Happy Pi Day! / Food Fest Bingo
Title: Happy Pi Day!
Author: kira
Prompt: Canned Fruit, Seeds, Cereal, School Cafeteria Food, Pie, Pasta, Sandwich, Cookies, Fish
Fandom: original
Characters: Bernd, Amber, Vati (Wolfgang), Denis, Julio
Word count: 3272
Rating: G
Summary: It’s Pi Day at school and the seniors need to bring in a pie…
Author’s note: I used all the prompts in one fic. This is also unbetaed, so any mistakes therein are my own.
Author’s note 2: Amber (and James, who was mentioned) belong to Kat.
“Hey, Vati!” Bernd called out from the mudroom.
“What is it, Bernd?” Wolfgang looked up from his laptop as his eldest entered the kitchen. “Hi, Amber.”
“Hi, Vati.” Amber walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.
Bernd walked over to his father. “Vati, I need a pie for tomorrow.”
“You do?” Wolfgang let out a soft sigh. He was busy working and not happy about the interruption. The last thing he wanted to do was run to the store to get a pie.
Bernd nodded. “Tomorrow’s Pi Day and our,” he looked over at Amber and back, “math teacher wants us to bring in a pie.”
Wolfgang turned his head towards Amber. “Ja?”
“It’s true, Vati. I’m going to make an apple pie; it should be easy enough with a frozen pie crust and a can of apples.”
“And I think I’ll make vanilla pudding pie.” Bernd grinned.
“Oh.” Wolfgang smiled, relieved that his son had chosen something easy to make. Still, he wondered if it would be easier to just buy a pie. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just buy something?”
Bernd made a face.“Yeah, but I wanted to make something and so did Amber.”
“Ja?” Wolfgang’s eyes widened in surprise. Baking was more of his younger son Didi’s thing and he was sure if he had asked him, Didi would have happily baked some pies after dinner.
Bernd nodded. “So can me and Amber go to the store and get what we need?”
“Be careful.” Wolfgang turned his attention back to his work. He paused and looked back at his son. “Do you have money?”
“I think so…” Bernd set his books down and reached into his pocket. “Think a dollar fifty will be enough?”
Wolfgang sighed as he pushed back from the table. “I’ll get you some more.” Leaving the kitchen, he headed towards his room, where his wallet was.
“Let’s get what we need and make our pies after dinner.”
“Okay,” Amber replied. She was glad Bernd had suggested it as she doubted her mother would let her “dirty up” the kitchen. “Maybe we should get a pie for James too.”
“Oh yeah! Your brother going to be in school tomorrow?”
Amber nodded. Her twin should be over his stomach virus by now. Their friend and Bernd’s quasi-cousin Denis had it last week and he was only out for a day. James got sick on Saturday and was better the next day, but their grandmother had insisted he stay home today.
“Awesomeness! What kind of pie are you making for him?” Bernd said.
“I’ll get him a store bought blueberry.” It was bad enough she had to make a pie for herself, the last thing she wanted to do was make one for her brother as she was sure Bernd was going to have a million and one questions about making his.
Wolfgang returned with a twenty dollar bill for Bard. “Get what you need for your project. You should also have enough to get something for us for dinner.” Since Wolfgang had forgotten about dinner, this trip to the store that he did not have to make himself was perfect. “You’ll stay for dinner, Amber, ja?”
“Thanks, Vati,” Amber said.
“Awesomeness!” Bernd put the money in his pocket. “Let’s go, Amber.”
She got up to leave. “Bye, Vati.”
“Bye.”
They left Bernd’s house and headed into town on foot. On the way they made backup plans in case their pies turned out to be a total mess. A couple of short blocks later and they grabbed a shopping cart, before entering the store.
Bernd and Amber walked down the baking aisle, looking for the things they would need to make their pies. Bernd spotted the no-bake pie crusts and picked up one of the graham cracker ones and added it to their cart. Amber walked ahead, looking for the pie crust fillings.
