“And how do you think you did?”
“It certainly smelled good. But the thing that’s going to give me an edge is that it was baked with love.”
I turned my head to find Jack rolling his eyes. I pressed my lips together, trying not to scoff. He shook his head and tilted it toward the judges, so I returned my attention to them.
“Thank you, Emerson. Up next is Jack.”
Jack went to our table and visibly exhaled. “Do I have to?”
“What was that?” Azalea shouted from her spot.
I was beginning to think my sides were going to collapse just like his cake from held-back laughter.
“Nothing.” He brought hiscaketo the front and placed it before the judges.
Felix’s eyebrows shot off his forehead. Cherie looked like she was chewing on the inside of her cheeks. And Kristy, well, she was touching her fingers to her temples as if she were doing complex math.
“This is my coffee and maple bacon lover’s dream. It’s my attempt at a soufflé,” he lied.
“Soufflés were not in the book. Did you do this by memory?”
“Yes.” Another lie.
Cherie chewed slowly before swallowing. “Well, Jack, I appreciate your effort.” Oh, this was going to be good. “But despite its collapse, this is still not a soufflé. Also, traditional soufflés don’t have frosting.”
I should remove myself from this room because I was going to lose it.
“Fair enough.” Jack rejoined us, looking a little disheveled.
Then my name was called. His was so bad, I’d forgotten mine was about to be a trainwreck.
“This is called Stargazer’s Delight. It’s a raspberry sponge cake with planets on the inside.” Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that part. “It has a planetary glaze, which I made with gelatin.”
“And your mystery ingredient?” Kristy asked.
“It was mayonnaise.”
Two of the judges cringed at hearing my mystery ingredient, which didn’t bode well. But I heard several hums, so I knew the flavor was on point. But were they bypassing the frosting?
“Is the cake supposed to, um, ooze?” Felix asked as sweetly as he could.
I knew exactly who the snort behind me came from.
“Not really.” Might as well be honest.
Kristy pushed a piece around her plate. “The gelatin is probably the reason it’s congealing.”
Ew. What a word.
“Thank you, Nat,” Bobby said.
Dismissed. Thank god. I went back to stand in line with my fellow counselors, all of whom had shit-eating grins.
The judges deliberated, and after an ungodly amount of time, they came back with a winner: Chase. Thankfully, they didn’t have a loser category, because I was pretty sure I’d be in it alongside Jack.
“Thank you so much, bakers. You did a wonderful job.” Bobby congratulated us on the hard work we’d put in, and everyone went back to their stations to clean.
Jack pointed at my cake. “You know, if it’d be helpful, I can get a shovel and dig you a crater out back so you can bury that thing.”
