The Bee's Knees

Chapter 32

After the staff herded them into a room off to the side and filmed them answering all sorts of questions about how everything went, all four contestants went backstage where a table full of snacks and water bottles waited for them. Fruit slices, bags of chips, and a huge tray filled with ranch dip and vegetables gave the kids plenty to munch on while they waited. Their companions had plenty to eat too with staff members bringing in potted flowers for Anna's bees, a bucket of birdseed for Connor's rooster, and bowls of berries for Reese's skunk and Norman's beaver.

"Y'all might have to wait a while," a cameraman said as he set out the last of their feast: all the leftover desserts they'd made. "Sometimes it takes forever for those three to agree. In the meantime, we're gonna film you while you chat."

"Just pretend we're not here," one of the other cameramen said with a reassuring smile.

Anna was so exhausted an elephant could have tap-danced into the room and she wouldn't have noticed. Her bees were just as worn out, lazily drifting among their buffet of flowers.

She wasn't too tired to cut herself a slice of Connor's cheesecake. The rich creaminess mingled perfectly with the sweet raspberry sauce. "Mm, this is so good! No wonder the judges liked it so much."

"They wouldn't have if you hadn't helped me fix those cracks." Connor slumped forward in his chair. "Grandpa is going to be so upset."

"Why?" Norman asked around a mouthful of ice cream. "My family would be super impressed if I managed to make anything better than chocolate chip cookies by myself, let alone some kind of fancy pants cheesecake." He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "I kinda sorta have my dad help me most of the time, even when I... well, let's just say I still can't believe I'm gonna be on TV."

"Grandpa wants me to take over Cake Kingdom someday. Says he and my parents worked so hard to start so many bakeries that I'd better get good enough to run one myself."

"Gosh, if I owned a bakery, I'd eat so many desserts!" Reese finished their third red velvet cookie. "That sounds so fun."

Connor grimaced. "That's what most people say, but..." He bit his lip, glancing at the cameras pointed at them. His rooster looked up from pecking at its bowl of birdseed, twisting its head this way and that before clucking quietly. Connor sighed. "I really don't want to."

"But you're such a good baker!" Anna said. He was easily one of the best ones she'd ever met, especially considering he was her age. If he was this talented now, she could only imagine how good he'd be when he was actually old enough to run Cake Kingdom.

"Thanks." Connor's smile didn't reach his eyes as he fidgeted with his fork. Out of all of them, he was the only one who'd barely touched any of the food. "Baking's alright, but it's not really something I want to spend my whole life doing, you know? I mostly just do it 'cause otherwise my family won't pay much attention to me. Gets lonely when they're spending all their time managing our bakeries."

Anna's heart sank. Her family did their best to make time for her, and even when they were super busy, she could always count on her friends. From the sounds of it, Connor had no one. "You can come visit Sweet Surprise if you want. My friends've been talking about throwing a party there to celebrate me being on Sliced, and I'm sure they'd be happy for all of you to come too."

Norman grinned, wiping a smudge of blue frosting off his lips. "I'm in! Can't say no to a party."

"It'd be so nice to hang out with y'all some more," Reese said.

They all turned to Connor. He looked down at his hands, flicking a couple stray crumbs to his rooster. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind me coming? I haven't exactly been real nice to you."