Easy A in Baking - Part 3

Outside of baking class, Olivia embraced her sophomore year of school, seeing friends, going to campus events, and of course finding parties on the weekends. But come Monday classes always started again. And Tuesday was her inevitable return to her baking class.

"Today we will be making brownies!" Professor Mondale announced right as the class started. All the other students took to their stations, while Olivia just got to sit and watch. She was anxious the whole time that professor Mondale was going to require her to eat each and every brownie. Olivia was sure the cookie incident was just a one time thing, especially after having a few days to think about it. No way was she going to be expected to eat the entirety of every dessert for the entire year. But somewhere in the pit of her stomach she knew it could be a very real possibility.

She waited while the room filled with a delicious chocolate aroma. Professor Mondale led the class with instructions while the other students prepped and waited for their treats to bake. In no time at all trays of brownies were done, and as they were cooled and sliced, they found their way in front of Olivia. "Remember, Olivia will eat your entire tray before rendering judgement." Olivia's stomach dropped. Those were the world's she was hoping to not hear.

The other students went back to clean up their stations, and professor Mondale was wiping off the white board near Olivia's desk. Olivia had to say something, eating all these brownies was a tad ridiculous. "Professor Mondale, I’m pretty sure I can judge these brownies without having to eat the entire tray, don't you think?"

Mondale stopped her eraser mid stroke. She paused for a moment before turning sharply to face Olivia. The dissatisfied look on her face was enough to make Olivia shrink into her chair. "You think? You think you know better a professor who has been teaching college level baking for over a decade? What about the difference between the edges and the middle? What about uneven cooking spots? What about burnt corners? Did you even think of any of those things?"

Olivia was shocked into silence. There was only one answer she could give though. "No." She meekly said.

"Great, then we agree. I want to see all those dishes empty and the scores on my desk as soon as you're done." Mondale returned to her board and Olivia started down at the five trays of brownies in front of her. Olivia enjoyed a brownie as much as the next person, but this looked like an extreme tummy ache. She was in for another full belly. She had to do what she was told though, so she grabbed the first brownie and went to town.

The brownies were good, she had to admit that. Probably had more to do with professor Mondale's instruction than anything though. Even the edge pieces weren't too crispy, which was Olivia's least favorite part. The first tray of brownies was manageable, but everything after that torture. Brownies on top of brownies stacked up in her stomach. They were so dense and heavy. She pushed on though, knowing there was only one path forward.

Eating in a stuffed haze, she didn't even realize she was done when she finished off the last tray. When she went to look for the next square she realized there were no more. There was also no one left in the classroom. Olivia was lucky there was not another class in here directly following hers, as she had continued her taste testing work well into what would have been another class twice now. Once again her small belly was stuffed, and so she gathered her things and uncomfortably eased her way home.

This time Fran was in the living room when she got back. One look at Olivia's belly was enough to know what had happened. "Stuffed again huh?" Olivia could only nod. She headed right for her room so she could just lie down and sleep off this brownie burden.

Thursday came and instead of looking forward to her baking class the most, in less than two weeks it was now the class she dreaded the most. She figured she was bound to leave stuffed and uncomfortable, plus she knew all these extra calories would start to affect her waistline sooner than later. Olivia slumped into her desk, while everyone else stood at their baking stations. She already had a frown, as she was required to sit patiently before the onslaught of baked goods came to her. The theme for this class was cupcakes. Students prepared their small cakes, and while they cooked, buttercream frostings.

As the class neared its end, five dozen cupcakes presented themselves in front of Olivia, all looking completely identical. Ok this was ridiculous, each of these cupcakes was going to taste the exact same, there was no reason she had to eat each dozen when five would suffice. She made one more plea to her teacher. “Professor Mondale.” She said, getting her attention. “There is no way these cupcakes are going to be different from one another. Can I please just try one from each batch?”

Mondale was clearly displeased with this constant bickering about the taste testing role. She got right up in Olivia’s face and spoke softly so no one else in the class could hear. “Olivia, do you remember the first day of class? Do you remember begging me for this position? Even asked me to forgo my normal process, just so you could get an easy A. I never said it was going to be easy, I even said you’d have a lot on your plate, so much that you wouldn’t have time for homework. You think some cookies and brownies and cupcakes are bad? The semester is just getting started.” Despite her hushed tone, Olivia was scared stiff. The next moment Mondale had turned back to the class and switched back to her typical cheery voice. “Alright class, Olivia is going to start to grade these cupcakes for us, and we are going to talk about the different types of sugar.” She left Oliva to her assignment, which she trepidatiously started.

The only silver lining for Olivia was that there were four days before she had to subject herself to another tortuous baking class. Despite having digested all those cupcakes, Olivia spent all weekend feeling bloated, feeling bigger. Her clothes were fitting a bit tighter, nothing major, but she definitely wasn’t the comfortable co-ed she was just a couple of weeks ago. Olivia was unsure what to do about her situation. It was still probably early enough that she could drop the class. Or maybe she could appeal to her classmates and they could try and cut down the portions they made during class. She figured it was worth a shot.