(Y/n) and Taramasalata

Atem...you have a dashing smile. Perfectly coiffed spikey hair, flawless tan skin, a charming face, and confident eyes.

He's just like the prince I've dreamed of.❤

"...-zami... Miss Kazami."

I snapped out of my daydreaming and realized that I have been standing here in front of my classmates like an idiot while I thought about Atem.

"Please, introduce yourself." The teacher said. 

"Oh! Yes, of course." Feeling embarrassed and nervous, I fixed my posture and introduced myself to the class. "I'm from Hokkaido. My name is (Y/n) Kazami."

Most of the female students gasped when they heard my name.

"She's the one Atem kissed!?"

"Seriously? I'm so jealous."

"What's her connection to Atem?"

I sweat dropped as I noticed the visible jealousy the girls were showing.

Dear Miss Hagio,

I became quite famous on my first day of school.

But don't worry about me. I made friends like this...

"You can sit between Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler."

The teacher pointed to an empty desk that's between Yugi, the boy I met yesterday, and another male student with blond hair. The blond haired student had his feet on his desk and was leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head.

"Hey, Yugi!" I beamed as I set my school bag on my desk. "It looks like we have the same class together."

"I'm glad to see you again,  (Y/n)." Yugi says with a smile. He then gestures to the other student that's next to my desk. "Also, Joey is Serenity's brother."

My eyes widened in surprise as I turned to Joey. I didn't know Serenity had a brother.

"Uh, hello!" I smiled at Joey. "I didn't know Serenity had a brother."

Joey smiled back. Then, he looked at me up and down and hesitantly spoke in brooklyn accent.

"Uuhh...your zipper's down."

I went red with embarrassment while about almost all the students in room, except Yugi, giggled. 

"Don't say that so loudly!" I exclaimed as I whacked him with a fan, making him fall back in the process. 

🏆

After class was over, a male brunette student with a spiked pompadour walked up to us.

"Hey, guys!" The brunette greeted.

"Hey, Tristan." Yugi and Joey replied in unison. Yugi turns to me and smiles. "This is Tristan Taylor. He's a good friend of ours."

I gave Tristan a friendly smile and reached my hand out to shake his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Tristan." Tristan gladly returned the hand shake before pulling away.

"Likewise. So, what's your special talent?"

"Special talent?"

"Since you're in Class A, the special class, there must be something special about you."

I remembered yesterday's event when I first met Yugi, Atem, and Serenity. Everyone was surprised too when I told them I was in Class A. Tristan told me he won numerous motorcycle tournaments. Joey said confidently that he's really good at basketball and won at the nationals. Then another student walked up to us and said she won the Japan Violin Competition in the Junior Division. Another student mentioned winning the Ministry of Education Award for her oil paintings. It's starting to sound like the other students are bragging, now.

"But the most famous girl here is Anzu Mazaki." Tristan states. "She's known Yugi the longest."

At that moment, a female brunette with blue eyes walked up to us. Whoa...she's so...stunning!

"Nice to meet you, Kazami." Anzu greeted.

I immediately got up to admire her beauty. 

"Wow! You're so thin! Your face is so small! You're so fair-skinned! You're like a model!!"

"What are you saying?" Asked one of the female students. "She is a model. Haven't you seen the magazine Strawberry !?"

"She's super famous." Another female student says. "Every girl wants to be like her."

Anzu blushed at the praise her classmates were giving her.

"Wow, I didn't know." I smiled as I scratched the back of my head. "You guys are all amazing."

The two female students that praised Anzu got really close and they each gave me an irritated expression.

"So what about you? You have a talent, right? Like maybe you won something?"

I thought about it for a moment. I told them that I won the ramen-eating contest in Hokkaido. I also told them that I won the all-you-can-eat meat contest, and the ice cream contest, and milk-drinking contest. Everyone except for Yugi, Joey, and Tristan looked at me as if I was an idiot as I continued telling them about my food-related wins until I heard Joey burst into laughter. 

