Work Text
Spring break had started out with a blast. Angel Grove beat Briarwood, Tanya threw an amazing party. Even the alumni came home from their respective colleges to see the girls. Kimberly, Trini, Emma and Gia went on a double date where they want to the zoo. It put Emma in a bit of a romantic mood, she and her
girlfriend
were finally out of the closet. She could call Gia her
girlfriend
out in public, hold her hand, kiss her, all the things she had been longing to do for what felt like forever. It was the most freeing feeling in the world to just be with her.
Even on a mundane day, Emma had gone over to Gia’s house. The two were quietly just enjoying the other’s presence laying on Gia’s bed. Emma’s head had been in Gia’s lap, she had convinced Gia to finally start reading the
Harry Potter
series. The blonde had a book in one hand and threaded her fingers through Emma’s hair with the other. Emma on the other hand had her messenger app open, speaking to the likes of Mia and Kimberly in their BAC Group Chat. After the sleepover at Kimberly’s house, the three of them were really able to bond and become close.
Emma Goodall:
Hey I’ve been thinking :) wouldn’t it be great if we had sort of a group date?
Mia Watanabe:
Omg yes. Yes! This is something we totally have to do
Kimberly Hart:
I’m out :/ things have been pretty crazy at home. Raincheck on Trini and I? I’m lucky to have my laptop right now
Emma Goodall:
Oh nooo
Kimberly Hart:
No no please don’t let me hold you back!
Mia Watanabe:
So what a double date?
Emma Goodall:
Do you think our girlfriends will play nice?
Mia Watanabe:
We just have to plan everything. I think it’ll be fine.
Kimberly Hart:
Oh my god you guys should totally do a pottery class or oh ohhh a painting class
Emma Goodall:
That was quick
Kimberly Hart:
Do you guys really think I’d be able to convince Trini to go make pottery?
Emma Goodall:
Have her watch the movie
Ghost.
She’ll change her mind
Mia Watanabe:
What about a cooking class??
Emma Goodall:
Aww I love that idea! I’ll talk to Gia :)
Gia frowned, “Why do you guys think I’d be a Slytherin?” She flipped a page, reading a little and nodding her head, “...Okay, that’s fair”
“Hey” Emma sat up, resting a hand on Gia’s book to catch her attention. “I was thinking...we had such a fun time with Trini and Kimberly that maybe we could do something like that again?”
The blonde shrugged her shoulders, Emma
knew
her stubborn girlfriend enjoyed being out with the sophomores. As much as she teased Trini, or gave Kim a hard time, there was a soft spot in her heart for the other couple, “Like a double date?”
“Mhmm” Emma hummed, “How would you feel about a cooking class with Lauren and Mia?”
Gia didn’t hesitate to answer with a, “Hell no” She shook her head, “That sounds like absolute torture” Which part? Cooking or being around Lauren Shiba?
“But think how much fun it could be” Emma knew
exactly
what buttons to press when it came to convincing her girlfriend to do something she wanted. She gently pried the book out of Gia’s hand. When the blonde protested, Emma leaned down, resting a gentle hand on Gia’s cheek, placing a soft kiss on her girlfriend’s lips, “Us together, in a kitchen...learning how to make dinner for our future life together”
Gia heavily sighed, reeling her head back, closing her eyes, “You’re not going to let this go are you?”
“Nope” Emma shifted herself on the bed, moving her knee so she could properly straddle her girlfriend’s hips. “Please?” She would not
hesitate
to pull the big brown puppy dog eyes on Gia, she
knew
she could never say no to that. “I think this could really be good for us”
“One
class, Em.” Gia stated with purpose, putting a finger up to prevent Emma from trying to steal another kiss. ...So she was catching on, but wasn’t totally opposed to Emma’s methods of persuasion. “I mean it. We’re not making this a regular thing”
Emma Goodall:
We’re in :)
Mia Watanabe:
Yay! <3
If Emma was going to stop Gia from reading, Gia felt no qualms about taking Emma’s phone from her and setting it aside. She rested her hands on Emma’s thighs and leaned forward to gently push her girlfriend onto her back...there was other ways to spend a mundane day in Angel Grove.*****
The Recreation Center in Angel Grove was actually pretty nice. Growing up during the summer, Emma always convinced Gia and Noah that they should play at the parks, or go to the swimming pool, get involved with the camps and the softball rec league. When she was older and in high school she enjoyed taking summer jobs as camp counselors to earn some pocket money and be able to put that kind of experience on her resume. As for teens and adults, the rec center offered programs, casual sport leagues, and classes to get into. Kimberly was right, a pottery class sounded really fun...maybe Emma would suggest it for something she Mia and Kimberly could do on their own if they couldn’t make it a group date scenario.