She was glad she had not listened to Bernd, who had insisted they would find what she needed amongst the tins of pineapple chunks and fruit cocktail. Right next to the canned cherry pie filling was the apple pie filling. There were also some cans of blueberry filling as well as pumpkin. While it was tempting to also make a pie for James, a store bought one would be fine. When she thought about it, she could just buy an apple pie too, but Bernd seemed to be really keen on making one so she figured she would make one too. How hard could it be, since his younger brother Didi often made them?
After adding the canned apples to their cart, Amber and Bernd headed over to the store’s bakery to get a pie for James. Passing by the marshmallows, Bernd grabbed a bag and tossed it into the cart. Amber snorted and shook her head at him. He grinned back at her.
Unfortunately, by the time they found the pies in the bakery section, they were pretty much sold out. “How?” Bernd asked, while Amber decided between a pecan pie and a cherry one.
“Cell phones. You know, calling mom between classes, and people in town deciding to celebrate PI Day by buying up all the pies.” She put a cherry pie in their cart. “Let’s go get a pre-made pie crust from the frozen food aisle and something for dinner.”
“Okay.” Bernd steered their cart to the middle of the store. There, they found the pie crusts, which Amber added to their cart. As they made their way to the meat counter, Bernd spotted the frozen fish. “Let’s get this!” he said as he reached for a bag of beer battered fish pieces.
“Why?” Amber thought they were just glorified fish sticks and had a feeling Vati would think the same way.
“I dunno…” Bernd looked for a bag of French fries. “I thought fish and chips would be good.”
“But that sounds…” Amber trailed off at the look on his face. “Really tasty,” she quickly added.
He grinned. “I knew you’d like it! I bet Vati will too, since I can make it. All you do is put everything on a cookie sheet and throw it in the oven.” Bernd added the bag of fries to their cart.
“Ever the gourmet,” Amber chuckled as they made their way to the checkout counter. It came to a bit more than Bernd had, so Amber put the bag of pumpkin seeds back and handed over her two dollars. Bernd put her money with his and paid the cashier. Picking up the bags, they left the store and headed home.
“We’re home!” Bernd said as they entered his house. They set the bags down on the kitchen table and emptied them. While Amber put away the things they needed to make their pies, Bernd got out what he needed to make the “fish and chips.”
Bernd carefully followed the directions on the package of fish and fries. He took cookie sheets, and after spraying them with cooking spray, he put the pieces of fish on the one and the fries on the other. While the oven heated up, he put in the fries as they needed slightly more time to cook, adding the fish once it reached four hundred degrees.
Amber, meanwhile, sat at the kitchen table and read the recipe off the canned apples’ label. She was glad the pie crusts came in a package of two so she could take one and use it as a top crust for her pie. Reaching for her cell phone, she called her twin brother. “Hey, James… We needed a pie for math class to celebrate Pi Day, so I got you a cherry pie… I know, and I was going to get you a blueberry one, but they were sold out. Sorry… Anyways, I’m staying over, so can you bring me something to wear for tomorrow and I’ll give you your pie, Thanks… bye.” She hung up. “Should I make a salad?” Amber said as she walked over to the fridge.
“I don’t think we need any…” Bernd said. “I mean, the people on the show just ate the fish and chips out of newspaper with vinegar on top.”
“Yeah? And since when do you get dinner ideas from TV?”
Bernd shrugged. “I dunno… It was some show I found, while channel surfing, where they went all around England and talked about and ate all these different kinds of food. Some bald guy also gave background info on it. Anyways, the fish and chips looked good and I wanted to try it.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Bernd?” Amber teased as he was the pickiest eater she had ever met, and trying new foods was something he rarely if ever did.
Bernd grinned. “The fish and the fries are white inside,” he said as if that explained everything.
“I see,” she replied, which it oddly did.
Dinner was ready a half hour later. While Bernd took the trays out of the oven, Amber set the table for three as Bernd’s little brother Didi was spending the night with his best friend and quasi-cousin Tino. She went to the den and told Vati it was time for dinner. While Amber went to get his father, Bernd brought the food to the table.
“Help yourselves!” Bernd said as he dipped a piece of fish in the vinegar like the people on the show did. He took a bite as a play of emotions danced across his face. “It’s good,” he said, a hint of surprise coloring his voice.
