Free Web NovelChapter 198: Chapter 198
"I wanted to get a good look around first, you don’t mind that, do you?" Valentin said after a brief thought, much to Audie’s relief.
"Not one bit," Jolie beamed, "You’re welcome back anytime, make sure to come with friends!" She added, waving them off.
That was enough for Audie to take Valentin’s wrist and drag him off before Dodie could pry herself free of Fleur and come over.
"Keep an eye on them," Louis found himself saying to Alexander. Audie was dangerous to be left to his own antics and Valentin was too nice to refuse his requests so he had no other choice but to request Alexander’s help.
Alexander’s reply was an unsettling smile, "Sure thing," He agreed, going after them.
Jolie immediately turned on Louis then, her eyes bright. "I didn’t know you were friends with the Prince of Tharfield," She noted, nothing but innocent curiosity on her face.
Louis made a face, ’friends’ was pushing it a bit. "You could say that," He muttered vaguely, going over to Dodie. freewēbnoveℓ.com
It would take hours for them to get finished products so if they wanted confectionaries for other students to try, it was best they got to work.
Fleur was surprisingly good at rallying her club members together, the boys also listening to her as well. "We’ll separate into groups, and each group will decide on what they’d like to make." She explained simply, a faint smile on her face. "You’re free to make as many confectioneries as you want even if other groups are making it, just try to have some fun."
Members of both clubs had already gotten acquainted with each other so in a short time, they all separated into groups of various sizes.
Louis quickly realized that he would end up without a group, or so he thought.
Jolie patted his arm cordially like she could read his thoughts on his face. "We’ll be in a group with those two, don’t worry." She reassured him, "I have a feeling we’re the only ones that can keep up with them." She added under her breath but Louis heard her and he couldn’t deny it.
"What should we make?" Fleur stepped closer to them to ask.
"I’m fine with anything," Louis chimed in.
"I think we should make something simple and well-known," Jolie contributed.
"Aw, where’s the fun in that?" Dodie refused to be left out although she knew absolutely nothing about baking or cooking.
"Righ-"
"No, none of that," Jolie was quick to cut them off, her auburn hair in a braid down her back. "Why don’t we start with chocolate chip cookies?" She suggested.
"I wanted to make pot pies," Fleur pouted.
"Then you’ll make the-" Dodie started to support without hesitation. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Jolie tossed a hand towel at her face, "No, there’ll be no cooking, not for you at least." She said sternly, nipping Fleur’s plans in the bud. "You always make too much food whenever you cook, I don’t want anything to go to waste."
"It’s not her fault she’s used to only cooking enough to feed a small castle," Dodie immediately defended her.
"You, clam it." Jolie jabbed a finger in her direction, "Another word out of you and it’s the racing track with you."
That was enough to keep Dodie quiet, Louis had been silently watching their interaction with amusement this entire time. It looked like there was absolutely nothing for him to be worried about, seeing as Jolie had the entire thing under control.
"Chocolate chip cookies it is!" She cheered after wearing her opposition down, walking over to a clothes rack to get enough aprons for their group.
After they all put their aprons on, Jolie took the lead which was a great idea as Fleur’s only weakness was Dodie. Regardless of how ridiculous her request was, Fleur would always try to do it.
Chocolate chip cookies were easy to make which meant that it was the perfect choice for their brand new baking group. Louis was placed in charge of all of the mixing while Jolie handled measuring out the flour, Fleur was supposed to help Louis out but Dodie ended up doing all of the work.
Louis didn’t mind, Dodie listened perfectly well when Fleur was the one doing the talking, she also managed to keep her concentration which was a feat in itself.
In no time, with all four of them working together, the chocolate chip cookie dough was all ready, which meant that the only step left was to scoop out the cookie dough, roll it and flatten it on baking trays.
For this part, everyone had a tray to themselves and they were free to mold the chocolate cookie dough into any shape they wished.
The three members of the cooking club were efficient at this, scooping, rolling, and flattening with practiced ease. Dodie on the other hand, had a much harder time. She took her time scooping, rolling and flattening...
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*A/N: as someone who has never baked before, i just did in-depth research and realized that you’re not supposed to flatten after rolling because they’ll just spread out and become shapeless - wow, how fascinating (this is sarcasm btw) how did i not realize that the heat of the oven would make them spread out?
also you’re supposed to chill the dough from anywhere from 2-3 hours to 2-3days (a wild range in my opinion) to make the ingredients settle in (whatever that means)
i think what we should all take from this is that we should never use the methods the characters use to bake (I-I absolutely didn’t plan on doing that)*
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... Although she took her time scooping and rolling the dough, it came out terribly like clumps of mud but Fleur didn’t seem to see them that you.
"You did such an awesome job!" She beamed, pausing her scooping to watch Dodie work. "I would have never thought to shape them that way."
It was evident that there wasn’t a single derisive tone in her words and that she really meant her compliment.
Dodie positively glowed at her words, "If you want I could show you how to do it," She confidently offered.
Louis was about to protest that perhaps they shouldn’t take it that far but Jolie already beat him to it.
"I think it’s best if we have some diversity so shape the cookies in your own way," She said absently, never taking her eyes from her baking tray.
That was enough to make them both pay attention to their separate tasks again, Louis would have to ask Jolie for tips after this, he would need them to keep his friends in line during their next camping trip.
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Before leaving the sports complex, Valentin decided to check in on the others first. He wanted to make note of when their competitions would be starting so that they could return to cheer them on.
Their first stop was Errol who walked over to meet them from where he was seated with his club members.
"When are you racing?" Valentin asked after exchanging pleasantries and answering his older brother’s several questions about what they had been up to.
"In a couple of hours, want to come watch?" Errol smiled, flicking his gaze to Alexander who stood a little distance away.
"Of course!" Valentin confirmed, "Luke you even have to ask," He snarked, already walking away.
Errol just waved them off, Audie the only one to return the gesture as Valentin dragged him away.
Next, they went down to the racing track, where the horse races would take place, and found that they had come right in time for the races to begin.
Much like the last sports competition where horse racing was held first, it was repeated again this year, and this time, Alpha Academy was allowed to have their race first.
They met up with Henri just as he was about to lead his horse to the starting line, he had a dark cloud hanging over his head at the start but he brightened up somewhat when he saw them approaching.
The horse he would be riding was nowhere as large as Moonlight but it was a pretty large breed. Surprisingly, Claude wasn’t with him, which was a first. Henri needed to be on the track so he just waved them off and kept walking.
They found Claude soon after because the other Alpha came out of the stables just as the whistle to signal the start of the race was about to be blown. He came out holding the reins of a prancing steed who just looked happy to be there and immediately got on the horse as soon as he cleared the stables with the horse.
Valentin looked to Audie with a slight frown, "Did you know Claude was participating in the competitions?"
Audie had a blank expression on his face that showed that he also absolutely had no idea of what was going on, "I didn’t even know he was still in the Horse riding club, I thought he was kicked out.
"He was," Alexander spoke up, watching Claude beeline for the race track.
