Red Hood

27. Festival Day 2

(1 Hour Later)

Danny stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot in an anxious rhythm. Her gaze wandered across the mini kitchen stations set up in the town's park, stocked with baking supplies and filled with competing teams, "I can't believe you got me to agree to this..."

Jason had gotten his fellow 20-year-old to sign up for the Festival's second-day event with The Baking Competition. But her nerves only started to fray when they stepped foot on the grass, the crowd buzzing and cheerful.

"Nah," Jason patted Danny on the shoulder, easily relaxing himself, "I promise everything will be fine. Even if we don't win, it's supposed to be something fun, you know, making new memories and all that sappy stuff."

Rubbing her hands up and down the counters, Danny managed a small smile for him, "You really think I can do this?"

"Hey," scrunching his face and sticking his nose up, Jason straightened in superiority, "if I can do it, you can."

Danny snorted and shoved him, "Okay, Mr. Morale, let's give this thing a try."

"Partners!" A voice rang out across the baking stations, Danny and Jason turned to see Don, his face excited as he gained everyone's attention, "Today marks Day Two of the Cedar Woods Fall Festival!"

Cheers rang out as Danny and Jason clapped along, Jason letting out a cab-worthy whistle. Don then began to settle them with his hands, though his smile didn't waver, "Alrighty now, let's quiet down so I can explain the rules."

Adjusting his hands on the microphone, he stepped up to a platform with a table and a set of chairs, one occupied by the Mayor, "The Mayor and I will be judging the desserts and baked goods of two different rounds: a mini-bake and a final bake."

Passing the microphone to the Mayor, Don stepped back as she took over, "For the mini-bake, a smaller dessert will be made for us to get a sense of your personalities, getting to know your flavors and style. The main bake will be the final chance to show us what your team is made of."

Smiling back at Don, she handed him the mic, his fingers wrapping around the stand as he placed it back, "I believe all bases have been touched, same rules as last year: no stealing recipes and no sabotage."

Looking back at the Mayor, they nodded at each other before Don turned to the crowd, "Alrighty then, now, we can introduce the teams and then get started!"

"Team Livery," Danny watched Don gesture to Mr. Davis and Ms. Lewis, twins who worked in the stables, "and Team Oranges!"

Looking over at Team Orange, Danny smiled warmly at a young woman with earthy brown eyes and black hair in a bun, she waved at Danny, causing the two to laugh.

"Who's that?" Jason analyzed the teams around him, spotting Danny waving.

She grinned, "That's Amy Aber, the clinic receptionist. We'll have to watch out for that team, they're really good bakers, I usually just watched and cheered on the sidelines."

"Oh, really now," Jason put his hands on his hips humorously, "well, we'll just have to up our game then.

This was going to be fun.