An Arbitrary Mixture

“Da-DING.” Maria’s phone chirped as a new notification popped up on her phone. It was already 11pm, but she had been waiting all night for a message from “Premios de Comida para Adolescentes.”

Excitedly, she sprung up from her bed, grabbed her phone, and checked the message.

“Venga!” Maria yelled as she fell back on her bed. She had not won the competition once again! “Premios de Comida para Adolescentes” was a cooking show which chose kids ranging from 13-18 would go to the plaza and give their dishes to the referees, and the winner would be chosen at the end of the week, and a message would be sent to all who won. Maria had submitted her avant-garde dishes “la tarta de helado y aguacates,” which means “the ice cream and avocado cake,” and the one she was most proud of, the “salmón relleno de mantequilla de maní,” which means “peanut butter filled salmon.” No comment. Ever since she was little, Maria had dreamed of being on a cooking show, and millions of people watching her. She had not won once. Crestfallen, she drifted back to sleep. 

“¡despierta!” Maria’s mom called. “You gotta go to school now, Bebé.”

“Ay, no!” Maria complained, but then the sound of the bus became louder.

“Okay!” She yelled, threw on a dress, and bolted for the door. She made it just in time. The bus was packed solid with loud kids. Maria took the backseat, as far away as possible from the commotion. The bus dropped the kids off at the main entrance. Hundreds of kids paced to the big doors. 

Maria was not a big fan of highschool, since she was a freshman, meaning that everyone seemed to be 10 feet taller than her. Maria stepped off the bus, ready for the long day at Franklin Highschool. As she walked she heard a man call her name. 

“Maria! Where are you senorita!” Maria tried to locate the sound, and then she saw a strange sight. A man, maybe in his late thirties, was wearing a girl scout shirt and fake long hair. He was standing behind a stand that said “Galletas de Girl Scouts,” or “Girl Scout Cookies” 

Maria stumbled backwards and said with surprise- “que,.....”

Curiously she ran over to the man to see what he wanted.

“Hola, Maria, listen.” The man whispered to her. “You want to win a food competition, right? By the way, I’m Jose.” 

“Si, but, can you tell me why you are dressing up like a girl scout?” Maria asked, puzzled.

“Not important,” Jose muttered. “Listen, I have the perfect dish for you that will help you win!”

“Show me!” Maria chirped excitedly. Before the man could show her, a kid strolled up next to her. Jose changed his persona.

“Holaaa!” Jose twittered in a very bad sounding girl voice. “¿Tu quieres mis cookies?”

With wide eyes, the kid stumbled backward and started running.

“You are scaring people, Jose.” Maria pointed out.

Ignoring that point, Jose pulled out his dish. “You give this to the cooks, I’m sure they’ll select you, chica. This is a ”Mantecadas de Astorga”.

“Where’d you get it from?” Maria asked.

“Only the best! El restaurante super delicioso!”

“Ah, creative name,” Maria chuckled. She noticed a few condiments laying on a shelf above jose. She snatched one called “polvo de telepatía” It seemed to be a red pepper like condiment. “What’s this one?” She asked Jose. His eyes bulged.

“No, no!” Jose yelled. “Don’t use that one!” Jose grabbed for the condiment and grabbed the top.

“No, I want to use it!” Maria complained and grabbed the other side. They had a tug of war with a bottle. People were staring. Eventually, the cap let out. The entire bottle of the red substance poured into the dish. Jose’s mouth hung open. Before he could grab the dish. The bell rang, and Maria snatched the plate and ran off.

“Bye, Jose!” She yelled. “Thanks for the dish!”

“Wait!” Jose yelled. He jumped off his stand and dashed toward her. He was stopped by a security guard though.

Maria walked through the doors, dish in hand. Luckily, her first class was cooking! Her teacher, Miss Hernandez, was an okay teacher. 

“Hola!” Miss Hernandez chirped as Maria strolled in class. “Ay, Maria, can we eat some of that dish? It looks pretty amazing!” 

