PARTIALLY REQUIRED CLARIFICATION - Mayview is the name of the town.
In the name of all things good and sweet, Chell had found what she was going to do with 400 Gala Apples.
"You can't be serious." Layal said, sitting next to chell on a bench in the Break Room.
"I am." Chell told her.
"Do you even know who sent you that many apples?"
"No..." Chell said unsurely.
She had an idea of who sent her the apples but she didn't know HOW he could send the apples as a sphere in space with no hands.
Or was he?
The next day (A Sunday)
Wheatley decided that he wanted to go shopping to get some 'ice cream' that everyone he asked said that he would love.
Bloody telepathics.
However, as Wheatley walked his way over to the store, he noticed a big sign that said something about a cooking contest.
As he walked into the store, he noticed that some of the shelving units had been moved out of the way to make room for 12 small tables, 7 of them occupied.
"ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MAYVIEW FIRST-ANNUAL APPLE COOKING CONTEST: GET TO A TABLE" A female voice spoke over the PA system.
A cooking contest? He might want to try that...
"ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE RULES OF THE CONTEST CAN FIND THE RULE BOARD NEXT TO THE JUDGES' TABLE." The mysterious person said.
So Wheatley did.
RULES:
-All entries must contain an apple/apple product/apple flavor/artificial apple IN SOME FORM.
-Participants are not allowed to bring recipe books.
-Participants are not allowed to use other people's recipes.
-Participants must ALWAYS wear sanitary gloves, hats, and aprons.
-Participants must STAY at their table.
-Ingredients may be gathered from the Ingredient Stash on either side of the Judges' Table and/or be gathered from anywhere in the store. Ingredients gathered from the Ingredient Stash or the store may be use for free, HOWEVER, they may only be used inside of 'Rose's Grocery.'
A smile slowly crept onto Wheatley's face as he read the rules.
He could do this.
Layla thought Chell was insane.
Chell was grateful the manager allowed the contest without much fuss, the manager even ended up in favor of it. So it wasn't that hard to convince the owner.
And both of them, plus the manager, were the judges. (This also meant that the only open checkouts were the Self-Checkouts)
No one in Mayview had heard of this much excitement in one place since the announcement that the last of the Combine had been slaughtered.
"EVERYONE IN THE CONTEST MAY TAKE THE NEXT TWENTY MINUTES TO GATHER THEIR INGREDIENTS. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE ALLOWED TO GATHER INGREDIENTS WHILE COOKING, BUT IT IS RECOMMENDED TO GATHER THEM NOW."
Wheatley knew exactly what he was going to make.
When Wheatley was 'interviewing' for his job, Dan had made him try his hand at cooking and he had discovered that he was wonderful at making a few things, while horrible at making most other things.
The things he could make were:
-Donuts
-Coffee
-Pancakes
-Cakes
-Cupcakes
-Sandwiches
This was pretty much the extent of his cooking abilities.
After he had gathered all of his ingredients, he set up his table and put on his gloves, hat, and apron.
"STAAART COOKING!" Yelled the Mysterious Person on the PA.
And so he started cooking.
He chose to make Apple Cinnamon Lemon Peach Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese and Fudge Frosting.
That is what he named his glorious monstrosity.
He was number 12, so there were 11 people in front of him that he had to wait for to be judged before he himself was judged.
During that time, he went and bought some ice cream.
By the time he came back, it was his turn to be judged.
"What is your name?" The Lady, who he hadn't noticed until now, asked him.
And he turned into a stuttering mess "Uhh, I-Well, Uhm-IT's M-M-Millard uh-hu"
The Lady looked at him with an inquisitive look before Layla said " Well, uhh, Millard, What's your number, and what have you made?"
Recollecting his dignity, Wheatley said "Um, well, my number is 12, and the name, It's uh, well, it's a bit of a mouthful, really, so, uhm, can I just give you the title card..?"
"Sure." The manager said.
"Well, here..." Wheatley said, handing them the title card.
"Apple cinnamon lemon peach strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese and fudge frosting? How did you even have time to make something as complicated as that?" Layla asked.
"Oh, uhm, it wasn't really that hard" He chuckled nervously "Just did what I do to make cupcakes, simple, really." He said.
"Well, how about we taste them?" The Lady said.
"Oh! Okay! uhh..." He said, handing each of them a cupcake on a small plate.
Each one of them took a bite at the same time.
And the look on their faces was a mixture of delight and surprise.
"That... Is good." The Lady said.
"Good? It's great! It tastes like the most delicious apple cupcake ever with a hint of a fruit cocktail, it's delicious!" Layla said.
"I agree." Said the manager.
"THE JUDGES WILL TAKE TEN MINUTES TO DECIDE WHO THE WINNER WILL BE" Layla spoke into a microphone.
"You can go back to your table now." The manager said.
"Oh! Yeah, right.." Wheatley said, as he walked back to his table.
Ten minutes of doing nothing later, the Layla spoke over the PA again.
"THE JUDGES HAVE DECIDED WHO THE WINNER IS, PLEASE COME FORWARD TO THE JUDGES' TABLE"
Everyone walked back over to the Judges' Table.
"DRUMROLL, PLEASE." The PA said again, as a drumroll started to play "THE WINNER IS... NUMBER 4! AND HIS DELICIOUS APPLE CREPES WITH CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING" Layla spoke over the PA again, as there was an uproar of clapping and cheering.
"AND SECOND PLACE GOES TO... NUMBER 9! AND HER WONDERFUL APPLE ICE CREAM WITH APPLE FLUFF" There was another uproar of clapping and cheering.
"AND THIRD PLACE GOES TO... NUMBER 12! AND HIS MAGNIFICENT APPLE/FRUIT COCKTAIL CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE AND FUDGE FROSTING" Even more clapping and cheering as everyone looked at him.
"ALL WINNERS CAN CLAIM THEIR PRIZE AT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK" Layla said over the PA.
Wheatley was shocked.
He won.
Well, third place. But still, he had never come even close to winning anything before in his life.
He almost fainted when he found out his prize was a tub of Neapolitan Ice Cream.