Wolfgang ate a piece of fish dipped in vinegar. “While, I like lemon on my fish, this isn’t too bad.”
Amber also tried some. “Yeah, they’re not bad for fancy fish sticks. Anyway, I’m going to get some ketchup for my fries.” She got up to get the bottle from the fridge.
Wolfgang coughed to cover up his laughter as he shared Amber’s assessment of the fish. “I’m fine,” he said to his son, before eating another bite. He was pleased Bernd was finally trying something new and if it turned out to be just a variation on something “familiar,” then so be it. Besides, at least this meal had taste, unlike most of Bernd’s favorite dishes.
After cleaning the remains of their dinner, Amber and Bernd started on their pies. Both were relatively easy to make as they both used premade pie crusts. The only difficulty they had encountered, was Amber had a bit of trouble, getting the second piecrust out of the tin throw-away pie plate. Unfortunately it came out in pieces, but Amber was able to pinch them together, before rolling it out smoothly. She then placed it on top of her pie, trimming the excess crust, and crimping the edges together, before cutting a few slits in the top. Amber placed the pie in the oven. She took out her cell phone and set a timer for a half hour, even though the recipe on the label said to bake for forty to forty-five minutes. She figured she could always add more time if needed.
Bernd, meanwhile, was busy making the pudding filling for his pie. It took less time than he thought it would and it was ready to set up in the fridge while Amber was getting her pie ready for the oven.
While Amber’s pie was baking, they sat at the kitchen table and did their homework. “Hey, Numbnuts! Stop opening the oven or it won’t cook right,” Amber said as she finished her science homework.
“But how are you going to know when it’s done?” Bernd closed the oven and sat down. He had finished his homework before she did and had decided to “help” by checking on her pie.
“I set a timer on my phone when I popped it in the oven. There it goes,” Amber said. Reaching for her phone, she turned the timer off and got up to check her pie. “I think it could use another five minutes.” She set another timer on her phone.
“Okay!” Bernd got up and checked his own pie. “Mine’s ready!” He grinned as he closed the fridge.
Amber stood, waiting by the stove. When the timer went off again, she said, “I think mine should be ready now too.” She looked in the oven and figuring the crust was brown enough, she removed the pie. Amber set it on the stove to cool and turned off the oven. “Let’s go play some video games.”
“Awesomeness!”
Leaving the kitchen, they headed upstairs to his room. They hung out, playing music and video games, while waiting for James to show up. He showed up an hour later with an overnight bag for his sister. He stayed for about an hour, playing video games, before leaving with his pie.
Amber and Bernd each took a shower, before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was Pi Day and they could not wait to get to school as their math teacher had promised they could taste test the pies. In other words, it was going to be a fun party kind of day.
Getting into Bernd’s bed, they snuggled together as they fell asleep. Bernd slept fitfully, the excitement of what he imagined Pi Day to be keeping him awake. After what had felt like an eternity, he managed to drift off to sleep like Amber had.
Waking up the next day, Bernd hurried to get ready for school. While he was in the bathroom, washing up, Amber got up and got dressed for the day. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” she called out on her way to the bathroom. There, she brushed her teeth, before heading downstairs to the kitchen.
She entered the kitchen as Bernd got out a couple of bowls and spoons. He put them on the table and headed over to the pantry for the cereal, returning to the table just as Amber made herself at home.
“Happy Pi Day!” Bernd said. He set the box of Cheerios, he was holding, down, before going to get the milk from the fridge. Bringing it to the table, he put it down and sat across from her.
“Happy Pi Day to you too,” Amber said. She reached for the cereal and poured some into her bowl. She passed the Cheerios to him.
Bernd took the proffered box and filled his bowl. When Amber was finished with the milk, he added some to his cereal, before getting up to put the milk away. “Think they’ll like our pies?” he said between mouthfuls.
Amber nodded. “Class’ll be like a party; what’s not to like?” she said, before digging into her breakfast.
“Good.”
