Chapter 12 Bake Sale

For the rest of the next day or two, Aria racked her brain for any plan that could conceivably work to help her get Jackie out of her aunt and uncle's house. The first thought she had was to go to Ludwig… only for her to immediately dismiss that thought and tell herself that she needed to think of something different. This was her problem, after all, and despite all the power and resources her boyfriend was in possession of, Aria was one who solved her own problems all by herself. She didn't need external help. That would just make her look weak.

So, she wasn't going to go to Ludwig. Unfortunately, that meant that she had to think of a new way to do this. She barely made enough money to support herself; how was she going to make enough money to help out her sister? She thought about this for a long time, so much so that she caused herself to develop a headache. And it was while she was dealing with the worst migraine of her life that a solution presented itself to her. A solution that could work, a solution that would be practical and smart and… delicious.

So, the next few days after that were spent in preparation. She bought as many ingredients from the General Store of Generalness (Hey, she did tell Bob that she was going to stop by that store at one time) that she could carry/afford. After her arms and hammerspace were practically overflowing with the pieces that would create such sweet and yummy goods, she went straight back home and started baking. It took four hours before she made enough baked goods to put onto a table that she had situated in front of her house, but she felt that it was worth it. She also felt mightily proud of herself, as well as happy due to the fact that she hadn't had this much fun baking in what was quite a long amount of time.

Now, she sat at the table outside her house, smiling as people turned to look at the "Bake Sale" sign as well as the treats that were on sale in this bake sale. Many people did end up coming over, looking extra delighted at the quality of goods on sale as well as at the incredibly cheap prices displayed on the index cards. Needless to say, almost all of them bought something. Whether it be a cake or a batch of cookies or even a pie, very few of them went away empty handed. That fact that brought Aria's spirits up considerably.

"Hey Miss," a woman said to her about an hour into the "selling" part of the bake sale. "Do you have anything gluten free? My husband and I are on a diet."

Aria chuckled. "I do, as matter of fact." She pointed toward the end of the table. "That blueberry pie. I constructed that crust all by myself." She grinned. "It was certainly a labor of love."

The woman laughed. "Well then. I think it would be a crime not to buy it then!"

Aria laughed. After the woman paid for her pie and walked away, Aria took note of how… empty the table was now. The only things left were a apple pie and a batch of snickerdoodles. At first, this excited Aria, as no food left meant that she got a lot of money. She reached for the pay jar, counting off each and every coin that people had paid her…

Only to feel extremely disappointed. She hadn't even cracked one hundred yet! That wasn't good; so very not good. That amount was nowhere near close enough to buy Jackie some lodging. So, while letting out a frustrated sigh, she stood up and went back into the house. Sure, she didn't have a lot of ingredients left, but she was certain that she could put something together. All she really needed to do was be creative.

…

Two hours later, Aria returned to the table with a batch of pumpkin muffins, a raspberry torte, and a collection of cheese and spinach quiches. As she laid all of these delectable creations down on the table, her mind went into overdrive. Previously, she had only charged about two coins per baked good. She figured that it would probably be best if she upped the prices a little bit, with the desire to do so only growing stronger with the glances she got of her nowhere-near-full pay jar. So, she got some index cards out of her hammerspace and wrote down the new prices of four coins each instead of two before sitting back down.

Unfortunately for her, the baked goods sold at a significantly slower rate than they did before. Sure, people still bought them, but Aria noticed their noses wrinkling up when they saw the prices. As such, she had to go back to the drawing board. Maybe she needed to sell more things at cheaper prices as opposed to less things at more expensive prices? That had been working before. But did she have enough energy to make as many goodies as possible? The process of making the previous round of goodies had been difficult enough as it was.

Well, she wasn't making a lot of money, so she decided that she should probably make more. Sighing, she got up and took her pay jar inside before heading back to General Woodley's. Even though it wasn't a long walk at all, it still felt like the time dragged by. It still felt as though she was losing precious seconds, that she was running out of daylight and running out of energy. As such, when she got to the store, she ran to get her ingredients despite feeling like she was going to pass out from exhaustion.

Bob noticed this as she went back to the checkout counter. "Aria, are you okay?" He asked as she set the ingredients down. "You look… well, you look like you just got back from trying to move a giant watermelon through a field full of cataquacks." He leaned forward. "Is everything okay?"

Aria let out a breath. "Everything's fine." She took in a breath as Bob started ringing the items up. "I'm just focusing on my bake sale right now."

"Oh!" Bob said as the two of them had talked about the bake sale when Aria was here earlier that day. "How's that going, by the way?"

Aria curled a strand of hair back. "It's going… well, I suppose. I'm nowhere close to done, but it's going well."

"That's great to hear." Bob chuckled. "Do you think you could save a snack for me? I want to go down to your house after I get off of work."

Aria smiled. "I'll do what I can." With that, she picked up the bagged items and started placing them in her hammerspace. "I just hope you bring money. I am doing this for a reason, after all."

Bob blinked, for this hadn't been touched upon the last time they spoke. "What reason is that?"

Aria put on a determined face as she put the last bag in her hammerspace. "I'm trying to help Jackie."

Bob opened his mouth to say something, but Aria barely noticed. She was already out the door before he even had a chance to ask her to elaborate. As she walked home, her thoughts traveled back to her sister. Oh man, how sweet would it be, to look into her face after Aria had made enough money to help her move? How amazing would that be? Just thinking about it made Aria smile; she couldn't even begin to imagine how great it would be to actually experience it.

