February
"Beat to soft peaks," she read slowly, bending down to examine the small picture that accompanied the recipe. Her gaze travelled to the mixing bowl and peering inside, she scowled deeply.
"I don't think it's supposed to look like that," she continued, brushing the back of her hand across her forehead and inadvertently leaving a floury trail in its wake.
"You could help you know," she added, casting an impatient glance towards Sully who was lolling contentedly in his chair at the counter.
"But you said you didn't need my help," he smirked, tossing an apple idly into the air and catching it deftly, "you said it was easy and all you had to do was follow the recipe carefully."
"Yeah, well," huffed Michaela, shoving the bowl towards him, "do you honestly think this is going to rise?"
"It looks like someone threw up in your cake mix," laughed Sully, wrinkling his nose at the watery gloop that lined the bottom of the mixing bowl.
"I'd like to see you do better," snapped Michaela, slamming the bowl down on the counter and folding her arms, "it's supposed to be a joint entry and all you've done is swing on your chair and eat half the fruit bowl."
"Alright, I'll help," chuckled Sully, slipping down off the high stool and strolling over to the cluttered counter, "just don't go all glaring-Quinn on me."
Michaela glared anyway.
"It's not as easy as it looks," she retorted fiercely as Sully grabbed another bowl from the cupboard and proceeded to weigh out more sugar.
"Why don't you take out the trash?" suggested Sully with a grin, gesturing to her bowl before reaching for the eggs. When she remained motionless, he half turned towards her and ducked just in time as an artfully thrown handful of flour launched itself in the direction of his head.
"Hey Michaela."
"Oh, hey Katy," replied Michaela with a smile, glancing up from the sea of multicoloured cupcakes that brightened the small stand.
"I wanted to say thanks for your help with those math problems, you really saved my life. My mum would've freaked if I'd gotten another C."
"No problem," grinned Michaela, "I'm glad I could help avert the massacre."
"Did you make these?" asked Katy, her blonde hair falling around her face as she bent to examine the beautifully iced cakes.
"Definitely not," laughed Michaela, "my batch are lining our trash can. Sully made these."
"Oh," said Katy quietly, her cheeks reddening as she hastily straightened up. Michaela's brow furrowed for a moment but as she followed her friend's gaze, a mischievous glint crept into her eyes.
"Did you want one?" she asked slyly, "I think this one is perfect for you."
"What do you reckon Sully?" she queried, picking up a bright pink cake topped with a candy heart and holding it up as though for inspection.
"Sure," replied Sully, barely glancing at the cake as he continued to flick through his copy of Rolling Stone, silently wishing himself far, far away.
"75 cents please," said Michaela, barely able to contain her smug smile as her friend's cheeks turned cherry red.
"She likes you," stated Michaela, as soon as the now very embarrassed Katy had wandered away from their table, the small cake held in her hand.
"Well I'm a nice person," replied Sully idly, "it's hard not to like me. Can we go now? There's only ten minutes of the sale left anyway."
"I mean like likes you," persisted Michaela, crossing her arms across her chest and fixing Sully with a beady eye.
"Uhoh," began Sully, his eyes narrowing, "I know that look. Whatever you want, the answer's no."
"Don't be an idiot Sully, I don't want anything," giggled Michaela, "but Katy might."
"What d'you mean?" replied Sully, his expression one of complete bewilderment.
"Well, the Valentine's Day dance is next weekend and I reckon Katy's looking for a date."
"You mean me?" queried Sully, his voice rising in disbelief.
"No, I mean me," said Michaela, rolling her eyes dramatically.
"Very funny," scowled Sully, nudging her with his shoulder and provoking a fit of giggles.
"So you really think she likes me?" mused Sully, as he retrieved their backpacks from under the table.
"Maybe one day you'll be able to tell for yourself if a girl likes you," laughed Michaela, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "but until then I guess I'll just have to interpret the beetroot coloured cheeks for you."
Plink….Plink….Plink…
Placing her book face down on the covers, she padded over to the window and drew back the curtain. Peering out, she searched for the source of the strange noise that had abruptly drawn her back from turn of the century London. A white figure standing just under her window caught her attention and as she squinted into the darkness, her eyes widened in surprise. Fumbling with the catch, she carefully eased the window open.
"Sully!" she hissed, "what are you doing?"
"Let me in," came the reply, "it's freezing out here!"
"Are you crazy?" she retorted, "my dad's in the next room!"
"I brought cake," offered Sully, lifting up the cardboard box at his feet.
"I'll be right down," giggled Michaela after a moment's hesitation, pulling the window shut. Grabbing her dressing gown and a particularly fluffy pair of socks that were certain to muffle the sound of her footsteps, she crept out of her room towards the stairs. At the top, she paused and listened but the house was deadly quiet.
"What took you so long?" grumbled Sully as he darted into the hallway, his cheeks pale from standing in the cold.
"Shhhh," whispered Michaela in reply, grabbing his arm and guiding him towards the stairs, "don't forget to miss the first one, it creaks."
"I figured you'd still be up and I couldn't miss your birthday," explained Sully, once they were safely closeted in Michaela's room.
"What will your Mom think?" queried Michaela around a mouthful of birthday cake.
"I left her a note," shrugged Sully unconcernedly, helping himself to another slice.
"So," began Michaela, licking stray bits of icing off her fingers, "how was the dance?"
"That good, huh?" she giggled as Sully grimaced and hastily ducked his head.
"What did you do?" she probed, casually stretching out on her stomach and resting her head in her hands, "forget to kiss her?"
"Sully!" she wailed, as his suddenly embarrassed expression affirmed her worst fears, "you didn't! Poor Katy."
"It's not like I didn't try," replied Sully with a scowl, "but she kept moving and I ended up kissing her nose."
"It's not funny," he growled as Michaela burst into a fit of hushed giggles, "wait til it's your turn, then you'll see how hard it is."
"Sure," laughed Michaela, as Sully continued to stare malignantly at his knees, "though knowing me, I'll end up tripping over and breaking his nose."
At the grave expression on her face as she contemplated the details of this scenario, Sully couldn't help but laugh. Comforted by the fact that he had at least not caused any lasting bodily damage, he settled down to enjoy another piece of cake.
Two pairs of eyes suddenly flew open at the loud, insistent knock.
"Mike?" called Joseph through the door, "you up?"
"Yeah," replied Michaela, struggling to keep her voice steady as she threw off the covers and leapt soundlessly out of bed.
"You sure, or do I need to come in and drag the duvet off you again?" teased Joseph.
"I'm up Dad," Michaela assured him, grabbing Sully's arm and shoving him towards the closet, "I'll be down in a minute."
"Ok then," said Joseph after a moment's silence, "And Mike? Get Sully out of the closet. I'm making pancakes and if wouldn't be fair to deprive him of my culinary expertise."
"What?!" exclaimed Michaela, pulling open the door and staring wide eyed at her father just as Sully emerged grinning from the closet, "you knew?!"
"Please, give me some credit," chuckled Joseph, rolling his eyes dramatically, "after all I did raise Becky and Marjorie. I know when a boy's been smuggled into the house."
"I didn't smuggle him in," began Michaela, determined to explain, "he just turned up outside. I couldn't exactly leave him on the porch all night."
Joseph however, merely laughed at the fervent expression on his daughter's face.
"Breakfast in ten," he said, heading for the stairs, "if you can manage it, that is, after all the birthday cake you two ate last night."
Michaela and Sully gaped at each other, as Joseph disappeared downstairs, stunned by his apparent omnipotence. Both however, were completely unaware of the cake box lying empty just beside the door.