Emma could tell that Gia was reluctant about this, but she was going to be putting on her best behavior for the sake of her girlfriend. Oh what a
trooper.
Though, Emma could admit that since coming out and lifting that huge weight off of her chest, her girlfriend was starting to at least act nicer around Lauren Shiba. Gia even made the extra effort to drive the four of them to the rec center.
Because the group didn’t know
what
to expect, Mia signed them up for the lowest level available. Emma and Mia both agreed that it wouldn’t be a fun day out if they were in over their heads when it came to the level of difficulty. They didn’t want this to be too hard of a challenge. Emma
knew
how Gia could get when she was frustrated with a task she couldn’t figure out, or a task she didn’t do right the first time...she becomes very unpleasant.
The rec room was a couple of ‘working’ stations, tables to do prep work and stoves for students to work with. It felt just like home economics, a class Emma regretted not taking for the chance to cook...though photography as an art elective was
easily
a better choice. The four of them were surprised to see the other classmates that they would be working with today. Aisha Campbell and Summer Landsdown as well as Adam Park and Tanya Sloan were sitting on stools waiting for their teacher for the day to come in and start their lesson.
“Looks like we weren’t the only ones that had this idea” Tanya greeted, her boyfriend Adam suddenly realized that he’d probably be the only boy in this room going forward. She motioned between the two incoming parties, “Is this a double date?” She then laughed, “Or did you lose a bet, Gia?”
“I did not lose a bet” Just for that, Gia led Emma to the table behind Aisha and Summer. Not wasting any time to ask the couple in front of them, “So does this mean
you
guys are on a double
date?”
“I thought it’d be a good idea to take some extra classes before going off to college” Aisha explained, not really answering Gia’s question the way she’d like. Summer only folded her arms, pouting,
she
was the one who didn’t want to be here. “Everyone should have practical skills for a kitchen”
“Not when you can just hire a personal chef” Summer joked with a cheeky grin, Aisha rolled her eyes not appreciating the heiress’ sense of humor. “The things you do for your girlfriend amirite?”
Emma closed her eyes, she knew Gia was going to make a big deal out of that news. Lauren beat the other blonde to the punch by smiling and sending them a congratulations their way. Mia was all too ready to offer them an invitation into the GSA when the back door opened again and in came Tori Hanson and Cameron Watanabe. The surfer grinned wide as she and Cam were holding a couple of plastic bags to take to the front of the room. The front of the room unit was specific for the
teacher
to make demonstrations on tecunique.
“Oh man this is gonna be awesome!” Tori clapped her hands together and sat on top of the teacher’s table. “Welcome to Cooking 101”
“Hi guys” Cameron started to set a plastic bag on each of their tables, inside of each bag was just a couple of potatoes.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tanya asked for the group, “You’re gonna get in trouble”
“Ah” Tori tapped her temple, “Can’t get in trouble if
you’re
the teacher”
What!?
“No offense…” Emma started, confused to how this could happen...Tori was
their
age and...
Tori.
“How, how is this possible?”
The surfer chuckled, shaking her head and waving it off like it didn’t actually insult her. “Cam and I have been taking classes at the rec for the past…oh three years now?”
Cameron nodded his head, “Since freshman year” He smiled in Tori’s direction, “It’s how we really became friends”
“Shocking! None of the other guys wanted to try it” Tori shrugged her shoulders, “What? I really like cooking, it’s actually pretty fun and hey...now it’s even more fun because we’re all here with our friends” She realized exactly how each group was seperated. Oh. Couples. “I’m sorry we’re all cooking for our special somethin’ somethin’s.”
