Cassandra The African Girl (COMPLETE) (EDITED)

Chapter 11

As I hesitantly opened and closed my mouth, my hand shook as the fork hovered near my lips. Conrad caught on to my hesitation and asked, "It's bad, right?"

"What! Noooo, nope, nah ah, no," I lied, attempting to mask the truth.

"You've said 'no' four times, that means you are lying. Come on, tell me," he insisted.

"Okay, yeah, it's sooooo bad, like really bad. Not even a hungry dog that hasn't eaten in years would touch this.... thing."

I continued to express my dissatisfaction with the food, forgetting momentarily that Conrad was sitting next to me. When I finally realized, I stopped talking abruptly and glanced at him, only to find him smiling. Why on Earth was he smiling? I had just criticized his cooking harshly. Was he a bit crazy or something?

"I'm sorry," I muttered, my shoulders slumping in confusion.

Still smiling, he replied, "I know my cooking is bad."

"What!" I exclaimed incredulously.

"Why would you try to make me eat that vomit-looking thing if you know it is horrible?" I snapped, momentarily forgetting his hypnotizing blue eyes, dashing smile, amazing brown hair, and cute one-sided dimple.

"I usually try this on many people and most of them have a bite, some even finish the whole thing," he explained, adding in a whisper, "Including Lin."

Lin had tried that thing? Despite her usual rudeness towards him? She wouldn't even say yes to him cooking, let alone taste it. "Let me show you how real cooking should be done," I declared.

"You know how to cook?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well, not exactly, but there's nothing Google can't do," I retorted.

"You do know Google is an app and it can't cook for you, right?" he teased with a sarcastic smirk. I shot him a threatening glare, but he chuckled, breaking the tension momentarily.

"I'm making chicken salad with rice and almonds," I announced, determined to redeem the culinary disaster.

"Can I be your assistant?" Conrad offered.

"Yeah, sure, why not," I replied, warming up to the idea. "I'll need you to chop the vegetables, wash the rice, and defrost the chicken," I instructed. "Oh, and also wash those dishes and maybe just clean the whole kitchen. It looks like a mess thanks to you."

His jaw dropped as I piled on more tasks for him. It was only after I finished speaking that he said, "I'm out."

"What? Where are you going, Conrad? Conrad!" I called after him, but he didn't even look back, shouting over his shoulder as he disappeared into his room, "I'm out, I'm going to my room."

Guess I'm on my own now!