"Really? So what was Leonard doing with you?" I raised my eyebrows at Bea and her voice faltered. Watching the two of them walking out of a random room in succession only meant that something fishy was going on. And with the perverted mind I had, it only ran in a certain direction.

"I-I wasn't doing anything with him," she said and I sighed in dejection. Did she really think that I would believe that? She could have lied without making it so suspicious or obvious. But now if I gave up, I would sound suspicious myself.

"Bea," I warned her, trying to coax out the truth from her, when to my utter surprise and disbelief, the door opened once again.

There were more people?!

I was almost choking by myself, and I knew my expression must have looked very funny when Roger peeped his head out of the door and smiled sheepishly at Bea. I had never seen him smile. Ever.

"Bea I need a little help," he called out to her and it was like the blood drained out from Bea's face with the speed of light. Mine would have been too if someone had just discovered my harem. Harem, sheesh.

She watched my face with the same horror and took a ragged breath. I could see her mind working on the wheels churning inside my head and just what I was assuming of this situation. Panicking was a good option right now.

Her huffing and puffing felt like she was trying to control herself from hitting Roger with a bulldozer and bury her face in the earth.

"Roger. I think you missed it, but we have company," Bea groaned out and Roger's eyes belatedly landed on me. The way she used we was highly questionable, but I kept quiet for the time being.

His face was a mixture of emotions, his smile dropping from his face and he honestly didn't look like he knew what was going on or that I had caught all three of them red-handed.

"Tyler, hi. What's up?" Roger straightened up and I swear to God that that was the longest sentence he had ever spoken to me. He opened the door wider and I tried to peep in when Bea suddenly pushed him inside and slammed the door shut.

"Hey!" Roger shouted and slammed his fist on the door once before shutting off altogether.

Just what the hell was going on?

"Tyler? Tyler?!" My attention snapped back to Bea who was standing in front of the door, with her hands firmly clasped on the door knob at her back.

"Why did you push him inside?" I asked her and she panicked, "Are there more inside?!"

Holy mother of cookies! Bea was still a teenager and supposed to be my responsibility. How will I face Seth, Liam or her mother if something were to happen to her? And I may sound like an old geezer but what the hell they were doing in the middle of a competition in a foreign country?

"No-no it's just Roger! No one else." She didn't relent from her place and it only made me more curious to look inside the room. Either she had to learn to act properly or tell me the truth.

"Then why don't you let me see and I'll confirm?"

"I am saying it Tyler. Believe me." Her eyes shone like a puppy dog, so desperate it made me give up. How much torture should I put her into to satisfy my never ending nosy curiosity?

"Fine. But just what happened here? By any chance you three ...?" The concerned look on my face must have alerted her because she was at once glued to my side, soothing me with her pretty smiles.

"Tyler no! You got it all wrong. I was just having a discussion with them about baking and other stuff." She nodded for me to swallow that information up and I did like she wanted me to.

The alternative was too horrible and petty for me to think about.

"So you were just discussing baking? Then why did you panic like a freaking horse?!" I walked with her beside me, and she patted my arm now and then. Though the comforting gesture felt more of her insistence on guiding me away from that place than soothing.

"You caught me off guard. Roger is super shy and wanted no one finding out. He wanted us partners to talk to. He is intimated by the rest of you." We reached the stairs and quietly climbed them to get to the back room.

"Is that so?" I nodded to myself and tried to justify Roger's actions based on this new information. We had yet to have a full conversation, so what Bea was saying could be true.

"Yeah." Her hand led me inside the room and I noticed Sarah and Leonard sitting together on the front couch. Did she knew about this 'supposed discussion on baking?'

My blood pumped faster because it really felt like I was lying to Sarah by keeping shut about her boyfriend's antics. I wasn't the one who made friends easily and only Sarah's effort to talk to me had me a friend in the competition. Was it wise to betray her by keeping this with me? Though I had assured Bea that I didn't suspect her of anything, the evidence was too much.

Also with Roger... oh God, did that meant Leonard was gay as well? Maybe they called Bea to cover up their affair?

