Happy pancake (The fourth pancake) 5/5

“Come out,” I said, using Sky’s method of dragging her out the crowd. Finally, I turned around to talk to her when we had gotten out.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I yelled, not only so that she could hear, but also so that she could see I was angry.
“What?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” I yelled once again, before realising that the music and screams were too loud. I dragged her outside the hall before talking to her once again.
“Ah! Ah! My arm, it hurts!” she yelped, after being let go.
“What did you think you were doing in there?” I asked, hoping for a good enough answer that would explain why she had lied to me.
“Well, I-”
“-And what practise? What kind of practise is looking at someone else boxing?”
“Raina, please don’t be angry, look-”
“Hannie! Wake up from your dreams! He’s one of those guys! He won’t ever like you whole- heartedly. Trust me, haven’t you learnt from all those other guys you’ve dated?”
“Raina, I’m sorry! But he seems to be sincere.”
"Sincere about what? With you? You haven't even been out with him!"
"Trust me on this one...ok?"
“Alright, alright,” I finally came to agree. The only way to cross a river was to get over it.

Just then, I saw Sky through the window in the door. He gestured at me with his fingers, telling me to come over.
“Hannie, I’ll talk to you later, I need to go and do something first,”
“Ok,” she said, as she opened the door to find sky standing there. Hannie turned around to face me.
“I think he wants to talk to you,” she mouthed through the window.
“I know,” I mouthed back, before waving.
I waited for Sky to come out. He approached me with one hand in his pocket, and the other hand lying downwards to his body.
“You…how are you going to repay me?” was the first words that fell out of his mouth.
“Repay? Repay what?”
“Me…for helping you today,”
“What? No one said that you had to help me.” I asked, confused.
“Do you really think that I just help people? Get in the real world.There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”
“But…But you didn’t tell me that before!”
“Yes I did.”
“When?”
I began to rewind back to the time he told me that he knew where Hannie was. That liar.
“You didn’t!” I tried to argue through…though he had the same expression on his face which clearly meant that it hadn’t.
“Meet me at the front reception tomorrow after class.”
“Why?”
“You better not be late,”
“Why don’t I just not turn up ?”
“If you don’t, you’re going to regret it.”
“Why should I meet you?”
“I want you to do something for me.”
“You want me to help you with something?”
“I don’t want help from anybody. I just want you to do something for me.” He said stubbornly, “Don’t you forget,”
And with that, he walked off whilst whistling and swinging his keys in the air.
‘If he wanted help, he could’ve just said so.’

Happy pancake (The fourth pancake) 4/5

“What? I’m not in the mood, okay?” I said, before pushing Sky to the side. Normally, my friends would describe me as an ‘outgoing’ person, but I could turn so moody after a few disappointing situations.

“Wait!” He managed to yell to get my attention just before I was out of his sight, though he hadn’t even turned around to face me, “I know where they are,”
‘What was he talking about?’

I carried on walking, thinking he was talking to someone else. Besides, how would he know where Hannie was? She’s my best friend, and I don’t even know where she had gone. Just then, I felt someone grab my arm.
“Wow…seriously, you really are dumb,”
“What are you doing?”
“I said I know where she is,”
“Get off my arm,”
“Are you not going to ask me where she is?”
“Why would I trust you on that?”
“Look here, I’m telling you I know where she is, isn’t that what you want?”
I smiled in disgust. Who was he to get my trust?
“Fine, if you know, then where is she?”
Suddenly, he began to walk briskly down the corridor which lead to another flight of stairs, whilst tugging my arm. He ran down these stairs, which descended to the P.E department.
“Ow! Ow!” I cried, hoping he would let go of my wrist, but the more I cried, the more he seemed to ignore me.

“Aren’t you going to let go?!”
“Shut up! You’re going to give me a headache!”
Before I knew it, we had reached the corridor which led to the main sports hall. In that room, only tournaments took place after class. And like it sounded one was on at the moment. Loud music pounded through the doors to the rhythm of our footsteps- well more like his since mine was all over the place from being dragged. He pushed the door open with his other hand, and threw me in with the other.
I grabbed my wrist, feeling the pressure from his hand burn into my flesh. I wanted to beat him up, seriously…if only Hannie was here. Then, I saw her. The screaming and cheering made me look up, and that was when I saw her. She stood just below the stage, cheering someone on stage- and that person to me looked like someone I knew. Suddenly I realised.
“That…that guy standing on stage there,” I pointed at him to Sky, “isn’t he your friend,”
“So what? I thought we were here to find your friend, not hook up with people.”
“That wasn’t what I meant!” I responded, though there was absolutely no use talking to someone who wouldn’t listen.

I had to get a closer look. But there was one problem. A huge crowd of crazy fans, especially girls, stood around the stage, blocking my entrance to get to Hannie. I tried screaming above the music to be heard, but I could just not get Hannie’s attention. I sighed, there was only one way.
I began to make my way through the crowd, occasionally nearly being knocked over to my death. I was swayed side to side as I pushed my way through, as well as being yelled at by some girls who said I was “being in the way”. Finally, I managed to get close enough to the front to reach Hannie’s arm. I reached out and grabbed her hard. She turned around, before jumping from the shock of seeing me.
“Raina…what are you doing here?”

Happy pancake (The fourth pancake) 3/5

But all I could think of now was that Hannie was up to something- something she wouldn’t even tell me about…and she tells me everything! Suddenly, she stopped to talk to someone- someone who I did not recognise.

‘Probably an acquaintance,’

I stopped dead there, before slowly shifting to the side where I could lean and not be seen. Tilting my head sideways, I tried to identify the face of the person, but before I could even grab a glance, Hannie turned around. Immediately I ducked, hoping she hadn’t noticed. The crowd of footballers who I was hiding behind looked at me as if I were some kind of creep. I darted a glare at them, hoping that they would quit staring.

