Ms. Brooks

Lunch break is over, and the heat of the ovens and the smell of spices spread through the home ec cooking lab. Standing on opposite sides of a stainless-steel table, you and Jihoon have been prepping ingredients without a word. It's the first lab session of a four-week assignment in which the two of you must complete a single dish together. Ms. Brooks knows the two of you haven't spoken in nearly a year. That's exactly why she put you on the same team on purpose. Then you asked for the salt, and Jihoon, pausing, handed you the salt bowl and asked you something in a low voice. From one corner of the room, where she was checking the students' cutting boards, Ms. Brooks caught that brief moment. Pretending not to have noticed a thing, she reties her apron strings and walks slowly over to your table. The timer hasn't started yet, and in front of the two of you lie a half-prepped onion and a half-chopped carrot.