A/N: I was definitely...not expecting 600 reads. So um... I decided to upload earlier than expected ^^" enjoy. 

Chapter 5: Jealousy, A girl, and a Makeover

Chip's POV

Ever since I saw the other side of Xander—I really began to doubt my taste in men.

Before I knew it, he was there every other weekday afternoon. What was he doing, you ask?

Nothing.

To Rose, Gretel, and Coco, he was the definition of sweetie. And to me, a pain in the ass.

“Xander! Good work today, would you like something to drink? Or maybe anything to eat?” Gretel asked eagerly as the tall boy entered the bakery.

Good work? ‘Good work’ you say? I glared at my sister. What in the world has he done to deserve that phrase?!

As usual, I was kneading dough at the back of the kitchen, working my head off after school—and this guy comes in and what does he get? Some special treatment.

I eyed my sister narrowly, squeezing the bread dough to work the yeast into it.

“Hmm,” Xander leaned across the counter in his usual, suave stance. “I would like a cup of…”

Gretel’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“You,” He winked. Gretel squealed, pinching Xander’s cheek in an embarrassing manner.

“Oh you naughty boy,” She grinned like a maniac, pulling and pinching the customer’s cheeks.

I huffed, kneading the dough slightly harder than I should be.

Xander winced, but didn’t pull away.

He sure knew how to get into Gretel’s good books.

“Well?” Xander asked lightly, flashing a crooked smile.

My sister played along. “I’m sorry Sir, we don’t sell cups of me here, how about some cupcakes?”

Xander raised his eyebrows. “Reminds me—I ordered some the other day…”

I thought I saw his eyes glance in my direction for a second.

“You did?” Gretel shuffled over to the drawer, fishing out the notebook of orders, she began to flip through.

“Oh yeah, here it is…oh my, it’s supposed to be done today! Hold on a mo’,” She waltzed into the kitchen.

“Chippie~ where’s our dear customer’s cupcakes?” She asked fleetingly, checking her nails while doing so.

I pouted and gestured to the dough, “can’t you see I’m busy, dear sister?”

“Oh yes, I absolutely can,” Gretel said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Well…” she lowered her voice, “no hurry, I’ll just be keeping Xander busy,” She giggled to herself, then escaped into the bakery.

See what I mean by pain in the ass? He makes my sisters go gaga.

Abandoning the dough, I went over to the 4 valrhona chocolate cupcakes cooling by the racks and began piping the raspberry icing.

Swirl, dip. Swirl, dip. Swirl, dip. The process was pretty simple and in a couple of seconds, I was done. But it was missing something.

Rummaging through the fridge, I grabbed a ball of red marzipan and began rolling it out.

Using a tiny heart-shaped cutter, I cut out four red hearts and stuck one each on the tip of the icing peak.

Perfect.

Placing the cupcakes into a pink box, I brought it into the bakery.

“-and then he—“

Gretel stopped mid-sentence when she saw me, and I raised my eyebrow.

“Here are the cupcakes…” I opened the box to let our dear customer have a look. Xander leaned in closer.

Because I was just right behind the cover of the box, I could almost feel the heat from his breath. His face just inches away from mine.

I felt a blush creeping up my neck.

“Woah…they look good.” Xander said in slight surprise—as if he had not expected such a job well done. His tongue licked the corner of his lower lip.

My glasses began to fog up as my face grew hot.

“G-good that you like them,” I hurriedly packed the cupcakes and slipped the box into a bag, shoving it into his arms. “You can go now. You’ve got the cupcakes.”

I lowered my head, refusing to look at Xander, and slipped back into the kitchen.

I picked up here I left off, kneading the dough.

“Alright then…see ya Gretel,” Xander called, and I heard him exit the bakery.

My shoulders relaxed slightly.

Gretel leaned against the doorframe separating the bakery and kitchen. “Gosh, he so wants me.” She sighed dreamily.

I gritted my teeth. “Yeap. He sure does.”