‘Please please don’t notice, don’t come this way…’

I looked around, wondering if I should get up and see if they were still talking. But my instincts kept me from doing it and instead, I spent a few minutes waiting. Feeling bored, I looked around at the marble floor that I was kneeling on. Someone must’ve polished it recently because it was so shiny that I could see my own reflection in it. I looked at my watch- it seemed a length of time that would be appropriate for Hannie to have stopped looking around. However-the next thing I saw was something that I immediately regretted once I saw. Sky- out of all people was looking right down at me, a few inches away from my face. I began to wonder how long he had been there for, since I had been looking at the floor all this time.
“Ah finally, I have gotten your attention,” he said, before smirking like he normally does.

“What the hell are you doing?” I said, hoping that he would retreat immediately. However, he didn’t move a single muscle whilst looking right at me. He was so close I could feel his breath tingling on my cold cheeks which soon became warm. My body began to feel sweaty- did someone turn on the heaters?
I gulped, “Hey, if you aren’t going to back off, you’ll have to deal with the consequences…”
“What consequences?” he said, as he began to examine my face. I began to feel uneasy- was there something wrong with me for him to be looking at me so intently? I began to wonder if I had accidently stuck the note (which I had tried to pass to Hannie earlier today) on my forehead. I reached up, stroking the skin under my fringe- but nothing.
“This,” I said, before pushing him so he fell to the ground. It was so easy to make someone who was kneeling fall over. I quickly ran whilst I had the chance.
‘That was close,’

However, as I looked up, Hannie had gone and it was all because of that stupid jerk. Now there was no way that I could find her…damn him…damn him. I sighed, before turning back to head to the directions of the door. So close, and yet so far away.

“Ow!” I shouted, as my head compressed against a hard object. Thinking it must’ve been the exit door, my hand stretched to the left where the button which opened the doors must be. However, nothing was there. Feeling confused, I finally decided to look up.
“Huh?!” I said, before jumping. Suddenly, my mind flashed back to when I was 9 and watching Scooby Doo jump onto Shaggy whenever he saw a monster. I really wish I was Scooby Doo right at that time.
“Did you think you could just get away like that?” He said, before I realised that Sky was supposed to be that door. Seriously, why on earth was someone like him attending our school?

Happy pancake (The fourth pancake) 2/5

"Class, please concentrate, I know that this is the first lesson in the morning and it's hard. I know- I've done it all before. I was a child before- and we’ve all got to learn-but you've got to concentrate. Lots of kids in this world don't have the opportunities that you have, and it would be great if you value the things that you are able to be in hold of,"

As he carried on going on with his lecture, he was too busy to notice what we were doing. I whispered to get my neighbour's attention.
"What?"
"Pass it on!"
"Oh, is that what you were saying earlier? I thought this was a note for me or something. Because you know Valentine’s Day is coming up-"
"Just pass it on!"
"Ok, ok," he muffled, quickly sliding it onto the edge of Hannie's desk, though she didn't even notice. She rested her head on her arms, looking across the room at someone. I turned to face the direction which she was looking at- though I really shouldn't have. There, sat the guy made her words jumble when she was asked a question. The guy who made her hands shake, even when the bus driver just asked for her ticket. I sighed, she was in love, and she definitely was.

How can she fall for a guy like that? - I mean seriously…but at least it wasn’t some Gay man like it was last time… But I guess he was kind of cute…

***

"Hannie, wait, you walking home?" I said, after grabbing her arm because she was rushing, and it would've been unlikely that she would've heard me.
"Oh, Raina, you're here?"
"Yeah- like I always am...waiting for you,"
"Oh, is that so?" she replied. She really did not make a single sense to me at all...
"Yeah, so...are you walking?"
"Erm...no, you go ahead, I'm going to do some practise," she said, smiling whilst biting her bottom lip. She was up to something. I knew it.
"Oh, ok, well, I'll see you tomorrow then," I smiled at her patiently.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," she said, though it looked like she just repeated what I said. Curiosity filled my mind- I had to see what she was up to. I took my phone from my jacket.

I fumbled at the keypad before eventually getting through to Mike.
"Hello?" I heard Mike's voice speak.
"Mike, it's me. I can't make it today-"
"Why is something up?"
"Yeah, you go ahead- I'll speak to you tomorrow,"
"Hey-"
I hung up the phone before I lost sign of Hannie. Just as I put my phone away, I saw her turn into a corner.
'Right, let's see what you're up to,'

I began to follow her up towards the flight of stairs that led down to the P.E department. Crowds of muddy football players stood around at the corridors, as I made my way through the gaps, occasionally knocking into someone. ‘Sorry’ was all I had time to say- though I would’ve probably said the same even if I did have a lot of time.

Happy pancake (The fourth pancake) 1/5

“You promised your mum that you would get 5 new experienced workers within 2 weeks?! Are you crazy?”
“No,” I said, as I walked to the next isle of books.
“How on earth are you going to do that?” Questioned Hannie, realising that she had caused a scene and even now, the librarian began to stare at her. She awkwardly looked away, picking up a random book from the shelf.

“Well, I’ll give it a shot anyway- it’s the last chance to save Sunny Pancake,” I whispered, before putting a book back between two other ones.
“Wow- you really have gone crazy haven’t you? Is it that guy- what was his name- sk- ski- sky…sky! That’s the one. Wow, he really can be quite cruel to girls can’t he? Did he do anything to you? Are you hurt anywhere?” she asked, placing a hand on my forehead as if to see if I had a fever.
“What is this?” I said whilst looking at her concerned expression. I grabbed her arm and pulled it away from my forehead.

“How am I crazy? You’re the one who still won’t tell your best friend who you’ve been with for the past couple of weeks!”
“Ok, ok. I was wrong, ok?”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell me?”
“No- do you think I’m stupid?”
“Hey!”

***

"What's up with her?" Yen whispered across the table. I turned to look at Hannie, who stared into space, unaware that the teacher had asked her a question.

"Hannie...Miss Yoon?"
"Eh?" She answered quickly, shocked, after realising that she was in class.

"What is the answer to this equation?"
"Equation? Oh...um…I’m not sure…78%?"

"Wrong!" he shouted, slamming a ruler onto the desk frighteningly as he said it, making the whole class jump.

