Chances of Fate

III-Baking the perfect cookie

"I forgot the cookies..." Amirah let her knees drop on the floor with a sullen look written all over her face.

Just now, she realized that she forgot to bake the cookies for her friends.

"My lady, you shouldn't act like that in the entrance of the school." Laura whispered. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." Amirah replied, slowly getting up. "And since when did you arrive? I woke up earlier than usual to avoid you, you know."

Laura knew what she meant. Amirah didn't want to blow her cover as a normal student and it would definitely suck if someone saw her riding in a luxurious car and another student following her like some kind of maid.

"You can't escape from my grasp that easily, my lady." Laura answered in her usual monotone and started to follow her master in the school's building.

"I'll see you after school." Amirah dismissed after getting her indoor shoes and walked to her classroom as Laura started to follow her.

She forgot that she was classmates with her assistant.

"I know you're mad and I'm sorry that I didn't remind you about the cookies. It's all my fault."

"Of course it's your fault! How could you not tell me about the cookies, Laura?" Amirah quickened her paced as she continued whining, turning right which was the opposite direction of their classroom.

"The cooking club's room is open and Everleigh's a member. She's kind enough to let you borrow their room. Also, Making cookies with your friends is fun. You can make them after school."

"And I assume you brought the ingredients with you?"

"I did."

Amirah quickly tackled her assistant with a huge smile. "You're the best, Laura!"

"We have to open the classroom now."

"I'm sorry, I yelled at you!"

--

"Cookies? That sounds delicious!" Everleigh Miracle, Amirah's bestfriend, smiled. "Isn't that right, Ash?" She turned to her seatmate who was nodding at every word she was saying.

"Of course! I'll help you make those cookies if it makes Leigh happy!"

"We can make it in the cooking club's room." Amirah said, turning her gaze to the person behind her seat. "Are you joining us, Luke?"

The mentioned person perked up from his gaming device and removed the lollipop from his mouth. "Sure, whatever."

The four of them have been friends since junior high but Everleigh was the only one who knew everything about Amirah. From her secret status to her stressful situation. She was like Laura but livelier.

"Is Laura coming too?" Everleigh inquired.

"Laura? That doll? Why would you even ask that? It's not like we're friends with her or something." Luke rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his gaming console.

"That's quite rude of you." Leigh commented, her lips still curved.

Ash slapped Luke on the arm. "Yeah! You shouldn't say those kinds of things!"

Amirah saw Leigh mouthed, "I'm sorry." But she just shrugged it off.

"The four of us are making cookies after school." Amirah said, avoiding Luke's comment. "And I want it to be perfect!" She beamed.

"Can we eat them at your house?" Luke took a quick glance at Amirah, addressing the question to her.

"U-uh... I don't—"

"No, we can't, Luke." Everleigh answered, smiling.

"That's right, we can't!" Ash smacked Luke's head.

"Stop hitting me!"

Amirah faked a cough to divert their attention back to her. "Leigh, can you come with me to the bathroom?"

"Sure." The said girl smiled, gladly following her friend after excusing themselves.

"I'm sorry about Laura. I should've been more careful with my words." Everleigh started as soon as they discovered that the both of them were alone. "Also, my senses are telling me that there's something you'd like to tell."

Amirah eyed her carefully.

Even though Everleigh was almost always smiling, the people around her would pick up different kinds of vibes from it.

Like right now.

Her smile was sweet and genuine but her vibe tells Amirah that she was being concerned and serious.

"It's just that..." Amirah pouted as she fiddled with her fingers. "I wanna tell you about what happened at the charity ball. It was horrible." She said, casually walking to the nearest sink to wash her hands.

"Oh, right. The ball." Everleigh let out a giggle, cutting  Amirah who was about to go on a full on rant. "I'd love to listen about your tales but I think our third period is starting soon. Are you done washing your hands?"

Amirah nodded as an answer and smiled. "Alright, let's go."

As the two walked back in a comforting silence, Everleigh decided to speak up.

"Tomorrow, after school, he's gonna confess to me under the willow tree."

"Oh." Was what escaped on Amirah's lips. "Again, huh?"

They were talking about Leigh's childhood friend and bestfriend, Asher Grey.

