Connie hummed softly to herself as she entered the Big Doughnut, hoping to get a snack before heading to the library for some her time. She gave Sadie a tiny wave as she passed her but the teen ignored her. Connie walked up to the counter and was about to call out for Lars when he suddenly walked in from the back room. He didn't notice Connie watching him as he happily frosted some cupcakes he had just taken out. Connie's mouth was watering slightly at the appetizing scent.
"Lars! Those cupcakes look amazing!" Connie cried.
Lars gave a yell of surprise and nearly dropped the tray. "Connie?! I-I wasn't…"
"May I try one?" Connie asked hopefully.
Lars blushed and handed her one, "No one really knows I can bake…"
Connie took a bite and her eyes turned to diamonds with a happy smile. "These are incredible!"
Lars gave a laugh, "Well, thanks." He opened a little bag and put a few of the treats in, giving it to her, "On the house, miss Universe."
"Really?" Connie gasped. Lars nodded and she took the bag gratefully. "Thank you!" The girl turned slightly and saw out of the corner of her eye, a poster for Beach-a-Palooza.
She ran to it and took it off the wall. "Lars! You should serve your treats at Beach-a-Palooza!"
"What? I can't!" Lars insisted.
Connie nodded happily, "Sure you can! I'll help you… somehow… Besides, everyone in town is doing something to help out."
"Yeah… Yeah!" Lars cried, determined. "I won't even appear on stage!"
Connie and Lars were now in his room and Lars blew dust off a cookbook, "We've got lots of work to do!"
They hurried downstairs and got all the ingredients out together when they heard a sudden soft gasp, "Laramie?"
They turned to see a small woman with red hair.
"Mom!" Lars groaned, annoyed.
"Sorry to interrupt you two, but are you baking?" Lars' mother asked.
Connie nodded, "We are, Mrs. Barriga. My name's Connie, pleased to meet you!" They shook hands and the woman looked at Lars, "I'm glad you're having fun."
Surprisingly, his mother walked out, not saying anything more.
"Your Mom seems nice." Connie offered up, stirring the mix.
Lars smiled, "Yeah, I'm really lucky to have them…" He then gave a tiny sigh.
Connie stopped stirring to look back to him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Connie." Lars sighed. "I kinda wished my mom would've stayed around to help though, I'm surprised she didn't, we used to do this all the time when I was little…"
Connie looked back to the cupcakes. "Maybe you should tell her that?"
"No! It's clear she wouldn't even want to, she didn't offer or anything." Lars blushed.
The girl rolled her eyes. "If you say so."
Soon, they had prepared the cupcakes and were just waiting for them to bake while hang out in Lars' room.
Connie had gone home and grabbed her violin to play, with all that had been going on, she hadn't exactly had time to practice. She had set it all up and glanced at Lars, "Any requests?"
Lars thought for a moment then snapped his finger in a idea, "How about Sadie's favorite song? That's all I can think of at the moment. It's, er, about stars?"
Connie thought of popular songs and then realized what song he was thinking of. "Let me give this a try…" Connie said. She started to play the quick and catchy tune of Haven't You Noticed.
When she finished, Lars cheered for her.
"Connie, that was great!" Lars cried. "You should sing tonight at the show!"
Connie blushed, "Thank you… I probably couldn't go on stage though, all those people watching me."
"You have before, tons of times! Last Beach-a-Palooza, Mayor Dewey's play, lots of stuff."
"I couldn't go onstage, alone…" Connie rephrased.
"But you're so good!" Lars insisted. "Here, how about this, when we set up the cupcakes tonight, you sing beside it, not appearing on stage at all."
Connie seemed to contumplate this and then slowly nodded, "I… guess it could be fun."
They suddenly smelt the cupcakes and Lars ran down the stairs with Connie not far behind. They opened the oven and took out the cupcakes.
"Perfect." Connie said.
A few minutes later, they made a sign for the stand and Lars saw his parents peeking in. They hid once he noticed. Connie gave a small smile while coloring.
That night, they had everything packed up, the table, table-cloth, sign, and of course, the cupcakes. Lars practically lifted them all while Connie trotted behind him. She felt Lars' parents watching and turned to them.
"Lars, I'll be there in a moment, ok?" Connie asked. Lars nodded and started to walk to the beach. Connie turned back to his parents.
"You know, I think he wants you to come…" Connie blushed.
Lars' mother tilted her head, "He does?"
The father frowned, "I didn't know that."
"Yeah… It's okay if you don't want to, I understand. Lars does too." Connie said, balancing the cupcake container on her knee.
"Of course we want to come, dear." Said Mrs. Barriga, surprised. "We just haven't gone to any of his events, because we thought he would be embarrassed by us."
"Oh…" Connie murmured. "Well… he might be a little at first, but from what he's said to me today, he'd like if you'd come."
Later that night, Connie and Lars had set up the stand and Lars was nearly under the table in fright. It was nearly time for people to start coming. "I can't do this, Connie! I can't let anyone know I bake!"
"Sure you can! Lars, we worked hard all day." Connie said reassuringly, seeing people coming and walking up to the stand.
Mr. Frowney then walked up, "Connie Universe, I see you've once again set up a place to sell… I've told everyone about it, so prepare yourself..." He sighed sadly.
"We aren't selling, sir. We're handing them out to people who want them. Lars is an amazing baker!"
"No I'm not!" Lars yelled from under the table.
"Don't be nervous." Mr. Frowney said, "Everyone will soon know your secret and strange passion that no one else has. And with it, they will talk, and talk, and talk-"
"Thanks, Mr. Frowney! That was a awesome peptalk." Connie lied. She glanced back to a sweating Lars. Mr. Frowney walked away and Connie bent back to under the table. "You sure you don't want to?"
Lars shook his head, "I can't."
Connie gave a sigh. "Fine, I'll just… leave you alon-."
"No!" Lars cried, making Connie halt in putting away the food. "I don't want you to ignore me… not like my parents do."
"Oh Laramie, we weren't ignoring you." Lars glanced over to see his parents.
"Son, we were just giving you space! We thought teens needed space." His dad said.
"But not to the point where I feel like I can tell you nothing about my life!" Lars cried.
His parents were shocked and Connie glanced at the people waiting for cupcakes. "Er…"
Lars looked at them, with a embarrassed smile, "S-Sorry…" He walked off with his parents, Connie knowing they would talk out their problems. She smiled at the crowd and said, "Lars made these! Try them, they're free and really good!"
As people started to take some, Connie took a breath and started to play her violin and people soon cheered for her.
The next day, Lars and Sadie ate a new batch of cupcakes fresh out of the oven as Connie happily played her violin.