They quickly finished their breakfasts. While Bernd washed the bowls and spoons, Amber went to get their backpacks. As soon as he finished, they grabbed their backpacks and pies. Leaving the house, they hurried over to the bus stop for the trip to school.
Just like he had hoped, their first period math class was a party, with everyone bringing all sorts of pies, from individual tartlets to everything pie imaginable. Bernd was stuffed by the time class was over. He had eaten almost half of Amber’s pie by himself, which took the sting out his vanilla pudding pie being mostly overlooked.
Bernd’s next few classes seemed to continue the party atmosphere. Instead of doing their normal workload, his teachers opted to watch a movie, with his science class being the only one where he actually got to see the whole movie as he had a lab in the following period. In fact, the whole morning appeared to fly by in an instant as the next thing Bernd knew, he was leaving English to meet up with Amber by her locker. From there, the two of them made their way to the cafeteria for lunch.
Amber and Bernd got on line at the cafeteria. Entering the kitchen area, they bypassed the hot food section and headed over to the deli, where they each got a sandwich and something to drink. Lunch trays in hand, the two of them paid the cashier. They entered the seating area and looked for a place to sit.
“Let’s go sit by the window,” Bernd said.
Not finding anywhere else to sit, Amber agreed and they headed over there.
They ate their lunch in silence; until their friends, who were also Bernd’s quasi-cousins, sat down to eat with them. He handed Julio his packet of chips. “Here, you look hungry.”
“Thanks, Bernd,” Julio said as he took the proffered bag and opened it. He munched on some chips. “Nonno got us each a pizza to take to class for Pi Day.”
“Yeah,” Denis said. “I’m stuffed as a couple of our classmates had the same idea.” He belched loudly and his friends laughed, although, Amber just shook her head at him.
“I brought in a pudding pie that I made,” Bernd said. “I have some left; it’s my locker. I was gonna bring it home, but you guys can have it if you want.”
“Thanks, but I couldn’t eat another bite,” Denis said. He pulled out a packet of pumpkin seeds. “You guys, want any?” He held it out.
“Thanks,” Amber said as she took a handful and ate them. “I thought you weren’t hungry.”
“I’m not, but you guys look like you are. Besides, Miss June made the sandwiches today according to Alice in the snack bar, and whenever she makes them, they taste like shit.”
“Tell me about it,” Julio said. “I had one of her sandwiches last week and I spent the afternoon in nurse’s office.”
“That’s cuz you forget to study for your science test.?” Bernd said between bites of his sandwich.
“Oh yeah…” Julio said sheepishly. “Anyways I took the makeup and got a hundred on it.”
“Awesomeness!” Bernd grinned, before turning to his other quasi-cousin. “Hey, Denis, got any of those pumpkin seeds left?”
“Here, take what’s left.” Denis handed him the nearly empty packet.
“Thanks!” Bernd poured what was left into his hand and ate them. “Wow! These are saltier than the ones we make.” He grabbed his carton of milk.
“I know, but they’re not too bad.”
Bernd drank his milk. “True, but I still like the way Vati makes them.”
“Yeah!”
“I’m going to get a cookie. Anyone want anything?” Amber said. She stood up to go back inside the kitchen.
“They have any pasta salad left?” Bernd said, before popping the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth. “Yesterday was mac and cheese day, and sometimes they make pasta salad out of the leftovers.”
“Bernd, you were behind me the whole time we were on line, did you see any pasta salad?” Amber raised an eyebrow at him. She sighed softly as sometimes he could be denser than a black hole in space.
“Uh, no…”
“Then there’s your answer,” she said, before disappearing into the kitchen, dropping her garbage in the can and putting the tray on top. Amber returned, munching on her cookie, as the bell rang, signaling a return to class. Popping the remains of her cookie in her mouth, Amber grabbed her books and hurried off with her friends.
“This is turning out to be a really awesome Pi Day!” Bernd grinned as he paused in front of his classroom.
“Yeah…” Amber said. “See you later!”
“Later!” Bernd watched her go, before heading into his classroom. A pity every day can’t be like Pi Day… he thought as he sat down to another boring social studies lecture.
