Ben was the most popular guy in school. He was smart, funny, intelligent, and best of all he was a fantastic cook. He would show off his God given talent at every cook off in the tri-county area. Ben’s favorite dish was fried flounder that he would catch himself. Every fisherman envied him because he could catch a fish even in the middle of winter.
One day Ben was strolling through the hallway when John, the president of the chess club, bumped into him. “Hey watch where you’re going kid!” Ben said angrily.
“I’m so sorry Ben I didn’t mean to get in your way.” John said in a frightened tone.
“Well you did. Now get to your class before I beat you up.” Ben said as John was hastily running away. Ben walked into Anatomy class to find that his teacher and his best friend James were standing outside the door ready to scold ben.
“Wow Ben, you’re a horrible person for threatening that poor kid!” James said angrily.
“I think you need to apologize for what you said to him.” said the Anatomy teacher.
“Fine, I will.” Ben said with a whimper. Ben walked casually to the young student and apologized. John was very happy that he apologized but felt that it wasn’t enough. John wanted to face off with Ben in a cooking competition. Ben humbly accepted the offer knowing that he was going to win.

John spent the next four weeks cooking nonstop. He wanted to show all the other students that he was a good cook. He tried every recipe that there was but could not find the right one. He tried shrimp fettuccini with an alfredo sauce, pizza, steak with mushrooms, and even escargot. Each recipe was mediocre in John’s opinion. Then he had an idea. He spent the last few days perfecting his mystery dish.
The day of the cooking competition finally arrive. Ben arrived early to set up his grill and to get everything in place. Ben was making a south west chicken with Mexican rice and beans. He was all ready to conquer his opponent.
John showed up at the last minute with a cooler and a griddle. Ben looked very confident. He knew that this would be an easy win for him. John unpacked his cooler and to Ben’s surprise, john pulled out a flounder. Ben began to sweat. He reassured himself that John was a horrible cook, but deep down he was quivering.
“Fffish, eh?” Ben said with a stutter.
“Yes, I thought flounder was a good dish to make.” John said confidently.
“Let’s get ready to cook.” said the announcer. The boys put on their aprons and waited for the signal to start. With a blow of the whistle, the boys were off and running. John burned himself but recovered. The two cooked for almost an hour when the announcer told them to stop what they were doing. The two were allowed to beautify their product before judging. They brought their finished products to the judges for the final decision.
“Ben I have to hand it to you, you really out did yourself this time” said the first judge,”and John, you really worked hard to produce a fabulous dish for us today. Thank you very much.”
The two boys went back to their stations while the judges made their decision.
“I’m proud of you John.” Ben said.
“Thank you Ben it’s great to hear that from such a cool person.” John said with a big smile.
The announcer called the boys over to hear the final decision.
“The winner of the cook off is, John.” The first said. John shook hands with Ben and received his award. He was extremely happy for everything. Ben was so happy for John that he decided to become friends with him. The two of them went to college together and eventually opened a restaurant. Because of the proposal of having a cook off, it made two of the most contrary people become best friends.