The Charmer

2

"Do you think we have enough?" Charmaine carefully placed box after box of cupcakes on the table.

Trini felt her eyes goggle. "Char. That's almost four dozen."

"Mama went overboard," she said sheepishly.

"Good thing I brought extra piping tips," said Leo. He spread out a placemat, brought out a Tupperware container and showed his stash to Trini. "What do you think?"

"I think we're good," she said, carefully taping and snipping the ends off a plastic sheet to make piping bags. She'd made six, three bags each for her and Leo to fill with white, brown and red icing.

"I hope we make a profit," he said glumly, looking at the table across from them. The seniors who were members of the art club were offering caricatures. "I hate Entrep Day."

OLSHS' Foundation Day was marked by two weeks of various activities, culminating in a sportsfest and cheering competition. There was Library Day, a week-long fair, Outreach Weekend, and Entrep Day, where students were encouraged to put their business classes to practice by coming up with a small business idea and selling at school. Naturally, the varsity and cheering squad were exempted from most activities save for Outreach Weekend. Trini, by default, was grouped with the quiet ones in her class for Entrep Day. Char's mom had a bakery, so deciding on personalized cupcakes, which she and Leo would decorate, had been easy. They'd practiced writing with icing at Charmaine's house and felt they'd been pretty good. Now she was sharing Leo's trepidation. Aside from the art club's caricatures, there was a table selling macramé friendship bracelets. Another group was preparing tacos, the smell of which was making Trini unbearably hungry. There was a table making stickers and bookmarks. So many cool tables, and here they were doing the most mom of mom things.

"Don't worry," said Char. "You can never go wrong with food, sweets most of all. That's what Mama says."

The first recess bell rang. Students from different grades started trickling into the section of the basement library where their tables had been set up. Freshies and sophs, mostly, this first 15-minute break. Lots of them crowded around the art club table, hoping to get their caricatures done. Leo and Trini shot each other hopeless looks.

A boy ambled over to them. Trini recognized him as the sophomore whose hair she'd cut a month ago. Her heart started to race, which made her cheeks flush. Anything adjacent to Jim would make her react as if it were him in front of her...because after that close haircut encounter, she didn't have the chance to talk to him again. Varsity practices took up his time, when he wasn't practicing to dance for the Foundation Day closing ceremony.

"Uy, cupcakes!" said the boy. Charmaine explained that he could personalize them, while Trini stared at his face. He kind of looked like a bunny, with a round smile that made his eyes crinkle and cheeks bunch up. He used way too much hair product, though.

"Okay! Can I get one that says...JK + LT Forever?"

Leo blinked. "Just one cupcake?"

The boy nodded.

"That won't fit."

He looked so crestfallen that Trini said, "We can do JK heart LT, does that work?"

He perked right up as she pulled out her piping bags and a cupcake. "Does white icing work for you? And red for the heart?"

"Yes."

Leo watched her slowly write on the cake. "Who is JK?"

"Me," said the boy. "Short for Jan Karlo."

"And LT?"

He blushed so furiously she thought he'd implode.

"Here you go," she said, placing the cupcake in a solo window box. He paid for it and nearly skipped away.

"So young and already a player," said Charmaine.

"Char! I think he's sweet," said Trini.

"He's in the varsity, did you know? Some kind of basketball whiz," she answered.

"I heard he's really good," said Leo. "Like, play in the UAAP in college good."

The warning bell rang. Some of the kids started to make their way to the exits, but the boy hung back, nervously clutching the box.

"Watch," said Leo.

Some seniors and juniors started trickling into the basement. Trini's heart started to thud again. Would he be here? She spotted Hobie sneaking towards JK and stopped herself from scanning the room for Jim. She might faint from the anticipation.

Hobie crouched behind JK and then jumped with a roar like BHWARRRGHHHH! Poor JK jumped too, and would have dropped the cupcake if he didn't have fast reflexes. The way he lightly caught the box, deftly stretching his arm out to keep it from dropping to the floor, made Trini realize what Leo meant about him being good enough to play in the UAAP.

"'tol!" JK yelped, moving from foot to foot. You could tell he had a bad scare but didn't want to yell too much at Hobie, who was doubled over laughing.

Jim came over to drape his arm over JK. "What's this?" he said, snatching the box. "Aww!!" JK whined. A devilish smile spread over Jim's face. He scanned the room and moved to cross. JK seemed to know what he was intending, because he clamped both arms around Jim's waist. Jim passed the box to Hobie, who scampered to the stairs, chased by JK. At the foot of the stairs, JK snatched the box back – but only because Hobie had mercy on him and stood still. JK passed it off as laughing, but you could tell he was embarrassed. Hobie ruffled his heavily gelled hair, which JK ducked and ran up the stairs, Hobie hot on his heels.

Jim laughed at their horseplay. He turned and spotted her. Another one of those devastating smiles spread over his face, this one seeming to light him up from inside. His eyes disappeared into his cheeks as he approached.

"Girl. GIRL," Leo muttered, pinching Trini's waist.

"Stop." She tried scooting her chair away from his grasp, but there wasn't room to move unless she wanted to upset the stack of cupcake boxes behind her.

"You guys did the cupcakes?" he asked. Trini opened her mouth to speak but Charmaine answered first. "Uh-huh. They're personalized. Want to get one?"

He studied the price list, looked at the cupcakes, looked at the piping bags of icing on the plate between them. A slight flush stained his cheeks and he kept swallowing—as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't. He caught her eye briefly, then looked back at Char.

"Maybe later. I'll bring the team. Good luck!"

He lingered for a few more moments before walking away.

Leo made a sound like a tea kettle boiling. "GAHHHH. He's so cute."

"He is so cute," Char agreed.

"Really?" said Trini, trying to sound casual. "You think so?"

"Girl." Leo flicked his hair. "You have eyes, no?"

"Yeah." Said eyes were now tracking him from her periphery as he moved around the room. "It's just that...well. He knows it."

"It's his burden," said Leo with an ironic shake of his head.

A group of girls approached their table. They got busy taking their orders and piping all sorts of things on the cupcakes. Every time Trini looked up, she caught his eye.