Kinsley was startled by this announcement, and she dropped a spoon. When she reached down to pick it up, Tony grabbed a handful of salt and tossed it over Kinsley’s cupcakes. The judges, who were talking amongst themselves, didn’t seem to notice, but I did.
The woman beside me did, too.
When Kinsley stood back up and dropped her spoon in the sink in front of her, the judges prepared to call time. Tony looked pleased with himself: smug, even. I couldn’t let that go.
“Foul!” I yelled, standing up.
The entire crowd silenced and turned to look at me.
“He threw salt on her cupcakes,” I called, pointing to Tony.
“What?” Kinsley looked devastated. She looked down at the cupcakes and then over at Tony. “You tried to sabotage me?”
“What? No, I didn’t,” he said, shaking his heads.
The judges seemed confused, as though they hadn’t seen what had happened. Wasn’t it kind of their job to be paying attention?
“You’re just saying that because you’re her boyfriend,” Tony pointed out.
“That’s true, I did see them kissing,” one of the judges said.
“I saw it, too,” the woman beside me said. “Tony threw something on her cupcakes when her back was turned.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the woman.
“Mrs. March?”
“Tony, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” she shook her finger at him. “You didn’t think you could win fair-and-square, so you tossed salt on her cupcakes? That’s low, even for you.”
“Mrs. March, what are you doing here?”
“I came to support Kinsley,” the woman said, smiling.
“Did anyone who isn’t friends with the baker in question see this happen?” One of the judges asked. Unfortunately, nobody else saw.
“We’re going to continue with the competition as planned,” said one of the judges. “However, in consideration that something may, in fact, have happened, we’ll add a minute to the time.”
Kinsley looked devastated as the clock started once more, and Mrs. March and I sat back down, defeated. This wasn’t fair. Poor, sweet Kinsley had worked so very hard to do her best during this competition, and it seemed as though she was being punished for it.
“Not fair at all,” Mrs. March muttered.
I was watching, though. I looked at Kinsley and as our eyes met,
I nodded. She could do this. She was a clever girl. She was crafty and clever, and she could do this. I knew the exact moment she came up with a plan because she grinned, started scraping off her frosting, and then refrosted the cupcakes that Tony had destroyed.
He seemed curious about this because he kept looking over at her to check on her progress. My mom always said, “Worry about yourself,” and I could see now how that was good advice. Tony wasn’t worrying about himself. He was caught up in what was happening elsewhere, and I had a feeling that was going to cost him.
The bell rang and the bakers put their tools down. Then it was time for the judges to taste what they’d produced. I had no doubt that Kinsley had done an incredible job. She was sweet and patient and talented.
“She’s got this,” a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see Cordelia, the owner of Savored, sitting there grinning.
“She’s definitely got it,” I agreed.
We all waited as the judges tried Tony’s cupcakes first. I knew they weren’t going to taste very well. Baking cupcakes was very different from making candy, and it seemed as though he’d depended on sabotaging Kinsley and not on actually doing a good job.
“Interesting concept,” one of the judges said.
“Too much sugar,” coughed another.