"Tyler and Bea." I swallowed and picked up my plate, noticing that my hands were shaking and Bea was half hiding behind my back.

I set the plate on the desk and winced under their hard stare.

"So what's this?" Matt asked.

"It's-" My eyes followed Tony's and Cheng's hand as they took a bite out of it.

My heart constricted as Tony assessed it and his next words shattered my heart,
"Are you kidding me?"

Heat bloomed on my face as I stumbled with my words. I had taken part in so many competitions that I had learned to take criticism well. But this was different, considering that this would broadcast everywhere. How shallow my thinking was became clear as soon as I thought that.

It didn't matter. I was here, that mattered. I would not break down.

"It can't be that awful," Matt said picking up a spoonful of cake, "She's already crying."

"I am not crying!" My voice came back full force, and I flashed my eyes at them. Their surprise gazes gave me confidence and the next words flew out of my mouth as if I had rehearsed them a hundred times.

"First love. That's what this cake is about," I spoke with authority and Bea relaxed beside me, giving a polite smile.

"The first layer is of strawberry gelatin. It's sweet, in the same way as the happiness one feels when they like someone. Strawberry has a bitterness to it underneath the the sweet flavour followed by a slight sour flavor. It gives a unique texture in the mouth, just like the feelings of your first love.

"I went with this flavor because it's like the nature's love, it makes your taste buds fall in love with it and makes you want to you to keep eating it. The second layer is a white chocolate mousse. Pure as true love, melting in the mouth like it is made of wispy air. I used milk instead of the whipped cream to make it lighter and creamier.

"Third layer is the base. What love is essentially made of. It's solid, eatable. But leaves a bittersweet taste as it goes. Because first love just remains that. First love." I finished with a whisper, opening my eyes.

Somewhere in between I had closed them, losing in my own bittersweet memories. First love, yes, this cake depicted it flawlessly. I could almost feel the texture of the cake on my tongue and as I looked at the bemused expressions of the judges, all the tension filled my body again.

Did I just weird them out? Hopefully not.

"I told you, she's a keeper," Matt whispered at Tony and I watched their exchange in growing nervousness. They had yet to decide their verdict and I couldn't start my first round on a bad note.

"Well when I said 'Are you kidding me' I meant how did you manage to capture the emotion so immaculately?" Tony leaned forward towards me, his hand on the table corners. "Matt and you took it a little differently, but boy what an explanation."

His glinting grey eyes assessed me with interest and a huge grin broke out on my face.

"You mean I did good?" I said the words slowly as if trying to explain that to myself.

"Well if this--," Tony picked up another mouthful of cake and shoved it inside his mouth, "is not enough--" His next words cut off abruptly, as I squealed in excitement and gave him a bear crushing hug across the counter, which he returned with a laugh.

"She's a feisty one!" Tony said as I pulled back and at once crushed Bea for a hug.

"Yes we liked your 'First Love Cake', Tyler and Bea. Well done." We both celebrated our good review and got back to our counter. A huge weight lifted off my chest. Chances of getting in the bottom three were very slim.

Sarah and Henry both gave me an excited wave, and I waved back with double the enthusiasm.

"Isabela and Giulia," Cheng announced and at once my attention snapped to them. Bea looked at them with a huge smile, and I felt guilty for not briefing her about anything related to Bella and my history.

It was one thing Seth and Liam had requested and I had agreed it to be a good idea. But her enthusiasm for them had me in a twist. I was a human, and it filled with me envy that Bea cheered for them.

Bella walked towards the judges, in six inches long heels no less and placed an artistically made dark chocolate mousse and a mixture of something else that was not clear from my position on the table.

"What's your emotion?" Matt asked with interest, eyeing the delicate looking masterpiece.

"It's a state of beautiful destruction." Her words went over my mind, making me think that she was maybe describing herself. Tony raised his eyebrows and almost regrettably cut a spoonful for a bite.

"Destruction?" Matt whispered, intrigued. Despite myself, I was leaning as forward as possible, without looking funny, to catch the tight-lipped Bella's voice.

"Yes, self-destruction. When you reach the stage of perfection and you loathe yourself. Then like a merry-go-round you set on a cycle of self-destruction and self-journey. That's what the cake depicts." I felt stupid standing there as Bella continued to explain her cake, making my attempt merely childish.

Her words were a chill to my heart, hitting home too close. A deep sense of curiosity aroused in me, sensing the truth and raw the pain behind those words. Because even as I hated it, there was something pitiful about Bella. Though what was something to ponder.

"It tastes like perfection," Tony agreed in a sad voice.

"But the kind you hate," Bella said in a confident tone, her body posture stiff and rigid. The three of them nodded in agreement, not playing with her like they had with me. There were no hugs, squeals or giggles as Bella and Giulia went back to their counters with the best response so far, which really was so dull that one might fall asleep.

"She nailed it! Thank god," Bea whispered.

"Why thank god?" I whispered back quizzically, but she didn't reply and I pouted.

