Kiss and Spell

by Suzanne Selfors

  Chapter 5

  Spells Kitchen

  Ginger’s MirrorCast show, Spells Kitchen, was shot inside the Cooking Class-ic classroom. The show’s format was simple—Ginger shared a new recipe and demonstrated how to make it. Students and teachers could watch “live” if they wanted, or they could crownload the show and watch it at their convenience. Ginger had hoped that the live format would entice people to watch. Cooking live, without editing, was risky. Would she make a mistake? Would the partridge yolks curdle? Would the soufflé collapse? That kind of tension made for more exciting viewing.

  Ginger had high hopes for her show. A well-rated school MirrorCast might lead to a national show. Which might lead to cookbooks and a chain of bakeries and candy stores, and then she could share her goodies with all the kingdoms. That was the future she wanted. The destiny she’d planned.

  As usual, Ginger was the first to arrive. After turning on the lights, she set the box of Candy Mountain baking chocolate aside. Then she measured various ingredients into little containers and set them on the counter. She collected the bowls, pans, and utensils. She made sure that everything was clean and that the stove was gleaming. Unlike hosts of other cooking shows, Ginger didn’t cook ahead of time and leave a final product sitting in the oven ready to eat. There was no need, because the classroom’s oven was fueled by dragon fire, which meant it cooked everything extra quickly. The flame was treated with a magical spell, so it never extinguished.

  After everything was ready, Humphrey Dumpty, Dexter Charming (Daring’s brother), and two other students shuffled in, carrying bags of equipment. As members of the Tech Club, they worked the cameras, the microphones, and the lighting.

  “Where’s Hopper?” Dexter asked. “I thought he was going to earn hextra credit by helping us.” Ginger listened intently as she tied a pink apron around her waist.

  “He’s got a stomachache or something,” Humphrey said. He unzipped a bag and set a camera on a tripod. “He went back to his room. I’m guessing it was Hagatha’s stone soup.”

  Ginger sighed. She’d been looking forward to having Hopper on the crew today. It would have been nice to look out and see his cute face.

  If Hopper did have a stomachache, Ginger suspected it was from hurt feelings, though Hagatha’s cooking had been known to cause digestion issues.

  “Don’t start without me!” a voice announced. Blondie Lockes, daughter of Goldilocks, burst into the room, her ever-present MirrorPad in hand. “Am I late? I was busy chasing a fable. Of course, I can’t tell you what it is. You’ll have to watch my show.” She bounded between the cameras, her golden curls bouncing.

  Like Ginger and Daring, Blondie also had a MirrorCast show. It was called Just Right, and it was the up-to-the-minute source for anything juicy at Ever After High. Secret romances, Royal dramas, or Rebel plans—Blondie uncovered whatever was trying to stay hidden. When not in class, she could be found snooping around the halls, eavesdropping, and peering through windows—whatever it took to get the latest scoop. And even if the information she collected was rumor, she considered herself a serious journalist.

  “You’re not late,” Ginger said as she adjusted her cupcake chef’s hat. “I’m glad you’re here.” Ginger could always trust Blondie to be honest about her cooking. She’d invited her onto the set because she needed Blondie’s help.

  “Five minutes to airtime,” Humphrey called. As he plugged in a cord, it got tangled around his skinny legs. Everyone gasped as he face-planted onto the floor. Then the room went silent. Humphrey rolled over and felt his head. “I’m okay. Nothing cracked. No need to call the king’s horses or the king’s men.” Everyone sighed with relief.

  “I’m so glad you could help me today,” Ginger said as she handed a creamy yellow apron to Blondie. “The recipe is a bit complicated.” That wasn’t exactly true. Ginger could handle the recipe just fine by herself. But she hoped that having Blondie as a guest would entice more students to watch. Blondie was well known around campus, since her show was one of the most watched.

  “Well, I’m not a very good cook, but I can tell if something is too hot or too cold,” Blondie said with a smile. “What’s that?” She pointed to a stained recipe card.

  “It’s my mom’s recipe for spelly doughnuts.”

  “Your mom’s recipe?” Blondie grabbed the card and read it. Then she leaned close to Ginger, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Are you serious? It says here these doughnuts turn whoever eats them into pink pigs.”

