Vanilla

Forty Eight

A/N: Thank you everyone for your recommendations in the previous chapter! ^^ I shall watch all those anime you mentioned hehe. Although I'm currently laying off on the personal entertainment because I'm trying to find a part-time job (???writing??? earns?? nothing???) before school starts and it's a little difficult with the COVID situation ;-; 

If you're following my Instagram, you'll notice that I'm now a Wattpad Star :'DDD I have been for the past two weeks or so, but I haven't really quite thought of how to break it to you guys. Thank you for your endless support. I mean, how can I express that enough, aside from, as I have always done, conveying it through my words? After all, that is the bond we share. Words. 

Thank you, and enjoy.

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[Vanilla]

The power of a single, oblique slanting line—the slash—a likely representation of exclusivity between that which was on the left of the separation and the right. It hadn't struck me then, in that instance, what exactly it was the results had meant but the case was different for Birchwood, who, amidst the groans of frustration of those who hadn't made the cut, up and left the backyard moments after taking in the rankings displayed on the screen.

Chef Allan, the host of the live broadcast, had went on to give a brief explanation of the rubrics before moving on to the schedule for tomorrow and just like that, they'd ended the announcement.

The first thing I heard was Chen cursing under his breath, raising his gaze to Jean Mercier, the school's number five, before nodding in the direction Birchwood had left in. Sighing loud. Though even a fool would have understood that as a cue for non-conversation, I was anxious enough to go up to him despite the sour, heavy mood that had descended upon most of us.

"Sorry, um. I know you must be troubled and all... I mean, most of us are. Half of us didn't make it through, of course, but, um... what does the...? Does the number fifteen thing with both our names means that we're safe? As in, that our scores were tied and that we passed, together?"

"Yeah it's a tie but," Chen was having a hard time directing everyone back to packing up the place. "Ultimately, it's an either-or. Either you advance, or Birchwood does and honestly, it's not something very rare... last year we had three people tied for finals and the drama... man. All because the officials leave the final decision up to you guys. Some people host private one to one's for fair play. Others either back down or talk it out."

Needless to say, I had reason to suspect a dysfunctional grading system the interschool hadn't made transparent even up till this point in time. As a matter of fact, how was anyone to believe that I, a mere tasting spoon stationed at a fruit-cutting dessert table, was given scores equal to that of someone else who'd led the entire set-up team and saved the children from a nightmare of diabetic buttercream?

Albeit the requirement of some additional prompting by myself, I hadn't personally fixed the princess toast or had the interpersonal and leadership skills to ensure that everyone else was on task and assigned something adequate. This was a team segment, very much unlike the previous individually-focused round one and I couldn't help but attribute her lowered scores to the childish opinion of a certain overly-conservative judge.