Over the next couple weeks, Anna practiced all sorts of recipes. She had no idea what theme she'd have to work with on Sliced, but that didn't stop her from baking everything from éclairs to tiramisu. No matter what curveballs the judges threw her way, she'd be ready.

Except nothing was coming out right. Cream curdled, cakes collapsed, and cookies crumbled. No matter what Anna did, all her desserts ended up more disappointing than raisins mistaken for chocolate chips.

She could only hope her friends could help her get out of her slump. Otherwise, Sweet Surprise was doomed.

"I hope these turned out better," Anna said as she handed out her latest desserts to all her friends by Mason's termite mounds.

"What is this?" Mason prodded the first dessert, a light brown custard that jiggled beneath his spoon.

"That one's coconut flan." Anna pointed to the bright pink cookies with green filling sandwiched between them. "Those are strawberry kiwi macarons." Lastly, she set out flaky pastries carefully folded into perfect triangles. "And these are lemon turnovers."

These had at least stayed in one piece despite Anna taking them all the way to the creek, but her friends looked at them as if she'd presented them with a plateful of spinach or, in Mason's case, cotton candy. Still, they helped themselves to their share of the desserts alongside her.

Sweetness flooded Anna's mouth as she tried the flan, forcing her to take a gulp of water so she could wash the taste out of her mouth. The macarons' cookies lacked any crunch, with seeds ruining the otherwise creamy filling's texture. And the lemon turnovers... Why had she even made those?!? Her lips puckered against the horribly sour citrus.

But what she thought didn't matter, only what the judges did. Hopefully her friends would give her an idea how to make sure other people enjoyed what she made. "How'd everything taste?"

Her friends finished the last of their samples. For a long moment, none of them said a word.

"They all looked really nice," Mason began, "but they don't taste as good as what you usually make. When you made those cookies for your project back in November, you had the walnuts giving them a nice crunch and more flavor than just being sweet. These all taste like just one thing."

"And if you don't like that one thing, you're not gonna like 'em," Jack added. He'd only taken the tiniest bite out of his lemon turnover, leaving the rest of it untouched by everyone except Taylor's flies.

"I really like how pretty these all are." Eliza turned one of the macarons back and forth in her hand, carefully examining the pink and green cookie. "If all I did was see them instead of taste them, I'd want to eat more, but..." Her voice trailed off as she shrugged apologetically.

"None of this tastes like something you would make," Taylor finished for her. "You don't even like lemons!"

Anna groaned. "I know, but lots of contestants get told off for making their desserts too sweet or sloppy. With how messy my cupcakes turned out, I've gotta make sure whatever I bake on the actual show looks real fancy."

"Who cares if they look nice if they end up tasting like that?" Jack winced as his boar turned up his snout at the desserts with a disgusted squeal. "That came out wrong, but what I mean is I don't care about how food looks, just how it tastes."

"You might not care about that, but it's a third of what the judges will be scoring me on." Anna pulled out her phone and went to Cake Kingdom's website. "This is the sort of stuff I'll be up against."

Everyone crowded around her to look at Mr. Voorhees's menu. Anna's mouth watered as she scrolled through elegant éclairs drizzled with raspberry sauce, creamy cheesecakes with dark chocolate swirls, and perfectly crisp baklava glistening with honey.

"Wow, that looks like art," Eliza said.

Mason shrugged. "Just looks like food to me."

"You can't eat a painting is what my dad always says." Jack chuckled. "Pretty sure he just says that 'cause his pancakes always end up looking like a complete mess, but they sure taste delicious!"

"Then why does Cake Kingdom get so many more customers than Sweet Surprise?" Anna asked. "They had a line out the door when Tay and I went to the ice cream shop."

"Where it is definitely helps," Taylor said. "I always end up hungry whenever my parents take me to the shopping center, so I bet folks are just glad they can grab something to eat right there."

"Yeah, it might not have anything to do with how the food tastes," Mason said. He started counting reasons on his fingers. "Your menu isn't as big as it used to be, the lights flicker way too much, and your grandma doesn't decorate it as much as she used to."