Author: kira
Prompt: Canned Fruit, Seeds, Cereal, School Cafeteria Food, Pie, Pasta, Sandwich, Cookies, Fish
Fandom: original
Characters: Bernd, Amber, Vati (Wolfgang), Denis, Julio
Word count: 3272
Rating: G
Summary: It’s Pi Day at school and the seniors need to bring in a pie…
Author’s note: I used all the prompts in one fic. This is also unbetaed, so any mistakes therein are my own.
Author’s note 2: Amber (and James, who was mentioned) belong to Kat.
“Hey, Vati!” Bernd called out from the mudroom.
“What is it, Bernd?” Wolfgang looked up from his laptop as his eldest entered the kitchen. “Hi, Amber.”
“Hi, Vati.” Amber walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.
Bernd walked over to his father. “Vati, I need a pie for tomorrow.”
“You do?” Wolfgang let out a soft sigh. He was busy working and not happy about the interruption. The last thing he wanted to do was run to the store to get a pie.
Bernd nodded. “Tomorrow’s Pi Day and our,” he looked over at Amber and back, “math teacher wants us to bring in a pie.”
Wolfgang turned his head towards Amber. “Ja?”
“It’s true, Vati. I’m going to make an apple pie; it should be easy enough with a frozen pie crust and a can of apples.”
“And I think I’ll make vanilla pudding pie.” Bernd grinned.
“Oh.” Wolfgang smiled, relieved that his son had chosen something easy to make. Still, he wondered if it would be easier to just buy a pie. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just buy something?”
Bernd made a face.“Yeah, but I wanted to make something and so did Amber.”
“Ja?” Wolfgang’s eyes widened in surprise. Baking was more of his younger son Didi’s thing and he was sure if he had asked him, Didi would have happily baked some pies after dinner.
Bernd nodded. “So can me and Amber go to the store and get what we need?”
“Be careful.” Wolfgang turned his attention back to his work. He paused and looked back at his son. “Do you have money?”
“I think so…” Bernd set his books down and reached into his pocket. “Think a dollar fifty will be enough?”
Wolfgang sighed as he pushed back from the table. “I’ll get you some more.” Leaving the kitchen, he headed towards his room, where his wallet was.
“Let’s get what we need and make our pies after dinner.”
“Okay,” Amber replied. She was glad Bernd had suggested it as she doubted her mother would let her “dirty up” the kitchen. “Maybe we should get a pie for James too.”
“Oh yeah! Your brother going to be in school tomorrow?”
Amber nodded. Her twin should be over his stomach virus by now. Their friend and Bernd’s quasi-cousin Denis had it last week and he was only out for a day. James got sick on Saturday and was better the next day, but their grandmother had insisted he stay home today.
“Awesomeness! What kind of pie are you making for him?” Bernd said.
“I’ll get him a store bought blueberry.” It was bad enough she had to make a pie for herself, the last thing she wanted to do was make one for her brother as she was sure Bernd was going to have a million and one questions about making his.
Wolfgang returned with a twenty dollar bill for Bard. “Get what you need for your project. You should also have enough to get something for us for dinner.” Since Wolfgang had forgotten about dinner, this trip to the store that he did not have to make himself was perfect. “You’ll stay for dinner, Amber, ja?”
“Thanks, Vati,” Amber said.
“Awesomeness!” Bernd put the money in his pocket. “Let’s go, Amber.”
She got up to leave. “Bye, Vati.”
“Bye.”
They left Bernd’s house and headed into town on foot. On the way they made backup plans in case their pies turned out to be a total mess. A couple of short blocks later and they grabbed a shopping cart, before entering the store.
Bernd and Amber walked down the baking aisle, looking for the things they would need to make their pies. Bernd spotted the no-bake pie crusts and picked up one of the graham cracker ones and added it to their cart. Amber walked ahead, looking for the pie crust fillings.