It wasn't really that hard to read Ash's feelings. Just one look at him and you'll know if he's happy, sad, or just deeply in love with Everleigh—which is true and everyone knew including Leigh herself.

He's tried so many times to confess but it always failed because Leigh would somehow be out of sigh at the right time so he would never get a chance.

"So, where did you get the information this time?" Amirah fiddled with her fingers.

"From Luke. But I don't think it's right for him to spill something like that to me since... you know, they're best buds and all." Still smiling, Everleigh looked down. "Sometimes, I wish he'd just stop, you know? It's honestly tiring and I'm sure he's tired of me not showing up too."

"I see."

Whenever Everleigh talks about Ash and his so-called 'confessions', Amirah knew what was gonna happen next.

"Can you help me get out of it?"

"As always." Amirah smiled, clinging onto her friend's arm. "I'm always here for you."

Everleigh giggled. "And I too, am always here for you."

--

While waiting for their next subject teacher and Everleigh out of sight, the slamming of hands on Asher's table caught the attention of Amirah's friends. Her lips formed a satisfied grin.

"What's up?" Luke raised a brow, resting his back on his chair.

"So," she hummed, "I heard a little gossip about your confession." Amirah stared at Ash.

The mentioned boy stood up from his seat, startled as to why she already knew while Luke secretly shot her a glare.

"How'd you know?" Ash creased his eyebrows.

Luke made a loud grunt, "What do you mean 'how'? She obviously heard it from one of our classmates since you didn't shut up about it earlier." He replied, covering up Amirah.

Ash is that one person who tells everyone something and makes them promise to keep it as a secret but it ends up getting around the place anyway.

"It's okay, I won't tell." Amirah beamed. "Everleigh's my bestfriend and all but you are to me too."

Yeah, of course she won't tell since Everleigh was the one who told her in the first place.

She heard Ash sigh in relief. "Thanks, Mirah. I really want it to work this time." He sat back on his seat, reassured of his friend's words.

"No problem." Amirah felt a pang on her chest as she smiled innocently after hearing her nickname and Ash's gratefulness beaming out of him. "You told the others about your plan, right? What about me?"

He opened his notes before answering, "Tomorrow, after school, I'll be leading her to the open field where the only willow tree is at and confess my feelings to her!" Ash proudly exclaimed.

"Aren't those trees ugly? And in my opinion, willow trees aren't that great for a confession spot." Luke scoffed, "that is, if you're getting that far to actually confess to her."

Both Ash and Amirah shot him a dirty look.

"Willow trees are beautiful! It gives me enchanted vibes! And they're my favorite!" She retorted, crossing her arms.

Ash smacked him on the head. "i***t! Have you been listening to Everleigh? She said that it's a popular confession place based on the rumors!"

"It's true!" Amirah piped in.

They received an eyeroll from Luke who was caressing his head. "Yeah, whatever."

---

Lunch quickly came and Amirah called her assistant to meet up with her at a private place after eating.

The two were now facing their backs on separate sides of a wall. And to avoid any suspicion, they got their phones out and pretended to be busy around it.

After Laura made sure that no one was with them, she started, "Is there something you'd like to request, my lady?"

"Tomorrow, after school, look for Asher Grey and distract him for about twenty minutes. His objective is to confess to Everleigh Miracle under the willow tree and you need to refrain him from doing it."

If anyone from outside her family that heard her talking like that, a chill would run down their spine on how different Amirah's tone of speaking was.

"As you wish."

"Pull some strings if you have to and let me know what you're doing at the time of your move. I'll take care of Everleigh."

"I know the drill, Lady Amirah."

It wasn't like it was Laura's first time distracting Ash. She's actually done it a hundred times now.

"Good. I want you to be extra pushy this time. Leigh doesn't want him to go any further." She crossed her arms as her brows creased.

---

Leigh snapped her fingers in front of her friend who's head was recently up in the clouds.

Classes were soon done and with the cooking club having no activities for the day, the three had the room all by themselves.

Amirah absentmindendly hummed as an answer, her eyes fogged up.

"Something's wrong with you." Leigh replied, pouting. "You've been zoning out."

