#van remo

It’s not often that the Halverton Men’s Fencing Team has time to relax and hang out. However, now that the season is over, with school now verging on the cusp of a month-long winter break, they now have time to frolic and bond to their heart’s content. Though this sudden bonding session was probably aided by the fact that it was a mandatory event hosted by Captain Scott Langtree himself.

“Alright, boys, where to first?” Scott asked. The quartet was walking the streets of Bridgeport, awaiting their next adventure.

“You made us come out here without a plan?” Sungchul said, rubbing his mittened hands over his puffer jacket. The Connecticut wind was harsh and biting, despite the sunny atmosphere. The moment this trip started, all the members complained about the frigid weather, and Scott had to try not to roll his eyes.

“Duh,” Scott said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “This is supposed to be a celebration for a hard-fought season! I want you all to celebrate however you'd like! We probably won’t get this chance again, with the four of us.”

Unspoken words hung fraught from Scott’s declaration, but no one dared speak them aloud. Now that the fencing season was over, their graduating seniors were leaving for good, after a season lost not only to Exton, but to an unseen up-and-comer, King’s Row. Though they fought hard to the bitter end, they’d been unsuccessful in their goal to beat their rival, Exton, and had lost to a crummy school in the process. And while Scott had been planning to continue fencing in college, he would no longer be a part of the Halverton team. Additionally, Sangchul would not be returning to the team next year because he completed his goal of one year of fencing to train for the pentathlon.

After a brief pause, Sangchul broke the silence. “I want to go horseback riding.”

The three boys turned to him in disbelief.

“There is no way in hell I’m going horseback riding!” Gian exclaimed, adjusting his hat. At the same time, Van shook his head, long hair fluttering in the wind. “No, grazie,” Van said.

“We are not going horseback riding,” Scott said. Sungchul murmured something unintelligible but clearly ticked off.

“It has to be something realistic. I wanted to binge all three Lord Rings movies and their adjacent spin-offs, but I know that’s not going to happen. It has to be something close and doable within the next few hours. We’d have to go to a country club for horseback riding.”

Sungchul sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“How about we go to a barber shop? I’ve been needing a trim, anyway,” suggested Van. Scott shook his head.

“This is a group celebration, not a time for you to run and do your errands. Plus, my barber is in Barbados right now. I don’t trust anyone else.”

Van sneered, verging on disgusted. He ran his fingers through Scott’s hair. “I don’t trust him. You should talk to my barber instead.”

The group continued to stroll the Bridgeport sidewalks, arguing over where to spend their time. After half an hour, their legs were cramping and their voices hoarse from arguing. They stopped at a bench to rest, located in front of a luxury strip mall, home to all kinds of interesting stores.

“Maybe we should just go home,” Sungchul suggested. “None of us can make a decision. And it’s too cold.”

“Yeah, dude. We’re in Connecticut, of course, it’s going to be cold,” Gian said.

Sungchul sighed and rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Another bickering session broke out among the four boys. Their stomachs started growling amongst the chaos.

“Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving,” Gian said. They all noticed a delicious smell wafting through the air. The scent of fresh bread, rich hot chocolate, and sugar cookies was too tantalizing to ignore.

They followed their noses to a nearby cafe. The bell above the door rang as they pushed open the entrance and gawked at the wonderland before them.

The inside cafe was cozy; fairy lights were hung up along the rafters, gingham fabric covered every table, and a few bookshelves were packed to the brim with mystery novels. Friends and families milled about the building, each dining on delectable treats.

“Whoa,” Gian said. “This place is awesome!” They quickly filed into line, gawking at the deserts in the glass display.

After they ordered, they took their seats at a booth in a corner, ready to chomp down on their sweets.

Gian let out a dreamy sigh as he bit into his Chocolate Explosion cupcake. He washed down a particularly rich bite with a glass of chocolate milk. “This is the life. I hate that the season is over, but it’s nice to eat something without having to worry about my calorie intake for the day.”

Scott nodded, taking a generous bite out of a cinnamon bun. “For sure. See? Wasn’t this a nice celebration to end the season?”

The rest of the team agreed. Van, who had a mouth full of an Oatmeal Raisin cookie, swallowed. “I was skeptical of this place at first, but I agree. Who knew something so cheap would be so good?”

Sungchul, who opted for a slice of strawberry cheesecake, took another bite. He looked at his cheesecake sadly as he swallowed. Though the fencing season was over, he still had to train for the pentathlons he planned to participate in just a few months from now. This was his last cheat day for a while. “It’s a little too good. I could eat the whole cheesecake.”

The four boys chatted excitedly, eating their pastries. They were about to leave the Cafe when the bell above the door rang, announcing another group of customers. They didn’t pay attention to the group at first, until a sharp gasp rang across the room.

They turned to see what the issue was, only to find Exton’s fencing team standing at the front of the store, faces aghast.

The teams stand in shocked silence, eyeing each other up and down. They finally snapped out of their stupor when someone spoke up.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Van and Gian snarl simultaneously. Scott rushes to their sides before they can do anything stupid, like start a fight. Typical unruly underclassman.

