We Were the "A TEAM"

There were four of us. Not BEST friends, but the closest among the rest of the class. There were ten "kitchens" and we were separated out to three to a kitchen. Someone had to be left out of the four. It was me.

Eigth grade cooking class. I wore a women's size 18, was painfully shy, had unruly kinky hair and wore silver-rimmed glasses.. After splitting up the class into kitchen groups there were two guys left, Eddie Smith, blonde, blue eyed and an outcast and Antonio Rodriquez* more of a thug type. I could put two and one together. We were to be partners.

Of course we knew each other, we had been going to the same junior high for two years and Antonio and I knew each other from elementary. Eddie and Antonio were two good-looking, guys who rolled their cigarettes up in the sleeves of their white t-shirts. No that was just Eddie, but not on the school grounds. Neither one of them were what you would call "academic."

Each one of us was a little on the fringe in one way or another of the social norm. Antonio lifted weights and played football. Eddie cruised the food court. Both could frighten you out of your lunch money. And There we were. The three chefs at the end of the row in the fifth kitchen. I was scared.

What we lacked in social graces, we made up with competitive spirit. Our first assignment, after learning what every utensil and pan were indended for and knew their where they were to be stored, we as a class were to see which kitchen could put them all away the fastest. We won! The teacher came over and checked...everything in it's place. Boss!

The gauntlet was thrown down. We continued this trend with every "competition" winning some little prize and an "A" for each of us. We made crepes, Buenelos, sopapias, chocolate chip cookies... and some savory dishes. Then we would sit down at our kitchen table and share our meal. These guys were pretty hilarious in their own rights, and I had a fair sense of humor... skewed, but that was just the right mix. Sometimes we laughed so hard tears were rolling, and that wasn't just over the onions.

My friends asked me about the guys. It was golden, the feeling of having what I thought was the funniest, greatest kitchen in the room. We just blended well. Who would have thought that these three extremely different individuals could become friends. I think we each had a sense of what it was like to be quiet on the inside and stereotyped on the outside. These weren't thugs at all. Just decent guys who had a low self esteem. You would never have known it to look at us, but we were the "A TEAM."

*names were changed, their discriptions were not.