Everyone finished, taking more time than I had expected. With the time cameramen took to shoot our cakes displayed on a wheeling platform and the tasting of twenty cakes by the judges, it was at least two hours before we got to the results section.

All of us were still standing behind our respective counters when judges randomly called out people.

"Maya, Peter, Will, Henry and Francis, step forward." The four of them stepped out at their name being called. Their partners standing beside them.

"All of you," Tony said, and I knew that they had done good, "are safe."

They broke out into huge smiles and hugged each other.

"Go Francis!" I hooted and clapped for them as others joined in too. He gave me an excited yes, shuffling away to stand in a line in the left corner.

"Raj, Sophia, Tiffany, Sarah and Jackson," Matt called out, and everyone dragged themselves there. I knew that Sarah and Jackson had done good, but the others had passed with a small margin. So the outcome could be either.

"You all are,"  Matt made a dramatic pause and then broke our into a grin, "safe!"

Another round of squealing and giggling followed as we clapped for them. Ten of them were safe, and the rest ten had their fate yet to be decided.

"Luke, Rory, Tanya, Abraham and Bella. Please come out," Tony announced, and I was at once nervous. Bella and Tanya had been one of the best contestants today. The others had received good reviews but not exceptional.

If they were the best group, was I in the bottom five?

"Luke, Rory and Tanya. You all are safe." The three hugged and did a high-five with their partners. They moved away leaving Bella and Abraham standing there.

"Rest of you, please join in." I hurried to the spot with Bea, thinking of the impossible situation where Bella is kicked out of the competition in the first round. It couldn't happen though, her cake had looked exceptional, more so with the meaning it had carried, but the fantasy was nice.

All fourteen of us including our partners, stood shoulder to shoulder waiting for our results.

"Abraham, Teresa, you are safe." Both of them joined the growing group of safe contestants on our left. My hand found Bea's, and I tried to mellow down my growing nervousness.

The constant glare of light on us beneath the camera was another irritation, but I ignored it as Tony called out again.

"Bella, Victor and Quinn." My heart sunk at not being called once more, and I looked at the only girl left with me.

"Two of you are in the bottom three and one of you'll be safe." I didn't need to guess who they were talking about and neither did everyone else.

"Bella you are safe. Victor and Quinn, you are in the danger zone." Their shoulders slumped as they went to the right side. No words were exchanged as they accepted their impending doom.

"Bella we have a special surprise for you," Matt spoke and Bella stopped midway.

"Oh?" she asked with genuine interest and Matt pulled out a batch from the table.

"This is an immunity pin. You can use it once to save yourself from the elimination round." Bella took the batch, and for the first time today, a smile lit up on her face.

"Be wise with it. And good work today," Tony said to her and gave her a respectful nod.

Despite hating her for everything she had done, she deserved that immunity batch more than anyone else.

"Thank you," she said and walked over to join the safe people team, Giulia behind her.

"Tyler and Kate. One of you'll be in the bottom three," Cheng spoke and every nerve cell in my body filled with cold panic. I hated cooking under pressure and  bottom three rounds were the epitome of extreme pressure.

"Tyler you are," Cheng stalled, and I closed my eyes, my stomach doing a somersault, "safe."

"Yes!" I cried out and pulled Bea into a hug.

"We did it Tyler!" she squealed, but at once mellowed down as Kate sighed standing next to us. I gave her a supportive pat and she took another deep breath.

"Kate you are in the bottom three," Matt finished, and she went to stand on the right to stand with Victor and Quinn.

"Tyler," Matt called out.

"Yes?" I looked back, my face bathed in sunshine at the happiness of my safety in the competition.

"We have a little something for you too." Matt pulled out another one of those batches and my knees almost gave away.

"Oh my god!" I squealed again.

I would definitely be one of those annoying girls everyone wanted to shut up on TV, but it was too hard to resist.

"Thank you so much!" I took the pin and danced a happy dance with Bea before settling down with the other safe people. At least, my reactions weren't a nuisance for the director who just loved drama.

We all had a lunch break and a one hour rest period before the shooting for the elimination round began. It was just cruel to the the contestants in the bottom three, having to spend hours waiting for the final verdict.

"Tyler!" I looked up with a mouthful of delicious cake to Sarah's bubbly demeanor, with a blushing boy next to her.

"Hey Sarah." That's what I tried to say, but it came out as if I was whale-talking like Tory in Finding Nemo. The amount of cake I had shoved in my mouth was scary, but it was one of the plus of a baking competition. After the initial judgment, you had the whole cake to eat.

Like who could resist that?

"Umm, I wanted to you to meet my boyfriend, Leo." She pointed to the blushing boy with her and I choked on my cake.

"Leo?" I asked again.

"It's actually short for Leonard. Do you know each other?" she asked me with confusion and I shook my head no.

"No, it's just I know someone with that name."

"Oh right, I remember you speaking his name last night at the party. You did amazing. I am so happy that your personality is as good as I imagined it to be!" She continued to speak and I watched with dismay as her boyfriend loosened his hand from her grip and ran away.

