Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Zane
“This,” Olivia declares with a wave, “is my official summer-menu taste-testing day, and y’all should feel honored to have been selected.” She gazes proudly at the assortment of cakes and cookies placed neatly across her table.
Sunlight pours through the open kitchen windows of Olivia’s little bungalow, heating the already crowded space, making the whole room a few degrees too hot.
The air is thick with sugar, lemon zest, and fresh coffee—sweet enough to make my teeth ache before we even dive into the taste testing.
Even Olivia’s spoiled cat, Buttercream, has picked up on the opportunity.
She’s camped beneath the table, patiently waiting for a crumb to fall.
“We should feel nervous.” Wren reaches for a cookie, but Olivia swats her hand away. “Last time you experimented, Edna almost started a riot over blackberry frosting.”
“That frosting was delicious,” Edna argues from across the table.
Luke chuckles into his coffee while I lean back in my chair, eyeing the lineup in front of us.
Olivia’s tiny kitchen table is so overloaded with baked goods there’s barely any room left for our elbows.
Honey-lavender sugar cookies sit beside elderflower shortbread dusted in powdered sugar.
Mini lemon cakes glossed with glaze, one lavender, one blueberry, and a plate of thumbprint cookies filled with homemade jam sits dangerously close to Edna’s side of the table.
She’s stolen three already.
Olivia places both hands on her hips. “Alright, everyone has to try everything before you can give your opinion.”
“I already have an opinion.” I eye the lavender cookies with disgust. “Lavender belongs in soap. Not desserts.”
Wren gasps dramatically. “You uncultured swine.”
“I’m serious,” I tell her. “Flowers shouldn’t be a dessert flavor.”
“Then how do you explain the core ingredient? You can’t make these without flour,” Edna snaps.
“Eddy, he meant actual flowers,” Olivia laughs.
Edna waves her off, and when she thinks no one is looking, she slides three thumbprint cookies into her lap.
“I can literally see you stealing cookies,” Luke says.
“These are for later.”
“You said that about the deviled eggs at the cookout the other day.”
Edna frowns and points at him. “And did I not eat every single one of them on the drive home?”
Luke sighs like he’s accepted defeat, and a laugh slips out of me. Olivia slices tiny pieces of cake and hands plates around while Wren reaches over and places one of the lavender cookies directly onto my plate.
“You have to try it.”
I stare down at the purple cookie. “You act like I’ve kicked a puppy every time I say I don’t like lavender.”
“That’s because your hatred for it is irrational,” Olivia adds, offended on behalf of her desserts.
Luke immediately looks down at the table, stifling a laugh. What traitors. There isn’t one person at this table that’s on my side. I should probably be annoyed, but instead, my grin spreads, causing a sharp sting to shoot through my cheek, and I wince.
“Ouch,” I hiss under my breath.
Everyone’s attention is fixated on me as I reach up and touch my face instinctively.
The swelling’s gone down some, but my skin is still hot to the touch and tender every time I smile too wide, which apparently I’ve been doing more than usual lately, considering a certain girl next door has been occupying my thoughts every five seconds.
“I survived falling into a wasp nest yesterday. Haven’t I suffered enough?”
Luke looks up from his cake, fork halfway to his mouth. “Is that what happened to your face?”
Wren squints at me from across the table, her head tilting as she studies the swollen spot on my cheek. “You look like a lopsided chipmunk.”
Olivia elbows her sister. “He does not.”
“I absolutely do,” I add, because every time I’ve caught my reflection today, it’s been a reminder that I’ve lost a fistfight with nature.
A giggle slips out of Olivia, while Luke shakes his head at me as if he’s disappointed in my survival instincts.
I can’t blame him—I’m disappointed too, especially since I embarrassed myself in front of Maxinne.
I can still feel the ghost of her fingers against my jaw, steady and sure as she pressed the plant to my cheek.
I pull my phone from my pocket and flip on the front-facing camera to inspect my wound, when I’m distracted by a text notification from Maxinne sliding across the screen. Seeing her name causes my brain to forget every speech I’ve given myself about keeping my distance from her.
Butterfly
How’s your sting healing up?
A grin pulls at my mouth immediately. Unfortunately for me, Wren notices.
“What’s that look on your face?” A sheepish smirk takes over her face.
I ignore her and reply back to Maxinne, grinning at the silly text I’m about to send her.
Me
It’s okay.
I have an important question for you, though.
Do you remember how Peter Parker turned into Spider-Man?