"The answer is 0.051- it's not even supposed to be a percentage. I've given you the easier question and yet you still haven't managed to tell me the correct answer. Now, what does this tell me Miss Yoon?"
"I'm sorry sir,"
" ‘Sorry’ isn’t good enough, 'I will try my hardest next time' is the correct answer to that,"
"Yes, I will try my hardest next time,"

Our maths professor shook his head with disbelief, but he carried on with the lesson. I began to write on a piece of paper, carefully ripping around the edges so it didn't make a loud noise. I passed the note to the person on the left, mouthing to them to pass it to Hannie. He looked confused, holding the piece of paper like I'd just given him a toilet roll.

"Pass it on to Hannie," I mouthed with big gestures. I spotted sir turn his attention to us in the corner of my eye; I turned back to face the front. He looked at the class suspiciously like we were planning a surprise for him.

Happy pancake (the third pancake 4/10)

“Thank you,” I whisper over to Yen whilst heading back to our seats. She nods in my direction, to show that she’s very welcome.
“Raina, just because you’ve finished with your presentation, doesn’t mean that you can talk over others,” Miss Tock manages to argue again, as I squeeze into my seat.
“I’m sorry,” I say, apologising for the thousandth time.

“You’re really good..,” I say, “You’re a new student here?”
“Yeah, transferred here just a few weeks ago,” she says, though it’s quite obvious, seeing as she seems new to all the things going on at school.
“Really? Whereabouts? Up north? Down south?”

“America,”

America?! Seriously?!

“America? Why didn’t you stay there? It’s much better than this place!”
“Spending money, and partying all night? I think it’s much nicer here,”
“It’s quiet here,”

“Yeah, so much quieter,” she says, smiling again, looking down this time whilst fiddling with her hands.
“So, are you here alone?”
“Nah, I came here because of my brother. My parents made him move here, so I came along. Might as well make the most of studying design anyway.”
“Your brother comes to this school as well?”
“Yeah- he’s doing bakery studies,”
“Really? I do too- I don’t think I’ve met him yet,”

“Oh don’t worry; you won’t miss my brother,”
I laughed. He was probably just as nice as she was.

***

“Raina! Raina,” a voice shouted. I rolled around in bed, trying to get back to sleep.
“Raina? Come on, get up!”
This time, it was accompanied by the knock of a door. I could tell it was mum’s voice- seemed desperate.
“What?”
“You’ve overslept! It’s 2pm now- customers are flooding in. Your uncle rang up ill, so you’re going to have to help a bit,”
“What? Can’t I just sleep a little bit longer?”
“No!”
“Ah- fine,” I said, stretching and slowly getting out of bed. I reached for the headband I left on the table and put it on my head. I ran downstairs and flung open the door. Unexpectedly, the number of people grew on me.
“Wow…mum?”
“Yes?”
“Why are there so many people today?”
“Oh- come in the kitchen with me, I’ll explain.”

She grabbed my elbow and pulled me to the kitchen.

Happy pancake (The third pancake 3/10)

I notice that everyone around us talking about a PowerPoint, and realise that I must’ve been daydreaming.

“Right- let’s start,”
She gets up from her seat, and moves it closer towards mine. I can smell her leather jacket, and the overwhelming use of perfume. I look at her again- she seemed like one of those business women who could go around, and have lunch at good restaurants like ‘EAT.’
“So if you do the presentation, and I do the research,” she says, flicking through a book which she takes from the shelf she’s sitting in front of.
“Erm…Yenny…can I call you that?”
“Most people call me Yen, but yeah?”
“Oh sorry. Ok, Yen. This is really embarrassing…but I don’t know what we’re doing…”

“We’re making a presentation on the design of a product,” she says, still flicking through her book.
“Oh,” Is all I say, looking at everyone else. I try to understand what they’re doing- but none of the information occurs to me.
“What bit don’t you get?” She immediately says after, like a dog to a stick.
“Just…everything,”
“Look here,” she begins- and soon enough, she explains everything in detail, as if it were the back of her hand. She goes through Miss Tock’s notes, and everything suddenly seems clear.

“Oh…it’s all very simple,”
“Come on, let’s get cracking,” She smiles- as she does a lot.

Before we know it, our names are called up. I stand beside the computer, directing the PowerPoint, and Yen offers to do the presentation. As she starts speaking, the whole room goes quiet- most of the guy’s mouths are hanging wide open, and the other girls are staring at jealousy. Sometimes- especially times like this, I wonder whether they are in awe at her beauty, or her intelligence.
“This medium-sized lunchbox is what I think would be best for a child to eat in. It comes in a circle shape which is unique to all other lunchboxes, and its lid has a cute feature to it. The goggle eyes on the lid are sure to capture a child’s heart. Unlike most lunchboxes- its unique selling point is the fact that it has two layers which isn’t so distinctive- but is useful to most guardians, since they won’t have trouble finding space to pack food in. The only thing it cannot store is water bottles- however, the advantage is that it won’t be so heavy to carry- or the thought of the clumsiness of the child may get it wet,”
Everybody laughed, and even Miss Tock smiled (which technically never happens). I stare at her with relief…but also with astonishment- how on earth had she managed to that all herself?!”
“Well done Yen…but Raina- you didn’t say anything. Surely you have something to say about the product?”
“Well…err-”

“-Forgive her miss, she did most of the PowerPoint, but she was too shy to present her own ideas,”
“Okay- fair enough. I think you guys would be happy to know that you both passed with an A plus grade. Well done for your hard work!”
“Yes!” Yen said, grabbing the air with her fist. She turned to look at me, and quickly did a small wink.

Happy pancake (The third pancake 2/10)

***

“Raina…Raina Park?”
I hear a voice from the back of my mind, slowly drowning out my dreams. I try and ignore it, telling myself that it’s an illusion.
“Raina!”
I jump up from my seat. Miss Tock stares at me, after waking me up from hitting her ruler hard on my table a couple of times. My ears feel like they’re splitting from the noise, but I focus harder on her stare, than her actions.
“Listen,” She demands, “No falling asleep in my lessons…do you hear?!”

