Hey guys. It's me again. I seem to update quickly because I'm on a looong holiday, so more chapters will come soon. Here is the chapter in which two of my favorite Warblers make their entrances…
CHAPTER FOUR
Five days later, the Asian community charity program begins.
The Cheerios and around half of the Asian community members have arranged the car wash to be held in the school's front yard. Coach Sue and Coach Beiste are keeping an eye on the car wash, with Coach Sue barking bizarre insults from her megaphone and Coach Beiste blowing her whistle, telling everyone to "move it".
The football field of McKinley High is filled with decorated stalls and booths. A large section of the field is reserved for selling goods. Two stalls in one corner sell old books, while the one next to them sells old clothes and shoes. There are a couple of Japanese girls selling kimonos and traditional Japanese fans, while some Chinese girls have a display of tiny clay statues. A group of Filipino boys are selling music CDs and band t-shirts. The Vietnamese crowd is offering some canvas drawings to the visitors.
On the other side of the football field lies the bake sale. Booths selling cookies, brownies, cakes, and pastry line up the perimeter of the field. The delicious smell of warm cookies wafts through the air, attracting more and more visitors to come and check out the bake sale. Little children are stuffing themselves with chocolate chip cookies and cotton candies, while the adults spoil themselves with sweet apple pies and steaming hot crème brulees.
Gina finds herself stuck in one of the stalls in the bake sale. Tina – who is running all over the place frantically right now – had told her to come and check on how the bake sale was doing. Instead, one of the girls handed her an apron and ran away, muttering something about an emergency. Now she finds herself selling decorated cupcakes to grandmothers and yelling children.
"Hmmm, baking, huh? I didn't take you for the baking type."
Gina looks up from her notes to find Ryder grinning slyly at her.
"Hi, would you like to try some of our delicious cupcakes?" Gina says in a sweet voice, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Not if you're the one baking them," Ryder says. "I think I could die out of food poisoning."
Gina slaps him with his notes. "You're so mean, Elmo. I'm a terrible baker," she admits. "My Dad's a chef, but the last time I tried to make a cupcake, I burned my finger. I now have complete faith that talent doesn't run on genes. Meh, I'm better at eating stuff than making them."
"That makes the two of us," Ryder says, giving her the thumbs-up. "All right, give me the best cupcake you have in there, G."
Gina gives him a cupcake with a sugar bass guitar on top of it. "Five bucks, Rambo," she says. "No freebies."
Ryder laughs as he hands her a five-dollar bill. "Five bucks? That's a rip-off!" he comments.
Gina returns to her notes, while Ryder eats his cupcake a little distance off the stall. Gina is still concentrating on counting the cost of the cupcakes when a voice says, "These cupcakes are lovely."
She looks up to find a familiar-looking boy. He is tall and rather stocky, with neatly trimmed dark hair. He has a sweet, innocent smile on his face, but what attracts Gina's attention is his blazer. It looks more like a school uniform; the blazer is dark blue, with hints of red around the rims. A blazing, crimson "D" is embroidered on the upper left side. Underneath the classy-looking blazer he wears a white shirt and a striped dark blue-and-red tie.
"You're a Warbler," Gina says instinctively.
The boy chuckles. "Not every kid from Dalton is a Warbler, you know," he says. "But yes, I'm a Warbler. I'm Nick. Hey."
"Gina," she shakes his outstretched hand.
"Pretty name," Nick tells her. "These cupcakes look great. You made this?"
"Nah," Gina shakes her head. "I wish I did, but I suck at baking."
"Well, I think they look wonderful," Nick says, flashing a bright smile. "Just like you."
Gina raises her eyebrow. "I'm not going to give you free cupcakes just because you call me pretty." She says.
Nick laughs, and is about to say something else when someone taps him on the shoulder.
"Nick, Nick, Nick, always the lady killer."
Another Dalton student appears, shaking his head and patting Nick's shoulder. This guy is a little bit shorter and skinnier than Nick. He has chestnut-colored hair, a slightly freckled face, and an impish grin that makes Gina feel suspicious.
"You better watch out for this one," the second guy winks at her. "He's really smooth; you won't know what's going to hit you until you've fallen, head over heels."
Gina is about to respond when she feels a hand on her shoulder. Blaine pushes Gina gently behind him. "Sebastian," he sighs, looking wearily at the brown-haired Warbler. "What are you doing here?"
"Blaine, charming as always," Sebastian says with a little sneer. "Hey, I'm not looking for trouble today. I heard there was going to be a kickass charity program at McKinley, so I decided to show up with some of the boys. Turned a new leaf, remember?"
"This is Sebastian?" Gina asks, eyeing Sebastian warily.
"Ah, the newbie knows me," Sebastian says approvingly.
"I watched your Sectionals performance online," Gina says. "That's why you and Nick looked familiar."
"Just go away, Sebastian," Blaine says, half-pleading, half-threatening. "Do us a favor and don't mess up anything. This charity's important to the Asian community. Oh, and hey, Nick. How you're doing?"
"I'll try," Sebastian says sneakily. "But trouble usually follows me around."
"Don't mind him, Blaine," Nick says, grinning at his old buddy. "I'll keep an eye on him." He turns to Gina. "I heard you're doing a performance at the auditorium at ten?"
Gina nods. "It'll only be two bucks per ticket," she tells him.
"Well then, maybe I'll see you there," Nick gives her another smile. "Oh, and I'll take one of these, thank you." He picks up a pink-frosted cupcake, hands her five bucks, and gives her a little wink before walking away. Sebastian waves at Blaine before disappearing into the crowd again. Gina watches Nick walk away with a strange feeling of curiosity. Did he just… hit on her?
As soon as the two Warblers have disappeared, Ryder comes over.
"What did they want?" he asks, frowning.
"Cupcakes," Gina answers coolly, and returns her attention back to her notes.
Nick and Sebastian are two of my favorite Warblers, and I love the Warblers, so I put them in the story. I've always wanted one of those classy blazers… ;)