"Oh, sorry. I'll tell you about it later." She smiled and placed her dough on the cookie sheet. "Ash is late."

"Well, he's attending an important meeting as the student council's secretary." Luke scoffed. "I'm not even surprised that you didn't participate as the second year's representative."

Amirah pouted. "The student council isn't as great as it seems! It's so boring there."

"Why did you even run for that position in the first place if all you ever do is avoid gatherings and never show up on meetings?"

"Because of Alec." Both Everleigh and Amirah replied. The two then bursted out laughing.

Since everyone was done with the dough, Everleigh proceeded to place the container inside the oven.

"Of course." Luke grimaced, rolling his eyes. "If you ran for Alec then why is it 'so boring'?"

Amirah had the sudden loss of words and replied with incoherent mutters before spitting out a decent answer. "W-well, he's not even there for the meeting because of some stupid business thing and if he was there, he'd be facing his laptop throughout the whole meeting!"

Luke blew a raspberry. "'Stupid business thing'? Being an heir of a company is hard and I don't think you'd understa—" He was cut off when they heard a loud bang behind him.

It was the closing of the oven.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must've closed it too loud." Everleigh hovered a hand over her mouth. "I don't think Amirah was taking the word 'stupid' seriously though, so you can calm down now." She smiled.

He clicked his tongue. "I am calm."

"You guys are taking this conversation way too seriously!" Amirah pouted. "You know, to bake perfect cookies, we need some love, okay?"

"Of course, Amirah." Everleigh beamed, clinging onto Luke. "I love him as much as I love you." She said, tightening her grip.

Luke winced at the sight of Everleigh and the firm arms wrapped around his arm.

The two could sense anger and irritation behind her smile and it was quite frightening.

The three stopped when they heard footsteps from outside getting louder and louder by second.

"I sensed distress from Everleigh. What did you guys do to her? Did you upset her?" Ash opened the cooking club's door with a humorless face.

Everleigh giggled as she let go of Luke. "What are you talking about, Ash? You're so funny, jumping into conclusions like that." She pulled him inside the room. "Are you done with the meeting? How'd it go?"

And just like that, Ash let him get pulled by Everleigh as his legs got all wobbly and his cheeks burned in crimson red.

Ash replied with giddiness, "Yeah, it went alright." He darted his gaze to the student council's representative, completely changing his expression, before continuing, "Except for one thing—or rather one person."

"Aw, give me a break!" Amirah whined. "Alec wasn't even there!"

"He was." He crossed his arms. "And he was looking for you."

"D-don't... don't excite me like that! He was looking for me!?" She asked, her face slowly creeping with a red flush as Ash slowly nodded.

"Yes, but to our surprise, he just shrugged it off and smiled... even though he was strict with attendance."

"That's a relief." Everleigh piped in. "Well, anyway, we're done with all the baking. You can help by cleaning up though."

"Of course! I'll do that right away!" Ash exclaimed and hurried to the messy tables.

The three watched him do his work and at the same time, waiting for the cookies to bake.

---

"So, Leigh, which cookies did you bake?" Ash curiously asked, resulting a flick on the forehead by Leigh herself.

"Now, don't be so picky."

"Yeah, you creep." Amirah mumbled, which was obviously heard by everyone. She then received a small "hmp!" from him.

"This was fun to make." Luke said, his eyes fixated on his gaming console again.

"Yeah, it would be fun to eat them together as well." Amirah responded and quickly snatched Luke's device away from him.

"Hey! I was playing that!"

"I'll pause it."

"You can't pause that game!"

"Then, I'll save it in an empty slot so have some cookies before it gets cold." She retorted, shoving a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth.

"You guys look good together." Everleigh commented in a teasing manner.

"No, we don't!" The two replied in unison.

"Uh, yes, you do." Ash laughed, joining in the fun.

They ended up eating cold cookies since they were too busy chasing each other.

After sealing the leftovers and packing up, Amirah declined to walk home with Ash and Luke. It wasn't anything new, She'd do that for Amirah sometimes.

"We understand! Have a good time with Amirah!" Ash smiled encouragingly.

"Thanks for understanding. You guys are so considerate." Everleigh smiled back, melting Ash's heart.