“We’ve taken the most advanced classes so the rec center gave us the permission to cook the beginners class” Cameron finished explaining as Tori was too busy winking or making finger guns. “It was something to put on our applications…” When it came down to it, in this day and age, applying to colleges meant putting as much as possible. The high schoolers in the room completely understood.
“So what are we making today?” Adam asked, as literally their only ingredient to work with was a potato.
“We’re going to be making our very own french fries” Tori clapped together, Emma frowned as she and Aisha were far too experienced for this. “Okay you knew when you signed up for this that this is a beginners class”
Since Cam was one of the teachers, Mia felt comfortable asking, “Well, what if we wanted to do something special? French fries are so beneath us. Does anyone have the room after us?”
Tori shook her head no, “Where’re you going with this?” The surfer smirked, “Because I like where this is going”
“I do not.” Cam wanted to add, out of the surfer gang he was the one who constantly had to reel them in and prevent them from doing something dumb.
“Oh!” Emma added on, “What if we each make up a shopping list and turn this into a family meal? Every team does it’s own dish. Cam if we give you money you can pick up the ingredients while we make french fries”
Summer looked like she was about to
murder
Emma and Mia for suggesting to go above and beyond what they were
supposed
to be doing. Beginners was about her limit as she didn’t have much experience around a kitchen in the slightest. Emma and Mia were literally the annoying kids in a class that wanted to do
more
work when they didn’t have to.
Tori and Cam exchanged a glance. Tori was so go with the flow that she simply shrugged, she was totally fine with it so it was left for the responsible boy to give the final approval. “Alright, I guess, but we
have
to leave this place absolutely spotless”
“Dibs on dessert!” Emma called, she personally had a preference for
baking
over the traditional cooking a meal. Gia was just going to have to deal with being her handy helper.
Tanya and Adam quietly spoke amongst themselves before deciding on doing a soup dish together. Aisha was most confident in choosing a fish entree, assuring Summer that the two of them would make for a great team. Mia was more than happy choosing to do a quinoa to accompany Aisha’s fish. Most importantly everyone was so mindful of Emma’s choice not to eat red meat that it didn’t even need to come up. A bonus in a bonus.
“Do you want to make cookies? Or brownies?” Emma asked turning to her partner, she would have to write down a list of ingredients that she would need for Cam to pick up at the store.
“I don’t care” Gia shrugged, “Whatever you want to do”
“Oh no, don’t be like this” Emma rested her hands on Gia’s shoulders, running them along the lengths of her arms, “This is
our
contribution to date night dinner”
“If that’s the case we should make cookies and shape them into hearts and decorate them with pink and red frosting” Gia absolutely was kidding but oh how
cute
would that be? Little sugar cookies with red coated frosting and white piping? If Emma wasn’t so passionate about photography she wouldn’t be so opposed to the idea of becoming a baker.
“No”
“But why not? That’s actually a perfect idea. Think of the presentation” Emma had made Gia watch
far
too many cooking shows with her, “It would perfectly match the theme of the night. We’re the
last
dish before we clean up and leave...we should end it on a positive note. Love”
“That’s
super
lame”
“I don’t see you coming up with anything better” Emma already started to add the different frostings she would need for the list, now her heart was dead set on enjoying some sugar cookies. “Sugar cookies it is” Emma leaned over to peck Gia’s lips with a kiss, “At least
try
and have some fun today” The blonde smirked and wrapped her arms around Emma’s waist, only for Emma to giggle out a, “Not
that
much fun”
“Hey, hey do I have to split you guys up?” Tori asked, “You two are like gay rabbits” Always all over each other but never multiplying. Not an analogy Emma wanted to catch on with her teammates.
“Alright” Cam pocketed the four different lists of ingredients before coming up to the front of the room. “I’m going to leave now” He was 50% responsible for the lab so he wanted it all in
one
piece for when he returned, “Remember where the fire extinguishers are?”
“Yes” Tori laughed, patting his chest, “I’m
fine.
