I hate the cafeteria food so thankfully the dorms have functional enough kitchens. There's one per wing but it's plenty since so few kids cook. Also I always make enough for one-person more, just in case my friend Eli appears through some transdimensional timewarp needing sustenance. And tonight was the night!

So many evenings I've put away that extra serving. Half a can of soup, Aloo Gobi, vegetable stew with dumplings. Tonight was chili rellenos. The Psyhigh kitchens are so nicely equipped--I used the Kitchenaid to whip the egg whites, and the Cuisinart for chopping up the roasted tomato and garlic an onion for the sauce. I made enough for me and my roomie @Medea 17, and as usual one portion extra, for Eli, if he were to show up. Which usually never happens so it usually means my lunch for the next day.

But not tonight! There was a vacuum *pop!* and the smell of ozone and that sea sick nausea of displacement for just a moment and there he was, standing in my living room. He did look hella haggard, and the first thing he asked for was food.

"Food?..." He reached out a shaky hand.

"Take out or eat in?" I asked. "I mean, it's prepared and all, and you could take it as is, or I could zap it in the microwave if you want to sit down..."

And then *pop!* he was out again, just like that. I didn't even have time to hand him the leftovers.

Hopefully, it's the thought that counts.

On the bright side, I totally have a yummy lunch for tomorrow.

I knew there was something fishy about Valentine's night. The next morning it was clear someone had used the kitchen in our dorm wing, and did some serious baking. They cleaned up really well, but I know that kitchen so well that there was no fooling me. A little bit of flour fresh in the sifter, a drop of water on the Kitchenaid from being washed the night before, and perhaps a teaspoon of my baking powder missing.

How strange to learn that it might have been me all along?

I have no special memories of Valentine's otherwise... nothing stands out, but it's not like a big black hole. It just seems like an... "average night?" I did homework, went to bed...