Page 6 of Sugar Lips

“All right, you two,” Ben says. “For your third and final challenge, you must construct an edible diorama of an entire small town. Ahauntedsmall town, that is. Let no corner of it remain spared.”

Feeling the cameras on me, I exaggerate my anxiety about hearing what our challenge is.

“And to help you with this task,” continues Ben, “we’re bringing back the eliminated contestants from round two. Come on out, guys.”

I turn and break into a smile as Samira, Mandy, Paul, and Michael join us.

“Elizabeth,” says Ben. “You get to choose first. Who would you like as your first assistant?”

“I’d like Samira’s help,” I say.

Ben nods. “Jackson? Who’s your first pick?”

“Michael,” he says.

Next, I pick Paul, leaving Mandy to be on Jackson’s team. And then, like that, we’re off. For the third and final time, we all do a mad rush into the pantry. But this time I have two people waiting for me to give them instructions.

“Just grab as much as you can,” I tell Samira and Paul. “The more the better.”

They do as I ask. My mind is racing with thoughts of what I want the town to look like, and all the fun, spooky things I could implement. A bloody lake. A graveyard with zombies bursting out of the ground. Ghosts hovering over the town. There’ssomuch I want to do. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to pull it all off.

But you can bet your ass I’m going to try.

I tell my plan to Samira and Paul and assign them each small tasks to do. Then I get to work on creating the base—aka the biggest sugar cookie I’ve ever baked in my life.

As I work, I try to keep my attention solely focused on my own diorama. But I can’t help but sneak a few glances over at Jackson’s work station to see how his is coming along, too. So far, it looks like we’re about neck and neck. And each subsequent time I sneak another look, we’re still making about equal progress.

Three hours in, I’ve got the majority of the miniature town built. There’s only one hour remaining, during which we need to finish up the last two buildings and then get into all of the juicy spooky stuff. I’m still feeling pretty good about the progress we’re making.

But fast forward to half an hour later, and I’m panicking. Time is flying by too fast, and I keep having issues with the things I’m trying to do. I can’t get the ghosts to hover like I want them to, and the bloody lake just doesn’t have the right texture to it. I keep glancing over at Jackson, too, even though I try my hardest not to.

And then I accidentally knock an elbow into my haunted chapel, breaking it in two.

“Shit,” I say.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” says Paul, rushing over. “Keep working on the lake. I’ll fix this.”

How the hell is all of this going to come together?

“Hey,” says Samira, touching my shoulder. “We’ll make it. Just keep your head down, Elizabeth. You’ve got this.”

I nod, grateful for the encouragement. And I do as she says. I put my head down. I fix that damn lake. And then, without even pausing to take another breath, I move on to the next thing.

Chapter Four

Jackson

“Wow, Jackson,” says Mandy. “It lookssogood. You’re definitely going to win.”

“Yeah,” says Michael. “Agreed.”

I take a moment to step back and look at my diorama. Mandy and Michael are right. Itdoeslook good. I’ve got a mob of zombies walking down Main Street, spiders spilling out of the sewer grates, evil smiling pumpkins, creepy looking houses, the works. Is it enough to win me the competition, though?

I glance over to see how Elizabeth’s diorama is coming along. And when I see her and her two assistants rushing to get everything wrapped up in time, I experience a rush of relief. There’s only five minutes left on the clock, and from the looks of it, her diorama isn’t going to be finished in time.

Yeah, I’m definitely going to win.

In the next moment, though, my relief is replaced with guilt. Shit. What am I doing? I don’t care about the title of Halloween Bake-Off Champion. And I don’t need the ten thousand dollar prize money. Elizabeth, on the other hand…well, it’s probably not a fair assumption of me to make, but I’m guessing that the money could really help her out. Maybe her mom could get some kind of extra treatment, or…I don’t know. It’s not like I know the specifics of her situation.