"We definitely need to tidy up the place," Anna said sheepishly. "Mom's always talking about how old everything is and how much she wishes we could fix it. A bunch of tiles need to be replaced, the refrigerator keeps making weird noises, we could really use another oven..."

"Once you win Sliced, it'll be a whole lot easier for your family to get more customers and the money they need to take care of all that," Taylor said. "I mean, who wouldn't want to check out the home of Louisiana's sweetest Sliced champion?"

"Aw shucks, you're the sweet one," Anna said. The smile Taylor's compliment brought to her face faded as quickly as it came. "I have no idea how I'll even have a chance at winning. Ever since the fire, none of my recipes feel right."

"Can't be easy to focus on baking after you went through something that scary," Jack said. His boar nuzzled Anna's leg.

"I've been tryin' real hard, though." Anna sighed as she stroked Harry's fur. "Tay, you get art block sometimes, right? Do you think whatever you do to deal with that might help me?"

"Sometimes I'll try mixing together different colors until something looks good, but I dunno if that would work for baking. With painting, the only limit you have is your imagination, but food doesn't work like that since you have to worry about how it tastes, not just how it looks." Taylor groaned. "Honestly, I wish I knew how to deal with it better. Art block is the worst!"

"Remember when we used to grab a bunch of random stuff near the bayou and tried to see who could make the best art based on it?" Eliza chuckled. "Man, I still can't believe how pretty that lion you painted turned out."

"What else was I supposed to make when you gave me a whole bunch of dandelions? They were so fluffy they looked just like a mane. You using those pinecones to make a castle was so cool, though."

Eliza waved off her praise. "Nah, that was easy. They may not be as colorful as flowers, but pinecones have so much texture they're perfect for collages."

Listening to them chatting as if Eliza hadn't ditched Taylor the instant she got her flies made Anna's whole face heat up as her bees' buzzing filled her ears. She had some nerve to act like nothing had changed, especially after she'd made Taylor so upset. Why had she ever said she was okay with Eliza being anywhere near them?

Anna forced herself to silently count to ten. By the time she finished, her bees had settled down to a quiet hum. Of course the way Eliza had treated Taylor wasn't right, but Anna wasn't perfect either. Her bees had stung a whole bunch of kids, yet two of the kids she'd hurt, Jack and Eliza, still hung out with her anyway.

The three of them had all changed since they'd first met. Jack no longer said a single mean thing about anyone's companions, and he was always happy to give Taylor feedback on any paintings she was working on. Eliza ignored the jerks who treated people with insect companions like garbage, spending her weekends showing all of her friends the best spots to find the prettiest flowers. And Anna...

She hadn't changed as much as everyone else. Sure she was more careful about not letting her bees hurt anyone, but she was not as comfortable around Jack and Eliza as she wanted to be.

Despite saying they deserved a second chance months ago, Anna had never truly tried to welcome them into her friend group. She'd never quite stopped seeing them as intruders, unwelcome additions to her life like ticks on a bear.

But despite her treating them like that, Jack and Eliza still came to the creek, taste-tested her terrible desserts, and offered her advice as best they could. Sure they weren't perfect, but they were trying. The least she could do was show them the same kindness.

"Hey, Eliza," Anna said when there was a lull in her and Taylor's conversation, "do you think you might know a trick that could help? I know you make collages all the time, so I was thinking maybe you'd know a better way to brainstorm ideas."

Eliza's hummingbirds chirped anxiously as she stared at her hands. "I might have an idea, but I dunno if it'll help."

"Couldn't hurt," Anna said. "I could use all the help I can get."

"Well, one thing that usually helps me get some inspiration is heading to this one place my mom takes me to all the time," Eliza said. Her hummingbirds zoomed behind her as if they were afraid Anna's bees might try to sting them, only to peek over her shoulders when the insects stayed calm. "I bet going someplace different would do you good, anyway. Can't be easy to get new ideas when you're in the same place all the time."

She had a point. Besides, hanging out by the creek had given her nothing to show for her troubles besides way too many dead leaves falling in her hair. "Alright, let's go!"