Gimme Them Muffins (Bunny)

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Jared moseyed down the main street of his new home of Pilot Ridge, hands stuffed in his pockets as he popped a large wad of gum in his cheek. He was looking for something, anything to do in this wretched middle-of-nowhere place. He’d been in Pilot Ridge for only a week, and he could already say that this place was shit.

He wanted to go back to Houston.  At least there he could do something with his ample free time that was more than just enjoying the scenery.  Which his mom seemed to enjoy quite well, when she managed to pull away from her radical-activist webpage. She'd identified a few more metas since their arrival and was promptly adding them to her database, complete with pictures and home address. How she managed to collect all of that, Jared preferred to remain ignorant about.  He was sure she was breaking some law somehow.  

In the meantime, Jared was left to roam about the city once his high school classes ended for the day.  It was still the middle of the afternoon, what they liked to call a favor so their students could engage in all the common extra-curricular activities. Both of his were out of season, which basically meant that Jared had a whole lotta nothing to do otherwise.

The 14-year-old boy kept his eyes up as he walked, reading the signs of the small local businesses as he passed each one by. The Book Nook…Honest Abe’s….The Ark…Cliptomaniac? Lol, that was a good one, he wondered who came up with that one.

His eye caught another sign that had him laughing to himself at it’s absurdity. ‘The Stud Muffin’? Looking through the front window, it appeared to be…a bakery!? Well well, he thought to himself. If their marketing plan was to get people to check them out based solely on their business-name, then congratulations, they baited this kid well. Jared pulled open the door, the chime clinking against it as it swung open then shut again, and he cautiously stepped up to the front counter to check out the selection. He probably wasn’t going to buy anything, but it didn’t hurt to look.

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Bunny didn’t work at the Stud Muffin café, but she often came by to see how things were going, and to occasionally pitch in with a recipe or two of her own that she thought would sell well. Most of the time they did, which was why Bailey’s parents seemed more than happy for her to help when she had time. Bailey usually pitched in when he was around, too, like today, while she was baking a batch of fresh white chocolate raspberry cupcakes that were just out of the oven and ready to be decorated. She happily swirled on the pink buttercream frosting and topped each one off with some white chocolate chips and sprinkles – by the time she was done, she had two dozen of the delicious-looking goodies. It took all of her effort not to eat one (and Bailey managed to snag one for himself when she wasn’t looking – he had no such self-control, and someone had to taste-test them after all!).

She put a half-dozen of them on a presenting tray and popped a title and price on the goodies before taking them out to the front and carefully sliding them into place in the chilled glass display case beside the counter. She thought they were worth three dollars each, especially with all that frosting. Knowing her aunt and uncle, they would probably give her most if not all of the profits they made on the cupcakes, even if she protested. She just loved baking, and loved seeing people enjoy her desserts!

Bunny’s head perked up as someone came into the shop, and her eyes widened automatically at the sight of a cute boy before she blushed and tried to hide her oogling. Bailey, who was finishing off his cupcake beside her, noticed her look and glanced up as well, snickering once he realized what she was looking at. “Well, are you going to greet him or what?” he teased lightly, and Bunny gave her cousin a startled look before she straightened and sent the young customer a big smile. “Hello!” she chirped, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She hoped she didn’t look too mussy after wearing a hair net while she was baking. “Can I- uh, we help you with anything today?” She wondered if Bailey’s dad was going to get back from break soon – she wasn’t used to managing the counter by herself! Well, she wasn’t exactly by herself, but Bailey was just smirking and didn’t appear to be planning on jumping in to help.