Or maybe I was reading too much books on wattpad to get these absurd theories.

Seriously, the drama behind the scenes was enough to spin my head without the on screen one. Ignoring whatever had happened the past half an hour, I walked towards the front, leaving Bea behind.

"Who's winning?" I plopped down next to Francis who immediately ranted off the stats.

"Quinn burnt off a batch, and another one got stuck to the tray. He's struggling a lot. Kate is easily on the lead with only the dressing to fill in in the macaroons and Victor is doing alright."

"So the elimination is predictable?"

"So far, yes." I nodded and saw that only fifteen minutes left for the round to be over. And if luck was in favour, nothing too drastic would happen in this short time.

My thoughts proved to be correct when Kate finished before time while Quinn struggled to complete his work. His elimination followed the tasting, and we all shuffled downstairs to cheer him up before seeing him off.

When in reality he would only leave after the competition ended and was just on his way to his hotel room. The finale round featured everyone and going back to America would be absurd for such a short while.

"Hey Tyler? Everyone's heading out for a while, you want to come?" Sarah asked me and though I was dying to see Singapore, the jet lag was killing me.

"I have to watch the last two episodes that aired and catch up on sleep. Thanks for asking though." I smiled at her and she okayed with her hand and headed out with the group.

"Bea you want to join them?" I asked her but she shook her head.

"Nope even I want to watch it and I have to wake up early to see how we will look on TV. I can't believe I will be on TV!" she squealed, and I covered my ears.

"Yeah okay! But no more squealing." She giggled and nodded, looping my arm into hers as we made to our floor.

It was quarter to seven and the perfect time for me to call my mother and update her on my whereabouts. No need to give her a reason to rant me on how I wasn't calling her often.

"Hello?" I entered our room and plopped down on the plush chair, kicking off my sandals. Bea went to the bathroom and sang Love Me Harder in her loudest voice.

"Hello?" A deep male voice came from the other end as the call connected and my stomach did the twirl.

"Brandon?"

"Tyler?"

"Wait why are you picking up my mother's phone? Oh shit, did I call you instead? Sorry I'll just--" Brandon cut me off with his laughter and I shut up.

"It's Rose's phone, Ty. I picked it up." His voice sounded so deep and refreshing that I wanted to request a lounge chair and a martini and drown in his soft voice for the whole evening. So perfect right?

"Hey? Are you there? Hello?" Brandon kept repeating, and I marvelled silently at the husk of his morning voice. And good thing too that I had called him from Skype or the bill would have had me in debt. He kept going on, even cursing a few times which made me giggle inside.

A sigh escaped my lips and his voice immediately stopped.

"Are you Tyler Anderson screwing with me?!" The way he said my name gave me goose bumps and I giggled to let him know that I had been indeed screwing with him.

"Just what the hell are you doing? No funny stuff right?" he said that last line as whisper and my heart lurched. Oh god, his mind lived in the gutter.

"Eew--" I was cut short when,

"Love me, love me, love me, harder, harder, harder!" Bea's scream like song came from the bathroom and I slapped my hand on my forehead. No way in hell I was going to get out of this now.

"Oh god, was that for me? Is that what you want me to do?" He laughed and his words surprised me in a good way. His laughter stopped as he realized what he had said. My hand went back to the necklace he had given me and I suppressed a giggle as Brandon stalled, his tone embarrassed.

"You are a horrible singer." He added at last, trying to ward away any awkwardness from his previous comment, which to be honest, wasn't actually there.

"That was Bea okay? And the timing sucked," I said and his relaxed laughter came through the phone, making me smile in response.

"Oh it sucked bad time." I could imagine his face, his eyes crinkled up in that cute way, those green eyes twinkling with mischief. And the damn dimples teasing me with its cuteness. Shit, I missed it.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked me and I almost answered him with a you.

"Nothing. Great, I forgot to tell you that I cleared the first round!" The excitement was more than my initial one when I shared the news with him and I grinned as he congratulated me.

