17. The First Day

{Naya}

For the thousandth time, I straightened the seams on Uri's chef uniform. My hands traveled up to his hair and fixed some of the fly-aways that had escaped his man bun. I was about to adjust his buttons, when I caught him grinning.

"What?" I demanded.

Uri's grin deepened. "You. Fussing over me. It's cute."

I sighed and glanced across the parking lot at the sleek new culinary school. Uri was still awkward around other people. Without me there to chaperone him, anything could go wrong. I looked back at him and said, "Remember everything that we went over. You can't attract too much attention. That means no showing off!"

He arched a playful eyebrow. "Why would I show off when you're not around to see it?"

I rolled my eyes.

He took my hand and implored, "Are you sure that you can't come with me? We can pretend that I can't speak any English and you're my translator –"

I giggled over Uri's pleas, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was dead serious. That alone made me laugh harder. He let go of my hand, looking wounded.

I pulled myself together and tried to reassure him. "Listen Uri, you have to do this on your own. Or else you'll never learn how to blend in and be independent when you're human. Besides, I haven't seen Portia in days. I need to talk to her or else I'm going to go crazy." Then I remembered our contract and asked, "Is that all right with you? May I borrow the car to go see her?"

Uri put his hand over his chest and said, "You just crushed my heart, but sure. Go see Portia. Tell her I said hello."

"I will," I said with a smile.

All around us, people parked their cars and briskly made their way towards the building. Many of them were already dressed in black or white chef uniforms and carrying bags, no doubt holding their personal cooking tools.

There wasn't anything else I could say other than, "Good luck, Uri. I'll be back to pick you up at three."

I turned for the car, where Ritsu was shooting us impatient glares. Uri caught my arm and gently pulled me back. I stumbled against his chest and felt my face burn as the other passersby saw my blunder. Thanks to Uri, I didn't fall on my ass.

While I was distracted, the djinni landed a kiss on my jaw. When he pulled away, I could have sworn my skin sizzled. Despite the hiss of my skin, it didn't burn.

I spun around, ready to demand what the hell he had done to me, but Uri was already halfway across the parking lot. He sauntered along while everyone else around him hurried inside.

I watched him as if in a daze until it was broken by an abrasive honk. I looked behind me to see Ritsu leaning his whole body on the car horn.

Damn monkey.

+++

{Uriel}

Uriel was much more at ease now that the wards were up around the city. Thinking back to what happened in the parking lot, he wondered if he was being perhaps a little too confident in the wards. Still, he wanted Naya to know how much he appreciated what she was doing. He noticed how much sleep she missed out on that week. Now that he was in school, he hoped that she would give it a rest.

Uriel didn't want to get lost in the building, so he pulled out his printed schedule and map. He studied them closely, determined to avoid wrong turns and staircases leading nowhere. In the midst of his concentration, a small tap came down on his shoulder. He glanced up to see a petite woman with curly blond hair and a bright, friendly face.

"Hi! Just wondering, are you a first year?" she asked.

Uriel gave a tentative nod. He didn't expect someone to approach him so soon. Had he done something out of the ordinary?

"Me too. My name's Erin. If you're looking for Ms. Ostrenki's class, it's this way."

She spun on her heels and briskly walked towards a set of open stairs. Uriel trailed after her and mumbled a soft, "Thank you."

He thanked her again when they reached the classroom.

"No problem," she said. "By the way, you didn't tell me your name."

Uriel decided to be uncomplicated and stick with the nickname Naya gave him.

"It's Uri."

Erin smiled. "Cool. Nice to meet you, Uri. You better find a station. I think class is about to start soon."

With that she hurried off and found a clean counter and started unpacking her tools. Uriel noticed the other chefs-in-training entering the room. They varied in age, but most looked to be in their mid to late twenties. Erin and himself were among the younger ones in the class.

Uriel began to unpack his own toolkit when a tall figure entered the room and shut the door behind them. Judging by her cold look and executive chef's jacket, she was their teacher, Ms. Ostrenki.

"Welcome to the Basics of Culinary Practices. This kitchen that you are currently standing in belongs to me. If you are unfit to handle criticism or the way I run my class, you might as well leave right now."

No one moved.

Uriel pondered the woman's accent. Albanian, perhaps?

Lifting her narrow chin, Ms. Ostrenki said, "You are all wise to not waste my time with useless questions. Now then." She clapped her hands. "Before I am to enlighten you on the common sense used in cooking, I want you to show me a little of what you've got."

Uriel felt the tension in the room spike. It seemed that no one was prepared to actually cook on the first day. Based on the look on Ms. Ostrenki's face, she enjoyed their discomfort and hesitancy.

Her last words were, "Feel free to use whatever is in the ice locker and the pantries. You have one hour. Impress me."

The other students kept their faces controlled and tight, but Uriel could not help forming a lopsided smile. The only indication that Ms. Ostrenki had noticed was in the sudden arch of her dark eyebrow.

While the students scrambled and rushed to acquire cookware and raw materials, Uriel took his time and pondered his dish of choice. After three minutes of brainstorming, he settled on a seafood paella. He hadn't done one yet, but he had been wanting to try it out for a few days now.

Uriel was the last to retrieve his supplies. The other students glanced at him with wide eyes. Every now and then one of them would shake their head. The djinni was too busy wondering if he would be able to bring some of what he would make home to Naya to notice their expressions. He was in the middle of deshelling the shrimp when Ms. Ostrenki approached him.

The tall instructor said softly, "Ambitious, aren't we?"

Uriel looked at her briefly and nodded. He promised Naya that he wouldn't draw attention to himself, so he tried to work on the shrimp as if he had done this dish dozens of times. As if this was not in fact his first time making it.

No matter how relaxed he forced his movements to be, Ostrenki's eyes lingered on him while he put the shrimp aside and washed his hands. She only tore her gaze away to glance around the room, as if she were checking for something. Then she brought her face near Uriel's ear and placed her hand on his lower back.

Ms. Ostrenki whispered, "If you are as talented as I think you are, you don't have to worry."

Her hand dipped below his waist and gave a firm squeeze.

"I take extra care of my gifted students. Hmm?"

Uriel wasn't sure if this was a normal exchange between teachers and students. But even if it wasn't, did he really want to attract attention to himself and alarm the rest of his classmates?

Entirely unsure and equally petrified, Uriel simply faked a grin and said, "Thank you, Ms. Ostrenki."

Ostrenki gave a chilling smile as she patted his butt one last time and said, "Smart boy." Then she slinked off and went back to prowling the room like a California condor.

Uriel held in a shudder and refocused on the paella. He ignored the eyes of the only person in the room that saw the exchange. From her station, Erin stared at him with an expression that easily translated as disappointment.