“Yes,”
I rub my eyes tiredly, looking from left to right. I am in a classroom, though I don’t even remember getting there. I notice a girl, sitting on the right hand side of me. She focuses intently on the PowerPoint, making careful notes in her notebook. I try to get a proper glance of what she’s writing- but she notices, and smiles at me.
I quickly look away, hoping she’s not thinking badly of me, and take my diary out of my bag.
Instead of making notes, like everyone else, I decide to doodle drawings on the inside cover. I draw a flower, and colour it in with my blue ball point pen. I notice the same girl looking at me, as if she’s interested in what I’m doing. I look at her, as she makes eye contact.
“What you doing?” She whispers, leaning across her table. I look at her, surprised.
Was she talking to me?

I look around the room, but no one looks back at her. I point to myself, asking her whether she’s talking to me. She nods, and smiles.
“Flowers,” I tell her, and Miss Tock notices. She glares at me again, but lets it pass.
“They’re really pretty,” she says, looking at them admirably.
“Thanks,” I smile at her.

“I’m yen by the way,” She tells me.
“I’m Raina,”
“My mum’s called Raina,”
Coincidence or luck?
“Really? But the name ‘Raina’ is really rare,” I ask her, astonished.
“Yeah, pretty weird? Huh?”
“Mmm,”
I notice she’s wearing the boots I saw last week ago with Hannie. I had wanted them so much, and I resisted going home before buying it- though I never bought it in the end. They were Brown Gucci’s, and they fitted her perfectly like a sock.
“Nice boots,” I say, realising that it was a weird comment to point out.
“Thanks,” She says, looking down at them, “Got them from the shopping centre a few days ago.
“Oh I see,” I say, trying to keep the conversation flowing. Someone up there seriously hates me- and they’re using any situation they can to rub it in my face. The boots I really wanted- and now someone else has them first.
I look at her a few more times, trying to remember her face the next time I see her- but get distracted when I realise that all her clothes are branded.
She must be rich…why do all transfer students seem to be rich?
I see her mouth something to me. I look at her again, trying to figure out what she was saying.
“Let’s work together,” I hear her whisper.

Happy pancake (The third pancake 1/10)

“Raina…get down here…right now,” Hannie commands, hearing sounds of presence in her house.
I look down at her, twenty feet above the ground…she was really crazy, she must be really crazy.
“Like now, now?”
“Yes…now!” She screeches.
I climb down the branches of the tree, as fast as each second stroke. My sweaty palms made each grip seem weaker, as I tumbled down the tree, my feet going one after the other. My heart pounded loudly in my chest, making me reminisce the sound of rocks, falling down a waterfall. I knew I was in deep trouble, if I didn’t get down in time. And Hannie would be also.
“Hannie…is that you?” I heard her mum ask. Her voice was followed by the sound of rough floorboards, creaking noisily.
“She’s coming up!” I whisper, panicking.
“Hurry up, Raina!” Hannie rushes me, beckoning me to climb faster.

Finally, I’m able to grab the last branch, and jump off just in time. Hannie grabs my arm, and we head behind a series of trees, which run vertically along a pathway.
“She’s gone,” I heard Hannie say, breathing heavily. We look at each other, and burst into laughter.
“That was a close one,” I say, sweating heavily. If she made me do anything this nerve wracking, I wouldn’t go through it all again.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” I manage to say between my breaths.
“Good crazy, right?”
I laugh, resting my head against the bark of the tree, looking up at the blue clear sky.
“What you gonna do about it now?” I ask her, after regaining back the circumstances of the situation.
“I don’t know…” she sighs, rolling her head over to look at me, “What should I do, Raina?”
“Stop taekwondo…stop doing it,”
“Are you mad?! It’s my life…what would you do if you had to give up bakery?”
“I…I’m not sure either- not sure if I’d have anything to look forward to,”
“Exactly my point,”
We stop for a minute, whilst regaining our voices and our heartbeats. I breathe the air that gently brushes past our faces. Suddenly, I realise that sky’s still standing there, arms crossed, and looking at us from above.
“Let’s go,” I say, looking at him, straight in the eye.
“Go where?”
“Back home,”

“Raina..I’m standing outside my house…”
“…oh…yeah, that,” I say, looking like a complete idiot.
Well done Raina, very well done.

Happy Pancake (The second pancake part 5)

“Ah...crap! Help!” I screamed before falling off and landing right onto my backside. My trousers were all covered in mud and my palms ached as I tried to position myself up straight.
“Ouch! Why didn’t you catch me?”
“You’d probably kill me if I were to catch you!”
“Hannie!”
“You know I’m only just kidding...right?”
She sighed, “Right...so how are we going to do this?”
“Wow...this looks kind of stupid...” I muttered to Hannie, hoping she would change her mind. I began brushing the bits of grass off my trousers.
“And so it is,”
“Hannie...enough of you teasing me okay? I’ve already got mud all on the back of my trousers, and I still have an essay to write after school today. But here I am, trying to steal keys. I thought you said you’d stop contradicting me now- whhh...?!” I screamed, without finishing off my word.
I saw his face again. The person who I feared most would appear in my life again, was standing at the window looking down at me.
“You, you-Bastard! What on earth are you doing up there?” I asked, hoping that what he was about to say, was not what I was hoping he was not going to say.
“It’s my house...why? Shocked?”
“What?”
“Seriously...why is it whenever I talk to you, I always have to repeat what I say?”
“Stop making jokes and get out of that house- who let you in...are you robbing the house?” I gasped, trying to get a grip of the situation.
“Are you really that dumb?! I just said that I live here! Have you got a problem with that?”
“Yeah-stop making up nonsense!”
“Raina...” Hannie muttered, “There was a renovation last three weeks ago for the person moving in remember?”
“You said?” I whispered back, hoping he wouldn’t overhear.
“Who is that Raina...?” Hannie asked suddenly out of the blue, making me jump. I darted a stare at her, hoping to give the impression that he was the sort of someone you’d meet...and never wanted to meet again.
“Your friend asked who I was...aren’t you going to tell her?” he said, smiling his agonising face that made me want to go up there and punch him.
“Oh…him?”
“Yeah,”
“Oh, just a jerk that doesn’t have any manners,”
She snorted loudly, and I was glad she did for the first time. An offended expression crossed his face…
Bonus! First point goes to me for annoying him.
“Hey,” Hannie nudged me, before pushing me down with her shoulders, so that my ear was in level with her mouth. She whispered to me, “but don’t you think he’s quite good looking?”
“A man with no manners nor personality is nothing, why don’t you have him?”
“Okay,” she smiled at me.
At that moment, I thought she was joking. But as I’ve come to realise, she never is.
“Hey!” She yelled, waving her arms to get his attention.
I quickly covered her mouth so she could speak no more to him. He started at us in confusion.
“Hannie...don’t please...you’ve got the complete wrong guy, he won’t do anything for you...you really deserve someone better,”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Hey- you’re just saying that because you don’t want me to be with him right?”
“What? No!”
She looked at me curiously...as if I had some deep dark secret hidden from her.
“Look Hannie- he is definitely the last person that you would want to be with, even for one minute!”