I punched the dough, leaving a dent in the soft solid.

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

The next day after peak hour, Gretel, Rose, and Coco decided to go to the convenience store to get some snacks and milk—and left me to tend the cash register. Alone.

Pulling up a chair, I plopped down, exhausted.

As I relieved my aching legs, my mind began to wander.

Why does Xander come to this bakery when there’s another bakery in town?

Maybe it’s closer to where he lives?

But that’s not true…that mansionette I saw that time was pretty close to school.

Wait—does that mean…

Arghh!

I ruffled my blonde hair and slumped onto the counter.

I sighed. He’s too complicated to figure out.

The sound of jingling bells was heard, indicating the entrance of a customer as my head jerked up automatically.

“Welcome to Honeycutt’s, how may I help—“

It was a little girl.

Well, not really little—about twelve or thirteen. She looked kinda short though.

The girl wore a frilly white dress that reached slightly below her knees. Matched with white-lace socks and a pair of black Mary Jane’s, she reminded me of Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

Her back faced to me, she seemed to be taking a look at the shelves of bread. One of her hand was clutched tightly on the strap of her sling bag that slung diagonally across her chest.

Shuffling closer to the tiny frame, I tried once again to gain her attention.

Bending down slightly to match her eye level, I leaned closer.

“Hi, do you need any help?”

She didn’t respond. I could not figure out what was on her mind, so I was about to turn around and go back to the counter when she made a slight movement.

The girl began to move from shelf to shelf, making her way around the bakery as she examined each container of bread, pastries and cakes.

Then she stopped at the cupcake display case. Her small hands reached up to her eye level as she closed the distance between the glass and her body—pressing her nose right up the transparent material.

“This is a cupcake.” Her voice was equivalent to a ten-year-old’s—soft and sweet. Her grip tightened on the strap of her sling bag.

“This is a cupcake.” She repeated in the same tone.

“Yes, it’s a cupcake. Would you like one?” I asked politely.

The girl’s head snapped abruptly towards my direction, as if she had not noticed I was there. Her eyes were filled with confusion, before her attention resumed on the cupcake display case.

She pointed to the row of red velvet cupcakes, and opened her mouth.

It looked as if she was about to say something but then nothing came out—and she closed it again.

Now both her hands were on the strap of her sling bag, and she was squeezing it in a strange manner.

Then it dawned on me.

Autism? Was it possible? I’ve never seen her around the neighborhood before…

I took a few quiet steps and stood beside the girl, whose forehead was still eagerly pressed on the glass.

“This is a cupcake.” Her eyes never left the first red velvet cupcake that sat at the center of the case.

The girl turned to me, and asked in a soft voice. “Would you like one?”

I was beginning to freak out slightly. I couldn’t understand what she meant—if she was autistic she might be repeating something she had heard before.

I racked my brains, trying to find ways to ask her whether she was lost.

But the poor girl looked really hungry. Sighing, I decided to give it a try.

“Cupcake?” I pointed to the red velvet, nodding my head, then shaking it.

Surprisingly, the girl seemed to understand me. She nodded vigorously.

“Cupcake.”

“-selle would you like a cupcake?” She murmured, but I couldn’t quite catch the first word.

She began to speak to herself, as I went behind the counter to fetch the red velvet for her.

I glanced around the bakery, ensuring that Gretel or Coco wasn’t round the corner before I passed the pastry to the little girl.

And she beamed as if she had won a lottery.

“Say thank you.” The girl exclaimed loudly, and then she hurried out of the entrance and disappeared.     

Strange. Xander didn’t come that day.

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

“Chip,” Kim was eyeing me—a strange smile on her face. “Your glasses are beginning to annoy the hell outta me.”

I almost stumbled. “W-what’s wrong with them?” I shoved my books to Jack and touched my face.

Nothing seemed out of the blue…

Kim sighed, “That’s what’s wrong. What’s wrong with your glasses is that you’re fine with them!” She huffed, walking a few steps ahead of Jack and I.