"Hey Sarah?" I thought of telling her about her boyfriend, but dismissed it. He was probably scarred for life already.

"Yes?"

"Can I try your cake too?"

And before I knew it, the lunch became a tasting session as everyone devoured the vast variety of cakes. To out surprise even the staff crew joined in for the unabashed junk party. Now that's what I called best use of resources.

The only sore person in the lot being Bella, who ignored everyone and just stuck to Giulia.

"Okay people shoot will resume in ten minutes. Everyone go to the room upstairs and the three of you can stay here," the director explained and pointed towards the contestants in the bottom three.

We settled into the comfortable couches and looked at the enormous plasma TV screens in front of us who chain played whatever was going on downstairs.

"Macaroons, that's your challenge," Cheng said.

There were thirty-four of us in big spacious room. So indulging in crosstalk was an obvious thing.

"Isn't that too easy?" Sarah said from beside me and I nodded.

They were easy to make but difficult to perfect.

"You have to make three batches, that is fifty-four macaroons individually. Also each batch should be with a different filling. You have one and a half hour to complete this task and save yourself from going home."

"I take my words back," Sarah said, and I swallowed. Fifty macaroons under two hours. Not good.

"Time starts now!" They rushed to the pantry for the ingredients, and I already knew this would be a tough call.

"Doesn't French macaroons require aged egg whites?" I asked Francis, and he nodded.

"A good strategy would be to take one batch a time and keep those egg whites aside."

"Yeah," I agreed. We had two cameras up here so it wasn't like the camera was on us throughout. I looked around to see that only a few people were watching the competition intensely, others busy in gossiping or using their phones.

"Bea how did you find the first round?" I asked her with a smile, and she shook her head in disbelief.

"It was awesome and more of all we won the immunity pin!" Her answer made me laugh as well as happy that she was enjoying this so far and would go back home with a good experience.

"Unexpected even, but I guess they liked our emotion," I replied but her phone vibrated, and she looked down to read the message.

"It's my mom, she wants me to call. I'll be back soon," Bea explained and hopped off the couch.

"Okay, sure." She patted my back and went out of the room. I talked to Sarah for a while when I noticed that half the room was empty.

"Where is everyone going?" I asked her in wonder and she shook her head.

"Leonard just told me he's going to the washroom, he hasn't been back for a while," Sarah explained, really making me doubt if Leonard even liked to socialize.

"Are they having an interview or something?" I saw that most of the faces were of the contestants rather than their partners. Maybe interviewing their partners?

"Francis where is Roger?" I turned to him.

"He went out ten minutes ago, hasn't been back yet." He shrugged.

"I see. Sarah, I am going to the washroom, wanna tag along?" I got up and adjusted my clothes.

"Nah, Leonard must be coming back soon."

"Okay then." I picked up my phone to check for any messages when I noticed the time.

It was four in the afternoon and Bea had said that her mother had texted her. So with the twelve hour time difference, why would her mother be texting her four in the morning? Unless it was an emergency.

Or she had lied to me. Now I was being paranoid.

I quickly dismissed these thoughts and went to the washroom, hoping to find that my makeup was still intact. As soon as I opened the door, my breath filled with the scent of lilies and lemons. Bathrooms should not smell this alluring. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside only to come face to face with a cleaning lady.

"No no." She shook her head, and tried to shoo me away. Her accent was thick and she was clearly a local.

"I just want to pee and then I'll go out," I explained, motioning with my hands but she didn't even listen as she kept shaking her head.

"No no, cleaning." She made the gesture of wiping the floor and directed towards the door.

"Floor is wet, go downstairs," she spoke and pointed to the sign outside saying it's being cleaned right now.

"Oh okay okay, thank you." I got out and made my way downstairs to the other washroom. No way I was going to argue with a lady that strong.

There were only two rooms except the washrooms on the ground floor. So it was easy to navigate. To my right was the cooking arena and to my left was the hallway with the bathroom in the far end.

I tiptoed down towards the restroom, trying not to attract any attention when a door opened on my right  and to my surprise, Leonard aka Leo stepped out of it. I stopped short to greet him, but he looked like he was a deer caught in the headlights upon seeing me.

Even before I could take his ban he ran away from me as if I was plague. Was he traumatised from girls or something?

I eyed the room warily, when the door opened again and Bea stepped out from it. Her shock was clear on her face on seeing me there and I narrowed my eyes at her in confusion.

"Tyler what are you doing here?" she stammered, swiftly closing the door behind her. I looked at her flushed face and a horrible thought arose in my mind.

They both couldn't be...?

"Bea I thought you were talking to your mom?" I inquired her, dreading what I would find out but unable to stop myself. She turned pale at my question, raising my suspicions.

"Mom?" she asked me with a frown.

"Didn't you say you got a text from her?"

"Oh yes, I did. Just hung up the phone after talking to her," she agreed and I pulled my hand out of her grip.

"Really? So what was Leonard doing with you?" I raised my eyebrows and her voice faltered.

Holy shit.

*****

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