Only after a few seconds, did we realise that we still had to get Hannie’s kit before anything else. We exchanged glances. Suddenly, we got out of our seats and carried on plotting the plan, as if nothing had happened at all.
“Right, you try climbing that tree again, and I’ll check to see if there’s any signs of them,” she spoke, confidently, like if nothing could possibly go wrong.
“But why can’t you just get in through the front door, and take the keys from their room?” I questioned, wondering why I hadn’t asked the same thing before.
“That’s because mum and dad have locked their rooms- they always do that before they go out. They’re worried that burglars will break through the front and take all their stuff…”

“-And yet, they didn’t seem to think about the fact that the burglars could just as easily get into the house through the back door?”

Hannie shrugged mindlessly- concentrating more on the amount of time we had left.
“Raina,” she said, looking at her watch, “you go climb that tree now,”
“Ok,” I replied, knowing I had no choice.
One foot after the other, I quickly reached the top in no time. All I had to do now was bring my foot over the bridge of the gate, and pull myself over.

“Raina…you okay?” Hannie asked, noticing I had abruptly stopped in mid air.
“Hang on, give me a second…” I said, trying to get my breath back.
“Dear dear- look at you. I’m really going to have to give you some fitness training when we get back,”
“Just give me a sec,” I said, quickly taking two more breaths as I pulled myself over. I was finally on the landing, and all I needed was to break into the room, and take the keys.
“Right, Raina…do you see a window?” Hannie called.

“Errr,” I hesitated, whilst looking round. Finally I had spotted it, “Yes!”
“Ok, slide it open,”
I did as I was told, being careful not to make too much noise to attract attention from unwanted guests.

“Raina…” Hannie cried. I could tell immediately by the seriousness of her voice that she was going to say something bad.
“Don’t tell me…”
“My parents are home.”

Happy Pancake (The second pancake part 4)

“What?! Hannie, are you crazy?! How are you going to do it with the state of your hand?!”
“Don’t worry- I have that covered…but I just can’t wait. I’m starting next week…and I need to get all my kit out of my old cupboard without my parents knowing…so any tips on how I’m going to do that?”
“Don’t be silly- how are you going to do that? They’ve locked the cupboard with keys that are probably with their other keys…so how are you going to get that?”
“That’s why I’ve asked you to help me…come on!”
“Mmm…I don’t think it is a good idea…”
“Oh come on Raina…you’re supposed to be my friend!”

“I know, I know…”
“Well…are you coming?”
“We’ll have to think of a plan first,”
“We don’t need one! We need to do something practical…something that would really work.
“Hey- this does not include me going into your parent’s room to steal anything…does it?”
“Only just…but better…”

***

To be honest- it’s not relatively normal to find two nineteen year old kids, fully mature, breaking into their best friend’s house, by climbing up a tree to get through the window. Nor is it normal for someone like me to agree to this crazy idea from an insane friend... Yes- as crazy as it was- I was made to do it...because that’s just how Hannie is . Once she’s got an idea, she forces you to go with it, no matter how dangerous or what consequences there will be to face.
“Raina...place your left foot onto the lower trunk!”
“What? Why?!”
“So you can get onto the higher one...obviously!”
“No! I really can’t do this...”
“Oh come on- you’re not that much of a chicken are you? Besides- you’re nearly there!”
“I’m afraid of heights...and you know that!”
“Oh...just listen, don’t look at me!”
“Too late...ah, shit...I really can’t do this!”
“Argh, we’re never going to make it before my parents if you’re going at this rate!”
“Hannie...do we really have to do this?”
“Yes!”
I closed my eyes and reached for another branch. Just as I was going to put my foot on another branch- my soles of my shoes lost grip, and I was slipping…

Happy Pancake (The second pancake part 3)

I waited around for Hannie so I could tell her about my first school day after the holidays…but she didn’t come. I stood around at the lockers, hoping that she’d appear soon, as she always did whenever it was the end of school. I decided to wait a little while longer anyway, with the hope that she did not already leave.

But that curiosity did not last very long. I heard her run up to me, grabbing me on my soldiers, whilst bringing herself over me.
“Raina!” she laughed, whilst being piggy-backed…by me…
“Hannie, get off! My shoulders are hurting!”
“Oh, sorry!”
She got off, smiling as she did so. She swung her bag over her shoulders, smiling as she did so. She looked at me, smiling as she did so.
“Don’t do that…”
“Do what?”
“Smile at everything you’re doing…in that creepy way.”
“What? Am I smiling now?”
“Yes, Hannie. You’re smiling…a lot.”

“Ah, sorry...” she said, smiling.

“So what happened?” I asked.

“Do you really want to know?”
“Course I do…wait, it’s not another guy this time…is it?!”
“Wait, no no no no no.... It’s not,”
“You just plotted against an ex?”
“No,”
“You just pranked someone’s locker,”
“No,”
“You-”

“Raina!”
“Yeah?”
“The martial arts club have finally accepted me in the audition!”

Happy Pancake (The second pancake part 2)

“Right…you do all the work, I can’t be bothered to do such lame things in my precious time,”

“What?” I said, hoping I was mistaken and that it was only out of my imagination.

“Are you deaf- or just clearly stupid?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m telling you to do the work woman- what part of that do you not understand?”

“Oh my…are you being serious?” I said, ripping the hat off my head and throwing it to the table. I breathed heavily, holding my fist high in the air.

He looked at me, leaning backwards with his eyes wide open.

