Remembering Sunday

"So, you turn the onions in your grill until the blue cheese has melted, but not burned, and make sure not to turn your mushrooms under any circumstances, and then move them all to a serving plate, and present them as I have in the demo plate. I'll be coming around to check this before I give you a quick break, and then we'll be starting up on our main course. Any questions?"

I was having a wonderful time at Cornell, doing exactly what I loved most: cooking. That's a lie...doing what I loved second most. What I loved most was Alex. still. I threw my cloth napkin over my shoulder before getting the O.K. from the teacher to start checking the students' progress. I was glad that the kids were learning so much; I suspected they enjoyed a teacher around their own age. Each table looked as though they had mastered the simple appetizer I had started them off with. The cooking parters looked like little chemists at work, their brows sweating with passion.

I knew I was missing something, I just refused to admit what. Deep down, I accepted that even though we knew each other for about twenty minutes, what was missing was that I could have had a relationship with him. What was missing was the way he made me smile, even at his testosterone-fueled jokes. I missed running my hands through his straightened, band-boy hair, always hiding underneath that grey beanie. I just missed what could have been. But most of all, I missed Alex Gaskarth.

When I got back to the intern dorm hall, and eventually back to my room, I immediately sat down at my laptop and opened up the Internet. Typing in 'All Time Low' to a search engine, I felt my fingers start to tingle with anticipation. Their tour schedule was on the third page I tried, and lucky for me, they were still on tour, albeit the bum end of it. They were going to be playing their last show in Maryland, where they live, and then they would be taking a long break. I knew this was my chance, so I bought a ticket, and I prayed he hadn't forgotten about me.