My grandmother had more dates than me. Sad, but true. I thought about the last time I went out with a guy. It was probably like a year ago, and I didn't know if getting a burger at McDonald's after work could be considered a date. Probably not.

Oh wow. That's bordering on pathetic.

Frowning, I made my way downstairs to get breakfast before going to the cooking school. "Ready for work?" Seth asked with a smile as his feet dangled. He'd hopped on the counter and was eating cereal directly from the box. There was a milk gallon at his side, too.

My mouth fell open at the sight. "Oh my God, Seth! I'm never eating cereal again! Or drinking milk! Do you always do that?" I gagged. I usually had cereal for breakfast everyday.

He shrugged before grabbing another handful of corn pops. "I didn't feel like washing dishes today."

I rolled my eyes. I passed next to him, and slapped him on the head. "Where are your manners Seth?" From the blow, he crashed against the cereal box and little yellow balls scattered around the floor.

He glared at me. "I'm not cleaning this up!"

I ignored him. "I'm telling Juno," I said in a sing-song tone. My lips tugged up as looked at him. We both knew that if Juno paid any attention to our bickering, she'd probably take my side. She always did.

Seth groaned before jumping down. He walked to the small closet to out right and took out a broom and a dustpan. I heard him mutter a few curses as he set to work. When he finished cleaning up, he washed his hands and got another handful of cereal in his hand. I shook my head. "You eat like an animal, Seth."

He popped them into his mouth and started to eat with his mouth open, with the sole purpose of annoying me to death. I tried to ignore him as I made coffee. There was a little Tupperware with brownies next to the stove, and I grabbed one when Seth wasn't looking. Brownies and coffee were the best breakfast ever.

Smiling to myself, I sat by the table and as I was about to take a bite, it disappeared off my hand. My brother ate it in one go and grinned. A full-on brownie grin. "You owed me," he said spitting crumbs all over the place. Narrowing my eyes, I stood up. He knew what was coming. Gulping, he managed to mutter, "Oh shit!" before sprinting away from me.

I chased him through the house. We crossed the living room and he climbed to his room. Just as he was about to reach the door, I tackled him. He went down with a thud. "Jesus, you're getting heavier!"

I gasped. "You didn't!" I purposely sat on top of him and started to tickle him. He squirmed like crazy, and was starting to protest when Juno came out of her room.

"Good morning, kids!" She passed beside us and Seth reached out for her. She ignored him. "Excited to see Chef Tom?" she raised her eyebrows, and a wide smile spread on her face.

"Oh man! I have to go." I ruffled Seth's hair before standing up.

Seth rolled his eyes. "Now, it's my fault. You started it." He objected as he hoisted himself as well.

"Seth, stop picking on your sister," Juno murmured before making her way to the stairs. She was humming quietly.

Seth and I stared at her for a moment before sharing a what's-with-her look. He raised an eyebrow and I smirked.

Sighing dramatically, he started to protest once more. "My life is so unfair! You both should be all over me, since I'm the only man in this house!"

I shook my head. "This seriously doesn't work, Seth. I don't know why you keep trying." He pinched his lips together and followed me as I walked to the bathroom to wash my teeth.

"For real, Jess, I want to talk to you about something." He had his serious voice tone.

I froze as I glanced at him through the mirror. "What?"

"I saw they were hiring at Scoops and I applied for it."

My heart clenched. I finished washing my mouth. "No," I muttered as I dried my hands.

Seth sighed. "I know how you feel about me working, but Jess, I can help out."

I shook my head and walked to my room to grab a sweater. "Seth, we've talked about it. You just need to worry about studying. June and I will work it out." I frowned. The sweaters looked old and worn-out. The black and blue ones seemed more like grey now. Gosh. I needed to stop by the second-hand store one of these days.

"Hell. I can even ask Mr. Gomez. I'm sure he would give me a job because he's dating Juno!" he crossed his arms and clenched his jaw. "I'm almost sixteen and I want to help."

