A/N: Here it is! Sorry for the wait!

Baked Love: Sunshine Buttercream

I managed to rush home just in time for peak hour. Rose and Coco were bustling around—Coco at the cash register while Rose and Gretel were in the kitchen producing batch after batch of fresh bread and pastries. We were terribly shorthanded and I was already late so I hastily slipped on my apron and got to work. 

"Chip could you help with the piping of the cupcakes? I'm pretty occupied with this pre-ordered cake here," Rose called, pointing to the rack of cooling Red Velvets.

I nodded; filling two piping bags with cream cheese and finished the batch in a minute. I was good at it but not as good as Rose was. My specialty was bread actually—bread and cakes. 

"Gretel is the oven pre-heated?" I called across the kitchen. 

"No not yet!" Gretel could not look away from her pies, she was too busy with the crust.

"Sorry could you do it now?" 

Coco burst through the door of the kitchen, "WE NEED THE CUPCAKES LIKE, NOW."

Everyone was mixing and pouring and decorating as fast as possible; but we were still short-handed. This was just a typical day at the bakery—not to mention, I spent most of the time after school doing this (hence my lack of friends and school activities...oh and um, half-assed homework). 

"Where the hell is Hansel?!" Gretel shouted up the stairs to the shop house above. 

"Not here!" Came a reply from her twin. 

Gretel could only roll her eyes and curse under her breath. "I'll kill him later." 

"I'm done!" I exclaimed in relief after placing a small marzipan heart on the last cupcake, quickly handing the tray of perfectly-piped Red Velvets to Coco. 

"Great job!" Scurrying back to the cash register, I heard her apologize. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting—"

I moved on swiftly to the loaves of pumpkin bread—our best seller, but not until six in the evening when the aunties come in. 

"Chip I need your help with the cake fondant here!" Rose pleaded. 

I sighed. This was going to be another long day. 

*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~*~*~

I flopped onto my bed; completely exhausted. Resting the back of my hand across my eyes to shield the light from the ceiling, I began to think about...Xander. No no no no I didn't mean that—I was thinking about homework. Yes I was just thinking about the Home Economics project that's all! Ha-ha-ha... 

Oh dear. I-I should really get a grip on myself.

I mean, why would I even think about him?

Laughing quietly to myself, I was convinced that a tiny crush wouldn't matter anyway. I simply had to be careful—ensure that it wouldn't be a repeat of horrible middle school.

"Chip, the bath's free!" Coco said through the door. 

"Thanks!" I grabbed my boxers and an oversized sweater (it's Hansel's) and headed for the bathroom. 

*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*

I found myself looking forward to Home Economics lesson. You see...it's only twice a week. Wait did I just say 'only'? I-I meant twice a week. Yeap. 

"Chip! Wanna join me and the girls at the beach this Saturday?" Kim asked during lunch. She had a strange smile on her face—as if she had sort of an idea. A crazy one. 

"Hey! You didn't invite me—" Jack began to protest. 

"So, so? You up for it?" Kim waved him off as she sipped on her diet coke. Jack rolled his eyes. 

"U-Um okay... but what are we doing at the beach?" 

"There's a beach volleyball tournament there—which of course, includes an after-party because Xander will probably crush them all," Kim wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

I sighed. "Then...I guess I won't be going after all..." 

Kim's eyes widened. "Why not? Come on it'll be fun!" She slapped me on the back. 

"I'm bad at parties...?" 

"But after all that happened during Home Econs period?" Kim protested, pointing out my previous—ahem—close encounter with Xander. 

"It's just a project! No big deal...and nothing happened anyway," Which was the sad truth. 

Kim huffed. "Fine. But it's okay for you to change your mind," She winked cheekily at me. 

Poor Jack picked at his fries mumbling something like "girl's talk". 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

School was long and protracted that day. To top it off, it was even raining by the time the last bell rang. 

I grabbed an umbrella from my locker and hurried down the hall—the bakery the first thing on my mind.

As I approached the car porch, my gaze rested on a familiar lean figure standing among cheerleaders and jocks. 

Xander?

My pace began to unconsciously slow down as I watched the group's interaction.

"Xan, wanna catch a movie with us? Courtney says that she'll go if you do." 