With that thought in mind, she managed to make her way back toward her house without dropping to the floor. Despite the yawns she produced and the sagging heaviness of her eyelids, she got right back to work. She mixed and folded, sprayed the baking pans and poured the batter. She didn't stop, didn't dare stop. She told herself that she would be able to catch a break when she was sitting back out at the table.

It took about an hour before she finished all of her goodies. With careful caution, she brought them all back out to the table. It was as she did this that she realized, much to her chagrin, that the sun was setting.

"Darn it," she grumbled. That would certainly affect the number of people who stopped by to buy stuff. Nevertheless, she still put the goods out for sale. She placed them on display, making a big show out of it for the very infrequent passerby or civilian. Unfortunately, just like she had predicted, the number of people coming by had reduced significantly. She felt as if this was turning into an uphill battle. She was never a fan of uphill battles.

And, unfortunately, she couldn't go on any longer. So, as dusk settled down on Sparksville and her eyes grew more and more heavy, she decided to pack up. She brought the sweets back inside, setting them down on her kitchen counter. She also brought the pay jar back inside. It looked… well, there was clearly more money inside it, which was a good thing. However, it still wasn't nearly enough. It seemed that she would have to try again tomorrow, or the next day, or even the day after that. It would be a long and grueling experience before she finally got enough money. She didn't mind though. She was doing this for her sister. She was doing this to be there for her, to let Jackie know that there were people who cared about her and saw her struggling and…

Knock knock knock.

Aria blinked. Since she was so tired, her mind came up blank when she tried to guess who was knocking on the door. She made her way over, rubbing her eyes and yawning as she did. When she opened the door, she blinked in surprise (even though logically she knew she shouldn't).

"Hey Bob. Hey Jackie."

Jackie gawked at Aria. "Oh my word. You look…" she sunk back a little. "You look like you've been through the wringer…"

"I… well, yeah." Aria yawned some more. "Busy day. Very very busy day." She gestured for them to come in. "Come with me to the kitchen; I have some sweets left over."

Bob smiled and licked his lips when that was said. When they got to the kitchen, his eyes sparkled while looking at the desserts. One could easily think he was looking on a mountain of gold given his enthusiasm.

"Woah!" He looked over at Aria, giving her the biggest grin ever. "These all look incredible!" His eyes scanned over the selection again. "I don't even know which one I want! There are so many amazing choices… oh, it's like I'm in Heaven!"

Both Aria and Jackie laughed. "Well, take your time buddy," Aria said. "I don't want you to leave this house unhappy."

Bob nodded and studied the sweets. As he did this, Aria decided it would be best to draw Jackie to the side and start up a conversation. After all, Aria was still mightily concerned about her and her situation (as if the bake sale wasn't enough confirmation of that fact).

"How are you doing?" Aria asked Jackie once they were in the living room. She gestured for her sister to take a seat, which she did (albeit hesitantly).

"I'm… I'm good," Jackie said.

Aria furrowed her brow. "Your… your aunt and uncle haven't been causing you anymore grief, have they?"

Jackie shook her head. "Not any more than what I'm used to."

Aria frowned, not knowing if happiness was the correct response to a situation like that. "Okay." She looked down into her lap, so many emotions brewing around in her head. When she inevitably clonked out and went to sleep, she imagined all these thoughts would give her some… interesting dreams.

"I heard…" Jackie hesitated, looking like she was going to bolt out of the room with how red her face turned. "Bob told me you did the bake sale for me?"

Aria nodded, all while smiling. "Yep." She sat up straight. "I still have a ways to go, but at least I'm making progress."

Jackie smiled. "That's good. It's… it's sweet that you're doing this for me…." She paused, causing Aria to raise an eyebrow.

"But?" Aria asked.

Jackie shook her head. "But nothing. It is really nice." She hesitated. "And… well, there's something I wanted to ask you."

Aria leaned forward. "And what would that be?"

"Well…" Jackie squirmed a little bit. "You said our father lives in Frostwall. I was… I was wondering if…"

"Well! It's decided!" Bob exclaimed from the kitchen. He came into the room, carrying a big batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies telekinetically. "These little guys are coming home with me!" He looked at Aria with a smile. "How much do I owe you?"

Aria thought about this for a split second. "Two coins."

"Two coins! Talk about a steal!" Bob handed them over. As he did, he kept the cookies in the air and the smile on his face. "Oh man, this is great! I get to eat great desserts and contribute to the 'Helping Out My Girlfriend' fund!" He gave Jackie a sweet, heart melting look. "In my opinion, there isn't a more rewarding thing that one can do."

Jackie chuckled a little bit. "Thanks Bob." She looked him in the eye. "I… I guess we should head home then?"

"Sure!" Bob extended his hand, which she took. "I want you to spend the night with me though. If I'm left in the house with these cookies all night, there's no way they're going to last til morning!"

Jackie chuckled a second time. "That can be arranged." She got up, heading to the door. She was just opening her mouth, about to say bye to Aria, before Aria decided to stop them.

"Wait." She looked right in Jackie's eyes. "What was it you were saying before? About our dad?"

"Oh." Jackie hesitated before her face turned red. "It's… it's nothing." She led Bob toward the door. "We really need to get going…"

With that, they exited the house. As the door shut, Aria thought about what Jackie was about to ask. She had a theory as to what it was, but without confirmation of that theory, she was just left to wonder.

What did Jackie want exactly?