What's Next for You and Me

Chapter 6- This Is How We Start Our Game Night

Sherry, still bouncing with excitement, immediately chimed in. "Cake battle! We should start the cake battle now!" She practically skipped into the kitchen, already setting up a few ingredients on the counter.

I raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm. "Are we sure about this? We need time to prep, and I don't even know if my cake will come out the way I want it."

"Oh, come on, Claire!" Sherry grinned mischievously. "It's a friendly competition! It'll be fun. Plus, I have a feeling Leon's cake will be a disaster. No offense, Leon," she added, giving him a teasing glance.

Leon, who was now setting down some of the grocery bags, let out a dramatic sigh. "None taken. I'm not afraid of a little challenge. Plus, I already have a strategy."

Sherry scoffed. "Sure, if that strategy is 'just add a lot of sugar and hope for the best.'"

Leon smirked, clearly not bothered by the teasing. "You'll see. I'm going to win this thing, hands down."

I glanced at the list Sherry had handed me earlier, and noticed she had included every possible ingredient for a cake — butter, flour, sugar, eggs, and even some fancy decorations. "Alright, alright," I said, shrugging. "Let's get to it. But we need some ground rules."

"Ground rules?" Sherry asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah," I said, grinning. "No sabotaging the other person's cake, and the judging will be based on taste, appearance, and creativity. How does that sound?"

Leon raised his hand. "I volunteer as judge. I'm the impartial one here, clearly."

Sherry grinned, and I could already see the wheels turning in her head. "Okay, deal. But don't you dare try to make my cake look bad, Leon. I'll know if you do."

As we moved to start, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. It wasn't every day that you had a cake battle with your friends, and though I was a little nervous about my baking skills, I was determined to give it my best shot.

"So, what's the plan?" Leon asked, glancing at both of us.

"Plan?" Sherry raised an eyebrow, pulling out her apron. "My plan is to make the most epic cake ever, obviously."

I grabbed my own apron, trying not to laugh. "Sounds like a plan."

The kitchen quickly turned into a whirlwind of flour, sugar, and frosting. We each took our stations, mixing and whisking our ingredients, as Leon carefully placed his cake pans in the oven with what seemed like military precision.

I glanced at Sherry, who was already decorating her cake with rainbow sprinkles and frosting. "That's... a lot of frosting, Sherry."

"More is always better!" she said with a wink, her hands moving quickly and confidently. "It's the secret to winning."

I took a deep breath and focused on my own cake. I wasn't going to let the pressure get to me. This was supposed to be fun, after all. As I mixed my batter, I couldn't help but smile. A little competition never hurt anyone, right?

"Okay," Leon said after a while, his voice a little more serious. "We've got our cakes in the oven. We'll give them about 30 minutes to bake, then we can start decorating."

Sherry raised her hand dramatically. "I'm going to be the cake queen. Prepare yourselves for a masterpiece!"

"Let's see about that," Leon said, winking as he started prepping his decorations. "Just don't blame me when mine wins."

I couldn't help but laugh. This was going to be one interesting game night.

The timer on the oven beeped, signaling that our cakes were ready. Everyone gathered around the kitchen island, watching as Leon pulled his cake out of the oven, carefully setting it down to cool. His cake was a simple, sturdy-looking chocolate cake, but there was something about the way he was handling it that made me suspicious. Maybe he had a trick up his sleeve.