She was glad she had not listened to Bernd, who had insisted they would find what she needed amongst the tins of pineapple chunks and fruit cocktail. Right next to the canned cherry pie filling was the apple pie filling. There were also some cans of blueberry filling as well as pumpkin. While it was tempting to also make a pie for James, a store bought one would be fine. When she thought about it, she could just buy an apple pie too, but Bernd seemed to be really keen on making one so she figured she would make one too. How hard could it be, since his younger brother Didi often made them?
After adding the canned apples to their cart, Amber and Bernd headed over to the store’s bakery to get a pie for James. Passing by the marshmallows, Bernd grabbed a bag and tossed it into the cart. Amber snorted and shook her head at him. He grinned back at her.
Unfortunately, by the time they found the pies in the bakery section, they were pretty much sold out. “How?” Bernd asked, while Amber decided between a pecan pie and a cherry one.
“Cell phones. You know, calling mom between classes, and people in town deciding to celebrate PI Day by buying up all the pies.” She put a cherry pie in their cart. “Let’s go get a pre-made pie crust from the frozen food aisle and something for dinner.”
“Okay.” Bernd steered their cart to the middle of the store. There, they found the pie crusts, which Amber added to their cart. As they made their way to the meat counter, Bernd spotted the frozen fish. “Let’s get this!” he said as he reached for a bag of beer battered fish pieces.
“Why?” Amber thought they were just glorified fish sticks and had a feeling Vati would think the same way.
“I dunno…” Bernd looked for a bag of French fries. “I thought fish and chips would be good.”
“But that sounds…” Amber trailed off at the look on his face. “Really tasty,” she quickly added.
He grinned. “I knew you’d like it! I bet Vati will too, since I can make it. All you do is put everything on a cookie sheet and throw it in the oven.” Bernd added the bag of fries to their cart.
“Ever the gourmet,” Amber chuckled as they made their way to the checkout counter. It came to a bit more than Bernd had, so Amber put the bag of pumpkin seeds back and handed over her two dollars. Bernd put her money with his and paid the cashier. Picking up the bags, they left the store and headed home.
“We’re home!” Bernd said as they entered his house. They set the bags down on the kitchen table and emptied them. While Amber put away the things they needed to make their pies, Bernd got out what he needed to make the “fish and chips.”
Bernd carefully followed the directions on the package of fish and fries. He took cookie sheets, and after spraying them with cooking spray, he put the pieces of fish on the one and the fries on the other. While the oven heated up, he put in the fries as they needed slightly more time to cook, adding the fish once it reached four hundred degrees.
Amber, meanwhile, sat at the kitchen table and read the recipe off the canned apples’ label. She was glad the pie crusts came in a package of two so she could take one and use it as a top crust for her pie. Reaching for her cell phone, she called her twin brother. “Hey, James… We needed a pie for math class to celebrate Pi Day, so I got you a cherry pie… I know, and I was going to get you a blueberry one, but they were sold out. Sorry… Anyways, I’m staying over, so can you bring me something to wear for tomorrow and I’ll give you your pie, Thanks… bye.” She hung up. “Should I make a salad?” Amber said as she walked over to the fridge.
“I don’t think we need any…” Bernd said. “I mean, the people on the show just ate the fish and chips out of newspaper with vinegar on top.”
“Yeah? And since when do you get dinner ideas from TV?”
Bernd shrugged. “I dunno… It was some show I found, while channel surfing, where they went all around England and talked about and ate all these different kinds of food. Some bald guy also gave background info on it. Anyways, the fish and chips looked good and I wanted to try it.”
“Who are you and what have you done with Bernd?” Amber teased as he was the pickiest eater she had ever met, and trying new foods was something he rarely if ever did.
Bernd grinned. “The fish and the fries are white inside,” he said as if that explained everything.
“I see,” she replied, which it oddly did.
Dinner was ready a half hour later. While Bernd took the trays out of the oven, Amber set the table for three as Bernd’s little brother Didi was spending the night with his best friend and quasi-cousin Tino. She went to the den and told Vati it was time for dinner. While Amber went to get his father, Bernd brought the food to the table.
“Help yourselves!” Bernd said as he dipped a piece of fish in the vinegar like the people on the show did. He took a bite as a play of emotions danced across his face. “It’s good,” he said, a hint of surprise coloring his voice.
