Alice: Just a Friend

We decided to make steak tonight. Aiko said that it’s something anyone can enjoy without being too difficult to cook. I hope she’s right about it not being difficult.

“So, this is your apartment. Cozy.”

“Thank you. My roommate and I like this kind of vibe.”

“Speaking of which… where’s this roommate of yours?”

Hm, why’d she say it like that?

“Looks like he’s in his room right now. I don’t really want to bother him so we can just get started.”

Actually, I should tell Jason that I’m making food for us tonight. He probably hasn’t eaten yet.

“I might need to tell him that we’re making dinner though.” I walked up and slammed my fist on his door. I would normally be more gentle but I have to know if he’d eaten anything yet.

KNOCK KNOCK

“Hey! Uhm, are you awake in there?”

“Who wouldn’t be after all that?!” he answered.

“Have you eaten anything yet?”

“Not yet, why?”

Okay, perfect!

“I’m cooking steak tonight and wanted to ask if you want any.” He didn’t answer. “Uhm, I said I was making—”

The door swung open, and Jason stepped out, stopping just short of me. He leaned in, voice low, “You're cooking again?!” 

"I know I messed up a bit last time, but you don't have to be so mean about it."

"N-no, it's not that." He pulled back, eyes flicking away for a moment. “You don’t have to go through the trouble of cooking for me.”

“N-no, it’s fine. I don’t mind. Not at all. ” I stammered. Even though we were just having a normal conversation, my heart felt like it was pounding. As if it could burst out of my chest at any given moment. Maybe it was because of his voice. It felt vulnerable—fragile even. “I just… I wanted to make something nice for you, okay?” Jason blinked, a faint flush rising to his cheeks. “Besides, I got a friend to help me this time. So it won’t be burnt like this morning.”

Hopefully changing the topic will make me feel a lot less awkward.

“A friend?” he tilted his head in confusion.

I pointed my finger towards Aiko’s direction, “Yeah, her.”

“Yo,” Aiko said with a wave.

Jason’s face dropped. It looked like he'd just seen a ghost. “Oh no, it’s you.”

“Happy to see you too,” Aiko flashed a playful grin.

“D-do you guys know each other?” I asked, my hands clenched.

“YEAH! We’re totally like best friends.” Aiko's grin widens. “Or maybe even more than that…”

“More than that?”

“We’re not.” Jason quickly interrupts.

Aiko dramatically puts her hand on her stomach, as if someone had just punched her. “Ouch, that hurts you know.”

“Good.” 

Something doesn't seem right. Are they flirting?

Jason lets out a small sigh. “She's just someone I grew up with.”

"Yup!' Aiko said while throwing up her hand. "We're like totally childhood friends."

Ch-Ch-CHILDHOOD FRIENDS???!!!!

"But she can some times be a pain in the ass. Especially in our Spanish class."

Aiko let out an exaggerated gasp. “Such harsh words Jason! I just transferred over and was delighted to see you, but this is how you treat me. How cruel. But I guess it makes sense though."

“What makes sense?” Jason asked.

Aiko flashed a mischievous grin and pointed directly at me. “Because you have a cute girl who lives with you and is willing to learn how to cook just for you. Gotta make sure she knows you're not interested in me right?”

My face heats up. “IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!” Jason’s voice echoed mine, and our eyes locked for half a second before both of us quickly looked away.

Aiko chuckled to herself a little, “Jason, tsk tsk tsk. You often did try to pick up cute shy girls back then.” She said while barely being able to contain her laughter. “Still the same player as you were in your high school years I see.”

That made me snap out of my embarrassment from earlier. Scrunching my nose and curling my lips, I gave Jason a disgusted look. “So you were a player, huh?”

Jason quickly turned to me, “W-woah, it’s not like that.” I glared at him. “I-I swear.” I leaned in, and he leaned away even more. I backed off, arms crossed, and made my way over to Aiko. “H-hey, tell Alice that you’re joking.”