We’re fine. I’ve got this, no problemo. Now go, because fries sure don’t take long to make” Cameron seemed convinced enough that Tori could be trusted alone to watch over her
friends
and not actual
students.
The
instant
the door closed behind him Tori looked to her class, holding a bottle of cooking oil in her hand. “I’m sure this doesn’t need explanation. When oil gets hot, it can burn so
please
be careful. Seriously, this one's pretty self explanatory. I’ll come around if you need any help”
Emma decided that if she could watch the potatoes in the frying pan, that Gia could be the one to cut the potatoes into smaller strips. Tanya and Adam were having a nice time in their corner, Emma couldn’t even hear what Adam was saying but it was enough to make his girlfriend smile and laugh. Aw, they were
so
cute together. To the right, Mia was spending her time opening and closing cabinets to see what spices she could scrounge about while Lauren expertly chopped their set of potatoes like an experienced chef.
“Look at me” Gia mumbled, albeit with a tone, “I’m Lauren, I’m
so
good at everything” She scoffed, “Does she spend
all
her free time playing with swords?” She nicked herself with her knife, “Ow”
“Karma” Emma took Gia’s hand to inspect it, just a little bit of blood, nothing serious, “Um, Tori do you have any band aids?”
Summer tensed up at the word band aid, five minutes hadn’t even passed and blood was spilling. This was supposed to be an
easy
class. Summer was currently moving the slowest, with a shaky hand she attempted to slice the potato as carefully as possible. Aisha took notice right away and moved her hands to rest on Summer’s taking the opportunity to guide her into how to properly do this.
So
sweet.
“What happened?” Mia asked setting vinegar on the counter, that made sense...the nutmeg not so much. Mia
did
say she was experienced in a kitchen...but seeing
that
potential flavor combination rose a bit of a red flag.
“Gia’s hand slipped…” Emma explained, trying to keep her voice down so Gia wouldn’t overhear and get into one of her moods.
“Oh you’ll want to hold it more like this” Lauren had just one more potato left to slice, as if she were on the softball field, Lauren wanted to be as supportive as possible.
“Fuck off Lauren I know how to use a knife” Gia frowned, waiting for Lauren to avert her eyes before actually adjusting her hand placement. For a double date, Gia didn’t quite understand the concept of being nice to her
friend.
“Hey hey no use of the fuck word in my classroom” Tori stated from the front of the room, her back had been turned away from them as she wanted to see what was available in the fridge. Ketchup was a must condiment for fries.
“Is this how it always is?” Adam quietly asked Tanya, normally he would only be around the softball players in mass baseball/softball group outings. This was a whole new world, and as Tanya’s boyfriend...one he’d have to experience more often before the end of the school year.
“This is actually pretty tame” Tanya noticed that there was a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper in the fridge, “Can we have those?” Tori shrugged her shoulders, “What? Those cost like 3 bucks at the snack bar”
“God! Son of a bitch!” Summer exclaimed, now cradling her wrist, for it being a beginners course they certainly had to bust out the first aid kit a couple of times.
Aisha sighed, “You have to be careful when oil gets hot” She scooted Summer over to the nearest sink, taking her arm and running cool water over the spot.
“I didn’t think it would just jump out of the pan!” When Gia laughed, Summer quickly bit back with a, “Oh fuck off Moran”
“What did I
just
say about the fuck-word?” Tori shook her head, wagging her finger, “No Dr. Pepper for you”
“Hey...hey...I know it hurts” Aisha used her free hand to rub Summer’s back, right between her shoulders to try and soothe her. “It’s going to be just fine”
Tanya had taken over Aisha’s station as she and Adam were doing just fine on their own, in fact, they were the only ones to get their fries done without any hiccups. Since Tori
wasn’t
here with a date she felt no qualms going back and forth and stealing fries from either Aisha or Tanya’s plates. Outside of Gia being her usual self around Lauren and nicking her finger with her knife, their fries went pretty well. Gia and Emma watched in horror as Mia drizzled vinegar over her set of fries before caking it in nutmeg.
