At last, the day of Anna's audition finally arrived. She and a bunch of other kids sat in a huge waiting room filled with rows of chairs. Troughs filled with food and water for their companions lined the walls, and production staff handed out granola bars and water bottles so all the kids had something to settle their stomachs while they waited.

Not that those helped much. Anna's stomach hurt just thinking about food. All around her, kids chatted about the different desserts they'd brought. Cannolis, crème brûlées, soufflés: all these and more filled the waiting room with a sugary symphony of smells. Yet, instead of making her hungry, all those delicious-looking desserts made Anna keenly aware that she'd only brought cupcakes, something anyone could make with a store-bought mix.

The only thing that helped was most of the other kids were just as nervous as she was, at least judging from their companions. A rabbit thumped up a storm with its hind leg, and a porcupine rattled her quills at anyone who came too close. Braying echoed through the room as a donkey voiced its agitation.

Next to Anna, a kid with a bright red ponytail stroked their skunk's fur. The black and white omnivore growled softly and stomped its feet as it eyed the door to the judges' room.

"Nervous?" Anna asked.

The kid let out a shaky laugh. "As nervous as a turkey in November. Don't worry about her though." They nodded toward the skunk. "Petunia's too sweet to stink bomb anybody so long as nobody scares her."

"My bees won't bug anybody, either." Anna stuck out her hand. "My name's Anna. What's yours?"

"Reese." They shook her hand firmly, their lips quirking into a smile. "Your folks run Sweet Surprise, don't they? Grandma talks about how amazing your apple strudels are all the time. This must be a literal cakewalk for you."

"They do, but I'm not even close to being as good at baking as Grandpa is." Not to mention nothing was much of a cakewalk for anyone at Sweet Surprise these days, but she didn't want to think about that. Remembering their one customer who loved apple strudels, she quickly changed the topic. "Is your grandma Mrs. Abrams?"

"Yup, that's her. She spoiled me with a great big box of your cupcakes when I got Petunia. A lotta folks were being turds and didn't show up to the party she gave me, but hey, more cupcakes for me! They were delicious, by the way."

"Glad you liked 'em! Grandpa always says—"

A proud cock-a-doodle-doo announced the arrival of none other than Connor Voorhees. He strutted out of the judging room with a smirk and an empty plate. "Well, that was easy," he said as he made himself comfortable in the last empty seat, which happened to be right next to Anna. Of course.

"What'd you make?" Reese asked. Their skunk sniffed around Connor's shoes.

"Croquembouche."

"Gesundheit," Reese said.

Anna didn't say it out loud, but she was secretly impressed. She'd only ever seen her grandpa make croquembouche once. Held together by threads of caramel, the tower of pastry puffs had contained half a dozen different fillings from classic chocolate to a tangy passion fruit ganache. Something that fancy and elaborate took hours of hard work to make, even for a seasoned baker like her grandpa.

"What about you guys?" Connor leaned over to examine their desserts. "Cupcakes. Could have used a little fruit or something to garnish them and the frosting's a bit messy, but the lime zest adds some nice color. Not bad. And you made..." He squinted at Reese's dessert. "What is that?"

"Don't tell me you've never seen a fruit tart before," Reese said.

"Of course I have, but I've never seen one that looked so... rustic."

Anna glared at him. On cooking shows, calling something rustic was the same as saying it looked as ugly as a boar's behind.

"I think it looks real nice," Anna said. While Reese's tart had rough edges where the crust had been crimped unevenly, the bright orange puree and chunks of vibrantly yellow fruit inside looked wonderfully refreshing.

Reese beamed. "Thanks. The starfruit was a real pain in the butt 'cause I couldn't figure out how to make it stop getting mushy at first, but turns out if you add it right at the end it stays nice and crunchy."

Jeez, and Anna thought her cayenne pepper was tough to deal with. At least that was something people normally cooked with, not some sort of weird fruit she'd only ever seen on TV.

"Anna Bloom, you're up!" called out one of the staff members.

"Good luck!" Reese said.

"Hope I see you in the finals," Connor said. Anna searched his face for the tiniest hint of malice, but all she found was his usual confident smirk.

"Thanks." Anna flashed them both a shaky smile before taking a deep breath and entering the judging room.

Inside, the three judges sat side by side at a long white table. First there was Philip Robinson, a cookbook author who was famous for using his duck's eggs in his recipes. Next was Jessica Torres, whose incredibly lifelike chocolate sculptures had attracted such a huge following on social media that it dwarfed the entire population of Rhode Island.

Lastly, there was Ivan Volkov. As if crushing contestants' dreams ever since Sliced launched over a decade ago wasn't enough, he also hosted Kitchen Catastrophes, a show where he salvaged struggling restaurants. His scowl was twice as intimidating in person, as was the massive vulture perched on his shoulder.

All three judges were staring at Anna.

She stood there with her box of cupcakes in hand, her mouth opening and closing silently. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't force a word past her lips. This was real. She was right in front of her favorite show's judges, and they were about to eat something she'd made.

"Are you alright?" The question came from Ivan, his usual scowl replaced by a concerned frown. His vulture cocked its head, silently watching her with beady black eyes.

