The school day has ended leaving me filled with energy as I head down to the cooking room. The first thing I should do is apologise to Mr.

I have no right to get mad over something petty like this.

I'm sure I can easily beat whoever this nephew is; after all, I am the most qualified in the club.

I head into the cooking room only to see Professor Neuman and some guy.

Not just any guy, but the guy from this morning. The two notice me and the guy's face drops when he sees me.

Please, don't tell me that's Derek.

'Uh Brooke, this is my nephew I was talking about earlier. Derek. And Derek this was the talented Brooke I was telling you about.'

Oh god.

The two of us take a step forward and I take a long look. I'm pretty sure I'm taller than him (he better not beat me by an inch). He has the usual messy but slick hairstyle that girls can stop fangirling about for some reason. His everyday neutral accent tends to switch to a Spanish accent for his fangirls.

We shake hands, eye contact not breaking, hands clenching.

'Nice to meet you, Brooke.'

'Likewise, Derek.'

The fact that out of all the students in this school, he happens to be Professor Neuman's nephew is ironic; Knowing Mister, he probably thought that he had no choice but to make us compete for positions cause he doesn't want to annoy his brother.

'So, Derek, do you have any experience or is this just some recreational activity?' I make sure the smile I give him is the fakest and most obvious smile I can.

'Actually yeah. It was this little thing called a VET course, don't know if you've heard of it. Certificate in Baking and another in Food and Hospitality. I heard you haven't even done a single VET course, Miss Monet.'

This prick. 'Don't call me that.'

'I can call you whatever I want.'

'Woah woah. Enough from you too' Professor Neuman stands between us like a wall between the river and the dam.

'I get that you two have some rivalry, but I decided not to be biased and everyone has an equal chance of getting the position.' Professor Neuman explains patting us both on the shoulder.

'Sorry Uncle. I think this the case where Brooke is aware that her position is at stake and is too stubborn to admit it.'

'Who the hell do you think you are?!' I step forward. My breathing is heavy, and my chest moving in anger.

Professor Neuman tries to calm us down again but we both ignore him. Eye contact still not breaking from each other. I can't help but notice myself paying attention to every little detail on his face. His round and defined face was the only thing I was focusing on. His cheekbones were defined, complimenting the rest of his infuriating face.

Derek's eyes are piercing. They stare at me as I refuse to back down; my chest held up high.

'Get ready to lose.' Derek smirks right after with his raised eyebrows which were enough to trigger something in me.

No words can describe the feeling that overcame me. My pulse increases, my hands tighten to fists and I take another step forward before stopping myself.

If you react to this Brooke, he wins. He'll know that his words have control over me. You should be the one to have this man react in anger, not him.

'Sorry, am I interrupting something?'

We all turn to see Mariah at the door. She changed her clothes to a turtleneck and jeans. Still keeping her amazing sense of style.

'No. It was nothing. Come meet Mr.' I state backing away from Derek and scuttling over to Mariah.

She was shy in the way she carried herself as she met Professor for the first time.

'Hi...I'm Mariah.' she reached her hand out.

'Hi, Mariah. I'm Fran- I mean Professor Neuman. But you can call me just Neuman. A-anyone of you guys can call me that.'

I couldn't help but sense the weird vibe as Mariah and Professor shook hands with each other. I shake it off.

This is what happens when you binge too much Pretty Little Liars.

I look over to Derek, he was focused on the interaction between Mr and Mariah. He notices me stare and his eyebrows crease. 'Are you obsessed with me, Coffee Addict?'

I roll my eyes and ignore his comment. Who the hell does Derek think he is for calling me Coffee Addict?

Ted arrives as we continued our tennis match of pettiness. He sees me and gives me a strange look before taking me away from Derek.

'You two are dating?'

'Ted! What the heck are you talking about? We weren't even being lovey-dovey'

'Well. I can't help but sense the chemistry between you two. You can't blame me for noticing the little things.'

I give him a look of confusion before flicking his forehead. 'Stop that.'

Eloise and Ava arrive next, the duo holding hands and giggling despite the fact they skipped school. They walk towards me, hands clung together.

'Hey Brooke, how are you going?' Ava greets.

'You two are skipping school for love. How romantic. Guess I'll do the Chemistry assignment by myself.' I say sarcastically seeing Eloise's sudden epiphany as Ava avoids eye contact.

'Sorry about that Brooke. Today is our 3-month anniversary and I wanted to make it special.' Eloise apologises as Ava shakes her head in agreement.

These two really act like a cute couple despite the fact that they aren't even dating and are in a "situationship." Whatever that is.

'Alrighty, chefs, let's gather around!' Professor declares as all of us gather around him.

'Today we have new faces to our group, and we will welcome them well and treat them with respect. Our theme of today is improvisation. How well you can make a dish with whatever is in your cupboard. Split up into pairs and start cooking!'