  “Don’t worry,” Ginger whispered back. She pointed to the card. “Look, I crossed out the part about the pink poison. No one will turn into a pig. I promise.”

  “Phew,” Blondie said. “That’s a relief.”

  It hurt Ginger’s feelings that one of her friends could think she’d be capable of poisoning the spelly doughnuts. Even though Ginger had never and would never make one of her mother’s evil recipes, people assumed she’d follow in her mother’s wicked bootsteps. But Ginger wasn’t the only student at Ever After High who didn’t want to follow a predestined path of villainy.

  “One minute,” Humphrey warned.

  “What do I do?” Blondie asked.

  “Just follow my lead,” Ginger told her friend. She checked to make sure everything was in order. Then she flipped her ponytails behind her shoulders, smoothed her apron, and looked directly into Camera 1.

  Humphrey raised his hand. “Lights! Camera! Action!”

  Theme song music filled the classroom. Ginger blinked for a moment, her eyes adjusting to the spotlight. As she began to speak, the music faded.

  “Welcome to Spells Kitchen, where good food is the secret ingredient to happiness. My name’s Ginger Breadhouse, and today my friend Blondie Lockes is going to help me make a fableous batch of spelly doughnuts.” Blondie waved.

  The show progressed without a hitch. The two girls mixed the ingredients to form dough, then plopped small balls of it into the deep fryer. They melted the baking chocolate over a gentle dragon flame. “The key to these doughnuts is, of course, the jam,” Ginger explained. “You can choose any flavor jam you like, but I’m using fairyberry because it’s most people’s favorite.”

  After filling each doughnut with jam, Ginger dipped them into the chocolate sauce. “Hex this out.” She set one on a glass plate and offered it to Blondie.

  “Are you sure I’m not going to turn into a pig?” Blondie whispered.

  “I promise.” Ginger looked out at the crew. Dexter and Humphrey were licking their lips. Too bad Hopper wasn’t on the ladder, tending to the spotlight. Ginger would have made a spelly doughnut just for him. Eating something delicious might have made him feel better about the whole kissing-booth fiasco. At the very least, it would have sugarcoated his disappointment.

  Hesitantly, Blondie held the doughnut to her lips and took the tiniest of bites. “Yum, it’s good,” she said. Then she put a hand to her nose. Was she checking for a snout? Blondie sighed with relief and took another bite. “These are the most hexcellent doughnuts I’ve ever eaten!”

  Ginger smiled proudly, then looked into Camera 1. “If you want the recipe, you can crownload it on your MirrorPhone using the Spells Kitchen app,” she said. “I’d like to thank today’s special guest, Blondie Lockes.”

  “Scrumptious!” Blondie said, her mouth full.

  Ginger waved at her virtual audience. “I hope to see you next time on Spells Kitchen, and remember—life is a piece of cake if you take the time to bake.” Theme music rose.

  “And that’s a wrap,” Humphrey announced. “Good show everyone.” He and his crew turned off the lights, wound up the cords, then helped themselves to spelly doughnuts.

  Ginger set one in a to-go box and handed it to Humphrey. “Would you give this to Hopper if you see him?”

  “Sure,” he said, wiping fairyberry jam from the corners of his mouth. Then Humphrey, Dexter, and the rest of the tech crew left the Cooking Class-ic Room.

  Blondie sat on the edge of the counter, Mir
rorPad in hand. “I’ll see how many live viewers you had,” she said. As Blondie’s fingers flew across the screen, Ginger began to clean the kitchen. She smiled as she washed the mixing bowl. Her show had been a success. No accidents, no mistakes. Everyone would want to make spelly doughnuts. A few more years at Ever After High and she’d surely be on her way to her own national show.

  Blondie looked up from her MirrorPad. “Um, do you want the good news or the bad news?”

  “Bad news?” Ginger froze. “What bad news?”

  “Okay, I’ll give you both. Good news, your doughnuts are delicious.” She smiled sweetly. “Bad news… you only had five viewers.”

  “What?” Ginger dropped the bowl into the sink. “Five? That’s gotta be a mistake.” Blondie was supposed to boost ratings, but they were as low as they’d been last week.

