Flour Power

Noelle Holiday was not known for her baking skills. In fact, the last time she attempted to make cookies, she somehow set the oven mitts on fire. But today was different. Today, she had a plan. A secret plan to impress Kris Dreemurr with a homemade cake.

She stood in the Holiday mansion's enormous kitchen, a cookbook propped open on the counter. The recipe for “Triple Chocolate Delight” looked simple enough. Flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate—she had everything. Except, apparently, common sense.

“Noelle! What are you doing?” December Holiday, her younger sister, skidded into the kitchen wearing roller skates and a helmet. Her purple hair was a mess, and she had a band-aid on her nose from an earlier mishap.

“Shh! It's a surprise!” Noelle hissed, trying to hide the mixing bowl behind her back. But December was already peering over her shoulder.

“A cake? For Kris? That's so romantic!” December squealed, clapping her hands. “I'm helping!”

“No, you're not. Last time you ‘helped,’ we had to call the fire department.”

“That was one time! And it was a small fire.” December grabbed an apron. “Besides, I invited Asriel over. He said he'd bring his famous frosting recipe.”

Before Noelle could protest, the front door slammed, and a loud voice echoed through the halls. “HO HO HO! I'm here! Where's the batter?”

Asriel Dreemurr bounded into the kitchen, wearing a chef's hat and carrying a suspicious bag of flour over his shoulder. He looked like he'd just wrestled a bag of potatoes—his white fur was dusted with something powdery.

“Asriel, why are you covered in flour?” Noelle asked.

“Long story. There was a runaway shopping cart in the supermarket parking lot. I heroically threw myself in front of it to save a toddler. The toddler was fine. The bag of flour in my backpack was not.” He grinned, showing off his trademark snaggletooth.

December cackled. “You look like a ghost!”

“A very handsome ghost,” Asriel corrected, puffing out his chest.

Noelle sighed. “Fine. You both can help. But follow my instructions exactly. This is important.”

She cracked an egg into the bowl—except the egg missed and splattered on the counter. December shrieked, slipped on a patch of yolk, and crashed into a stack of pans. The clatter was deafening.

“Whoops!” December said, lying on her back with a frying pan on her head.

Asriel burst out laughing. “You're like a cartoon character!”

Noelle tried to salvage the situation. “Okay, new rule: no roller skates in the kitchen.” She bent down to help December up, but her sleeve caught on a whisk, sending a spray of chocolate powder into the air. The cloud settled over all three of them.

“Now we all look like ghosts,” Asriel said, wiping his eyes.

“It's cocoa, not flour,” Noelle muttered. “That's… better?”

December sneezed, and a puff of brown dust erupted. “Gesundheit,” Asriel said solemnly.

They managed to get the batter mixed without major disasters, though Noelle accidentally used salt instead of sugar. She tasted a finger and grimaced. “I think we need to start over.”

“No time!” December grabbed the bowl and poured the batter into a greased pan. “We can just add more sugar later. Chemistry!”

Asriel nodded sagely. “It's like alchemy. But with cake.”

Noelle's phone buzzed. She glanced at it: a text from Kris. “Hey, what are you up to? Want to hang out later?”

Her heart did a flip-flop. She typed back: “Baking. Surprise. See you soon!”

Kris replied with a thumbs-up emoji and a question mark. Noelle put the phone down and took a deep breath. “Okay. The cake is in the oven. Now we need the frosting.”

Asriel produced his secret recipe: a concoction of butter, powdered sugar, and something he called “magic ingredient.” He refused to reveal what it was.

“Is it edible?” Noelle asked dubiously.

“It's delicious! My mom made it for my birthday last year. Everyone loved it. Well, except for the mayor who's allergic to peanuts. But that's not the frosting's fault.”

Noelle decided not to ask. They mixed, beat, and tasted. The frosting was surprisingly good—creamy and sweet with a hint of vanilla.

“Okay, now we wait for the cake to cool,” Noelle said. “Then we decorate.”

December, bored, started juggling eggs. “Watch this!” She tossed one up, caught it behind her back, then fumbled and caught it in her mouth. She cracked the shell and swallowed. “Protein boost!”

Asriel looked horrified and impressed. “You're a monster.”

“Thank you!”

The oven timer dinged. Noelle donned oven mitts and carefully pulled out the cake. It looked perfect—golden brown, domed, and smelling of chocolate. She set it on a wire rack to cool.

“Now we decorate,” she said, grabbing a piping bag.

December snuck behind her and grabbed the bag. “Let me do it! I have artistic vision!” She squeezed the bag, but the tip wasn't secured. Frosting shot across the room like a Jackson Pollock painting, hitting the wall, a cabinet, and Asriel's face.

Asriel stood frozen, white frosting dripping from his ears. “I've been slimed.”

Noelle buried her face in her hands. “I can't do this. It's ruined.”

Suddenly, the kitchen door creaked open. Kris Dreemurr stood there, holding a small container. “Hey, I brought some raspberries from my mom's garden. Thought you might want them for… what happened?”

Noelle froze. Kris took in the scene: the flour-dusted trio, the frosting-splattered walls, the lopsided cake. His expression shifted from confusion to a slow grin.

“You made a cake?” Kris asked, stepping inside.

“I tried,” Noelle whispered. “It was supposed to be perfect.”

Kris walked over to the cake and peered at it. “It looks perfect to me. A little chaotic, but that's the best kind.” He dipped a finger into the frosting and tasted it. “Hey, this is good!”

December sidled up. “Kris, Noelle made this cake especially for you! She wanted to ask you to the—mmph!”

Noelle clapped her hand over December's mouth. “Nothing! She's delusional from the sugar!”

Kris chuckled. He grabbed a butter knife, cut a slice, and took a bite. His eyes widened. “This is… actually amazing. Despite the saltiness.” He chewed. “And the weird crunch. There's an eggshell in here.”

“I juggled,” December said proudly.

Noelle groaned. But then Kris smiled at her—a soft, genuine smile that made her forget about the mess. “Thanks, Noelle. This is really sweet. You're sweet.”

Asriel fake-gagged. “Get a room, you two. Preferably one without raw egg on the floor.”

December grabbed a handful of frosting and smeared it on Asriel's nose. “Lighten up!”

Asriel retaliated by dumping a bag of flour over December's head. Soon, a full-scale food fight erupted. Noelle and Kris watched from the sidelines, laughing as flour clouds and frosting blobs flew like snowballs.

Kris leaned close to Noelle. “So, was there something you wanted to ask me?”

Noelle felt her cheeks burn. “I, uh, maybe… would you like to go to the library with me tomorrow? For, um, study date?”

Kris's face lit up. “I'd love to.” He held out a pinky. “Pinky promise?”

Noelle linked her pinky with his. The kitchen was chaos, but at that moment, everything felt perfectly in place.

From across the room, December threw an egg that hit Asriel square in the chest. He fell backward into the bowl of leftover batter, and a glob of it flew up and landed on the chandelier.

“Oops,” December said.

Asriel sat up, covered in batter, and grinned. “Best. Cake. Ever.”