First Classic Story

“If you don’t take chances, you might as well not be alive.”

            Devin squinted at the homeless man, wearing brightly colored neon pink and black striped pajamas, blocking his path. “Yeah, but what if the chance you take is skydiving, and your parachute doesn’t go off? Bet you woulda wished you hadn’t taken that chance.”

            The old man shrugged his thin shoulders and shuffled away, the bottoms of his stripped pants dragging along the dirty sidewalk. Devin watched the man go, turning his words over in his mind. He was never much of a risk taker, and how was it that wise old homeless men always seemed to know exactly what to say to him to get his mind all befuddled?

            Shaking the encounter off, Devin continued on his way down the noisy New York street. Today was his first day of a cooking class he had signed up for. Devin was a somewhat secluded man, especially for being in his mid twenties, but when he saw the flyer in his apartment lobby a few weeks ago something told him he should try it out. Living off of take out Chinese food and street vendor tacos was starting to take a toll on his gut.

            He reached the building and glanced at his wristwatch, realizing he was already a couple of minutes late and sprinted up the stairs, quietly opening the appropriate door and slunk into an empty seat.

            The room was large and had six island counters fit for two people to a counter and filled with an array of cooking supplies and a built in oven. Devin took in the room before letting his eyes rest on the teacher, a pretty brunette woman around his age standing at the front of the class. She wore a light pink apron with violet flowers printed over it and her hair was tied into a neat braid that flowed over her left shoulder. She was giving him this sweet smile filled with straight, white teeth and pink lips and Devin felt himself blushing before he took to organizing his station, just so he didn’t have to keep looking at her and smiling like an idiot. He vaguely heard her announcing to the class that they were starting today with something simple: chocolate chip cookies.