AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mom didn’t just text me a list. No, she also went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients “we” would be using as we made them together, on FaceTime.
Is that insane? Yes, yes, it is, but it’s not the first time Mom has taught me how to do something this way. Nope. No, it’s not. Because she has always worked like eighty hours a week, she’s talked me through the period meltdown on the phone in the middle school bathroom.
By the time all the ingredients for the fillings of each were cooked and mixed together, Leo, Ellie, Evan, Kameron, and Leah had joined “us” and helped with the wrapping and frying.
Cooking for the first time in the kitchen far surpassed my expectations. We created something cool together. Something that we learned from my mom … who also admitted that buying the wraps was cheating and promised we’d make them from scratch over Christmas break. She got a little uncharacteristically emotional telling me she hadn’t made them since she was a kid with herhalmeoni—grandmother in Korean.
“Hey,” I say, walking into the kitchen where Kameron and Evan are fussing over the crockpots. Two filled with pulled pork, and two with shredded barbecue chicken, both of which I helped make the sauce for the chicken and the rubs for the pork.
“Oven’s preheating to warm up the appetizers. You wanna grab the trays from the fridge?” Evan asks.
“We can—”
“No way. She’s done this from start; let her finish,” Evan cuts Kami off.
As I’m carrying the last cookie sheet from the fridge to the oven, Theo walks in and stops dead in his tracks. “Is that—”
“You bolted too soon, Rivera. You could have had a lesson from Riley’s mom on how to make fried dumplings and spring rolls,” Evan says, walking between us with a bag of rolls for the sandwiches.
“You made these?” he asks.
“I mean, we all did,” I say, setting the tray on top of the stove and moving to open the oven, but Theo beats me to it.
“They look amazing.”
* * *
When Kami getsa text from Cody saying they’re going to be late and to go ahead and eat, we do.
Tonight is the first time we all sit around the giant dining room table.
When Theo sits beside me, I notice his plate is missing one of the hot meat sandwiches and is filled with dumplings and spring rolls.
“Although flattering, you’re missing out.” I point my fork at the shredded chicken.
“I couldn’t break into the two hundred club no matter how much I ate. Would get to the point I’d eat so much just to meet that goal, I’d get sick. It’s been like that for years. This summer, my sisters worked at this place in town and brought dumplings and spring rolls home after their shifts. Loved them, so I started ordering like four nights a week and eat the hell out of them. I broke two hundred and kept on going. You’re going to have to teach me how to make these. I could eat a half a dozen of each every day.”
When I realize I don’t have the actual recipe, another realization hits. “She didn’t give me the recipe, because she wanted me to have to depend on her to do this.”
“Your mom’s awesome,” Evan says before taking a bite of a spring roll.
“She is,” I agree. “She really is.”
Chapter 17
Still The Longest Day Ever
Theo
Saturday September 7th
Dean,Drew, Cody, Hart, and Oz show up, and Riley doesn’t put space between us. She actually leans in even closer. That may be why when congratulations are given, I don’t feel one bit jealous when she high-fives the guys, including Oz.
When I knock knuckles with them all, Oz pulls me into a bro hug and whispers, “Appreciate the endorsement, man.”
“Come again?” I ask, a little fucking confused.
He looks at Riley then me and chuckles. “I know you didn’t endorse me to Riles, but you did throw my name in at the stadium today, and I appreciate that.”
