Y/N hated Nicky Harper with a passion. 

It wasn't like he was a bad dude or anything. Sure, he seemed quite nice, though a little strange, especially with his three other siblings. And she actually did like his sister, Dawn Harper, enough. But with Nicky, she knew that she would never be good enough for Mr. Wigglesworth, not with Nicky Harper around. He was the apple of Mr. Wigglesworth's eye, something that she so desperately wanted to be. 

The bell rang, signaling the start of cooking class, the only class she shared with Nicky. It was enough for her, though. She sat at the back of the classroom, the only one at her two-person table. For some reason, no one wanted to sit next to her, but she was okay with that. She wasn't here to make friends. She was here to increase her cooking skill so she could hopefully have a shot at going to culinary school after she graduated. 

Once Mr. Wigglesworth finally made his way into the classroom, he clapped his hands sharply. "We're going to be having a little competition today," he said with a wide grin on his face. She didn't trust that smile one bit. "I want everyone to draw a number out of this hat, and whoever has that matching number is your partner. There will be one group of three since we have an odd number of students."

Her classmates grumbled to themselves, but no one was louder than Y/N. She desperately didn't want to work with any of her classmates because she was so much better than most of them were. For the majority of the students, they only took this class for the credit, not because they loved cooking like she did. She didn't want to be stuck with them and have them slow her down -- or worse, ruin her grade.

Y/N was the last one to grab a small slip of paper out of Mr. Wigglesworth's hat, and she looked at him with pleading eyes. He ignored her completely. Maybe she had complained too much in the past, and he didn't want to hear it today.

She slowly unfurled the small slip of paper and read that she picked number two. Y/N looked up from her paper, seeing that some of her classmates were already partnering up together. They must have found their numbers. Most of them looked pleased with who they got. Great. With the dwindling stock of classmates, Y/N knew that she was going to get the worst of them.

Y/N's heart sank in her chest even further when she heard the tell-tale voice of her archnemesis saying that he also had number two. Nicky Harper was the last one waiting for his partner, and he was staring at Y/N expectantly, as if he had said something to her. Maybe he had. The thing was, she couldn't hear over the sound of her heart thudding against her chest, beating in time with the anger coursing through her veins.

Why did her life hate her so much?

"I think you're my partner," Nicky said to her. "Do you want to come to my station, or me go to yours?"

"Mine."

She turned on her heel and hurried back to her table, shoving her things onto the floor to give him some room. Nicky brought over a basket of some of his supplies, and he set it on the spot she just cleared up for him. "What are we supposed to cook?" she asked him, though she didn't bother looking at him. She was already taking out her measuring spoons, her knives, and her favorite cutting board. "Did Mr. Wigglesworth say?"

"Yeah," Nicky said, nodding. His dark hair seemed gelled to his scalp, which was a good thing because he could have just shed a thousand strands on their ingredients. "He wants us to make a baked Alaska."

Y/N narrowed her eyes, staring at the cutting board. She clenched her hands at her sides, wishing they could have made anything else. Baking wasn't her expertise like cooking was, and somehow, her baked goods always came out burnt. "Great," she muttered. "I'll start making the batter. You can make the meringue, and then we'll get the ice cream together."

She crouched down and plucked the flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients from the bottom of her table. She placed them on top of the table and turned toward Nicky, who stood there for a second. "What are you doing?" she asked, pointing to the front of the class. His eyes followed her movement, and they glanced at the timer counting down on Mr. Wigglesworth's desk. "We need to get to work."

"Right," he said, his annoying voice grating against her ears. "Do you need a recipe for the cake? I have a really good one in here." He patted his gigantic binder with a grin, his pearly white teeth glinting in the artificial light. "You can use it --"

"No, I'm good."

Y/N busied herself with mixing the ingredients together. She didn't know why her heart was thudding against her chest all of a sudden. Maybe it was the pressure she always put on herself to be the best at everything. Or maybe it was something else. She didn't know. All she knew was that her hands shook as she poured all the ingredients together.

"I used to be afraid of germs," Nicky explained to her suddenly. She glanced over at him to see him putting a lot of ice cream into one of his large bowls. She had told him to get working on the meringue, but he hadn't listened to her. "I had a whole suit that would protect me from everything, but then I discovered cooking. It actually really helps me focus my mind."

"Why are you explaining this to me?" Y/N asked him with a frown. "We're supposed to be baking, not talking. Besides, I asked you to make the meringue, not get the ice cream ready."

"We should probably make the meringue when the cake is baking," Nicky explained to her. "We don't want it to get flat or anything."

"Please do as I say."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicky clench his jaw. For some reason, she felt sort of bad about what she said. Now, it wasn't just her hands that were trembling, but her arms, too. She cursed under her breath as she nearly poured the batter onto the ground. Her weird feelings were making her mess up! She managed to pour the batter into the cake pan and shoved it into the oven, slamming the door. 

"Are you okay?" Nicky asked as she breathed heavily. Her skin crawled with the feeling of eyes on her, and she realized that her outburst caused everyone in the class to look at her. Nicky cleared his throat, staring at her with wide eyes. "Y/N, what's wrong?"

With everyone looking at her, Y/N bolted out of the room. She slid down the wall of lockers just outside the classroom, her chest tightening with anxiety. Tears spilled out of her eyes. What in the world was wrong with her? She had never acted like this before. Why was she losing her mind when she needed Mr. Wigglesworth to see that she could bake just as good as Nicky Harper? 

"Y/N?"

She groaned when she heard Nicky's voice, and she quickly tried to brush all her tears away. "What are you doing out here?" she asked him, her voice shaking a little bit. "You should be watching our cake. What if it gets burnt?"

"I wanted to check on you," he said, a frown on his face. He slowly sat down in front of her, their knees brushing against each other. She was stuck between the wall and him, which wasn't a good thing. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Of course. I'm fine."

"I don't think so," he said, shaking his head. 

"What makes you think you know better than me about myself?"

"I think you put too much pressure on yourself. I notice how you get so frustrated if nothing goes your way. I notice how you get angry with yourself for forgetting recipes," Nicky said softly. She didn't know what to think about any of that. As much as she tried to avoid him, he had been trying to notice her. "I know you think I'm your rival or whatever, but I'm not. I'm just your classmate."

"To me, it sounds like you're a stalker."

Nicky cracked a grin, and she couldn't help it. She smiled back at him. Her icy exterior began melting with that small smile. "Or maybe I just have a crush on you," he said to her.

Y/N was stunned. She had spent so much time hating Nicky Harper, and during that time, he had developed a crush on her. How in the world did that happen? "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

She shook her head. "I totally didn't know that."

"Because you've always seen me as your enemy."

"I guess so."

"How about we go in there and see if we're a good team," he said, holding his hand out to help her up. She took it gratefully, and after she stood up, she didn't let go of it. "If we are, then we could see where this leads. If we aren't, we can say goodbye to each other and continue our rivalry."

"That sounds perfect to me," she said. But deep in her heart, she knew that something had changed between her and Nicky Harper, and it was for the better.