"I'm a huge fan!" Anna blurted out. Great, now they'd think she was one of the weirdos who memorized every episode and hounded them every time they so much as posted a selfie.

Relieved sighs rippled across the judges' table. "What's your name, sweetie?" Jessica's voice was as velvety smooth as melted chocolate.

"Anna Bloom."

"Could you please tell us a little about yourself, Anna? How old are you? Why do you love baking? What else do you do for fun?"

"I'm eleven years old, and I love baking with my grandpa at my family's bakery, Sweet Surprise." With every word she spoke, Anna's voice grew stronger, and her back straightened. "I hang out with my friends by the creek all the time."

"Ooh, I love when baking runs in the family!" Philip clapped his hands, doing a little dance in his chair that made Ivan roll his eyes. "Are you all gonna go on vacation if you win? Maybe go to Disney World?"

Anna bit her lip to keep her voice from wobbling. "We need the money so the bakery can stay open."

This earned a wave of sympathetic murmurs from the judges. "Alright, Anna, now that we know a bit about you, let's hear what you made with your three ingredients." Ivan glanced at the stack of papers beside him. "Vanilla, lime, and cayenne pepper."

Anna set one cupcake in front of each of the judges. "I made dark chocolate cayenne cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and lime zest."

"Oh boy, chocolate!" Philip took a huge bite of his cupcake, frosting dripping down his chin as his duck quacked with delight. "These are so decadent. You've got the perfect amount of moisture here. Not underbaked, but not dry, either."

"The frosting's a bit messy." Jessica turned her plate in a circle, showing how the swirl of vanilla frosting trailed down the side of the cupcake wrapper. "I love how you incorporated the lime, though. The zest gives a nice burst of color without risking curdling the frosting, which turned out perfectly smooth. This all blends perfectly with the richness of the cake and the subtle taste of vanilla."

Anna's bees twirled around her. She'd figured her frosting wasn't as pretty as usual, but at least they liked everything else so far. All she had to do was impress Ivan, and she'd be golden.

He didn't give the faintest flicker of emotion as he chewed his cupcake. He dabbed dark brown crumbs from his lips with a napkin before finally speaking. "You said you put the cayenne in the cupcake itself?" At Anna's nod, his vulture ruffled its feathers. "Didn't use much, did you?"

"I was afraid it might overpower the other ingredients," Anna said.

"Well, it certainly didn't do that. It's not coming through nearly as much as it should."

Anna's stomach sank. Was this it? Were her chances of being on Sliced falling like an over mixed soufflé?

"That being said," Ivan continued, "I do like how you chose to pair it with dark chocolate. That is a good combination. It's just a shame you were too afraid of the cayenne to use it to its full potential, especially since it could have contrasted nicely against the sweetness of the vanilla buttercream. Some ingredients are harder to work with than others, but that risk can really pay off."

"Thank you." Anna's voice cracked as she struggled not to cry. She'd completely blown it.

"We'll let everyone know when we've chosen our four contestants," Ivan said.

"And best of luck with your family's bakery, sweetie," Jessica said.

Anna returned to the waiting room with her shoulders slumped and her head hung low. That was an absolute disaster.

"I'm sure you did great." Reese flashed Anna a quick smile as their name was called. Their skunk's tail quivered with anticipation. "Wish me luck!"

Connor's rooster clucked as it pecked birdseed out of his hand. "Didn't go well?"

"I didn't use enough cayenne." Anna sighed, her bees flying so low they almost touched the ground. "Grandpa is going to be so upset."

She expected Connor to make fun of her, to insult her family just like his grandpa would. Instead, he said, "Nah, he seems alright. Mine would make me wash all our equipment by hand for a month if I didn't do well."

Why would anyone ever treat their own grandkid like that? No wonder Connor was more relaxed without him around. "It's really cool you made croquembouche. Wish I got to see it."

Connor's rooster scratched at the floor, clucking as it bobbed its head up and down. "Your cupcakes looked delicious," Connor said. "Hope I see you in the finals."

A few minutes after Reese returned to their seat, Ivan strode into the waiting room. A hush fell over the kids. Even Anna's bees were silent.

"Thank you all for coming today. After much deliberation, we have decided on our four contestants. When I call your name, please come to the front." Ivan silently observed the crowd to make sure everyone was listening before announcing the first contestant. "Connor Voorhees."

Everyone clapped as Connor took his place beside Ivan. His rooster puffed out its chest and crowed so loudly half the kids covered their ears.

"Reese Abrams."

They high-fived Anna before marching to the front. Their skunk waddled behind them with its tail held high and proud.

"Norman Yates."

Anna clapped for him alongside the rest of the kids, but her smile wavered. There was only one spot left. If they didn't call her name, Sweet Surprise would be done for.

"Before I announce our last contestant, I want to remind everyone that just because you didn't make the cut doesn't mean you aren't a talented baker," Ivan said. "We tasted many amazing desserts today, and it was extremely difficult to narrow it down to the cream of the crop."

Ivan's vulture peered down at everyone from atop his shoulder. Anna's breathing quickened as its eyes locked onto hers.

"Our final contestant is Anna Bloom."

Anna's pulse thundered in her ears along with the other kids' applause. She'd made it!