Scrunching up my nose, I grabbed the blue sweater and tried it on. I turned to look at Seth and he was looking me with determined eyes. I sighed. "Still, Seth. You're too young. Your responsibility is to do well in school, and you do. So, you can go out with your friends, or do whatever you want to do in your free time. I don't want you to worry about money or food, that's why─"

"You're here for." He rolled his eyes again. We've had this same talk over and over since he turned fifteen. Truth be told, I didn't want him to worry about anything but school. I couldn't afford college. He would need a scholarship.

His gaze softened, "I know, Jess. But you're starting this job and you have a chance to become a chef. You deserve to be happy too. I mean, you're probably going to have to leave the crappy cinema. Finally. And I can help. I promise it won't change my grades and shit."

Holy crap. I forgot about that little fact. How was I supposed to work on the school and the cinema? The schedule was constantly changing. Plus, I didn't ask about the salary. What if they didn't pay me? Taking the course is payment enough.

My shoulders felt heavy as my brows creased. Seth did have a point, but I hated the fact that he had to worry about money. Ugh. "Okay," I licked my lips while my stomach rolled. Seth smiled as I raised my palm, "But if you lower your grades, you'll quit."

He nodded excited. "I won't. I promise," he said before he walked out of the bathroom.

My heart warmed for him. He was such a sweet boy. You know, when he wasn't being a dimwit. I smiled to myself.

A moment later, I passed next to him and ruffled his hair. He groaned and batted my hand away. Chuckling, I walked out of the house "I'm off. See you later, dufus."

I took the bus and twenty minutes later, I stood in front of the red doors once more. Exhaling slowly, I wondered what the hell were those two guys thinking. They weren't organized. At all. They never told me what time should I be there or if I needed to bring any other document.

The doors were unlocked but the place seemed deserted. So different from yesterday. I found a staircase through the hallway where the interviews were held. I followed it until the second floor.

My eyes widened as my mouth fell open. The cooking classroom was amazing. There were four kitchen stations that looked out of a restaurant catalogue. Each one was bigger than my actual kitchen. I made my way to the nearest one, and I swear the stainless steel was sparkling before I touched it. I wanted to squeal like a little girl.

"You're late." A dark voice sounded behind me. Jumping back, I placed a palm on my chest.

Bryan glared at me before walking beside me. He had a folder in his left hand and a cup of coffee on the other. He was wearing a black chef coat with short sleeves and I couldn't help but notice his toned arms.

My stomach rolled as I touched my throat. "I didn't know at what time I was expected." He left his things on the counter before turning to me. I gulped. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about it. I have another job and I need to know how many hours I'll be here and you know," I cleared my throat, cringing to myself as I added, "The salary and such." Oh my God. Talk about being awkward.

He studied me for a moment while I rolled on my feet. "What's your other job?" Bryan asked before crossing his arms.

"I work at a cinema. We rotate shifts, so we do different stuff." Like, clean toilets. I was definitely not looking forward to do that again.

I glanced around the room searching for Tom but he was nowhere to be seen.

Bryan bobbed his head with a stoic expression on his face before turning his attention to the folder he'd left on the counter. "You should quit. We need you here full-time. We're paying over twenty-five per hour. We could pay you more, but it all depends on your attitude. Like, how early you start your day." He raised an eyebrow trying to make a point.

My whole body froze for a moment. Wow. That's a lot. To me, at least. I worked at the cinema on minimum wage. For cleaning freaking toilets. Maybe Seth didn't have to work, after all...

If Bryan didn't look as apathic as he looked, I would have hugged him. Instead, I cleared my throat. "Okay. That's, uhm, fine, I guess."

A ghost of a smile crossed his face as he glanced up. "Good. Now go do something productive."

I blinked at him. All right. Do something productive. I totally would. If I knew what to do.

Pressing his lips together, he took out a page from his folder. "We need to call these people. Set them up for the next two days."

The page had at least twenty names with their phone numbers. "Is there a time set for this?"