We were on our way to lunch and Kim decided that we would sit with her girlfriends today (hence the particularity of our appearances).

“B-but how about Jack? He’s always wearing sloppy pants!” I protested. Jack turned to me with an absurd look on his face.

Kim ignored us, sashaying over to their usual table.

“Kimmie! We missed you,” A couple of her friends said as they exchanged hugs and kisses.

Urm…you just saw her in first period.

Jack and I stood awkwardly at the side, wondering whether this was a good idea.

“So,” Kim gestured to both of us, “these are cutest boys in the universe, you’ve probably met Chip,” The girls responded by waving and showering me with air-blown kisses. “And this is Jack,” She winked at the taller boy and I swear I saw his skin redden.

“Ooh, not bad.”

“He’s quite hot.”

The five of them dragged us to the table and plopped us down on the seats. Trays of salad, juice and sandwiches made Jack and my trays look strangely out of place.

You see, Kim was a really popular girl in middle school. Being in the international cheerleading championships didn’t make it any better.

She had loads of friends and a ton of boys waiting for her.

But then her parents divorced. And she moved into our town—joining Rivendell.

Although she made friends easily, there were also times when I found her crying in an empty classroom. And…that’s how we became friends.

I have to admit, she’s well-liked by everyone in school, but Kim says she’s tired of having a life with friends who only say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’.

“-ey Chip? Chippie!” Kim waved her manicured fingers before my eyes. “You listening? We want you to join us this weekend at the city mall.” She said, slurping her juice noisily.

The corner of my eye twitched and I knew I had to find an excuse. “U-um well, uh…I…have lots of homework to do…and uh…”

Kim raised her eyebrows, “Oh really?”

Darn I was too slow.

“I don’t remember having any for English or Math,” Anya said thoughtfully.

Natasha shook her head—a piece of lettuce in her mouth.

“So?” Kim asked smugly.

Jack could only pat the back of my shoulder. He flashed an apologetic smile.

“Good luck dude. You’ll be needing it.”

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

Oh I should have known.

I still remember Kim’s last words yesterday—‘Bring some cash!’

How could I have been so stupid?

Right before my eyes was the most…appealing girl in my whole entire life.

Her honey blonde hair flowed past her shoulders, resting in mild curls mid-waist. Striking blue orbs held a gaze stronger than many females and her lips a baby pink. Her dress was even more eye-catching than her features—sunshine yellow summer dress reached just slightly above mid-thigh, the color matching her beautifully tanned skin.

I just had to do that description.

“ELLAAAAAAA~!” Before I knew it, Kim practically jumped onto the svelte figure, giving her the hug of death.

“Hey Kimmy, how are you?” Ella—I assume—held Kim at an arms’ length, quickly checking her out. “Nice skirt by the way.”

“Why thank you,” Kim did a mock curtsy and turned to her friends. “This is Ella, my best friend back in California,”

There were murmurs of excitement—which I failed to join in because I was obviously too busy staring at the beauty.

I might be doubting my sexuality for a second.

Ella’s gaze met mine, and she fixed a strange gaze at me for more than 3 seconds.

“So…this is him?” She asked, raising a well-trained eyebrow.

Kim nodded, a knowing look on her face. “Cute eh?”

I doubled back in surprise, and also slight suspicion.

“What’s…going on…?”

Ella placed her index finger on her lower lip, her eyes raking me up and down. I felt very uncomfortable in her gaze.

She began to murmur something. “…the glasses…some skinnies maybe…and the hair…”

Oh no way.

“K-Kim…what are we-“

As if I was asking the obvious, all girls replied at once.

“You, Sir, are in a need of a makeover.”

Okay. Creepy.

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

 A/N 

Yay so I decided that Chip could do some help in um....his appearance. Well, not me technically. Its Kim. I can't waitt~ Vote if you want to see the wonderfully gorgeous tasty Chip :X lolz

-Cupcake