  Blondie ran her fingers over the screen, checking and rechecking. Then she looked at Ginger with a pained expression. “I’m sorry, Ginger, but as we say in the biz, your show’s a flop.”

  Chapter 6

  Dumpty’s Doubts

  A grand tree grew in the center of the Castleteria kitchen, its branches spreading across a domed ceiling, basking in sunlight. Racks of copper pans and cooking utensils hung from the walls. Pots of soup simmered on the stove, and bread turned golden brown in a large stone hearth. Cooking for the students and staff at Ever After High wasn’t an easy feat, because there were so many palates to please. For example, fairies were known to have finicky appetites and preferred delicate, crustless sandwiches. Those from Wonderland insisted on hot tea with every meal. The vegetarians wanted organic salad bar options, while the Track and Shield team liked chowing down on heaping plates of barbecued ribs with smashed pumpkin.

  Ginger usually loved the Farmer McGregor vegetable soup, but today she couldn’t eat a bite. Her stomach felt as if it had tied itself into a pretzel knot. “I can’t believe no one watched my show,” she said, wiping soup steam off her glasses. She was sitting at a lunch table with Blondie. “How is that possible? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

  Blondie winced, looking totally insulted. “If there’s one thing I know, besides getting the latest scoop, it’s how to read viewership numbers.” She stabbed a forkful of Ever After High pasta, which was shaped like the letters E, A, and H. “Obviously, having me as your guest wasn’t enough to get people interested in cooking. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Now and then, everyone has a bad day.” While chewing, she kept her eyes peeled for signs of clandestine activity. Her MirrorPad waited by her elbow, ready to capture anything that seemed covert.

  “You’ve never had a bad day,” Ginger said. “Your MirrorCast is always a success.”

  Blondie rested her elbows on the table and pointed her fork at Ginger. “Okay, I’ll let you in on a little secret, just so you’ll feel better.” She leaned closer. “My numbers are down ten percent. And do you know why?” With a flick of her wrist, she pointed her fork in the opposite direction, where a group of girls sat glued to their mirror screens. Ginger slid her glasses up her nose, then craned her neck to get a peek. The girls were watching Daring’s Day. The star of the MirrorCast was sitting at a table, eating his lunch. And even though, in real time, he was sitting in that very same Castleteria, the girls chose to watch him on their MirrorPads instead.

  “He’s so cute when he’s eating,” one of the girls said.

  “Cute.” Blondie rolled her eyes. Then she threw her arms in the air. “How are we supposed to compete with that?” An E and an H flew off her fork.

  Ginger had no idea how to compete with cute. “Why is watching Daring eat an apple more exciting than learning how to make spelly doughnuts?” she grumbled.

  Blondie stabbed another forkful of pasta. “I’ll tell you why. Because Daring comes from one of the most prestigious families in fairytale history. Everyone wants to know how the other half lives.” She glanced across the room.

  Daring sat with a group of Royals, which included Hopper, who had apparently recovered from his morning stomachache. Many of the Royals wore crowns—the symbol of their elite status. Blondie liked to call herself a Royal, but many questioned this. There was no solid proof that her mother, Goldilocks, was a princess. But Blondie insisted. Ginger didn’t judge her for trying to fit in.

  Blondie retied her hair ribbon, which had begun to droop. “I work hard every day to make my show happen, but Daring doesn’t do anything. The camera simply follows him around. It’s so unfair.”

  “Totally unfair,” Ginger agreed. But she was only half talking about Daring. She couldn’t help but notice that Hopper kept glancing down the Royals’ table—at Briar.

  “Have you ever thought of doing something else, besides baking?” Blondie asked.

  “Huh?” That question cut right to Ginger’s heart. “Something else? No way. My show is important to me.”

  “Why?” Blondie asked.

  Ginger paused. She wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Well, I’ll tell you why my show is important to me.” Blondie squared her shoulders and looked right into Ginger’s eyes. “I want to be a journalist. It’s my calling. When I’ve finished my storybook destiny, I want to travel all over the kingdoms and cover the biggest news stories. When people think of news, I want them to think of me.” She smiled. “I want to be the best and hardest-working journalist ever after.” Then she poked Ginger in the arm. “So? Tell me the truth. Why is your show important to you?”

  Ginger looked around, then spoke quietly. “Is this off the record?”