“Is that a way to talk to someone? Say what you want? Hey- ‘just do all the work whilst I sit here and enjoy my day?’ Is it, is it?!” I shouted and poked at him, seconds later whacking him and lastly punching.

Indeed, I shall now tell you that it was only my imagination, and that it was only my dream of beating the guy. But yes, unfortunately, being the pushover, I could only say ‘yes’ and do what I was told. Unfortunately, that was the worst mistake, because not only having been told what to do. I was now getting told off for it.

“Ray…Rain?”

“Raina, miss. “

“Ahh...what is it your doing exactly?”

“I’m doing what you asked us to do…”

“And what is that exactly?”

“Remaking the apple crumble you showed us in the demonstration?”

“Yes…but in a pair- not by yourself.”

“Well miss, it’s not that…it’s just-“

“Ok- can’t you just share the work with Sky…he has to learn too,”

“But he said-”

“What did he say? And please don’t refer to your classmates as ‘he’ or ‘she’. Call

them by their names please,”

‘Sky…so that was the name of the rude bastard’ I thought.

“Erm… yes miss,” I said…not bothering to explain to her that in truth- I was the

actual victim here. Especially when your new cookery teacher is some arrogant

woman who only backs up ‘the good looking’. Besides, I don’t think she’d believe

me anyway. I turned around to face him after she left to talk to another group, and

all he did was smirk.

“Got told off for the first time miss goody?”

Though I tried my hardest to hold all my anger in- I just could not stop clenching my fists. All I wanted to do was the crush the guy. My teeth gritted together and my hands began to shake and clench even more. Without realising, I had ripped the piece of dough in half that we were supposed to be using.

I looked up after hearing a gasp, and saw the face of a pale lady with her mouth hanging wide open.

“Raina! Please stand outside!” she scolded when she had seen what I had done.

For the rest of that period, I stood outside, looking down at my worn out shoes. To be fair, if I had really become that annoyed at him- I would’ve cut out his tongue and fried it (just kidding…but seriously).

I peered through the small window in the door to see what that jerk was doing. And for some reason…I could not see him. I looked from wall to wall and no sign of him. Eventually…when the teacher noticed that I was distracting my classmates, she darted her stare at me again so that I would turn away. However, that would not keep me from finding that insolent child.

Moments later when I was sure she wouldn’t look at me, I peered through the window again. However, unexpectedly, a face jumped at me from the opposite side of the glass.

“Aaaahhhh!” I shrieked, quickly putting a hand to my mouth to stop myself from screaming to the shock that nearly killed me. I lay on the wall, quickly trying to get my breath back. It was only moments later till I realised that it was the face of the evil bastard. The door then opened, and he strolled out as if nothing happened.

“You!” I said to stop him before he walked past me. But he carried on walking as if he heard nothing.

“Hey! You bastard!”

He stopped dead in his tracks with his hands in his pockets, and that made me gulp. Without turning round to face me, he said

“What did you just call me?”

“Are you deaf…or are you just dumb?”

“Hey…if you’re playing my own jokes on me… I will-”

“What are you going to do about it? You have nothing so highly about you anyway.

people like you just eat and sleep and don’t even care about their own education,”

“People like me?” He said, coming toward me, closer and closer as I spoke.
“Yes- Bastards like you!”

“Bastards?” He asked in disbelief, laughing it off, “Then what are you? You’re just a little commoner who has no property, status, or looks,”

“What?”
He laughed in my face and smirked again, “Do you think you have more property than me?”
“What are you seriously talking about?”
“I said, do you have more property than me? Do you have more land? Do you have more money?”
“What does that have anything to do with what we’re talking about?!”

“And what did you call me? A bastard?” he laughed, and leaned right close to me against the wall. I tried to escape from him, but he placed his arms on each side of me, making me feel trapped.

“Yes- a b-a-s-t-a-r-d,” I said spitting into his face.

“You’re going to regret that,” he said, wiping it off in disgust.
I wished that his annoying smile would wipe off with his hand too.
Before realising, the teacher came out of the room, staring at us in confusion.

“You lot, what happened?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said, pushing him off me, as he fell into the opposite wall. I rushed into the classroom, hoping I would never see him again.


***

“I hoped you all learned something good today- and I hope that some of you,” she said, darting her eyes at me, “Learn to get along with each other. Very well, that’s me done. Class dismissed,”

As everyone got up to leave, I quickly stuffed my diary into my bag before heading towards the door. I reached for the doorknob, and just about when I was about to turn it, she stopped me again.

“Raina…could you come over here please,”

I turned around, and plopped myself onto a seat in the front row.

“I hope you’ve learnt a very good lesson today- that we should all respect our peers…no matter who they are and what they do…we have to accept them for who they are,”

“But I’ve already told you- it wasn’t me who was doing the disrespecting!”

“I don’t believe that…you know too well about the school here. Sky couldn’t be much of trouble- he’s only just transferred here 2 weeks ago and school life’s been pretty tough on him,”

‘Yeah- that’s a good excuse to use,’ I thought as I imagined sky to be acting sickly innocent in front of her face.

“Ok- that’s all I’ve got time for- you better start going home now- and get some good night rest as well as thinking about what you did in the morning,”

“Ok…” I said, not bothering to repeat what I had said a few minutes ago.

Happy Pancake (The second pancake part 1)

Chapter 2

When I was little, holidays were always my favourite times of the year- cause you know, when there’s no school, meaning no homework? Yeah, well I was like every one of the other kids, who spent their holidays watching television and doing…well absolutely nothing. But now, going to university was more enjoyable. First of all there was using time wisely- there was so much more to do- so much more to learn.

I finished secondary school two years ago, and moved onto university to study cookery and desserts. It’s more exciting than most people think.

Hannie says that I was ‘born to do cooking’ which really boosted my confidence up- especially since I had no confidence to begin with. I remember really hating working at the pancake shop after school. It was the same and monotonous every time. I walked into the shop: I got out the plates, I put the pancakes on them, and I served them. Yeah- it was pretty boring I must admit to you.
But as I grew up, I actually learnt how to make the pancakes myself, and I even made some of my own toppings- like the banana and peanut butter one- which tasted delicious. They were on sale and the top sellers for almost 2 months. And now, I’ve come to here.