“Ok, but only the first sheet. The last two sheets I need to keep.” Maria responded. The kids in the class flooded to the plate. Before she could start handing them out, kid’s hands started grabbing them. Maria set the plate down, ate one, and sat down in her chair, feeling accomplished. 

Curiously, she looked at the name of the condiment that had broken out on the dish. “Hmm.. “polvo de telepatía”, she thought. Suddenly, she realized. “Oh no, telepathy powder??” Maria fell out of her chair, and got up quickly. As she stood up, she realized that everyone was staring at each other. Then pandemonium broke loose. People tackled one another, yelling things like “How could you think that I’m an idiot,” and “You deleted my Playstation account??” Maria then realized that the competition’s submissions were today.

“AY NO!” she screamed in her head, and scooted up quickly. “I am just gonna run to the plaza now,” She thought. Suddenly, her teacher glared at her.

“No, you’re not,” She growled.

Maria couldn’t miss this chance. Like a ninja, she dodged through the ruckus and ran out the door, Miss Hernandez at her tail. 

The wild goose chase continued. Maria ran over to her bike in the parking lot of the school, and peddled as hard as you can while holding three plates of little cakes. Miss Hernandez jumped in her car, and sent a telepathic “You’re dead.” Maybe not the best teacher ever. The plaza was not far, maybe half a mile. Maria peddled like her life depended on it. Honking horns emanated from behind her. There it was! The plaza! People were tasting the foods right now! Maria’s eyes gleamed with the hope of success. Unfortunately, she was not paying attention to the ground. In a dramatic event, Maria’s bike hit the curb to the grassy center, throwing her in a somersault, and, eventually, headfirst in the ground. Her telepathic cakes hit the floor. 

“Que…. what’s going on?” Maria opened her eyes, dazed.” Everyone stared at her for a few seconds, and continued their work. From the side of her vision, a mound of fur got larger and larger. It started to open its mouth around her. It took a few seconds, but Maria finally realized what was going on. “Un Perro? Ayyyyy NO!” Maria rose and shooed the dog. It was too late. Her telepathic yeast was now a pile of shreds and dog saliva. Miss hernandez stood over her, a smug look on her face. She got on her knees next to Maria.

“See, Maria,” Miss hernandez hissed. “This is what happens when-”

Maria sprung up, knocking her cooking teacher down, and in a desperate attempt, ran to the serving station. A man walking with a plate of food passed her, she snatched the hotdog, ran to one of the judges, and gave it to him.

“Here is my plate, senor.” Maria puffed out her chest a little. “I call it- Maria did an air drumroll- super sausage! Never seen before, with amazing italian bread covering and a sirloin beef sausage covered with BBQ sauce and cheese! Go ahead, Senor.” The judge raised an eyebrow. There was a Jack Daniels next to him. The judge reached out for his phone, spilling the jack daniels all over the hotdog. Before the judge looked up, Maria put it back to place. Somehow, the judge did not notice. 

“Okay, here goes,” The judge said reluctantly, and placed the sausage in his mouth. His eyes became wide as baseballs, and then became lazy looking. He slumped in his chair. 

“G-g-g--g--g-goooooood…..” The judge muttered with a lazy smile. He then stood up crookedly and yelled- “THIS GIRL WINS!” Everyone cheered. The judge looked at Maria with proudness, and then keeled over. His wife came to pick him up afterwards.

“I won… I WON!!” Maria yelled happily. She could see Jose in the crowd, smiling. Maria had a celebration at her house. Tomorrow, she would go to the green again to receive her badge. Now there was a chance for her at a cooking show!

The next day, she ran over to the stand excitedly. The judge who fell over yesterday was there. 

“Hola everyone!” He boomed. “This girl right here made a very delicious dish called a “Super Sausage!” some people cheered, and others looked at her with a weird face. Maria laughed nervously. A boy ran up behind the judge and gave him a cake that seemed pretty similar to what she had made.

“MARIA WINS!” He yelled. Everyone cheered. He gave her a red badge that read- cooking champ.

She thanked the judge and started walking home. “Phew,” She thought. “Glad he didn’t know I just snatched that off a guy's plate.” The judge glared at her. She ran. 

THE END