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Jake observed the "ingredients" Milly had gathered, they were scattered haphazardly across the countertop like a cursed game of baking jenga.
“So, what exactly are we going to make?” Jake asked with a tone of what he hoped was excitement, but could easily be mistaken for fear, as his mind flashed back to the time he had agreed to play a roblox cooking game with Milly only for her to burn the kitchen down five minutes later, in what was her attempt at making sushi.
“Well, at first I wanted to try the boiled pringle pie that I saw on Tiktok, but then I remembered that Hailey's birthday is only 33 days away!” Milly exclaimed "So obviously we should bake a cake for her party.”
Jake was about to interject before he noticed Zander standing at the entrance to the kitchen servaying the pile of food with a look of slight concern on his face.
“He’s probably wondering why Milly has grabbed a box of paprika if the plan is to bake a birthday cake.” Jake thought. Figuring Zander had a better chance of convincing Milly baking a cake 33 days in advance was a bad idea, he stayed quiet.
“Milly, what in the world made you think this is a good idea… ignoring the fact that a cake obviously wouldn’t last 33 days, knowing you and Jake I’d be surprised if it even made it out of the oven in an edible state!” He said exasperated, as if he was already annoyed by Milly's presence despite her only arriving 15 minutes ago.
“Ugh, would you at least give us a chance? Obviously I meant we would give her the cake today, you know? Like an early birthday present! Right Jake?”
“Uhh, yes of course!” Jake said in support of Milly. Though not totally convinced they would make it through this endeavour without burning the house down, he was stubborn enough to risk it.
“I used to do a lot of baking with my mom when I was younger, I think me and Milly have got this covered.” Jake stated in his most convincing voice. He was only doing this to prove to Zander that he and Milly were perfectly capable of baking something edible and definitely not because of that adorable smile Hailey wore after somebody went out of their way to do something nice for her, no obviously not that.
After a few more “super convincing” affirmations Zander agreed to let the chaotic duo use his kitchen for their baking attempt, under the condition that he was there to ensure Milly stayed away from anything remotely flammable. Milly brought up a recipe on her phone, which wore a bright pink phone case covered in stickers, she placed it against a knife block which she hoped was far enough away from where she and Jake were working to protect it from getting covered in cake batter. (It most definitely was not far enough)
As Jake and Milly worked through the recipe, they argued over almost every step, which might have been almost impressive if it wasn't so annoying. After what seemed like hours Zander suggested he work on the icing for the cake.
“Anything to help this ‘friendly bonding activity’ be over faster.” He thought. Soon he realised his kind offer of help was being ignored by the two, who were highly engaged in their dispute over whether Milly was absolutely sure the two cups she had just added to the mixture contained sugar and not salt.
“Well did you check it??”
“Uhh no… but what kind of person has a giant unlabeled container of salt anyways”
“Oh I don’t know, maybe somebody who actually knows how to cook??”
“UGH shut up!!”
Zander's expectations for how this cake would turn out dropped impossibly lower from “barely there to begin with” to “almost none”, but since he was just such a kind and faithful person he allowed them to continue and began making the icing for the cake.
After bickering for a further 12 minutes about whether triple the amount of sprinkles the recipe called for was too many, Milly looked like she was about ready to just give up entirely.
“If we keep arguing like this the cake won’t even be baked by the time Sean and Hailey get here.” Milly complained, that was the one thing she had said all day that Zander truly agreed with. Things actually went much smoother after that, for some reason the thought of impressing Hailey made Jake much more motivated to work well with Milly. Much to Zander's surprise, about 90 percent of the cake batter made it into the pan successfully, which was probably due to the fact neither of them had any knowledge about hygiene and kitchen cleanliness. Zander watched as Milly scooped spillage from the floor and counter back into the mixture while Jake held the pan steady. The next thing for Zander to add to his list of miracles was that the oven was used without gaining injury or starting a house fire. As soon as the oven door was shut, Milly reached up to double high-five Jake.
“HAHA we did it!! I told you Zander, me and Jake are like the Gordon Ramseys of baking” She said excitedly, while Zander did not look even the slightest bit impressed.
“I just don’t know what’s worse; the fact you think that counts as a success…” Zander gestured to the oven where their cake was starting to bubble in a way nothing meant for consumption should.
“...or that I just watched you wipe spilt cake batter off the floor with your fingers and lick them.” He looked at Milly with disgust as she swiftly wiped her hand on the back of her pants.
“Well, I made the icing for you guys since it was obvious you forgot.”
Milly and Jake glanced at each other, as if they couldn't believe Zander actually did something nice for once.
“But in exchange I am not helping you guys clean up” and there it was, Jake and Milly should’ve known Zander wouldn’t do them such a favour without him benefiting from it in some way.
All day Zander had been looking forward to locking himself in his bedroom and video calling his boyfriend, who was on holiday with his family over summer break (He gets back in time for Hailey's birthday, don’t worry)
“And then, she ate the cake batter that spilled on the floor!! It was so gross” Zander complained to Luke on the phone, who was mostly just laughing at him.
“Well, that’s Milly for you”
“Yeah I suppose”
It’s not like he hated Jake and Milly's company, though they could be a bit much for him to handle sometimes. It was true that he actually enjoyed hanging out with them every so often, not that he would ever admit it aloud of course. Zander found it sweet that they were so set on baking a cake for Hailey, even if their methods were questionable.
“I sure hope this cake is worth all the bickering I had to suffer through” he said with an eyeroll. Even now he could hear them arguing over who would get to pipe ‘happy birthday Hailey’ across their masterpiece of a dessert.
