Starting her lessons

“She does not have a boyfriend, and she does not need one now. All she wants to do is to focus on the competition and how to pass it”. Rebecca answered for Melody, who was still thinking of an answer to the question of if she has a boyfriend.

"Chill, Rebecca. Allow Melody to answer for herself” Morgan grunted in irritation before turning to Melody," do you have a boyfriend?”.

Melody shook her head," Rebecca is right, I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm not interested in having one. I just want to focus on winning the competition”

" I told you”. Rebecca said in mock satisfaction.

“ Melody is still young, so she can say that. I'm getting old”. Arianna lamented.

" How old are you?”. Melody asked her.

" I'm twenty-three, some of my mates are married and have even given birth to a cute baby”.

" And some of your mates are dead”. Samantha told her.

Arianna jumped on the sofa to an upright position. She glared at Samantha” Are you cursing me, Sam?”.

Samantha gave a careless shrug with a smirk on her pink lips, “no one is cursing you. Just telling the truth. Stop complaining about not having a boyfriend when you are just like Morgan”.

" Don't bring my name into this”. Morgan warned Samantha.

“ If she can't then I will. The both of you cannot stay with a partner for more than a month, so why won't you be single?”. Rebecca asked with an eye roll.

“ I'm not complaining about being single”. Morgan told her.

Rebecca snorted before changing the topic. “ I did not invite you all here to talk about your boyfriend or lack of it. We are here because of Melody. So let's discuss how we are going to prepare her for the competition. It's not far. We only have a month and some days, not even a month and some weeks ”.

“ We can't let our students lose. Arianna has already gone to run her mouth in our class group chat that we will be teaching a newbie”. Zain said, and everyone's eyes went to Arianna.

“ What? We will teach her and make sure she gets in, so why are you looking at me like that?”.

“ Must you run your mouth? Can't you keep a little secret?”. Morgan asked.

“This is not a secret” Arianna was exasperated," it's not bad to tell people that we will be teaching someone, and she would be participating in the competition”. She could not understand their looks.

“ And what if she does not pass?”. Zain asked.

“She will”. Rebecca and Arianna said at the same time.

“ Alright, let's drop it. Arianna already told the whole world and knowing our classmates, they will be looking for students to teach and set them up against Melody. We don't have time to sit around and argue, let's start”. Morgan told them.

Melody felt like she did not owe only herself to pass the competition, she owed everyone who was teaching her. She owes Rebecca and Arianna, who believe in her the most. She owed Hunter, who gave her the opportunity to do what she wanted. Not only that, but she owed her dead mother her success.

So she did what she had to do. Pay attention while they taught her. Watched the procedures keenly. Who said that cooking was so simple? Who said that you only had to mix the right ingredients and that's all? There were procedures to follow, you have to measure everything right if not, it won't taste the way it's supposed to.

She was going to prepare for the competition, and she had forgotten to take into consideration that she had to learn using the foodstuffs. Who was going to provide all that for her? She didn't have to ask because Rebecca waved a card in the air and told them that Hunter was going to be sponsoring her. Everyone was surprised but they brushed it off as Rebecca's doing. She put it at the back of her mind to thank him profusely when he returns from his journey.

He also wanted to pay them for teaching her, but they disagreed. They said she was now their little friend, and they wanted to use her to brag once she won the competition. The pressure on her small shoulders increased.

The teaching was serious and at the same time fun for her because she was finally doing something she loved.

“ I'm tired”. Arianna yawned," it's way past my bedtime”. It really was because it could be seen that she was feeling sleepy from how red her eyes were. She was blinking hard and trying to stay awake.

“ It's just day one and you're already tired. If you don't keep teaching her for long, how do you think she is going to ace the competition after all that bragging that you did?”. Zain asked her.

“ What?”. Arianna asked as she turned to face Zain," why have you been attacking me the whole day? No one asked you to be here, and I'm sure Melody is also tired. Look at her”. Arianna jerked her chin in Melody's direction.

Melody was also tired. Rebecca was one tough teacher, and being a chef required that she stand on her feet and bustle around. They all took turns in teaching her, and she was the most exhausted one among them. Morgan was the first because he had something to do and has left already.

They gave her breaks in between but because she was a total newbie and the competition was fast approaching plus she had spent a long time thinking about whether to fill the form or not, she had so much to learn.

She had been trying to hide her fatigue, but Arianna, who had sharp eyes, had noticed.

Rebecca squinted at Melody and saw that what Arianna said was correct," well, we need to stop for today then”.

“Thank God”. Arianna groaned and took off her apron. And yawning, she trudged out of the kitchen.

“ No, I can still learn for another hour”. Melody knew that she had less than a month and some days before the competition and could not afford to be lazy. Many people were cheering for her, and she would be damned if she let them down. Not only were people cheering for her, energy was being wasted on teaching her and there was her sponsor Hunter. His money was burning, she could not afford to fail.

“No”. Rebecca said," you are exhausted and won't be able to learn anything tonight. We'll continue tomorrow”.

Melody nodded and decided not to say anything because she knew that Rebecca was correct. She did not get her last lesson well and will ask them to repeat it again tomorrow.

“I thought you were running to bed so why are you still awake?”. Zain asked Samantha, who was saying something about watching a movie as they walked inside Rebecca's room.

“ Let me be, Zain". Arianna huffed. “ Where is my bag?”

“Maybe the maids must have taken it to a guest room”. Rebecca answered her as she collapsed on her big red bed.

All of them have agreed to sleep in Rebecca's room. Melody went to her room to take her bath and change her clothes.

Arianna left the room after Rebecca's answer and returned some moments later with her bag.

“ Where is mine?”. Samantha asked when she saw Arianna retiring with only her bag.

“ Go and get it yourself, I'm not your servant”. Arianna rolled her eyes at her.