This is what most people don’t get. You should always do what you want- not what somebody else wants. It’s your future you’re talking about, so you have to make it happen. That’s why my parents are always so nervous about what I want to do. They don’t want me to pick the wrong thing, but I know I haven’t because…I love what I’m doing now.

Right, so starting Monday morning off with a long bus journey…great! No, not so great. It’s a bit of a pity that I can’t drive. If only I could- there are so many places that I can go in the matter of time. And somehow, I’m stuck here in the middle of a long traffic jam and I have a feeling that I was going to be late on the first day of my second year.

There was going to be no way I could make it out on time. I popped out of my seat and headed towards the driver, before tapping on his window screen. He turned to look at me with an annoyed expression.

“Erm…sir, how long is it going to take to get to Geordan street?”.

Additionally, I was going to ask him if he could take a different route, but somehow I couldn’t. His eyes stared at me, like how a cat would stare at a ball of wool.

“Well at this rate, probably half an hour…”

“But…I’m going to be late!”

“I’m sorry love, this traffic is going nowhere, and it’s not just you who isn’t.”
I sighed, and headed back. I was going to be extremely late if I didn’t make a move on. That’s when I got off the bus, and ran.

***

Running towards the hall, I saw a few other students walking in. I looked around for a seat just until I heard someone call my name. It was Hannie. She waved her arms in the air frantically, signalling for me to come over.

“Raina! Come on!”
I sneaked quietly towards them, nearly falling over a few times and stumbled as I made my way through the hall.

“Ouch!” A student cried, after accidentally stepping on her feet.
“I’m sorry!”
“Watch where you’re going,” Another replied.
“Sorry,”

However, I finally managed to get there and placed myself onto the seat next to hers.

“Where were you?” she whispered at me.

“Traffic,”

“Oh, well that isn’t a surprise,”

“Hey, what are you trying to say?”

“Hey, I’m only joking,” she laughed

“Look at my clothes!”
They were dripping wet, especially my shoes that squelched whenever I moved my feet. I sat there hoping the assembly would finish sooner so I could quickly go and dry up. But instead, it seemed to last forever. People in the front row began to droop off.

“What time is it?” I sighed with utter annoyance in my voice.

“Just gone 10 past…”

“What?! Are you kidding me?” I shouted. Everyone from the row in front turned to look at me.

“Sorry,” I whispered to them and then they turned back as if nothing happened.

“I know- even your clothes have started to dry up,”

“You got that right,” I sighed, and carried onto squeeze all the water out of my hair that fell onto the now- wet floor.
Another few minutes passed by, and when the professor finally managed to put a close to the assembly, everyone was relieved to get up and leave.

“Why can’t they just last for one minute- besides, it’s not like you have much to say anyway,”

“It wasn’t that bad- I mean compared to our last ones,”

“Yeah- but all it is, is just ‘Hey guys, I hope you all had a nice holiday, now study hard and don’t get drunk! That really did not need 40 minutes I tell you!”

She chuckled, and she threw a friendly punch at me- except they weren’t so friendly because to be honest…they really hurt!

Hannie joined taekwondo club from a very young age. She learned how to picks someone up and them at the age of 10, and finally received her black belt at the age of 18- which is stunningly amazing… except the fact she is left with incomparable muscles at her arms.

But to be honest- I’m glad for who she is, because that’s how I met her. There was this one time in primary where a couple of kids were bullying me…and out of nowhere she comes, defending me and attacking them...yeah…the only downside to it? Well, out teacher wasn’t so pleased to hear about that. And nor were her parents by the looks of it. They never wanted her to join such “violent clubs” to begin with, but being their only daughter…they spoiled her quite a fair amount…but she’s not like one of those spoilt brats…she’s just one in her own special way- a cool personality is what I would call it.

***

“Excuse me…miss?”
I slowly opened my eyes to realise that I was not in a world filled with chocolate biscuits and sweets the size of the moon, and cakes which were used as the ground to walk on…but in fact, inside the library with a book over my face…and a librarian calling me to wake up. I realised that I had fallen asleep in the library whilst trying to get inspiration for new desserts to put in the shop.

“Young lady?”

“Oh… is it past lunch break?”

“Yes dear, only five minutes…but you have to go now. A class has already reserved the library and I’m afraid it wouldn’t be a good sight to them, seeing you sleeping underneath a book now- would it?”

“Five minutes?”

“Yes,”

Flashbacks of my last year in school appeared when I was silently scolded at by my extremely strict teacher for being “five minutes” late.

“Sugar!”

I stood up and quickly stuffed the hardback book back into the shelf full of cookery books.

“I’ll get going now.

“Okay, cheerio!”

I ran for the door and pushed it open, heading down the corridor, hoping that my new professor wouldn’t scold at me like my last year did.

“Why are you so late?” was the first thing she said (like most teachers would) when I came through the door.

“I’m so sorry, I’m late miss,”

“Yes, that would be a start,”

Everyone in my class (who were actually supposed to support me) laughed, and I was left standing there, looking like an idiot.

“I was in the library actually miss,”

“Doing what…it’s past your lunch break,”

“I’m sorry miss, I was reading,”

“What?”

“A book…”

“I know that obviously…what book?”

“A cookery book…”

“Very well. I’ll let you off since it was your first time- but no more lates!”

“Yes miss,”

I headed towards the empty seat with 30 other eyes on me. Pulling the stool was not a great thing either- because it made the most annoying clench- and the teacher even darted her eyes at me like foxes who had found their prey. I pretended that no one had heard, and took my things out of my bag.

“So class, before we were interrupted…getting the right flavour is the most important task of all, because if not, your desserts will taste bad…and then obviously no one would eat it,”

Her long lecture of “flavour” was then followed by copying off the board and was finally ended with a demonstration.

“Right…so now you have all witnessed my ways of cooking, I want you to pair up with someone for this practical- preferably not someone in your column- since there are some new students this year. I want you to recreate what I have just showed you and the pair who has paid most attention and so will make the closest similarity in the dessert will receive a prize,”

Then there was the big hassle- the obvious girls, friends with each other came together…and being me, I waited in the corner until everyone was paired up so I’d have to work on my own. Of course, if you were smart- you’d noticed that there was an even number of people in the room…and in the end my partner…was quite surprisingly someone I did not know.

