The Diamonds

Episode Seventeen

Tuesday…

LOCATION: DIAMOND HIGH

They were all assembled at the hall in wait for the Diamonds.

The quiz will start soon and they still haven't shown up.

Ugh!

It was putting a whole lot of tension in the air.

Eva wished that they should come already.

She was getting pretty anxious.

From the side of the audience where the contestants sat,they heard shrieks and looked to see the Diamonds.

Phew!

Eva felt relieved immediately and her heart missed a beat when she rested her gaze on Miguel.

He was dressed all in black and golden chains looking so…so…

Ugh!.

She didn't even know what word to use anymore.

They all sat down on their special seats opposite the contestants and Eva was directly opposite Miguel!

She gulped and arranged her skirt properly.

She felt so uncomfortable hence her restlessness.

Her discomfort worsened when his gaze suddenly met that of hers and his eyes slowly fell on her chest down to her legs.

Taking in every bit of her features, carefully.

Gosh!

It felt like he was scrutinizing her…like…he could see right through her.

A coordinator came up and began a short speech.

That was enough to drag Miguel's eyes from her and she didn't know when she heaved a sigh of relief.

"As we all know…this is the Quizzical Quest and we have two subjects…mathematics and English language. Each subject has twenty questions in total in which you are to choose from.”

" Your given time is ten seconds to attempt a question. Ready?" He addressed the contestants.

"Yes sir.." They chorused and Eva glanced at Miguel who still had his gaze on Eva.

What the hell?

She thought he looked away already.

Why was he being creepy?

Goodness!

They all got off their seats and headed to their already placed stand having a mic,two pens and paper.

The Diamonds soon joined them and Miguel's cologne filled Eva’s nostrils the moment he stood right beside her.

Eva gently stole a glance at him to see as he slowly chewed on a gum.

Gosh!

Why was he so handsome!? Her brain screamed.

Cassandra and Daniel were group A, Andrew and co. group B, Jerad and co. group C and Eva and Miguel group D.

"Group A,pick a number." The man said as they were to start with mathematics.

"Number 20." Cassandra picked confidently and the screen displayed the question.

"Solve -20 >5x" The Man read and they began to solve as the ten seconds countdown went on.

At the seventh second, Daniel pressed the answer button.

"X is less than minus four." Cassandra replied.

"Correct!"

"Two points to group A." There was an ovation.

"Group B, your question."

"Number 7." Miss Shaw picked.

"Factorise 3a-cb-3b-ac."

They began to solve quickly and finally pressed their answer button.

"Bracket 3 plus C, close bracket,open bracket a minus b close bracket." Andrew intelligently replied and Eva smiled widely.

He was smart.

They were all smart.

Sweet.

This went on and on till it got to the end and they moved over to English.

At the end of everything,they headed back to their seats as the coordinator came up.

"This has been educational so far and I am glad we enjoyed it. This brings an end to the 'Quizzical Quest'. The results would be announced on Friday immediately after the 'Cooking Quest'. Thank you all …"

*****

Eva tucked loose hair behind her ear as she headed for class with Mary who kept on chattering about the possible meals one could prepare during a cooking contest.

"Mary…." Eva sighed looking at her.

"What?" Mary asked.

"Could you please relax. I am having a hot head here." Eva groaned.

"Oops! I am so sorry."

★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★

LOCATION: DIAMONDS MANSION

#8PM….

It has been a day since the first quest and a day to the last quest for the present level.

Eva and the guys were at the sitting room talking but without Miguel who wasn't around.

"Honestly,if that girl is a bad cook…then we fail together." Andrew revealed with a shrug.

"Gosh! Are you serious!?" Eva gasped.

"Yeah…" Andrew replied unaffected.

"At least, I am good at cooking a little." Daniel shrugged.

'How about Miguel?' Eva had thought.

She itched to ask but…no!..she couldn't.

"Don't ache your head Eva. Miguel is a spoiled boy who finds it hard to handle a spoon." Jerad teased and Eva gasped.

"MY GOODNESS!"

“Are you serious!!" She exclaimed and they laughed.

Fvck!.

If that was the case then Eva knew that no amount of popularity could make her win.

She'd lose even before starting.

"He is kidding Eva. Miguel is a great cook. Trust me when I say best….he is so good at it." Andrew assured and that seemed to have calmed Eva a little.

Wow.

He knew how to cook?

Well…it felt great to her.

It was an added advantage.

"But beware Eva…he stopped cooking years ago and might not even touch a spoon tomorrow." Daniel warned and it gave Eva the chills instantly dashing her newly found hope against a stone.

Why?!

Why did he quit cooking?

Ugh!

Now she had every reason to be really worried.

**. **.

#Thursday….

LOCATION; DIAMOND HIGH FIELD…

11AM….

They all stood before their large cooking stands.

At the end of the level, only two contestants would eventually make it to the final level.

There was no way Cassandra would let Eva win!

No way!

She knew she had to up her game because the chance of sabotaging was now very slim due to the fact that Miguel was Eva's partner.

"You all have the chance of making any meal of your choice. Feel free to place requests on any ingredient that you may need. It would be given to you. Are we cool?" Mrs Xavier concluded her address while Eva tied up her apron.

"Yes ma'am!" They chorused.

Eva glanced at Miguel who held his phone and was busy operating on it.

Are you serious!?

She glanced at Andrew who gave her a thumbs up and Eva smiled weakly at him.

She felt like punching Miguel so badly!

The hell?

A large horn was blown and cooking began immediately with a lot of anticipative and watchful audience..