Wolfgang ate a piece of fish dipped in vinegar. “While, I like lemon on my fish, this isn’t too bad.”
Amber also tried some. “Yeah, they’re not bad for fancy fish sticks. Anyway, I’m going to get some ketchup for my fries.” She got up to get the bottle from the fridge.
Wolfgang coughed to cover up his laughter as he shared Amber’s assessment of the fish. “I’m fine,” he said to his son, before eating another bite. He was pleased Bernd was finally trying something new and if it turned out to be just a variation on something “familiar,” then so be it. Besides, at least this meal had taste, unlike most of Bernd’s favorite dishes.
After cleaning the remains of their dinner, Amber and Bernd started on their pies. Both were relatively easy to make as they both used premade pie crusts. The only difficulty they had encountered, was Amber had a bit of trouble, getting the second piecrust out of the tin throw-away pie plate. Unfortunately it came out in pieces, but Amber was able to pinch them together, before rolling it out smoothly. She then placed it on top of her pie, trimming the excess crust, and crimping the edges together, before cutting a few slits in the top. Amber placed the pie in the oven. She took out her cell phone and set a timer for a half hour, even though the recipe on the label said to bake for forty to forty-five minutes. She figured she could always add more time if needed.
Bernd, meanwhile, was busy making the pudding filling for his pie. It took less time than he thought it would and it was ready to set up in the fridge while Amber was getting her pie ready for the oven.
While Amber’s pie was baking, they sat at the kitchen table and did their homework. “Hey, Numbnuts! Stop opening the oven or it won’t cook right,” Amber said as she finished her science homework.
“But how are you going to know when it’s done?” Bernd closed the oven and sat down. He had finished his homework before she did and had decided to “help” by checking on her pie.
“I set a timer on my phone when I popped it in the oven. There it goes,” Amber said. Reaching for her phone, she turned the timer off and got up to check her pie. “I think it could use another five minutes.” She set another timer on her phone.
“Okay!” Bernd got up and checked his own pie. “Mine’s ready!” He grinned as he closed the fridge.
Amber stood, waiting by the stove. When the timer went off again, she said, “I think mine should be ready now too.” She looked in the oven and figuring the crust was brown enough, she removed the pie. Amber set it on the stove to cool and turned off the oven. “Let’s go play some video games.”
“Awesomeness!”
Leaving the kitchen, they headed upstairs to his room. They hung out, playing music and video games, while waiting for James to show up. He showed up an hour later with an overnight bag for his sister. He stayed for about an hour, playing video games, before leaving with his pie.
Amber and Bernd each took a shower, before getting ready for bed. Tomorrow was Pi Day and they could not wait to get to school as their math teacher had promised they could taste test the pies. In other words, it was going to be a fun party kind of day.
Getting into Bernd’s bed, they snuggled together as they fell asleep. Bernd slept fitfully, the excitement of what he imagined Pi Day to be keeping him awake. After what had felt like an eternity, he managed to drift off to sleep like Amber had.
Waking up the next day, Bernd hurried to get ready for school. While he was in the bathroom, washing up, Amber got up and got dressed for the day. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” she called out on her way to the bathroom. There, she brushed her teeth, before heading downstairs to the kitchen.
She entered the kitchen as Bernd got out a couple of bowls and spoons. He put them on the table and headed over to the pantry for the cereal, returning to the table just as Amber made herself at home.
“Happy Pi Day!” Bernd said. He set the box of Cheerios, he was holding, down, before going to get the milk from the fridge. Bringing it to the table, he put it down and sat across from her.
“Happy Pi Day to you too,” Amber said. She reached for the cereal and poured some into her bowl. She passed the Cheerios to him.
Bernd took the proffered box and filled his bowl. When Amber was finished with the milk, he added some to his cereal, before getting up to put the milk away. “Think they’ll like our pies?” he said between mouthfuls.
Amber nodded. “Class’ll be like a party; what’s not to like?” she said, before digging into her breakfast.
“Good.”