"Ha...hahaha haha! Your special talent is being a big eater!"

I was about to snap at Joey for his rude remark, but Yugi beat me to it. 

"Joey, don't make fun of her!" He said sternly to his friend. 

"Yeah, man. It's not like you're any different." Tristan retorted with a sly smirk. "We've seen how much you eat."

"Oh, that so? You think that makes you any better?!"

While Joey and Tristan argued, Yugi grinned at me.

"You know, I thought your special skill was gymnastics. After all, you did fall on top of me while you were climbing a tree the first time you and I met."

I nervously laughed at the memory and changed the subject. 

"Uh...what about you, Yugi? What are you good at?"

Yugi gave me a coy smile. 

"Who knows?"

"Yugi is good at games, and making them, too." Anzu says as she hugs Yugi from behind. "His skills were recognized by multiple gaming companies! Right, Yugi?"

Yugi removed Anzu's arms from himself and showed a solemn expression. 

"I quit all that. Let's drop the subject."

I haven't known Yugi long, but I know that I don't want him to show any negative emotion. Not towards something he loves to do,... nor towards someone close to him. 

"Yugi." I grabbed his attention. "I wouldn't mind trying out a game you created."

Yugi blushed, but he gave me a shy smile. 

"Okay. Maybe we'll play one together one day."

👩🏻‍🍳🧑🏻‍🍳👩🏻‍🍳

My mouth gaped open as I stared at the cafeteria menu.

What's with the high prices!?

The only thing I can afford is bread. With a heavy sigh, I sat at at empty table with my bread and a small carton of milk. I came to a weird school. Back at Hokkaido, Miss Hagio usually makes something good... like piping hot gratin and hearty stew...and...everyone at the table would...

I teared up at the memory of Miss Hagio and everyone at the Lavender House.

No, no.

I vigorously shook my head to pull myself together then I pulled out my spoon from my pocket.

My prince...I'm definitely going to find you. But how, in this huge school?

"Hey, do you remember me?"

I looked up to see a familiar face. It was Serenity. 

"Oh, hello Serenity!"

She smiled.

"Are you sitting here alone? Can I join you?"

My eyes shined and I immediately replied "yes".

"Can we join, too?"

Me and Serenity turned our heads to see Anzu followed by a couple other female students. The two other girls protested, but Anzu ignored them. Everyone in this school is so nice! After they took a seat, Anzu introduced the two girls to Serenity and me. Their names are Vivian Wong and Kaoruko Himekoji.

"So, (Y/n), I heard you met my brother." Serenity said as she pulls out her bento from her bag.

"Yeah, we share the same class." I giggled. "He seems fun."

"Is that your lunch?" Anzu asked me as she looked at my sorry excuse for a meal.

"Uh...yeah..." I replied, feeling embarrassed as I scratched the back of my head.

"The café here is trendy, buy it's not that good. That's why I always bring my lunch."

"Same here." Serenity chimes in. "The food here is a bit pricey... so I always make lunch for me and my brother. Sometimes I would bring lunch for Tristan, too."

I looked down at Anzu's lunch and became amazed.

"Wow! That's an amazing lunch!!" I breathed out in awe. "You have taramasalata!"

"My uncle is a chef at a restaurant, so he makes me lunch sometimes."

"That explains why your lunch looks so impressive!" Serenity adds, equally amazed at Anzu's lunch.

"(Y/n)," Anzu points to a pitcher of water that's close to me. "Can you get the water?"

"Sure." I reached my hand out to get the water when suddenly, Anzu's taramasalata fell off the table and got on her skirt.

"No..."

"Oh, no!" I tried to clean up the mess, but Vivian and Kaoruko pushed me out of the way, causing the pitcher of water to fall and spill all over me.

"Oh, no! (Y/n)!" Serenity rushed to my side and tried to use her handkerchief and some napkins to wipe the water off me.

