Rising Shards

”You know what I think...” I started.

”No.” Kalei said.

”It’s be really cool if...”

”Not happening.”

”You didn’t even let me say it!”

”Because I know what it’s going to be!” Kalei said. ”You want to add a Raina Starlight sandwich to the menu. What does that even mean?”

”Uh, I’ll tell you what it means,” I said. ”Raina Starlight has some books that double as cookbooks. And in one of those cookbooks she has sandwich recipes. I read those so many times that I could totally make a comparable sandwich for our restaurants that would be a fitting tribute to Raina Starlight’s food mastery.”

”I don’t even know where to start with that.” Kalei said.

”Can you two quit yapping?” Amara asked. ”Orders are coming in!”

”Oh, sorry!”

I didn’t even notice that Maia and Amara were working through a bunch of sandwiches. Kalei’s determined speech gave her about five minutes of energy before we got distracted, but even when we were distracted she was still kind of pumped up about making this sandwich shop work out.

Kalei and I went to the table officially designated as the order taking table, where our servers waited for us.

”We’re gonna need two of sandwich A and one of sandwich B for table...uh....three.” Oka said, scribbling two A’s and a B onto a little notepad. ”I really like these little notepads, do you think they’ll let us keep them? I could write down so many lists on these bad boys.”

”If they do, get one for me!” I said.

As Oka and I chatted about all the majesty of having a tiny little notepad, Marmalade approached with Roux beside her, a smug little smile on their face.

”Um, sorry, but they wanted to speak directly to the chefs.” Marmalade said.

”I have special requests for my sandwiches,” Roux said. ”And I don’t trust Koridia to handle them if they’re merely written down.”

”I have a request too.” Latte said, crawling out from under the table. I only flinched a little at this, which I was proud of.

”Let me guess.” Kalei said.

”I’ll have a coffee,” Latte said.

”Shocker.” Kalei said.

”We’re only serving root beer floats at the moment for drinks.” I said.

Latte’s brow twitched. ”You’re lying.”

”And we’re waiting for Corinani to get back with the ice cream for those.” I said.

Latte covered her ears with her hands and started screaming, running out of the classroom.

”Latte’s whole deal gets old, doesn’t it?” Roux said. ”Anyways, I need a very specific bread for my sandwich, which I believe the starting point is what you have deemed ’Sandwich A,’ so...”

Roux was interrupted by Lillia, who had three pages of perfectly written cursive writing for us that covered two orders.

”The fifth table has requested three of the veggie sandwiches and two of the chicken sandwiches.” Lillia said.

”You can just say sandwich A or B, it’s a lot quicker.” Kalei said.

”I prefer ensuring you know exactly what is required to satisfy our customers.” Lillia said.

”That’s so smart,” Roux said. ”You’re so gorgeous, Lillia!”

”Hey there.” Ko said, stepping between Roux and Lillia.

”Oh my god,” Kalei said. ”Ko, just relax a bit.”

”I’m perfectly relaxed,” Ko said. ”I just heard my favorite server get called gorgeous, which is true, and wanted to see what the commotion was about.”

I started to inch backward, but things were getting a bit crowded.

”Alright, let’s all maybe step away from the counter so the chefs can work their magic.” Oka said, having a similar desire to avoid any drama involving Ko Matora.

”This is a table.” Ko said.

”It’s the ordering table, use your imagination a bit!” Oka said.

”Matora, cool your engines,” Roux said, their impressive confidence easily obliterating the tension. ”Everyone working looks rather fetching in those aprons, wouldn’t you say?”

I didn’t feel super ’fetching’ in mine, but I also had a big plastic hairnet and gloves on, and was still really sweaty.

”I mean, I guess.” Ko said. ”Lillia looks the best, though.”

Lillia did her best to keep a stoic expression, but still blushed.

”Then we are in agreement, and your aggressive displays can maybe chill out a bit.” Roux said.

”Yeah, sorry,” Ko seemed to realize how well that went over as she got a trademark glare from Lillia, and a few others around the table. ”That was very old Ko, huh?”

”Old Ko doesn’t seem that much different from new Ko.” Kalei said.

”I think she’s changed a great deal,” Lillia said.

”Well, I’ve had some help.” Ko said.

”To placate your jealous nature, I shall also compliment the appearance of...hmm...” Roux scanned everyone in the nearby vicinity, then pointed to Marmalade. ”You. Marmalade wins second place in the Roux tournament of good looks today.”

”Thanks, Roux,” Marmalade said. ”That’s...nice to hear.”

”You really rock the apron for sure.” Kalei said.

Marmalade blinked for a while, looking like she was desperately trying to process that info.

”Um,” Corinani inched forward, drumming her fingertips on the table. ”Can we maybe stop crowding around this corner of the ol’ restaurant and get back to the whole...food shop?”

”Seriously, Kalei and Zeta, get back here and make more than one freaking sandwich.” Maia snapped.

”Sorry!”

Kalei and I returned to our sandwich making. For the first phase, we just had to make food for our classmates, but we were warned that teachers and faculty would be in later. It was surprisingly hard work just making some food for our classmates, and I was relieved when we caught up and were allowed a quick break. The cooks got to go first, and the idea was that we could visit the Wildfire Hearts rival restaurant and get some food.

”We’re not doing that,” Kalei said.

”Yep,” I said.

Instead, we went a few rooms over, finding an empty classroom to sit in.

”Now, time to see how badass I am at sandwich making,” Kalei said, holding up the sub sandwich she made for herself and taking a bite. ”Not bad, like I figured. We’d crush it at a real job.”

”I hope so,” I said.

”Hey, think about it this way, you were all anxious before starting and you got through that whole thing without having a huge freakout. That’s pretty good I think!”

”Huh.” I said, mulling over that as I ate my own sandwich. ”Maybe I should let you take my phone more often when I get all worried. Can I have that back, by the way?”

”Once I’m certain you’re calm, yes,” Kalei said.

”I’m very calm!” I said.

”Lemme see your hands.”

I held my hands forward, which were a bit shaky. ”Frick. They’re always like that, though!”

”Hey, question,” Kalei said.

”My question is can I have my phone back?”

”In a minute!” Kalei said. ”I’ve just been thinking...”

”About?”

”What’s like...the ’deal’ with being trans?” Kalei asked, doing quote marks with her fingers.

”Where is this coming from?” I asked, looking around to see if the Matora sisters or someone else were nearby, hiding waiting to reveal some kind of joke going on. ”Is this a new bit? I don’t think I like this bit.”

”We’re on break, I’m just making conversation!”

”Again, where is this coming from?”

Kalei looked away for a second, a half smile on her face. She was acting a bit...off. She seemed to be in good spirits, but also like there was something under the surface, something maybe different than the recent goings on she’d been dealing with. Or maybe it was from the recent goings on and she was trying to cover up the bad feelings about running into P.D. again with...talking about transgender stuff?

Before I could answer, Marmalade walked in. I told Oka where we were, so I assumed she and our other friends would be by shortly if the servers were getting their break.

”We’ll pick this up later.” Kalei said.

”Hm?” Marmalade said.

”Just talking Tower of Hate and Love, you don’t wanna hear us geeking out about it.” Kalei shot me a look, silently asking me to bring up what she was talking about.

”Yeah,” I said. ”There’s a new documentary out and I have thoughts about the behind the scenes footage they were showing on an upcoming episode.”

”Oof,” Marmalade said. ”Yeah, I’m good.”

I pouted at Marmalade’s open disdain for my favorite show, but I also had a new clue in maybe piecing together whatever was going on with Kalei.