Week 4
“Isaac, could you come down here, please?”
I wait in the kitchen as I hear Isaac yell in response. I turn around and look at the cookie plate that’s by the stove. This morning I had pilled on it a bunch of homemade cookies I had made last night. I was planning on it being communal – people could grab one or two if they’d like, and everyone could share.
What I didn’t expect was to walk in and find the plate completely BARREN by late afternoon. I could only guess which of us decided to be greedy and take all of them. David was out doing his physics lab, and Jack was off at the library studying with his classmates.
Which meant that there was only one person left – Isaac.
I turned to the sound of Isaac padding in, and see him struggling to pull down his red shirt over his frame – either he’s gotten pudgy or he’s just wearing a shirt WAY too small for his size.
He smiles. “What’s up?” He passes by me and sits down on one of the counter seats.
I didn’t return the smile, which made his ears droop a little. “What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Two words,” I said, folding my arms. “Cookie. Plate.”
His ears drooped all the way now, and I could see him start to blush. His eyes shift away, and he brings his hands together, toying with his fingers. “C-cookies? What cookies?”
My eyebrows furrow. “I made a batch of cookies and put them out on THAT PLATE,” I thrust a finger over to it, “this morning. Now they’re gone. Did you take them ALL?”
Isaac continued to shift his eyes around, and that’s when I noticed his snout – cookies crumbs and bits of chocolate. That shifted my suspicion over to confirmation.
“Isaac, how could you eat all those cookies? I would have been fine if you took two or three, but ALL OF THEM?”
Isaac started to cry. “I-I’m so sorry, they were so good! But I shouldn’t have done that, you’re right.”
Watching him sob ate away all my anger. I didn’t want to chew out a roommate over something as stupid as this. Plus, maybe I owed it to him. After all, he DID cut me a huge break by ordering out food for me on his own dime.
“Woah Woah, hey, it’s okay, don’t cry,” I said, and I rubbed his shoulders with my hands to try to get him to calm down. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I just… I really wanted those cookies to be for everyone.”
“Yeah,” Isaac sniffed. “I won’t take any more desserts.”
“Now, that’s unfair to YOU,” I said. “Look, if you like desserts so much, why don’t you try making them yourself?”
Isaac continued to sniff for another minute, but then he perked up like someone flicked a switch. “Huh… make my own desserts? Like, bake them?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s how most desserts are made, I guess.”
Isaac smiled. “Okay, I’ll try it.”