“What are we doing here?! What are you doing here?!” Aster Leventis says. Glad to see that unruly underclassmen were truly at every school.

Jesse Coste steps up to bat. “We’re having a team outing to celebrate the end of the season.”

“Same here,” Scott replies coolly. “We can coexist for a little bit, can’t we? After all, the season is over, and neither of us won State. Why are we fighting?”

The other boys looked around, pondering Scott’s words.

“I mean,” said Thomas, “he’s got a point. I just want to hang out with my friends.” He sent a side glance to his twin. “…And Aster, I guess.”

Marcel sighed. “Yeah. I’ve been looking forward to grabbing some cookies from this place for the past month.”

Jesse Coste spoke up. “I have a deal. I’ll buy both of our teams as many cookies as they could ever want, and we have a truce. Deal?”

Halverton’s team huddled around their table. After a few minutes of frantic whispering and nodding, they finally came to a consensus.

“Deal,” Scott said, reaching over to shake Jesse’s hand. “We have a truce.”

Jesse smiled. “Great. After you.”

“Hmmm. I’ve had better,” Thomas said, chewing his cookie thoughtfully.

“What?” Van exclaimed. “These cookies are delicious! They remind me of the cookies I’ve had back home in Italy.”

“No, I agree with Thomas,” Aster said. He didn’t look too impressed with his dessert. “These are pretty bland.”

“What, like you could do better?” Gian said, rolling his eyes. He was 3 cookies deep in the giant pile Jesse had bought. Clearly, he did not have the same reservations as the Exton team.

“I think we could do better,” Marcel said. He had hardly touched his cookie.

“Oh, yeah?” Sungchul said. “Then prove it.”

Scott sighed. “We just agreed on a truce, guys.”

Jesse smirked. “No, no. This is good. What use is it pretending there aren’t unresolved feelings between our teams? We both lost to King’s Row; maybe a little competition between just us could even the score, and prove, truly, who the superior team is.”

“Well, in that case, what did you have in mind? None of the local pistes are open right now, and I don’t think either of our schools will let visitors from opposing teams in right now, either.”

Jesse’s condescending smirk said it all. Whatever this “friendly competition” was, he thought they could win it.

“Well, we want to see who can make the best cookies, right? How about a little baking competition at my place? My house is big enough to fit all of us. Plus, we have enough ovens for both teams to use.”

“I’m game. What about you guys?”

The boys from both teams nodded, each smiling mischievously. This was going to be fun.

***

Jesse was right; his house was large enough to host both teams and then some. The kitchen, in particular, was about twice the size of the dorm rooms at Halverton. It would suit their purposes nicely.

“Alright, boys,” Jesse said, clapping his hands together. “These are the rules. Each team has one hour to bake the best cookies they can. When the hour is up, we will have a panel of judges choose their favorites. The winner will be declared the superior team. Ingredients have been laid out on the kitchen island. Are we ready?”

“Uh, no?” Van said. “First off, can we follow a recipe? What are the guidelines for what’s considered a good cookie? Who is on this so-called panel of judges? Aren’t the only people here your parents?”

Jesse sighed, rubbing his temple. “No, no recipes. The guidelines are taste and decoration. And no, the judges' panel isn’t my parents. It’s–”

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” A new voice called out from the foyer. It sounded vaguely familiar. From around the corner came three figures.

“Wait, they’re going to be the judges?!” Gian exclaimed. “That’s not any better than your parents!”

“Relax,” Jesse said, gesturing towards none other than Nicholas Cox, Seiji Katayama, and Bobby Rodriguez. “These are the most unbiased judges I could think of on such short notice.”

“What, your ex-boyfriend, your brother, and some other guy? That’s still not fair,” Sungchul said.

“You’re missing the point. Yes, it’s my ex and my brother and their friend, but trust me, that doesn’t earn me any other brownie points. If anything, it puts Exton at a disadvantage.”

“Jesse is correct. I do not judge based on personal relationships,” Seiji said coldly. “Whichever team has the best dessert shall be declared the winner.”

Nicholas slung an arm around Seiji and Bobby. “Yeah, I don’t care who wins. Bobby, Seiji, and I were in the middle of having a sleepover. I won’t lose any sleep over this. Plus, free cookies!”

Bobby spoke up. “How about this? We do what they do on the Great British Bake Off! You guys will know what team made what, but we’ll judge it blindly to be fair!”

Both team captains glanced at each other, nodding.

“That… could work,” Scott said.

Jesse nodded. “Alright. Then it’s settled.” He turned to the “judges,” an order ready on his tongue.

“One of you set a timer. Everyone in their places? En garde, prêts, allez!”

***

Maybe this was a mistake.

Currently, the Halverton team is making chocolate strawberry oatmeal raisin cinnamon cookies in the shapes of various fencing poses and phrases. Only, none of them knew how to make cookies from scratch, and their artistic abilities were very lacking.

