Reid and the awkward girl | S.R.

8

Danny looks at the box of cake in dismay. She's never been one to bake things from scratch, so she buys the cheap boxes where you only have to add eggs and oils and things. Easy. Except her oven isn't getting hot enough, so it's a terrible clump of liquid mush still.

She abandons her sad attempt at a homemade birthday treat and grabs her card from the counter. If her parents were here, they would take her out to eat and then back for a home baked cake by her mother. Sadly, Danny is an independent girl now. She'll have to stick to a bakery or cafe treat instead.

In her pocket, she also adds cash and her ID. Time to look for an apartment. Celebrations can be pushed aside. It's not like she has anyone to celebrate with anyway.

She makes her way down and finds her ratty car with rust stains creeping up from the bottom. Very attractive. The engine sputters to life on the first try and Danny has to think that this is what chemistry looks like. The old boy hasn't failed her yet. Good old Harold.

Danny knows she doesn't have time to drive around with the low gas she has, so she finds a real estate office on the cheaper side of town. She needs someone to show her to the good apartments, but she still isn't rich.

"Hi, I'm looking for a new apartment," is all that is muttered, and the brunette is swarmed like a pack of dogs to fresh meat. She leaves unscathed, but barely.

Maybe she can just do this another time. She finds herself in the bakery section of a grocery store, since the closest cafe was a Starbucks and they' don't have what Danny is looking for. The display in front of Danny consists of a few sheet cakes and pies. The nineteen year old picks up a small round cake, obviously for one, and realizes how humiliating this all is. Lonely.

A cake for one on another birthday. If only she had friends, or a boyfriend.

The girl turns around and walks to the counter to pay. She has to admit that the cake is kind of cute. The round circle cake with white icing and a small flower in the middle. She's so focused on the tiny sunflower that she almost slams into a basket being swung at someone's side.

"Oh," Danny exclaims. Surprise clear in her voice. She looks at the offending basket and sees the contents consisting of jello and Dino shaped chicken nuggets. The shiny shoes lead up to slacks and a purple shirt, button down, and a loosened tie.

"Spencer?"

"Spence," he corrects her easily but the smile is straining on his face. A faint pink to the apples of his cheeks. Danny looks down at her sad excuse of a dessert and his of a dinner and laughs out loud like a lunatic. Dr. Reid looks on in confusion. And mild insult.

"I was not expecting to see you here," Danny gets out between chipmunk giggles.

"Yeah me either," he notices the cake for the first time. "I thought you said you were making a cake yourself."

Danny's cheeks flame up. "Well, you see, my apartment isn't the best. I was actually looking for a new one. But, anyway, the appliances are kind of failing. My oven doesn't cook anything," she forces out an awkward laugh and looks to her scuffed sneakers. The blue starting to fade.

"Oh," Spencer mumbles back. He scrunches his forehead up in an adorable way. The tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows forms. "Does that say happy birthday?"

Danny forgot for a second that she asked for happy birthday to be written on the side with icing. It wouldn't be a birthday cake without it. The baker was happy to oblige. Danny would face palm, if she didn't have the risk of smashing her own cake in her face.

"Oh yeah," the confirmation is drawn out and the girl cringes.

"Who's birthday?" The man asks.

Dan pauses and looks to the supermarket floor, "Mine."

And the most embarrassing thing happens yet; Danny drops the cake to the grubby floor. The white icing smashes into the plastic covering, ruining the lettering instantly. She leans over to pick it up as quickly as possible and sees the dented side and falling apart cake. She flips the destroyed dessert over in her hands and sees the tornado of a disaster. She doesn't have to be a scientist to know her face is 50 shades of red. Probably almost purple at this point. Her eyes well up with tears of shame and she darts around to hide herself from the gorgeous man beside her. Pushing them down, her brave face comes back on.

The girl can't possibly have Spencer see her like this: a mess and a half. So she ignores his exclamation of 'oh man' and high tails it to the other end of the store.

Danny drops the cake into the bakery section and disappears out the doors. Thankfully avoidng Spencer and anyone else's judgmental eyes. Her heart hammers with mortification of what just happens in a matter of seconds.

The 19 years olds birthday just went from bad to worse.