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Aiko said, her hand over her mouth, still trying to hold in her laughter.

Jason let off a sigh, “This is why you’re such a pain in the ass.” 

Aiko burst into laughter. "Alright, alright, I was just kidding. But you have to admit that this is kind of fun. Anyways though, I think it's time you head back into your room while we get some cooking done."

Jason froze. “I-I can help you guys if you need.”

“Nope, go away,” Aiko quickly replied. "This is Alice's time to shine. Can't have you interfering now." Aiko started to wave at him. "Goodbye now."

Jason clenched his fist, “But I can–”

“Have a good break!” Aiko cuts him off, still waving.

Jason looked down at the floor, his voice quieter than before. “Sure, whatever. Just don’t burn the kitchen down.”

Aiko's eye twitched a little after he said that. "We'll call you out when we're done." This time, she didn't sound as enthusiastic as last time.

Once the chaos settled, Aiko took out a steak and cooked one herself to show me how it’s done. She added butter to the pan and let it melt before placing the steak down—reminding me to point it away from myself to avoid any splashing.

While it sizzled, she explained that you can tell how a steak is cooking by touch. “Press your thumb to your index finger,” she said, “then feel the base of your thumb—it’s soft, like a rare steak. Middle finger? That’s medium. Ring finger? Medium-well. Pinky? That’s well-done. Just compare that to the steak’s feel, and you’ll know when it’s ready.”

Who knew there was such a useful trick?

Once the steak felt right to her, she added more butter to the side of the pan and let it melt. Along with it, she tossed in some garlic and herbs. I wasn’t sure why, but I kept watching. She grabbed a spoon and started splashing the melted butter over the steak.

“It’s called basting,” she said. “Helps the flavor soak in.”

Now that I’ve seen the whole process, it’s my turn to try.

I took a piece of steak out and copied what she had done. Aiko carefully watched over me, in case I would accidentally mess up. Everything seemed to be going well. Now I was just waiting for the steak to feel right. But out of nowhere she asked, “Hey, so you do like him don’t you?”

Where’d that come from?! Why did she randomly ask me that?! What should I say back?!

I froze up. I didn’t expect her to ask me anything this random. But at the same time, I couldn’t think of an answer. It should’ve been an easy question, but something was preventing me from answering her. Aiko started to wave her hand in front of my face. “Uhm hello, anyone home?”

“Uh, yeah.” I mumbled, “S-sorry, what’d you ask again?”

“About Jason, you do like him don’t you?”

She actually repeated herself. Goodness I was hoping she would drop it if I made her repeat herself. Knowing her she would just keep asking me if I don’t give her an answer.

“Does that mean no?” I quickly nodded my head. “Great! So it’s totally fine if I go for him, then—right?”

“No!” I blurted out. I reacted way too fast. I didn’t even process what I was going to say. “Uh I-I mean—”

“Thought you said you didn’t like him right?”

I immediately dropped the spoon I was using to baste the steak. “W-well I meant to say that I do like him. I mean I don’t like him but like I” the more I talked the weaker my voice got. I could feel my face get hotter. “I mean yes. I like him but as a friend, but like I guess he’s more than that to me, but like I just don’t—”

“Hey, I was only messing with you.” she smirked. “Oh and by the way, your steak is overcooked.”

She’s messing with me?

I slowly looked down at my steak. It was black. I instantly took it off the stove and placed it on the cutting board.

Aw man I messed up another thing today.

I used a spoon to scratch off the burnt parts of the steak. Then touched the steak to check how it's cooked. Aiko was right about it being overcooked; it felt well-done.

I guess I’ll be eating this one. Can’t give this to Jason.

I shot Aiko a look. “Hey, w-what was that about?”

“Just a little teasing. Thought it wouldn’t have been a problem if you didn’t like him. But there’s clearly something going on.”

