Secret Singing Superstar

Eighteen ~ ♫♪♫

Claire looked at the cookies that she had just taken out of the oven. They weren't burnt this time, thank goodness. When she had burnt her brownies, she had thought that Leanne was going to vomit when she tasted it. She did a good job of covering up and saying it tasted alright, but Claire could tell she hated it. As for Claudia, she didn't even bother to pretend it tasted nice, and Caitlin refused to eat one of the brownies after she heard how much Leanne and Claudia hated them.

Claire never minded them teasing her about her horrible brownies. They all agreed that Claire's sister was still a more horrible cook than Claire. No matter how many times she tried to cook something, it would turn out badly. Claire bought an apron for her sixteenth birthday to tease her about her cooking skills, and in response Claire's sister hit her gently on the head with a frying pan.

She had invited Leanne to come to her house after school to help her make some cookies and to taste them. She invited Caitlin as well, but Caitlin replied that she had tennis. And she had been a bit distant lately. She didn't talk on the group chat as much as she usually would have, and she had been getting edgy a lot as well. Claire knew that Leanne still wanted Caitlin and her new friend Anna to get along. She had also added Anna to the group chat, and after a moment's hesitation, Claire added Claudia in as well.

Throughout the whole day, the only people who had been texting on the group chat were Claire, Leanne, Claudia and Anna. Mostly Claire and Leanne. Anna only came on once in a while and mysteriously disappeared at times. Claudia mostly looked at their texts and only replied when it was necessary. As for the others, Claire had no idea. Well, she knew that Helina was helping her mum with things, and she hadn't the slightest clue what Caitlin and Cailyn were doing.

Leanne was the first to come to Claire's house, and Claudia was the second. They had helped Claire make the cookies and now the cookies were done. Leanne had told Claire by a text message that she had also invited Claudia to come along. Claire didn't mind.

She noticed Leanne eying the cookies nervously, but what she and Claudia didn't know was that Claire had been practicing making the cookies by herself plenty of times before. Occasionally she would get help from her sister, on the condition that Claire help her do her chores, which Claire accepted. She had always called herself lucky to still have a good protective sister, while most of her friends complained they had annoying siblings, except Caitlin, since she was an only child.

Claudia picked up one of the cookies and turned it over. "Not bad," she observed.

"Are you kidding? It's good," said Claire, biting into one of the cookies. Delicious.

"I'm not having one until Claudia says it's good," said Leanne, looking at Claudia.

Claudia nibbled the edge of the cookie slowly. It seemed to take her forever to chew it and swallow it, or maybe that was just because Claire was too impatient. When she was done, she gasped.

"Are you choking?" Leanne asked, alarmed. Claire swallowed.

Claudia shook her head, grinning. "I loved that cookie," she declared. "Can I have another one?"

Claire laughed. "Go ahead."

Claudia reached out for another cookie, but Leanne slapped her hand.

"Hey, my turn," she said, taking a cookie and biting into it. Her face lit up. "It's so...chocolatey."

Claudia rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. They are chocolate chip cookies. Did you expect to taste blueberries?"

"That's just Leanne's version of saying that my cookies are fabulous," said Claire.