Level: Chef
Basket: Neglected to copy it down, but we did it in class with coach so someone probably has it written down. Here are the things I remember from it:
Code monkey
step sibling
Race car
Okra
gruyere
Surprise
Reluctance
Of course I didn’t want to go.
I mean, what sort of teenager wants to spend his Saturday sitting in a dark and cramped room competing for a grand prize that doesn’t even include money? Not that I needed the money per-say, but the sentiment was there.
Jake leaned over the arm rest between us and smiled widely, “Isn’t this exciting?” He asked, pushing his glasses up further on his nose. I groaned. Jake was the kind of teenager who enjoyed spending his Saturday’s sitting in a dark and cramped room surrounded by computer nerds and comic book geeks. In fact, he hadn’t stopped talking about the competition since his Computer Science teacher handed him a terribly crafted flyer about the coding competition 2 weeks I go. I don’t respond, just shake my head and take the corner faster than a race car in the Daytona 500 as a way to get him to shut up. I didn’t hate Jake, but it was sometimes painfully obvious that we were step-brothers.
Jake throws his hand up in surprise to stop himself from hitting the dash board, but then rambles on as if isn’t even phased by my semi-professional driving. He keeps up a steady stream of commentary as he incessantly munches on carrots (his second favorite food after fried okra). “I mean, Code Monkey! They’re sort of a huge powerhouse in coding, you know? If I win this then they’ll give me a $10 gift card to Payless and let me have 15% off online lessons! That’s amazing right?”
Of course it wasn’t amazing.
All I wanted to do was be at home with Jessica watching Netflix or playing Justin Bieber to set a romantic mood. What did he say in that one song? “chillin’ by the fire while we’re eatin’ fondue”? I could do that. Get some nice melted gruyere cheese. Maybe add some chocolate fondue to the mix. She would love that.
More than a Saturday afternoon spent coding for a high school competition. Especially when you knew you would win.