‘He must me a new transfer’ I thought as I saw him spot the empty seat next to mine and headed towards it. The first impression he gave me: friendly, smart…quite good looking also. But the second he threw his bag carelessly on the table and slumped into the seat was the moment I knew that we were quite definitely not going to get along.

Happy Pancake (The first pancake)

“Yes!” I screamed as I swiftly jumped into dad’s tired arms. He frowned and smiled at the same time, patting me gently on the back. And though everyone in the hall was clapping, praising us for getting the first prize, I could only hear my own heart beat.

The shock that it gave me when he said our name was unforgettable, and I was so glad what our own hard work had come to. I’ve always believed that hard work would always earn you a place where you wanted. And finally, it was what I could prove to myself.

Getting up to shake hands and exchange a few words with the judges felt incredible too. Never had we thought we would earn this place today. Never-though it was nice. One of the judges who sat in the front row came forward and presented us our trophy. It gleamed into our eyes- it was so perfect. I touched it to see that it was really real. But of course it was. I blushed as he praised us for our work. He smiled at Dad before leaving.

In the corner of my eye, I saw mum crying with joy as she quickly came up to us and gave us a big hug. She laughed and talked, her words becoming a jumble. Everyone was very happy… even Hannie bounced with Joy which only happens when she’s that happy.

We walked up Sunny Hill whilst holding our proudly earned trophy before entering our shop. I placed it at the front in the cabinet for the customers to see. Proudly it stood alone, showing off the quality of the shop. It glowed and reflected in the sunlight like glass.

“Dad, should we celebrate tonight?” I asked him whilst grabbing a high stool to lean against.
“Yeah, sure, why not?” he beamed, “but I have to clean a few dishes first, your mum’s been complaining about the mess we’ve made!”

I laughed when she came in with a confused expression on her face. But you know my mum- she’d always be able to tell when you’ve talked about her behind her back. She just knows. Apparently it’s ‘mother’s instincts’… But I don’t believe in all that… it’s just the way we laugh at her when she looks at us.

“You haven’t bad mouthed me have you?” she said, placing one hand on her hip, and the other, flat on the table before bursting out in giggles.

She’s always like that- my mother. One minute she’s angry at you- the next she’s changed. You can never tell what’s going on at this rate. She came up and hugged me from behind.

“You know- even though you are capable of so much, I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you,” she said with curiosity in her voice. Curious of how I’d respond.

“What?” I asked, not understanding what she meant.
“Working in that dessert industry… I’m not sure if it’s best for you to go in that direction. You’re so young, and yet you should be thinking bigger…instead of just learning about family business…oh my poor baby,” she cried.
“Oh mother!” I exclaimed, “stop that- I’m not nine anymore. I want to do this. I’m not interested in learning physics and becoming an astronomer…nor am I interested in learning about politics and becoming a lawyer. I chose to do this…not you, not dad.”

She sighed in relief.

“Oh, are you sure honey?” she asked looking deeply into my eyes so I could not hide any emotion from her.
“Yes, but I have one condition,” I replied, and her relaxed eyes became pierced once again.
“What is it?” she asked, desperate.
“You guys have to promise to stay by my side, no matter what obstacles I have in the future. Okay?” I said.
“Yes! Sure.” She said, before laughing with relief. I smiled at her, and uneasily looking she did too.

Her shoulders grew on me as she gave me a hug, the queerness in her voice softened.

“So,” she said before giving a hard epic clap, “what should we prepare to eat then?”
“I don’t know…what ingredients do we have left?”
“Well.. I hope we have some flour to make some pancakes,” she said as she started looking in the cupboards.

She fished out half a bag of flour, two eggs, the sugar container, milk and some flour essence and her “special ingredient”. There was just enough to make our award winning pancakes, which unknowingly became the start of everything.

Happy Pancake

Raina, an 18 year old naive and passionate girl, grew up happily with her parents who own a pancake business. Additionally, with the intention of taking over the business in a few years time, she goes to university to study cookery. However, she hides the dream of working in the KIC (a famous dessert company in France) from her parents and her best friend Hannie.
As her second year begins, some problems start to arise. The biggest problem of all- Sky, a new transfer student who has come from Korea after being forced by his Dad to get a 'taste of life'.
Being that- not only do they hate each other after their first accountancy, she soon finds out that his Dad is the CEO of the KIC . Shocked, she tries to get on good terms with him no matter how annoyingly painful it is.
Having done all she could, she finally gives up, knowing that because they are on such bad terms with each other, she is never going to get the job of her dreams.
But however- it suddenly turns upside down when their pancake shop goes downhill because of bad service. Her parents then suffer economically, trying to get more workers.
However, one day out of the blue, she gets a phone call from someone about trying to find work in her area. Happy, she tells her parents about it and prepares to give a full interview with the new worker. Only when she realizes that that person is actually...

Quick Update

Hiii guysss!!
I know, I know. I'm sorry I haven't been blogging for a while. Just ran out of inspiration, so decided to take some time off to find it again.
Sooo, today is a really sunny day =). I love sunny days. But the funny things about days like this is when it's freaking 8 at night, and the suns still shining...weird or what?
But then I remember when I went to France, it was sunny when we went to sleep as well. Funny eh? It felt as if we were going to sleep during the day. Nevertheless, I was tired, so yeah...Ok, 'quit talking about france' you're saying. I'm sorry! I just go off topic alot.
Yes, feel sorry for yourself...you're reading a noob's post XD I'm only kidding, please bear with me guys. Just extremely hyper today. Overload of about 4 ice creams turned me into this.
Anyway, so I'm planning to carry on writing 'Happy Pancake' soon. I should post more chapters of it on Protagonize.com but I'm never confident enough, seeing as I haven't checked it etc. But I will =). Just getting onto it. Please read the first 2 (I think I only posted two...) chapters on Protagonize.com.
If you guys are interested, then I might post some on this Blog here.
Right, anyway, gonna pop off now.
Talk to you later guyss!
PEACE OUT!