They quickly finished their breakfasts. While Bernd washed the bowls and spoons, Amber went to get their backpacks. As soon as he finished, they grabbed their backpacks and pies. Leaving the house, they hurried over to the bus stop for the trip to school.
Just like he had hoped, their first period math class was a party, with everyone bringing all sorts of pies, from individual tartlets to everything pie imaginable. Bernd was stuffed by the time class was over. He had eaten almost half of Amber’s pie by himself, which took the sting out his vanilla pudding pie being mostly overlooked.
Bernd’s next few classes seemed to continue the party atmosphere. Instead of doing their normal workload, his teachers opted to watch a movie, with his science class being the only one where he actually got to see the whole movie as he had a lab in the following period. In fact, the whole morning appeared to fly by in an instant as the next thing Bernd knew, he was leaving English to meet up with Amber by her locker. From there, the two of them made their way to the cafeteria for lunch.
Amber and Bernd got on line at the cafeteria. Entering the kitchen area, they bypassed the hot food section and headed over to the deli, where they each got a sandwich and something to drink. Lunch trays in hand, the two of them paid the cashier. They entered the seating area and looked for a place to sit.
“Let’s go sit by the window,” Bernd said.
Not finding anywhere else to sit, Amber agreed and they headed over there.
They ate their lunch in silence; until their friends, who were also Bernd’s quasi-cousins, sat down to eat with them. He handed Julio his packet of chips. “Here, you look hungry.”
“Thanks, Bernd,” Julio said as he took the proffered bag and opened it. He munched on some chips. “Nonno got us each a pizza to take to class for Pi Day.”
“Yeah,” Denis said. “I’m stuffed as a couple of our classmates had the same idea.” He belched loudly and his friends laughed, although, Amber just shook her head at him.
“I brought in a pudding pie that I made,” Bernd said. “I have some left; it’s my locker. I was gonna bring it home, but you guys can have it if you want.”
“Thanks, but I couldn’t eat another bite,” Denis said. He pulled out a packet of pumpkin seeds. “You guys, want any?” He held it out.
“Thanks,” Amber said as she took a handful and ate them. “I thought you weren’t hungry.”
“I’m not, but you guys look like you are. Besides, Miss June made the sandwiches today according to Alice in the snack bar, and whenever she makes them, they taste like shit.”
“Tell me about it,” Julio said. “I had one of her sandwiches last week and I spent the afternoon in nurse’s office.”
“That’s cuz you forget to study for your science test.?” Bernd said between bites of his sandwich.
“Oh yeah…” Julio said sheepishly. “Anyways I took the makeup and got a hundred on it.”
“Awesomeness!” Bernd grinned, before turning to his other quasi-cousin. “Hey, Denis, got any of those pumpkin seeds left?”
“Here, take what’s left.” Denis handed him the nearly empty packet.
“Thanks!” Bernd poured what was left into his hand and ate them. “Wow! These are saltier than the ones we make.” He grabbed his carton of milk.
“I know, but they’re not too bad.”
Bernd drank his milk. “True, but I still like the way Vati makes them.”
“Yeah!”
“I’m going to get a cookie. Anyone want anything?” Amber said. She stood up to go back inside the kitchen.
“They have any pasta salad left?” Bernd said, before popping the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth. “Yesterday was mac and cheese day, and sometimes they make pasta salad out of the leftovers.”
“Bernd, you were behind me the whole time we were on line, did you see any pasta salad?” Amber raised an eyebrow at him. She sighed softly as sometimes he could be denser than a black hole in space.
“Uh, no…”
“Then there’s your answer,” she said, before disappearing into the kitchen, dropping her garbage in the can and putting the tray on top. Amber returned, munching on her cookie, as the bell rang, signaling a return to class. Popping the remains of her cookie in her mouth, Amber grabbed her books and hurried off with her friends.
“This is turning out to be a really awesome Pi Day!” Bernd grinned as he paused in front of his classroom.
“Yeah…” Amber said. “See you later!”
“Later!” Bernd watched her go, before heading into his classroom. A pity every day can’t be like Pi Day… he thought as he sat down to another boring social studies lecture.