Chapter 5: Fragmented Candy and Crème!
After Hershey explained the situation in more detail, Pepper willingly accepted her duty and put her all into helping Sugar capture the monsters during the following weeks. Though Sugar's parents had ended grounding her a while ago, she still wanted to stick to curfew in order to not make them mad again. There were also times when Commander Dandy showed up to provide extra help, but Sugar always became love-struck and dim-witted. Aroma and Pepper thought her love of him was silly, because she barely knew the guy, and when she saw Miloe, she felt guilty.
This occupied her thoughts during Math class while Ms. Hamstring was writing equations on the board, and explaining them briefly. But she was interrupted when the door opened, and a little girl walked into the classroom. Ms. Hamstring was surprised, as the girl was only up to her waist in height, but quite adorable with a child-like face and short sand-blond hair that was cut close to her head, decorated in a variety of colorful hairclips. She faced the class wearing a short black dress with a short white blouse underneath, and nodded politely.
"Class, this is Crème Sweetie, one of our new students as of today. Please give her a warm welcome!" Ms. Hamstring said to the rest of the classroom.
Everybody watched her in awe as she sat down at a vacant seat in the front row, pulled the math textbook out of cute little black handbag, and flipped to the page they were on. While Ms. Hamstring continued the lecture, Sugar was fascinated by the little girl, who gave off an aura of complete politeness and cuteness rolled into one. Then she noted a scent she didn't smell before in this room: a sweet, sugary smell that reminded Sugar of the French toast she had for breakfast.
How could a girl this young be a high school student? Sugar wondered after class was dismissed. Maybe she's a kid genius or something…
"Hello!" cried a loud, cheerful voice.
Sugar looked down and saw the little girl standing in front of her.
"Um, hi," Sugar replied, feeling surprised. "Cream, right?"
"No, Crème! It's pronounced with a French accent," the girl said, smiling. "My sister and I originally lived in Quebec, but our parents decided to go on a worldwide trip, and sent us to school down here in the United States."
"You have a sister?"
"Yeah! Her name is Meringue, and she's five years older than me."
"And…how old are you?"
"Twelve years old!"
Sugar nearly fainted, but luckily someone stopped her from falling. She looked behind her, and gasped when she realized it was Miloe. He was initially surprised to see her, but smiled anyway. This made Sugar's heart melt, but backed away instinctively when she remembered her love-related dilemma.
"I notice you haven't been watching the tennis team practice lately," Miloe said, giving her a worried frown. "We're starting to miss you."
"We?" Sugar didn't understand.
"Well, technically me and Duke."
That jerk! I never want to see him again! Sugar thought irritably.
Then she remembered Miloe was still standing there, and explained. "Supporting your team…wasn't the reason I was watching your practices. I was supporting someone who was on the team, but lately I…haven't found the time to come due to…other stuff."
"Like what?"
Before Sugar could answer, the bell for second period rang, and had to run to her next class, which left Miloe and Crème standing there in the hallway. Later, she was planning to go and have lunch by herself, but Pepper decided to take her and Aroma out to a different Mexican place, since the other one was still being repaired. While Pepper scarfed down her food, Aroma shifted in her seat uncomfortably while Sugar stared into nothing.
"Come on, guys, eat up!" Pepper said between bites. "The food will get cold if you just stare at it!"
"It's so loud in here and-and chaotic," Aroma muttered.
"Why is love so complicated?" Sugar said to herself.
Pepper sighed in frustration. "Jesus, you guys need to lighten up! It's good to go out and hang out with your friends once in a while, right?"
"When did we become friends?" Sugar asked, snapping out of her daze. "The only thing we have in common is our secret identities, but even then, mine isn't going to last for long."
Aroma looked at Sugar in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Well, as soon as we find Princess Lolly, she's going to take over for me," Sugar said, sipping her soda casually. "After all, this is her responsibility. I'm just a stand-in."