“Oh I’m going to get sick” Gia had to turn her back to Lauren and Mia’s station, she couldn’t watch Lauren Shiba suck it up and wolf down her girlfriend’s crazed concoction. “Mia
must
be good in bed is all I’ve gotta say”
Emma frowned, “Why even say that?” She was far too used to her girlfriend’s commentary, but Lauren and Mia were easily in earshot.
“You know you shouldn’t
judge
something until you try it” Lauren had the plate of fries in her hand as she came over to Gia and Emma’s station, “They’re actually really good” Emma didn’t want to hurt Mia’s feelings but she did
not
want to try any of these fries. Vinegar alone for her was not a personal favorite.
Gia stood to her feet and rested a hand on Lauren’s arm, leaning forward and lowering her voice to say, “You don’t have to lie to us, seriously, I give you
so
much credit...because this looks disgusting”
“...Why do you think I’m lying?” Lauren frowned, speaking far too loudly, “Mia’s an excellent cook. Sometimes on Saturdays she comes over to my place and we roll our own sushi”
The second baseman grimaced at the idea of Mia touching meals that involved raw seafood, “Dear god I hope that’s just code for something dirty” Over at the other station, Adam started to cough, literally choking on his Dr. Pepper.
“Gia!”
Emma leaned back on her stool, feeling the absolute need to apologize for everything that came out of her girlfriend’s mouth. “I’m so sorry”
Tori folded her arms, quietly contemplating out loud, “What would that even
mean?”
This certainly wasn’t how she thought her first class would be going.
“It’s okay…” Mia motioned Lauren to return back to their workstation with their set of fries, if Gia and Emma didn’t want any, that was their loss. “Antonio can’t handle it either. I like to combine chopped mint and a diced tomato, it pairs well with the fish” Oh, that was a
horrible
idea. How do these two survive? “He’s too much of a traditionalist when it comes to flavor combinations”
“Oh, so he follows recipes?” Tanya commented with a zinger. Emma had to shake her head as Gia started to laugh.
Cameron broke up everyone’s conversation by entering the room with so many bags in his arms that Tori had to run up to the back of the class to relieve him of some of the burden. He eyed his cousin and her set of fries, but didn’t comment on them, as a Watanabe himself he knew what conversations were even worth it. With everyone finished up with their fries it was the perfect opportunity for everyone to break into their main courses.
“I thought it’d be fun if we made something too” Cam said, the fifth bag he dedicated for himself and Tori to work together and make something, “For old times sake”
“What did you have in mind?” Tori looked in the bag and her expression instantly lit up, “Dude, the scallops? Ah yes! I haven’t done these since...whoa has it really been that long?”
“Mhmm” Cam nodded his head pulling out a skillet for the demonstration station, “Last class we ever took together”
“Right…” The surfer solemnly looked down to the scallops Cam had picked out, he must’ve stopped by the docks before coming over to get Aisha some fresh fish for her meal and splurged a little extra for Tori. “Remember?” Her laugh carried too much sadness, “Cooking class is such a waste of time” She had given up little pieces of herself to be a ‘better’ girlfriend to cater to Blake, that comment really struck a chord with Emma. They really needed to start giving their friend a little more credit.
As far as the rest of their little dinner went. Tanya and Adam unsurprisingly worked
very
well with one another. Lauren and Mia worked well enough together, every time Lauren moved
away
from their pan, Mia would add extra things to their dish. It was a bit concerning. As far as Summer and Aisha went, Aisha would give Summer very small tasks while she took care of and explained how she was cooking as she went as it was a bit out of Summer’s experience range.
It left Gia and Emma with the fun task of baking cookies. “How are we supposed to make these hearts if we don’t have a cookie cutter?” Gia asked, which was something Emma didn’t think through.
“...Shit” Emma bit her lip, they could either
try
and form little hearts with their hands
or
they could just have their fun in the decorating round cookies.
The two of them had the easier job compared to the rest, entrees, and side dishes couldn’t compare to the sheer joy of baking. Dessert equated to whimsical fun for the third baseman, baking provided for a great distraction and something to do on a rainy day. Gia had
many
sweets to look forward to in the future, ones that included learning new methods to decorate cupcakes. Emma had been dying to learn how to make flower petals out of icing to make a beautiful presentation. For now she would have to stick to work with coating round sugar cookies with red, pink; taking inspiration from sweetheart candies and writing little cute messages like
XOXO
and
Be Mine, Crazy 4 U.