"Yeah, whatever. We're going now." Luke waved goodbye and dragged Ash away from the girls.

Everleigh hummed as she patiently waited for their friends to slowly disappear out of her sight.

"Now, that we're alone..." She turned to Amirah and clasped their hands together before continuing, "Shall we?" Her lips curved up in a playful manner.

Amirah nodded and returned a genuine smile. "Let's move outside first."

When they turned to the right to head downstairs, they were greeted by a girl who was sitting there, her back facing the two.

A white dress hugged the person's figure as the ends of it flowed below her knees and her blonde hair was tied in a halfway low ponytail.

She wasn't even facing them yet but Amirah knew the stranger would definitely be a beauty—who was clearly on their way.

"Excuse me," Everleigh started, c*****g her head. "Can you please move a little bit?"

The girl froze—wondering if she'd entertain them or just directly leave. But she ended up turning around anyway.

Her fair, light skin made the two immediately notice her pale, green eyes—possibly twinkling in curiosity staring back at them. "Pardon?"

"You're... you're in the way." Amirah awkwardly replied. She was mesmerized at how pretty the girl was... and a little jealous too.

Amirah was right all along.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She stood up and fixed her dress before moving out of the way. Her face was written with confusion when she saw Everleigh walk up to her even though she made a way for them.

"You're so pretty, what's your name?"

"E-Everleigh! You can't just ask that!"

"Hmm..." She paused and eyed Amirah who flinched beside her friend. "My name's Connie."

"Oh, Nice to meet you, Connie! I'm Everleigh and this is Amirah."

"You guys look fascinating." Connie smiled. "I hope I'll see you two again." was her last words before walking out.

"...Fascinating?" Everleigh repeated. She turned her head to face Amirah and chuckled, "You look troubled. Are you alright?"

"She looked like a ghost." She placed a palm on her cheek. "Does she even go here? She wasn't wearing a uniform."

Everleigh's eyes sparkled as she remembered something. "She reminds me of that one urban legend at schools called the lady of the sta—"

"No! Don't start telling scary stories!"

Amirah's friend laughed which sounded like music to anyone's ears. "Alright."

She took a deep breath and proceeded to exit the main building along with Everleigh.

When they reached the gate, Amirah stopped and looked around. It's a little late now so no one was around the place anymore.

"You can come out now." She called out.

"Oh, Laura, nice to see you again." Everleigh greeted at the figure who was slowly walking towards them.

"I am too, Miss Miracle."

"You can call me by my first name though."

"Of course."

Amirah faked a cough. "Let's go." She started to walk with her company all the way to the side of the school where her chauffeur patiently waited for her return.

"Welcome back, Lady Amirah." Jacob, her chauffeur greeted.

She smiled as a reply and went inside the vehicle. As soon as Everleigh was in, she instructed her chauffeur and assistant to wait outside which was obediently followed by the two.

"Let's start from the ball, is that okay?"

"Everything's alright with me." Everleigh responded with her usual expression.

Amirah started to talk about her different experiences from the spring ball like, how she went alone without anyone's company all the time, how she met new people, Alec, and the boy who ruined her night by constantly annoying her.

She then continued about the disappointing grocery store and the high shelves, her stupidity outside the store, the engrossing group she encountered with, Laura's rescue, and... dinner with her parents.

"Is it okay if I ask you to tell me more about last night's dinner?" Everleigh asked, leaning in.

Amirah checked her watch before answering, "Sure. But I should let Jacob and Laura in and drive you home."

Her eyes widened and started to wave her hands, a blush creeping on her face. "Oh, you don't have to."

"It's okay," Amirah smiled. "I'll drop you a block away so Ash won't look at it as suspicious as it already is and besides, it's really late."

"This is why I love you, Amirah." She giggled. "You're so thoughtful sometimes."

"Aw, I love you too... wait, should I take that as a compliment?" Amirah pouted, receiving a cute laugh from her bestfriend.

Before proceeding to the next topic, she first called the two to come in and drive them home.

Amirah turned the blinds down from the front seats where Laura and the chauffeur were seated to avoid them from hearing the conversation.

She placed both of her hands on her lap as the sound from the vehicle let them know that they were moving. "So about last night's dinner..."