"That's my girl! I knew you could do it." His words warmed my insides, but I still sought to contradict him.

"Your girl? Does that make you my boy?" I asked him cheekily, realizing that I was flirting with him.

"Yeah," he replied, and I did an intake of breath, not expecting such an honest reply.

"Oh," I said covering my face with my hand, and the laughter boomed again from other side.

"You are so cute, Ty."

"Why thank you. But what the hell are you doing with my mom's phone? Where is she?"

"Oh? She's in the kitchen," he replied.

"Give her the phone please?" I asked him and I heard a muffling sound before Brandon spoke back.

"She says she is busy and congratulations on passing the first round."

"She does?"

"Yeah."

"Can you like put her on the speaker? I want to hear her voice," I said and another round of shuffling followed.

"Just a sec," Brandon said, and I waited. And waited.

"Hello? Mom?"

"Oh Ty?!" A squeak like sound came from the phone and I frowned. What was up with her voice?

"Mom, is that you?" I asked suspiciously because the voice sounded far from her voice.

"Yes Tyler!" Okay that was definitely not her.

"Oh? Then can you answer a question for me? What was the last thing we fought on?" I challenged. a smirk taking a place on my face. If that was my mom she was so going to remember that.

"Why are you asking such things Tyler?" The squeaking continued and I even think that the voice cracked once in between.

"Why mom that's so easy!"

"About the dress?"

"No."

"Shoes?"

"No."

"Underwear?"

"Seth!" I shouted in frustration and he finally broke out in his original voice. He was still hung-over on freaking underwear?

"Okay, I am sorry. Brandon forced me to do it! I swear. Going, bye!" The phone stayed silent for a short while when Brandon picked it up again.

"Brandon where's mom?" He must have heard my sternness in my voice because he answered honestly at once.

"She's not home."

"What do you mean?"

"She's not home."

"That's it? What about the bakery?" Worry filled my stomach, and I starved for more information.

"A part-time worker named Benjamin is here," he explained, and I sighed in relief. He was as efficient and hardworking as my mom.

"Okay, but where is mom?"

"You see...she's out with someone." Brandon took the rat out at last and I rolled my eyes.

"She's with Richard, I suppose?"

"Yeah, how did you know that?" he asked me in surprise, which was absurd because I was her daughter and at least I knew everything that went on with her life.

"I know she likes him. You didn't have to go through the whole ordeal just to cover that up!"

"Yes ma'am." He laughed, and I relaxed back again.

"And typical for her to forget to take her phone. Give me a call when she comes back?"

"Sure thing."

"Thanks and the show will air at eight in the evening. Don't miss it," I whispered, foreseeing the end of the call.

"I won't," he whispered back. His words contained a million unspoken words behind them, and it reached me even through the phone.

"Okay bye then," I breathed, my shoulders slumping a little at the prospect of ending the call. I felt there was a mutual understanding between the two of us. Neither of us had to explain it in words, it was just there.

"Bye and take care," he breathed back, and we hung up the phone. I sighed, left with wanting more. And deep down I was glad that my mother had left her phone home.

Seven-thirty a.m. my phone blared with the alarm and I shut it off. Last night had been impossible to sleep in. After changing my positions a gazillion times, I slept around the wee hours of the morning. Lucky for Bea that she was a heavy sleeper.

Stifling a yawn I switched on the TV and looked around the room in a dazed manner. As much sleepy as I was right now I would not miss the airing of the show. The footage showed that it would include the inaugural party and the introduction of all the short listed contestants in the episode.

I removed the CD of the first two episodes from the player and switched to cable. Those episodes had been of the auditioning round and Bea and I had been blown away by the skills of all the contestants. Some recipes that even professionals took years to master had been done beautifully.

I washed my face and grabbed a bottle of juice from the mini-fridge and went on to wake Bea up. She would kill me if she failed to watch the episode when it aired. She was a total techy person for things like this. There was no doubt that she would be on twitter or Instagram, keeping up to date. There had been a non-disclosure agreement so we couldn't upload anything that hadn't aired yet. Especially the spoilers.