Fun appropriate things.
When Gia finished decorating two cookies she grinned and showed Emma her
lovely
handiwork. Really? Was it so
hard
to keep this appropriate? “Look they’re boobs”
“Seriously?”
The blonde laughed, popping one into her mouth to take a bite, raising a suggestive eyebrow. “Wanna lick the frosting off?”
Since Summer was mostly spending her time watching Aisha she had an opportunity to look behind her, “I’ll take one” Aisha did
not
look happy, “What? A little sugar before dinner never hurt anyone” She reached for her girlfriend’s hand to give it a kiss, garnering a smile out of Aisha.
“You’re going to ruin your appetite before dinner” Aisha warned, but that didn’t stop Gia from handing Summer the other boob decorated cookie. The senior pitcher didn’t need to say anything, she simply sent Emma a sympathetic look.
“I try to do something cute and all you do is turn it around and make a joke out of it” Emma was right to be upset about it, “All I want is for you to take something I like seriously” What was so hard about it? Lauren could fork down whatever Mia could concoct with a smile on her face, was it that hard for Gia to pretend to have fun without undercutting everything?
Gia turned in her stool, setting something on the palm of her hand before turning back to Emma’s direction. It was easily a cookie but Gia took the extra measure to put a napkin over it. “Made this for you”
“If it’s a
boob
I swear-” Emma was ready to verbally scold the heck out of her girlfriend until she unveiled a sugar cookie, pink frosting with poorly written
Love U
on it with white frosting. “Aww” Okay, that was actually sweet. Emma couldn’t be mad when Gia actually pulled out a romantic side. She leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend, earning an eye roll from some of the others in the group. Oh, as if the others didn’t steal cute kisses when everyone else was preoccupied.
When everyone finished up their dinners they moved a couple of the tables in the back together to make it one unit for this little ‘family’ occasion. Tori and Cameron sat at the heads of the tables as they were the only single people in the group. Adam and Tanya sat closest to Cam so Adam could feel comradery with the only other guy in the room; Aisha and Summer across from them which left Lauren and Mia and Gia and Emma closest to Tori. For being only in high school Emma could admit she was super proud at what the four groups had accomplished, well, the three groups minus whatever Mia had done to her quinoa. Cameron and Tori’s scallops looked
amazing.
“Oh does this have mushrooms?” Summer asked, taking the plate with Lauren and Mia’s dish. “Bummer, I’m allergic” Judging by the look on
Aisha’s
face, Emma could tell that was an absolute lie to get out of having to eat the rice dish.
Tori glanced across the table to Cam, then bobbing her head in Mia’s direction. Cameron simply shook his head, he was
not
going to tell his cousin that her cooking sucked. He just put such a small amount on his plate and passed it to the next poor soul. Lauren was the champion who put two heaping spoonfuls on her plate. There wasn’t enough Dr. Pepper in the world that could drown out those flavors. Still, outside of the hiccup in Mia’s ‘flare for flavor’ the whole meal was great,
amazing
even. Their group of ‘beginners’ were extremely talented. This class in general turned out to be so fun, but that was easily because they spent it in the comfort of their friends as opposed to strangers. Even the likes of Summer Landsdown fit into the group like a glove despite being a soccer player.
No, what surprised Emma the most was on the way home. Lauren was the one to lean forward and suggest, “Would you guys want to go to a Padres game?” San Diego was the closest professional team to them, “Invite Kimberly and Trini since they missed out on this?” The captain of the softball team
never
was the one to initiate any sort of plans, she was always too shy, “If it’s a night game, we can spend the night at my place”
“You know...
that
would be pretty fun” Gia had to admit, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. If it were between going to a baseball game and sitting through a cooking class, Gia at least agreed with Lauren that they should do something that they’d enjoy. “God, those two could use a pick me up after that whole
mom
thing. Yikes”
Emma didn’t
hesitate
to send a message to the infamous BAC group chat.
Emma Goodall:
Kim! How does a group date to a baseball game sound?