only a trace of egg and ricotta cheese on his hands and shirt.

"Yes I did. And?"

"And this is MY side of the kitchen which means that's MY pan, so give it back!"

"No," he said as he stirred the contents of the large glass bowl he held in his arms.

"Fine," Trent said as he walked to where Sky was preparing his dish, "I'll just steal it back." He reached out and picked up the pan.

"Drop it," Sky growled.

"Make me," he goaded. It was a very risky move because Sky had a notoriously bad temper, and an equally famous right hook.

"Gladly," spat Skyler as he slammed the bowl down on the counter. It was a good thing for Trent that he did so, because the noise alerted Sage to their behavior. She saw what was going on and registered in an instant what the fight was about.

"That's enough," she huffed an she walked up to them. "What am I going to do with you two!" She took on the tone of a frustrated mother who'd come to her wits end.

"You could tell Skyler to stop stealing my cooking utensils," Trent suggested.

"Or you could tell Trent to stop being such a baby about every little thing," Skyler countered.

"Or I could slap both of you." As she spoke, she put action to her words and hit the backs of their heads. "Tell you to start acting your age, take this for myself," as she spoke she picked the baking pan off the counter. "And tell each of you to get your own."

She'd already walked the length of the room and was pushing up her sleeves when Skyler finally found the voice to exclaim, "You are SO bossy!" He slammed his palms on the top of the counter and gave her a dirty look. She raised her eyebrow at him as he continued to berate her, "Just what is your problem, anyway? We know your dad beats you and all, but really, do you have to take it out on us? What would it take for you to stop being so damn controlling?" His eyes were as hard as ice and he looked positively fierce, but that was nothing compared to the way Sage looked at him.

Her lips were a hard, straight line and her fists were clenched so tightly at her sides that they shook noticeably. She wanted to say something, but she'd just recieved a hit below the belt and needed some time to recover. Sage ground her teeth and stared at Skyler, focusing all her angry energy on him. Trent stood on the sidelines, an uneasy witness to a spat bigger than the one he was in with Skyler. As for Sage and Sky, they didn't even notice he was there any more. Their world was narrowed down to just the two of them and it was Sage's move.

"You..." she began, speaking in a weak voice. "...That was low."

He knew he'd found the way to make her hurt, and right now, he was so aggravated at life in general, that all he could think to do was make someone else suffer. "You're just so out of control yourself that you have to control others so you won't go crazy."

She looked as shocked as if he'd just slapped her and Trent jumped in with, "Sky, that's enough."

"Hardly," countered Sky as he stood up to his full height. "I don't know why we put up with you. You're the bossiest, nosiest, most heartless person I've ever met and I honestly can't stand to be around you." Sage was nearly to the point of tears, but he didn't notice. "Ever wonder why we're you're only friends? It's because no one else can stand you."

Sage was frozen to the spot and Trent was shocked that Skyler was acting this way. The dark haired boy's eyes suddenly spotted what may have been fueling Sky's anger. On the counter was an empty measuring cup and no trace of liquid in the cake batter. "Skyler," Trent said. "Did you drink that whole bottle?"

Sage's eyes snapped to the cup, then to the mixing bowl, then to Sky. "You're drunk," she croaked, as if bringing the news to the surface could fix the problem and repair the damage that had been done.

"Yes. And you're a control freak," he said as he leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "But in the morning my only problem will be a headache, while you still won't have any friends and your dad's not going anywhere."

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him in disbelief. She had never known him to be so cruel. "I'd beat the shit out of you right now," her voice wavered. "But I'd hate the kitchen to be filled with it." She marched up to him, still blinking back tears, and gripped his arm tightly. He winced, but that just encouraged her to latch on tighter as she drug him out of the room. "Get out!" she bellowed, not caring who heard. She threw him violently from the room and against the opposite wall. "And you too!" she shouted at Trent, who obeyed instantly and shut the door behind him. He heard, very clearly, Sage crying on the other side of the door.

"You're such an idiot!" yelled Trent. "Do you know what you've done?"

Skyler was slouched up against the wall, his head tilted to the left and his limbs splayed haphazardly around him. "I only said what we were both thinking," he said in his defence. "It's all the truth anyway. We are her only friends."

"Maybe we were," Trent said as he came to stand next to him. "But not any more."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she hates you, now, Sky! Think, man! Think about what you just said to her." A long time passed during which Skyler made his way through the foggy thoughts in his head. Then, Trent saw the shock and horror that came with realizing what he'd done appear on his friends fine features .

"Oh no..." he gasped. "Oh no!"

"Yeah. You screwed up big time." Trent dragged Sky to his feet and helped him stand.

"Ough," he groaned. "My head feels like its been split open." He smashed his head against the wall when Sage threw him against it, but more than the physical injury, the thing that caused his head to ache was the guilt that consumed him. "I'm such a moron," his voice came out a little more desperate than he wanted it to.

"Yes you are," agreed Trent as he began walking away. Skyler followed suit.

"Why didn't you stop me? She probably hates me now."

"I did try to stop you, you ass, but when do you ever listen to what I say?" He paused a moment before saying, "And I'm sure she hates you."

"The proper response was, 'no she doesn't'," Sky said miserably.

"Do you want me to lie to you?" Trent turned on his friend. "Fine. If you want to disillusion yourself, here we go. She doesn't hate you for what you've done. In fact, in the morning, she'll run into your arms and thank you for exposing her inner demons, digging up her horrible past experiences and making her cry her eyes out." Skyler looked horror-stricken, but Trent continued. "She'll profess her undying love for you, the man who shattered her heart to pieces and had a violent episode of verbal diarrhea all over her, because he'd drunk the rum she told him not to drink in the first place. Then you'll live happily ever after until you die of over-exposure to each other."

Skyler stared at his friend with wide eyes and a slack jaw, took in all that was just said and could only whisper, "My God..."

"Yeah." Trent sighed as he thrust his hands into his pockets. "Maybe he can help you," he said as he backed away.