  “Of course,” Blondie said, putting a hand over her MirrorPad. “Off the record.”

  “Well, I want to be the best and hardest-working chef ever after. And when people think of delicious treats, I want them to think of me. But that won’t happen if they’re worried I might use an evil recipe and poison them. The show can help prove that there’s another side to me other than my Candy Witch destiny.”

  “Then you’ll have to figure out how to get more viewers,” Blondie said. “And I’ll help. We should stick together.” Blondie looked over at the Daring fan club and scowled. “How can they still be watching him eat?”

  Ginger stirred her soup. It was nice of Blondie to offer to help with Spells Kitchen. It seemed that their MirrorCast shows had given the girls a common bond.

  Blondie’s blue eyes suddenly widened and she bolted to her feet. “Does it look like Apple’s sharing a secret? Oooh, I’d better get over there.” She grabbed her MirrorPad and dashed away.

  As Ginger watched Blondie do her thing, she felt a pang of jealousy. Blondie was a natural. And though Ginger was confident in her cooking skills, she didn’t have the slightest idea how to entice people to watch her show. She was hopeful that Blondie would have some good suggestions.

  Humphrey walked up, carrying a lunch tray. “Hi,” he said. “Can we talk?”

  “Sure,” Ginger replied.

  Humphrey settled onto the bench across from her. After taking a long swig of fizzy water, he frowned at Ginger. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I heard you only got five viewers today. That’s terrible.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  The girls watching their mirror screens began to giggle. “Oh look, Daring’s squirting ketchup on his fairy fries. Isn’t he adorable?”

  Humphrey took another drink. “It doesn’t seem fair that Daring’s show is more popular than yours. But some people get all the breaks. Uh, not that I want a break. Get it?” He laughed so hard at his own joke that he snorted fizzy water out his nose, drenching the front of his shirt.

  Ginger handed him a napkin. As Humphrey wiped his suspenders, he sighed. “I’m such a klutz. You know, sometimes I wish I could be Daring, just for one day. If I’d been Daring at the kissing booth, we’d have a dozen jars filled to the brim with cash. Who wouldn’t want to be Daring?”

  Ginger couldn’t argue with his fantasy. Daring did have it all. Good looks, fame, fortune, destiny. He had no idea what it was like to be
related to a person who frightened children. He didn’t have to work for respect or popularity. He didn’t have to worry about viewership. A cloud of self-pity settled over Ginger. Daring didn’t have to convince people that he wasn’t going to poison them! She began to stir her soup so quickly it splashed over the sides of her bowl. “Sorry,” she said as she dabbed a drop off Humphrey’s sleeve.

  “No problem.” Humphrey picked a long Hagatha hair out of his sandwich. “Anyway, Ginger, I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

  “More bad news?” She pushed her bowl away. “What is it?”

  “Well, the Tech Club is a volunteer organization, and its members have busy schedules. Look at me, for example. I’ve got a full load of classes, plus hextra activities like Mathletics and Chess Club. I need to take my chicken for a walk twice a day. Not to mention the time I spend composing my rap music at Dump-T Studios.” He teetered on his bench, and Ginger thought he might fall over, but he regained his balance. “The point is, Tech Club has a whole list of students waiting for help with their MirrorCasts. If you’re only getting five viewers, then we need to give our time to someone else.”

  Ginger couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re quitting? But I can’t do my show without the Tech Club. It’s a team effort.”

  “Quitting’s not exactly the right word.” Humphrey scratched his roundish head. “We just need to be fair. It doesn’t make much sense for us to work on a show that no one’s watching.”

  Blondie appeared right next to the table. Had she suddenly sprouted fairy wings and flown across the room? “I smell a scoop,” she said, holding out her MirrorPad. The recording light glowed red. “What’s going on?”

  Humphrey smiled into the camera. “The Tech Club is going to drop Ginger’s show so we can help with another show.”

  “Wait!” Ginger shoved her hand in front of the camera. “Don’t drop me, Humphrey. Not yet. Give me another chance.”

  At that moment, Briar Beauty rose from the Royals’ table and headed toward the exit, which took her directly past Hopper. He dropped his burger and looked right at her. Uh-oh, Ginger thought. What corny pickup line would he use today?