“Why should you get to do it?? You barely helped”
“Uhm ok, I could’ve slept in this morning but instead I decided to help you, and this is how you repay me?”
“Ugh Jake don’t be dramatic, plus I’ve seen your notes in class, we actually want the writing on the cake to be readable soooo…”
“Well then it's a good thing pencils and piping bags are completely different, isn't it?”
Milly thought for a moment before replying.
“They’re not that different, I mean pencils are made of trees and icing is made of sugar and a sugar cane is basically like a tree.”
“Wow Milly, your logic is shocking, but I actually have baking experience so you should let me do it, and I bet you 10 bucks I can write it perfectly on the first try.”
“Fine, but if Zander looks at it and doesn't agree that it's perfect I expect payment.” Milly said as she handed the piping bag to Jake.
“Remember her name is spelt H-” Milly continued to spell out Hailey's name and watched over Jake's shoulder as he piped, the perfect swooping sloping cursive letters seemed to flow effortlessly. After a couple of touch ups Jake stepped back to admire his work and Milly began to worry she wouldn't be getting her 10 dollars.
“Heyyyy, someone's been practicing, had to make sure you’re able to write Hailey's name perfectly, right Jake?”
“HUH? Noo!! I- I can write other stuff too!”
“Riiiiight, sure.” Milly said with a smug grin. She may not be able to take Jake's money, but she could always embarrass him instead.
“Look, see.” Jake moved over to a clear section of counter top and began piping again. Milly wasn’t sure if it was just the lighting but she could’ve sworn he was blushing. She glanced over at what he wrote: “Fuck you” written in more perfect calligraphy.
“Haha, I can’t even be mad because it's so perfect,” Milly laughed. “but Zander will be once he sees that you wrote on his counter”
“Oh shit, you’re right.” Jake leaned over a pile of stuff they had yet to put away and grabbed a paper towel to wipe away his insult just in time for Zander to walk in. He observed the cake with an unreadable expression, before smiling and looking at Jake.
“This is actually pretty perfect.”
Shocked by Zander's compliment, Jake was about to celebrate. but before he was able to make fun of Milly for losing another bet he was interrupted by Zander, who was trying his hardest not to laugh.
“You uhm- you spelt her name wrong though.”
Jake froze.
“I- what??”
The argument that followed was so contentious it could make your teachers crashouts seem calm (help what even is that writing 💀)
“Jake!! How could you??” Milly said even though she knew it was mostly her fault.
“Why are you blaming me? You’re the one who told me how to spell it.”
“Well, it's not my fault you didn’t notice I spelt it wrong!! You should’ve known better.”
“Milly, haven’t you been her best friend for like 2 years??”
“So what?? You probably text her everyday anyways”
“What?? No I don’t!!” (He most definitely does) “And I’m not paying you 10 dollars” he added defiantly.
“Whatttttttt, but we made a bet and you lost!!”
Jake scoffed. “It doesn’t count!! You practically sabotaged me.”
“Not on purpose” Milly protested.
Zander sighed. This argument had already gone on for far longer than it needed to.
“Jake, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to rewrite it with the correct spelling, also I don’t understand why you guys keep making bets with each other, I mean, eventually you’ll have to learn that neither of you actually have any money to give away.”
Their argument died out quickly as they both realized Zander was right.
They both spent the next half an hour cleaning the kitchen, or rather, Jake cleaned the kitchen while Milly spent her time scrolling on her phone. (It’s not her fault she has a Tiktok fried attention span ok, let her be.) That left Jake all by himself as he stood on a chair and scrubbed cake batter off the ceiling, however the hell that got there. Just as Jake finished putting away all the ingredients (not in the correct spots.) Hailey walked through the front door with Sean behind her. She was wearing brown leather boots and black tights underneath a dark denim skirt, paired with a blue off-the-shoulder sweater. (I know I didn’t describe what the other characters are wearing but I made a whole pinterest board dedicated to Hailey and I’m not about to let it go to waste.)
Hailey was chatting with Sean about some music festival overseas before Milly interrupted by grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the living room.
“Hey Hailey!! Me and Jake have a surprise for you.” Milly sat down on the couch and excitedly gestured for Hailey to sit next to her. she thought for a second before hesitantly sitting down, even though April was a very long time away she wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t a prank.
Even though they hadn’t discussed it beforehand, Jake assumed this was when he was meant to bring out the cake. He walked into the living room where Milly and Hailey sat on the couch in front of the coffee table, Sean was in an arm chair across from them and Zander was watching from the doorway. To avoid dropping the cake, Jake tried very hard to focus on where he was walking and not how pretty Hailey looked today. He set the cake down in front of her and then awkwardly turned to sit down on the couch next to her, just close enough for their knees to brush against each other lightly.
“Wow you guys, this is so pretty!!” Hailey looked at the cake, which had her name (spelt correctly) and some floral decoration that Jake had added.
“Before you say anything, we know your birthday is not for another month, but…”
“We are just so excited to celebrate!!!” Milly declared, finishing Jake's sentence.
Hailey smiled at Milly, then turned to Jake.
“Thank you… you guys really didn’t have to-”
“It’s no problem” Jake quickly assured her “I think you deserve it anyway-”
“WHO CARES!! Have the first slice, Hailey!!” Milly eagerly handed her a large kitchen knife.
Jake watched nervously as the cake barely made it onto the plate in one piece, Hailey took a small bite then nodded slowly, thinking of how to describe the flavour.
“It tastes… Salty.”
Milly winced then glanced at Jake, who was already glaring at her. He had doubted correctly, those two cups were indeed not sugar.