Butterfly
...Yes?
Her immediate response makes my smile grow.
“You have a flirty texting smile on your face right now,” Wren says, pointing at me.
“There’s a difference between a regular smile and a texting smile?” Luke asks, his eyes bouncing back and forth between them.
“There absolutely is,” Olivia adds before taking a bite of a cookie and humming with delight.
“I’m not flirting with anyone,” I say while continuing to type.
Me:
I need confirmation that you really know.
Because if we’re going to be friends, I need to make sure you know your superhero facts.
I already judged you for not knowing the movie Frozen, so my trust is fragile.
Olivia slides another plate toward the center of the table before cutting into the lemon-blueberry cake. The glaze shines beneath the kitchen light while steam curls faintly from the center. This one has my mouth watering.
“Okay,” she says, passing slices around. “Everyone should try this one next.”
Edna keeps one hand protectively over her stolen cookies while reaching for the cake with her other. I take a bite, noting that the flavors blend together perfectly. My brows lift despite myself.
“Your expression means you like it,” Olivia squeals.
I point my fork at her. “Don’t get cocky.”
“She’s already cocky,” Luke says around a mouthful. “Because she has a right to be.”
Olivia beams at the praise while the conversation around me continues, but my attention drifts as I look down at my phone.
Butterfly
Elsa and Spider-Man aren’t even in the same universe.
Me
They both can shoot things out of their hands, so they have more in common than you’d think.
A second later, she sends an eyeroll emoji, and I press my lips together to keep myself from grinning.
Butterfly
Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, which mutated his DNA and turned him into a friendly neighborhood crime-fighting teenager.
Me
My hope in humanity, and you, has been restored.
Unless you Googled it… You didn’t Google that, right?
The conversation around me fades into the background as I sit there staring at my phone, grinning at a text about Elsa and Spider-Man, which probably says more about me than I’d like to admit.
I’m trying not to let whatever this is between Maxinne and me become a thing.
Even though I’m unsure as to why I have this strange buzzing in my veins every time my phone lights up with her nickname.
I set my phone face down, grab one of Edna’s stolen thumbprint cookies as she tries to swat my hand, but I’m too fast. I take a bite, the buttery goodness practically melting in my mouth.
“Oh my gosh,” I say around a mouthful. “This is really good, Liv.”
“I know,” she says, giving herself a smug little pat on the back before she drops into Luke’s lap. His arm circles her waist automatically, steadying her against him while she breaks off a bite of cake with her fork and holds it out for him. “Try this.”
He takes a bite without any hesitation, his eyes fixed on her instead of the fork like he couldn’t care less what she’s feeding him as long as she’s the one doing it.
They’re so in love with each other it’s sickening.
I kind of miss when Luke was stuck in the friend zone, but I only half mean it.
Deep down, I’m really happy these two finally started dating.
“There,” she says proudly once he takes the bite. “Now tell me again about how I’m the best baker you’ve ever met.”
A soft chuckle rumbles out of Luke. “Cupcake, I’d eat drywall if you frosted it.”
Olivia grins so wide it nearly hurts to look at, and Luke gazes back at her as if her smile is his favorite thing in the world.
I glance down at my phone before the pang of my loneliness can settle in too deep.
It’s not that I don’t want what they have.
It’s that I’ve built such tall walls to make sure no one gets close enough to hurt me again. Lonely is safer than shattered.
I catch myself looking back up at them and watching for a beat too long before I force myself to look away. I go back to typing out a reply to Maxinne. Anything to keep my mind off the sharp edge of wanting something I won’t allow myself to have.
Despite myself, I grin down at the screen like an idiot.
Butterfly
Was this a test, or is there a point to this random question?
Me
A little bit of a test…but also I have a theory.
Butterfly
...?
Me
What if...
The wasp that stung me...
Was also radioactive.
Butterfly
You do know that Spider-Man is fictional, right?
Me
Yeah, sure, whatever, but sometimes movies are based on true stories.
Butterfly
He was originally a comic book character, so…
Me
You’re racking up the friendship points, Butterfly.
Butterfly
Thanks… I guess?
Me
My cheek is pulsating and hot to the touch. I can feel a change happening within me.
Butterfly
That’s called inflammation.
Me
Or… I’m slowly becoming…
Wasp-Man.
“Wait!” Wren shouts and points at me accusingly from across the table, nearly sloshing coffee over the rim of her mug. “You’re texting Maxinne, aren’t you?”