“I thought you knew how to bake things, Van!” Exclaimed Gian. Van, who was currently covered head to toe in flour, gave an affronted groan.

“I do! When I have a recipe in front of me!”

“Ugh, move aside!” Gian pushed his teammate away from the mixing bowl. “Okay, what do we need? We already have flour and butter. How about some sugar?”

Halverton’s largest teammate grabbed a bag of white powder and the closest available measuring cup. He filled the cup to the brim and dumped it unceremoniously into the bowl. Next, he reached across the counter to the carton of eggs, cracking three open into the mixing bowl.

“Dude, you got some eggshell in there! Gross!”

“Wait, where?! I didn’t get any egg shell in there!”

"Uh, yeah, you did! Look at all those jagged white pieces!

“Crap! Sorry, guys.”

Sungchul sighed. “Whatever. We just have to move on. We’re running out of time.” He took the list of their combined flavors and pulled out each corresponding ingredient. However, he didn’t bother measuring out each ingredient; instead, choosing to pile them directly into the bowl.

“Ooh, wait, can we add some peanut butter?” Van asked. “I think it’d really make the flavors pop.”

Sungchul shrugged, already twisting the lid for the aforementioned peanut butter. The spread landed in a large glob in the center of the mixture.

“Okay, I think we’re supposed to mix it now. Do the Costes have a mixer?”

Scott looked around their side of the kitchen, ignoring the way Exton floundered around just a few feet away. Jesse looked far too busy to ask. Luckily, lo and behold, a mint green KitchenAid lay tucked away in a corner just a few feet away.

“Aha! Here we go!”

Scott plugged in the appliance, transferring their mixture into the larger bowl. He switched on the mixer, only to have the substance explode, covering each of the boys in a white powder.

The group could only stand there in stunned silence for a few seconds before realizing they needed to lock in. They may be covered in pre-mix cookie dough, but they still have a competition to win.

“Okay, let’s try that again.”

This time, Scott experimented with a low speed setting. Slowly but surely, the cookie dough began to form.

The group then pulled the dough out of the bowl and placed it on the counter. They had decided to separate it into four parts to roll and shape into distinct shapes with the cookie cutters Jesse had found in a drawer next to the stove. The Halverton team wanted to make fencing cookies, but the only cutters were leftover holiday shapes Jesse’s mom had bought a few years back. However, they did not let this hinder them in the slightest. They had decided to turn the gingerbread man into a fencer, the candy cane into an epeé, Santa into a fencing mask, and the stocking into a glove.

After the cookies were cut into shapes, Scott and Sungchul placed them onto a baking tray and slid them into one of the many ovens at the Coste residence.  All that was left to do was to let them bake and decorate.

***

“Oh… they look so… unique!”

Well, at least Bobby was trying to be nice. Neither team’s cookies had come out quite as nice as expected. Though the Halverton team noted that theirs looked a little deformed and misshapen, they weren’t burnt like the Exton cookies were.

“If by unique, you mean bad, then I agree,” said Seiji, eyeing the cookies with disdain.

“I’m sure they taste better than they look,” Nicholas said. He picked one up from the Halverton tray and took a bite.

Nicholas’s face immediately scrunched up in disgust. “I think you guys used salt instead of sugar.”

“What?!” Gian exclaimed, marching over to the judging table–aka the kitchen counter that had been cleaned off and laden with cookie trays. So much for anonymity.

Gian snatched the cookie away from Nicholas, inserting the pastry into his mouth. Immediately, he recoiled in disgust at the salty taste. Dejected, he sighed. “We did...”

“Hey, it’s okay. We still have to judge the other team’s cookies, as well,” Bobby reminded. He picked up a cookie from the Exton platter.

However, Bobby’s bubbly demeanor changed the second the cookie entered his mouth. His face turned an alarming shade of green, and his cheeks puffed out as he tried not to gag. Curious, Nicholas picked up one from the same tray and had a nearly identical reaction.

Seiji picked one up to inspect and cast it aside harshly. “I’m not eating either of these.”

“They’re not as salty, but somehow these are even worse,” exclaimed Nicholas. “They taste like ash. Like, melt in your mouth, in a bad way.”

“Concurred,” said Seiji. “Neither team wins.”

“What?!”

“You didn’t even have one!”

“No way!”

“You have to choose a winner!”

“This is such a cop out!”

The uproar was loud and rowdy. However, the judges were having none of it. Rather than try to argue, they left the room, presumably to return to their sleepover.

“Guess this means we won’t ever get to resolve our friendly competition like we wanted to,” sighed Scott.

“Yeah,” agreed Jesse. He sighed. He sauntered up to the fridge, reaching for the top. From there, he pulled out an unopened package of Chips Ahoy. Though he had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“I have a better idea. Let’s scrape these monstrosities and have a Mario Kart tournament instead. The movie theater has enough room for everyone.”

Scott smiled back. After all, what was a little Mario Kart among friends—even if you are sworn rivals?