“N-no it’s not like that I—”

“You don’t gotta explain nothing to me.” Her smirk tilted just a little too high. “I’m all caught up now.”

Jason was right about her. She's a whole lot of trouble.

I ended up cooking the other steak. But this time I told Aiko to not distract me. This was my last chance to repay Jason so I can't mess it up. Luckily, I did pretty well. Aiko even complimented me on it. So now it's time to present it to Jason. We called him out and had him seated at the table. While he sat down, I began plating his food, doing my best to make it look presentable. I sliced the steak and laid each piece neatly beside the next, slightly angled to reveal the beautifully cooked center. After I finished with that, I placed it in front of him. While he examined the dish I held my breath.

Does he like it? Did I mess up? 

Aiko leaned over to my ear and whispered. “You should feed it to him.” She did it loud enough so Jason could hear her too.

“NO!” We both snapped at Aiko.

“Kidding, kidding”

Jason picked up a fork and stabbed it into a piece. My heart sank to my stomach and I gripped my shirt. As he picked up the piece I felt even more nervous. And with every bite he took I could feel myself gripping harder and harder onto my shirt.

After he finished the piece, he turned to me. “Did you really make this?” 

“Y-yeah. If it’s bad don’t force yourself to eat it. You can just leave it there if you want.”

He hesitated and looked down for a second. “It’s delicious.”

…

He sounded a little unsure. No, he sounded scared. “Uhm, are you sure? You don’t have to lie to me. You can be a hundred percent honest. I swear it won't hurt my feelings.”

“Yeah!” he now sounded enthusiastic. “This is way better than I expected. And the kitchen is still intact too.”

I crossed my arms with an exaggerated “Hmph. Hey! Be grateful I cooked for you.”

We shared a little laugh and then he got quiet. He slowly looked down at the food before saying, “Thank you.”

Sensing the mood was off I hesitated before answering. "Don't worry about it. It was nothing.”

“No, really… this means a lot.”

I smiled wide, my cheeks turning pink as I looked down at my hands, clearly flustered but glowing. “Y-yeah, no problem.”

“LET’S EAT NOW!” Aiko exclaimed, startling me.

“Y-yeah.”

Aiko and I quickly dug in. Despite cooking my steak well-done, I didn’t mind the taste. Maybe it's because I’m extremely hungry so everything tasted good to me. After eating, I started to feel a little woozy. I yawned into my hand, hoping no one noticed.

“Food coma hitting you too?” Aiko asked.

“Yeah, just a little.” I muttered.

“Hey, how about you get some rest after we finish eating and I can handle cleaning up. ”Jason offered.

“N-no don’t worry, I made the mess so it’s my job to clean up.”

“It’s fine, don't worry about it. Please—I can help.” Jason was being oddly stubborn about this. “Besides, tomorrow is Thursday so we’ll have an eight am. Can’t have you making us late again can we.”

"Alright, fine. But next time, I'll cook and clean up. After all, I still owe you." After eating, I quickly headed to my room so I could take a shower and get to bed.

“Aiko you’re not leaving yet?” I asked.

“Nah not yet, I’ll catch up with my buddy Jason for a bit.” Something in my chest twisted, but I kept my mouth shut. “Sweet dreams, Alice.”

I shot a look at Jason. “Yeah okay, thanks you for helping me. And... don’t stay up too late now.” I quickly rushed into the shower.

Why did I say that? I probably sounded like a dad telling his kids not to stay up. What's wrong with me?

 As I shower, my thoughts won’t stop racing.

What’s up with Aiko? Does she like Jason or something? She acts super friendly with him. But then again, she’s also really nice to me… so maybe she’s just like that with everyone? Ugh, why am I even thinking about this? So what if she does like him? It’s not like I like him or anything... right?

I groaned, leaning my forehead against the cool tile.

I don't know anything any more. But when Jason took a bite out of the steak. He smiled. It felt nice seeing him like that. I feel even better knowing that I was the cause of it.