So ..Eva guessed she would go for spaghetti and meatballs which was way faster than the pig stew Yoo Na had taught her.

She quickly took out a clean shiny pot and rinsed it before placing a full pack of the small sized pasta in it just as Yoo Na had taught her,then she ignited the cooking gas after placing the pot above it.

Eva glanced at the other contestants to see them working in perfect unity but there she was with Miguel standing next to her for fancy!.

He didn't help in the Quizzical Quest and when he managed to…he only touched the button…

Gosh!

Was that some sort of punishment or what?

She was better alone!

Eva sighed slowly and took out a bulb of onion and began to peel it the best way she could then she washed it before she began slicing it.

Gosh!

The stinging and hot feeling from slicing the onions was just too much to handle.

Her eyes watered as she tried to clean it with her arm so she could check on the spaghetti and in that process,she lifted the hot lid with her bare hand instantly sending a painful sensation through her body.

“Ow!" Eva winced, placing the lid aside quickly and began to blow air from her mouth onto her sore hand.

Ugh!.

That hurt so much.

Eva sighed and looked into the pot.

The pasta was boiling already.

Goodness!

She carefully turned off the cooking gas and proceeded to drain the pasta.

Eva noticed she had only an hour left out of the given one hour and thirty minutes.

If only Miguel would choose to help her but who was she kidding.

She was so alone in this and the fact that he had pushed her to engage in this and still not want to help at all was the most painful of all.

Eva began to quickly slice the onion and due to the pace she used and lack of experience,the sharp knife inflicted a deep cut in Eva's thumb finger.

"Aah!" Eva cried, dropping the knife as her finger began to bleed.

Andrew and the rest looked up from what they were doing to see what had happened.

“The hell?" He exclaimed and nearly rushed to Eva's side but he knew he couldn't.

“What the hell is Miguel doing? He should be helping!" Daniel scoffed and Cassandra only rolled her eyes.

They should just take a chill pill.

Duh.

The fact that Miguel didn't even care to help out from the start was the most exciting to Cassandra.

Miguel looked up from his phone to see Eva's finger bleeding all over the place and he sighed heavily.

Eva looked up at him and he could clearly see tears gathering already in her eyes.

He looked away from her eyes and turned off his phone, placed it in his pocket,then took out his black hankie then stretched out his other hand.

"Huh?" Eva muttered in confusion as she held her bleeding finger and he sighed.

"We're running out of time." He said and Eva slowly placed her wounded hand against his soft tender palm and she felt a weird wave flow through her.

He carefully held her thumb and wiped off the blood, washed it with some water and tenderly tied up her thumb with his hankie and all Eva did was watch in utter shock.

Was Miguel really like…taking care of her wound?

The entire school present was watching and it seemed like something right out of a movie.

Miguel was treating Eva's wound?

"You should learn how to be careful." He scoffed gently, letting go of her hand and she could only stare shock.

“Watch and learn." Miguel said flatly and took over the cooking to Eva's greatest surprise.

She was so speechless and she watched as Miguel prepared the fried pasta perfectly in a short time then he moved to the meatballs.

"While I do this,get the peeled oranges and extract their juice." Miguel ordered not looking at Eva who nodded before setting to work.

"And don't add your blood to it for Christ sake." He scoffed and Eva was forced to chuckle.

"I won't." She said softly and he only spared her a short glance.

Within an hour, Miguel had prepared the meal and cleaned up the entire stand to Eva's surprise.

They waited a little while longer before the buzzer went off.

"TIME’S UP!"

The lady announced and they all stepped away from their plates.

The judges began to go around , getting a taste of their meals.

When they got to Eva and Miguel's stand,Mrs Xavier smiled at Eva before she began to taste the spaghetti.

"O my gosh! You all need to taste this!" She exclaimed and they all grabbed a fork and managed to empty their plates all in the name of tasting.

"Wow! This is so good!" Another exclaimed as they shared the jug of juice.

Wow!

Eva watched them completely amused and Miguel,he wasn't even moved.

He knew what he was capable of doing.

The judges all made a note and headed back to their table.

Eva noticed Andrew and Jerad's stands were still unkept and she chuckled.

They were being real after all .

The contestants were all later given the time to clear their stand although Miguel had done that already.

"I must say…I really enjoyed myself. It is a very great thing to be a judge at a cooking contest." The male judge sighed and the students laughed.

"Finally…this quest is done and dusted. We will all meet at the hall tomorrow for the results calling and the opening of the final level. Good day students." He concluded and the judges walked away.

The guys all came over to Eva and Miguel's stand.

"Whoa! Miguel! I never believed you would even cook." Andrew exclaimed and Miguel sighed, rubbing his temple.

"See you at home."He said icily and walked away with Eva watching till he was out of sight.

Hm ..

"I am so happy for you Eva…you would surely win. Daniel said and Eva smiled at him.

"Thanks a lot."

**

LOCATION: CRYSTALS MANSION.

8PM

**

Miguel did the cooking!?

Cassandra still couldn't believe it.

"I seriously still can't believe it Cassandra. Miguel cooked on behalf of Eva just because she had a slight cut!!" Ruby exclaimed, equally stunned.

"I think there is more to what we are seeing. I noticed a slight sense of maybe…worry in Miguel's expression when Eva had actually injured herself. Yunno I easily read expressions." Dayne said gently.

"I noticed it too. He even nursed her wound!" Cassandra exclaimed in rage.

" That sneaky pretender!” She hissed.

"If this keeps happening…Eva would surely win against Cassie." Ruby said and Eva ruffled her hair.

"It can't be!" Cassandra groaned.

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