The big room was dark, only slightly illuminated by the projector they were using to present whatever they thought we needed to know. I was starting to feel bored and amid the huge number of people, I felt unusually tiny and out of place. I sat at the very left of one of the most back rows, pretending to be paying attention.
“…Also, we’re having cake today! Has anyone here made a cake before?” my ear caught the presenter’s voice asking.
My arm shot up in the air before I could stop it. I had no idea whether he actually wanted someone to answer, but weirdly enough, I found him passing me a microphone. The only thing I was thankful for, was that my arm’s whims weren’t making me look like an idiot.
“What’s your name? Are you new?” He asked.
“I’m Stella. Um, yes.” I struggled to say. I could feel my hands getting clammy already.
“You say you’ve made cakes before, right?” I nodded. “Tell us about the last cake you made!” He sounded oddly cheerful, too cheerful that I could see right through it.
I thought I was going to struggle to answer that by to my own surprise, I found myself excitedly blurting out lots of nonsense about my latest adventure with cake icing, alas, in the most embarrassing way possible.
“It was a cake I made for my small sister’s birthday. I used colorful icing, which I made by mixing food coloring with white icing… I had green, red, yellow, and purple, and I used them to make flowers on the cake after making the whole cake purple… That was the first time I ever used food coloring, I now think it’s really nice, it’s just like paint!” I blurted out.
‘Stella, you damn moron, this is a science school, not the Golden Raisin club gathering!’ Inner me scolded harshly.
“Well, we can’t wait for you to make us a cake next time!” said the guy, intending to sound funny and failing miserably. Me, on the other hand, I wanted to shoot myself in the head. I felt too uncomfortable already and it was sad because I thought it was going to be a nice day.
By the time the encounter was over, I realized that my cheeks felt really hot and I actually felt dizzy. I felt so embarrassed that I just wanted to leave the room and puke or something.
Luckily enough, I didn’t. The night went just fine. I spent time with my new friends, flew a sky lantern, and then went home happily with a bunch of blue and white balloons and a warm memory to keep. I was thankful.
However, I promised myself to never, ever, talk again.
~♥~
SingulariT 