"Morning sunshine. Your beautiful face will air soon!" I shouted, and it did the trick when Bea jumped up from the bed in a frenzy.

"Oh god! Did it start? Did I miss it?" Her hair covered her face, and she pushed them back to look at me.

"You haven't. It will start in another ten minutes." Her shoulders slumped in relief and she ran to the bathroom to do her business.

I picked up my phone and typed a quick message to Rebecca.

Don't you dare miss it! There is something special.

Her reply came in a minute.

Already plopped down with my popcorn and soda. #Notgonnamissit and what's special?

Oh you'll get it once you see it. You remember Bella and everything right?

That two faced bitch? Vividly!

Lol. It's starting! Text you later. Bye

I added a heart and pressed send. Bea came back and snuggled up beside me as the opening credits rolled in.

"Oh my god that's you and me!" Bea screamed as we both came up on the screen with our names. We looked so pretty and natural that all that hair dressing torture seemed worth it.

"That's Francis and Roger... and Bella." I ended sourly. She was in a tight black dress and unlike any of us she looked like a celebrity between the herd of commoners. Even Giulia shone like a star with her.

"Wow. They look like models," Bea muttered, and I folded my arms across my chest. Models, sure.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the first ever broadcasted Senior Baking Competition. We are currently in America to pick up our special contestants. Here's a special clip of them."

I watched in horror and embarrassment as they played our Junior Baking Competition clip. All with my wild untamed hair and million freckles. Shit, I would become a public nuisance.

The scene showed my young self running to the stage to claim the first prize with my parents in tow. Again I felt the beginning of tears at seeing my dad proudly pat my back when the scene seamlessly shifted on to my present self.

"Shit that's me!" Bea squealed, and I let her.

"They are showing the airport scene..." I trailed off when an impossible thought struck me. They would not...

"Hey you look like you are constipated." Bea giggled.

"Shut up." I said back to her jokingly whereas my insides were turning into a mush thinking of what was coming up next.

"Oh isn't that Brandon?" she asked me and I nodded, heat creeping up my face again. Yes, they did...

The camera zoomed in on my face, capturing it perfectly with all the imperfections as Brandon handed me the oven mitt as a farewell present.

And then I found the delicate metallic chain peeping out from the mitt and watching the scene now I became fascinated by how dramatically my face changed. A rosy kind of glow lit up my face, which I hoped was not some Photoshop effect. Brandon face took the screen next like a sappy romantic movie and he gave me a huge grin.

Oh god, this was embarrassing as fuck. And half the school was probably watching it.

"Wow you two look so cute together," Bea murmured, but I was too embarrassed to even look at the screen properly.

"Are you freaking tweeting that?!" Bea just shifted away so I couldn't take her phone and gave me a teasing smile.

"It's beautiful," the onscreen me murmured as Brandon stepped closer. And our bodies looked so awkward from that angle. Almost as if he would kiss me. Which he didn't.

"I just wanted to say... that it's not the end of us."

The clip ended, and they started with Patrick's introduction. Shit I knew it that damn microphone caught everything.

"Wow when did you have such a history? Oh my god he's the one that inspired your first love cake, right?!" Bea turned towards me as if she had discovered the secret of the universe and plopped back down on the blanket in wonder.

My phone beeped, and I checked to see a message from Rebecca.

Holy schmuckles when did that happen?!! I need more explanations sister. Don't you dare ignore my calls later!

Lol. Okay. Keep watching.

Fine. But I am not letting you go!

I know you won't.

Lol.

Bea and I waited for good ten minutes before the introductions finished and the inaugural party started.

"Shit here we come." And we did, walking down with Francis with a bright smile on our faces. With Francis.

Damn. Someone would definitely be upset tonight.

"Oh? I think they cut the scene where Bella walks up to you," Bea said. They had been showing everything, might have shown that little confrontation too.

"Florence is calling up people now. Guess that speech is coming up soon." I leaned forward and waited.

Our name got called up, and