"But are you satisfied with that?" Pepper asked, glaring at Sugar. "You're doing all this work for a Princess you've never met, and fine with getting nothing for it?!"
"Oh, I'll ask her to give me some gratitude, by taking away Commander Dandy."
This shocked Aroma and Pepper.
"But I thought you liked the guy," Pepper said, resting her chin on her hand. "Even though I don't approve."
"Yes, I do like the guy but…"
Before Sugar could finish, she saw Crème standing right next to their table. She smiled at all of them, and asked politely if she could sit with them. Pepper didn't mind, and scooted over to let Crème sit next to her. Aroma was enchanted by her adorableness while Sugar still wondered how Crème knew they were there.
"I felt that our discussion wasn't finished, so I followed you all the way here!" Crème explained. "And are these two your friends?"
"Sort of," Sugar said reluctantly. She noticed the same sweet smell, but there were other scents mixed in from all over the restaurant as well, so she couldn't be sure if this was definitely a magical Scent or not. "They're…people I participate in after-school activities with."
"Ooh, what kind of activities?"
"We…get together, go around town, and hang out."
"Sounds like friends to me!" Then Crème turned to face Pepper, and held her hand out. "Hi, I'm Crème Sweetie. What's your name?"
"Pepper Chili." After shaking Crème's hand, Pepper gestured towards the other girls. "The shy one in the corner is Aroma Frost, and the one you followed here is Sugar Marmalade."
"Sugar…I like that name!" Crème cried.
It was then that the red cooler started to rattle. Sugar quickly excused herself and went outside to crouch behind the back of the restaurant. There she let Hershey out of the cooler and allowed her to speak freely.
"I sense there's a monster near here. It's not very strong, but it could be if we don't stop it right away!" Hershey cried as her forehead heart blinked on and off.
"Can it wait? I'm kind in the middle of having lunch with the other two, so now's not a good time," Sugar replied. But just as Hershey protested, Sugar shut her back in the cooler and closed the lid.
Later, after the final bell rang, Sugar, Aroma, and Pepper met outside by the school entrance. After brief nods, they proceeded towards the dumpster by the Mexican restaurant that was damaged by Frosty, and stood behind it. Then, after a cautionary look around them, they opened the cooler.
"Great! Now we're in bigger trouble thanks to Sugar," Hershey said, glaring at Sugar.
This made Sugar irritated. "What was I supposed to do? I couldn't leave everyone spontaneously, or get Aroma and Pepper to come without leaving Crème behind!"
"Just because she's twelve doesn't mean she can't take care of herself," Pepper said, folding her arms. "If she can travel all the way from Canada down to the States with her sister without getting into trouble, she would've been fine if we had left her at the restaurant."
"But it would also be rude, Pepper, did you ever think of that?"
"Not as rude as not calling us your friends," Aroma added, hiding her tears. "After all we've been through, the only gratitude we get is merely being 'the people you participate in after-school activities with'. Makes us sound like we're more of a nuisance!"
Sugar sighed. "Okay, I didn't mean it like that, but apart from capturing monsters and going out to lunch a couple of times, we don't know each other that well!"
"Girls! Now's not the time to be fighting!" Hershey said abruptly. "We have a bad monster named Plumpy on the loose down Main Street, and it was the same one I sensed earlier today. It wasn't strong then because it was small, but somehow, Plumpy was able to consume enough sweets to gain more energy and make it grow bigger."
"And how big is it?" Pepper asked.
"That big," Hershey nodded in the direction of Main Street. Sure enough, a green, fuzzy monster the size of a two-story building was tromping around, destroying everything beneath its feet, with the screams of hundreds following it. The girls stared at it with surprise and fear, but were determined nevertheless.
"Wow, that thing's bigger than Gloppy," Sugar noted, and then she stood up clutching her lollipop necklace. "But we'll capture it for sure!"
"Not this time," Pepper said. "Until you decide what our relationship is, you're on your own for this battle."
"We'll still fight the monster," Aroma said, walking away. "Just without you."
End of Chapter 5