"Are you okay!?" Kaoruko asked Anzu. 

"Geez." Vivian looked back at me with a disgusted look. "I bet you did that on purpose because you're jealous of her lunch."

I just stared at Vivian in shock at such an accusation until Serenity spoke up.

"How could you accuse (Y/n) like that?!" She exclaimed. "You two should apologize to (Y/n) for pushing her and making the water spill on her!"

As the three girls argued, a familiar baritone voice was heard.

"What's wrong?"

We turned towards the direction of the voice and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Atem. He was holding a tray of food. 

"Atem..." I blushed. 

"Oh, Atem!!" Kaoruko ran up to Atem. "Kazami dropped Mazaki's lunch."

"On purpose." Vivian added.

"No, it was an accident." I objected.

"Yeah!" Serenity cried out. "Enough with your false assumption!"

"It's my fault..." Anzu started to tear up. "I was the one who put it there."

Kaoruko and Vivian glared at me and Serenity. 

"Hey. Don't make Anzu cry, you big jerks!" They said in unison. 

"You two are the real jerks!" Serenity pointed a finger at the girl's in anger. "You're treating (Y/n) like a criminal before actually getting to know her better!"

"Atem," Vivian scoffed. "She has no special abilities and she's in Class A."

"I think she cheated to get in." Kaoruko added.

That accusation hurt me the most as Kaoruko continued her rant.

"For a normal girl to come into our class...you have some nerve. Just go back to Hokkaido where you belong."

Go home...to Hokkaido...

I miss everyone back at Hokkaido, but I can't leave yet! I gripped the spoon that's in my pocket and looked at the two mean girls straight.

"Sure, I'm just a normal girl, but I don't drop food on purpose, and I didn't cheat. I studied really hard to get in."

To meet him again...

I got to my feet without any hesitation. 

"You girls...you're so judgemental and critical of other people. Maybe you should go home so your mommies can teach you some manners."

Serenity agreed and we both stuck our tongues out at them. This pissed off Kaoruko and Vivian. 

"What did you say?"

"Hey, (Y/n). Catch!" Yugi called my name as he threw something towards me.

I caught the item and looked at it. It's a potato. 

"If you didn't do it on purpose, then just remake it. You can cook, right?" Our eyes met and Yugi gave me an encouraging smile. "And that'll settle the matter."

Anzu ran up to Yugi in protest. 

"No...there's no way she can remake it. My uncle is the chef at Cantina, a three-star restaurant."

"Cantina!? I've been there before!!" I happily said. 

Serenity offered to help me as we both went to the kitchen of the cafeteria and asked permission to use it. 

I'll never forget that taste...I went there with Mom and Dad...a pink potato in the middle of...colorful vegetables. It was like...a princess. 

"The potato turned pink..." Serenity says in astonishment as she looks at the almost finished dish.

"And to finish it off," I winked at Serenity. "The tiara!"

"Tiara?"

I went to the cabinet that had the spices.

"Cantina's taramasalata..." I reached my hand up and got on my toes to get the sea salt. "...used crystal sea salt from England. It's the best salt to use with vegetables."

I was having a hard time trying to get the sea salt, but fortunately, Atem came up and got it for me. I blushed at how close he was. 

"You can remember all that?" Atem asked with a smile. He looked impressed at my memory.

"Thanks." He gave me the sea salt. "I never forget a taste once I've had it."

I sprinkled the sea salt on the taramasalata. 

"Put on the tiara...and the princess is ready!"

I presented my dish to Anzu, Vivian, and Kaoruko. After they each took a bite, Anzu was speechless and Vivian and Kaoruko gasped.

"No way."

"It tastes just like Anzu's..."

I smiled at them.

"Good to hear."

One by one, the other students in the cafeteria tried the taramasalata I made and asked to have some also.

I know that everyone comes to the cafeteria. So, maybe he'll come, too.

My Flan Prince...

To Be Continued...