I couldn't see the expression on Xander's face (his back was facing me), but his tone was rather amused.

"Movie? Are you serious? That's pretty anticlimactic don't you think?" He joked.

The males in the group laughed. "Come on dude, if you're not going, half of the girls will lose interest."

Xander gave a light shrug. "Deal with it then." The rest of them laughed it off.

I stood at the side of the porch, waiting for the school bus to arrive. The group began to make their way out of the campus, leaving Xander leaning against a pillar. His gaze raised to the sky, as if looking at the rain, and then lowered back to his mobile.

I stared intently at my feet, trying not to gain any unnecessary attention. 

"Where do you live?" His sudden question shocked me—I assumed he had not noticed my presence.

I practically jumped out of my skin, and flushed when the taller frame stared at me as if I was an alien.

"Somewhere...near...there—" I pointed to a bunch of trees. Xander raised his eyebrows.

"O-kay...got to go," He raised the hood of his jacket and stuffed his hands in his pockets, as if getting ready to dive into the rain. "Later," He said simply, and then stepped out of the shelter without a hitch. 

I stared wide-eyed as he walked in the rain.

"Hey! Wait!" Opening my umbrella, I managed to catch up with Xander—who looked slightly annoyed by the sudden interruption.

"What?" He wasn't even looking at me. His eyes were fixed in a distance, as if he was in a hurry. 

"Um...I-I'm going this way too."

Xander raised his eyebrows again. "So?"

"Want to...share?" I suggested meekly, indicating the large umbrella in my small hands. 

Surprisingly, that caught Xander's attention. He lowered his gaze for a moment, studying me, and then a smirk formed on his flawless face. 

"What if I say no?" 

I felt my shoulders droop. Okay, I probably expected that—but oh...well... at least I tried, I told myself. 

"O-Oh alright then...I...I guess I'll just—" I began to move across Xander's shoulder, but his hand suddenly gripped my arm.

"Dude I was just kidding! Did you take me that seriously?" He laughed, obviously entertained by my stupid reactions.

His hand moved to take over the umbrella. "Thanks."

I felt my cheeks burn when his fingers brushed mine. Oh gosh I'm turning into a complete idiot. 

Xander held the red umbrella at a good height, making sure to shelter us both while he led the way.

"Um...so I heard you just moved into town...?" I tried to speak louder, considering the pitter-pattering of raindrops on the umbrella. 

"Yeah. Living with my aunt," He stated shortly. 

"I see...I've also heard you play beach volley..." I think I was beginning to sound like a stalker—what with all the 'I've heard's and private information.

"Yeap I do. But it's raining a lot recently," Xander placed his free hand out into the rain as if to prove his point.

"So..." I searched my mind urgently for a question. "What's the difference between indoor and beach volleyball?" 

"Well...we've got a couple. Beach is probably harder because of the energy required to sprint on soft ground—which is sand, but the court sizes..." Xander's shoulders began to loosen up, and so did his facial expressions. 

He looked almost (almost) as if he was enjoying the conversation. I gradually began to warm up to the flow of the conversation too as I realized I wasn't stammering too much anymore. 

After a while, Xander stopped in his tracks, leading us to the gate of a rather simple bungalow.

"Thanks for the walk," he smiled playfully and I found myself mesmerized. "One last thing uh—would you like to come see my tournament on Saturday?" Xander scratched the back of his head, "since we were on the topic just now..." 

What?

What was that?

"I'll try I guess," smiling awkwardly, I waved him goodbye as I walked the longer way home.

I think I felt my heart skip a beat.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a nice Friday afternoon. The bakery was quite empty, except for Rose at the counter and me washing trays and racks at the back kitchen.

I heard the same old jingling of the bells when a customer entered the shop and Rose greeted her usual lively 'Welcome to Honeycutt's, how may I help you?'

Until I heard his voice.

"Um hey, I was wondering if you guys do pre-ordered cakes?"

It was Xander's voice.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N:

Hi! I'm so sorry for the wait. Do you guys think I'm too focused on Xander? Like... I'm mentioning too much about him or something. Gosh I just don't know...this is my first romance book so I'm like...clueless bout how people actually do this. @.@ 

Help! Please comment to let me know. 

-Cuppiecake