"Yes. The whole day." His brows furrowed. "Tom is occupied for the time being, so I need to sort things out." His gaze turned to the pages on the counter. Before he took a sip, he glanced at me. "The phone is on the office downstairs."

"Okay. Thanks." I walked away and as I was about to take the stairs. I turned to him. "Do I have a break or something during the day? I'd like to stop by to the cinema to hand out my resignation."

Without looking at me, he nodded. "You have one hour for lunch."

The phone calls turned out to be harder than I expected. Not everyone was available for the next two days, so I had to try to convince them to set a date even after eight at night. The suppliers were all up for it, but I was also calling several famous chefs who were not so accommodating.

I had to bit my cheek quite a few times whenever I had to talk to one of them because I was totally fangirling over them.

Lunch time arrived and I made my way to the cinema. My boss didn't seem to mind that I was leaving. It was a lousy job but one that could get employees in no-time. The pay was low but there weren't much qualifications needed.

I had twenty minutes left and instead of spending my last twenty dollars on food, I visited a second-hand store. With the money I had, I got four almost-new old navy t-shirts. I felt like it was a great deal. But my stomach was growling as I walked inside the school's building again.

I left the small plastic bag on the office and climbed up the stairs to see if Bryan needed anything.

He was grilling salmon in one of the kitchen stations. My mouth salivated at the smell and I clutched my stomach hoping it wouldn't growl.

"Do you need anything?" I asked from the stairs not wanting to walk inside the classroom.

He studied me for a moment. I so wanted to roll my eyes at that. The guy gave me the impression that he was too damn observant.

"Actually, yes. I need your input with the people I chose for the course."

Freaking awesome. I cursed at Seth who stole my brownie in the morning.

He gestured me to sit on the stool next to him. "Here," he placed several manila folders in front of me. "Tell me what you think."

I licked my lips as I started to read the first file. It was torture being in the room with the glorious smell of grilled salmon. Nevertheless, as soon as I started to read one of the student's file, my whole attention focused on him.

Shit. He had it rough. He'd been in and out of foster homes since he was four. He was part of a gang and started to sell drugs when he was sixteen. He'd been caught and he'd spent two years in jail. He'd been out for over a year, but he hadn't found a job, and he wanted a clean start.

My stomach churned uneasily. It was exactly what I didn't want my brother to ever go through. That's why it didn't matter if I didn't get to go to college. He would, and he would have a better life than mine. I owed it to Mom.

A plate was placed in front of me. Looking up, I saw a portion of grilled salmon with salad on the side. Bryan placed a fork on the rim of the plate. Frowning, I glanced at him.

"I made too much," he said before turning away.

Am I that transparent? I stared at the food for a moment. My mouth watered. The salmon looked amazing. It was bathed in a green sauce, it looked like pesto. I couldn't even remember the last time I ate salmon. I licked my lips. "Thank you but I'm─" Bryan's stern gaze made me pause. He raised an eyebrow. I couldn't say no. I reached out for the fork. "Thank you," I said before putting away the documents and setting the plate in front of me.

He nodded. He poured himself a glass of white wine and gave me a soda. "First rule, Simmons. You never, ever," he stressed out, "turn down something a chef makes."

My lips twitched as I suppressed a smile. I like that rule. I took a piece of salmon and brought it to my mouth. Oh God. It was freaking awesome. I had to bit my tongue because a moan was about to burst out. Bryan watched me with a smirk.

"Good, huh?" I nodded. "I think my cooking is better than Tom's," he gloated proudly as he started to eat.

I glanced at him for a moment. He wasn't such a tough guy. It seemed like all bravado, and it was kind of cute.

I wanted to ask you if you want me to suggest a song for the chapter? I've been doing it with APC and I don't even know if you guys like it or not.

Also, I think someone made me a cover or this but I can't find it (*slaps hand in forehead). So I made one, but my covers suck. Also, I can't think of titles. I'm having a hard time on APC so I'm sticking with the no-titles thing.

Thank you for reading this!!!!!!

Comments and vote please!!!