Everyone loves chocolate

In the quiet, coastal town of Pembroketon, there lived a teenage girl named, Alana. She lived with her parents, Mary, and Rod Boostuff. Alana was a typical teenage girl who loved designing clothes and crafting. She also enjoyed spending time with her friends who attended the same school as she did.

It was the final semester of the school year. Alana, along with her friends, Stanley, and Joy, were eating their lunches under the large maple tree, at the center of the courtyard, at school. As she was about to take a bite of her sandwich, Alana asked openly, “have you decided which high school you will be attending in September?” Stanley took a sip of his apple juice and replied, “my parents want me to attend Holly High.” Joy, about to eat another potato chip, shrieked with delight, “so am I!” Alana bit into her sandwich, looked away, and did not respond. “What’s the matter?” Joy and Stanley asked in unison. “My parents want me to attend Chic High”. “They have an awesome fashion design program” she added. “But we have to stick together” said Joy sadly. “Yes, we do” added Stanley. Alana reminded the two, “I want to be a fashion designer and you two want to be chefs.” “Besides, the entrance exam for Holly High requires baking a cake for consideration”, she added. “I have an idea!” Stanley yelled. “You can design clothing made out of food”. “You will be able to follow your dream as well as attend the same school as we do”. The three friends finished their lunches in silence while silently considering the suggestion made by Stanley.

That evening, while at home, Alana was in her upstairs bedroom, finishing her homework assignment. She had thought about Stanley’s comment that entire afternoon. “A food-fashion designer” she mumbled to herself. “Edible clothing would indeed solve two problems”. “People need to eat as well as wear clothing”. She immediately ran to her dresser and grabbed her sketch book. As she slowly flipped the pages, Alana began to see her creations in a new light. Belts were now made from licorice instead of leather. Scarves of spinach instead of silk and vests of wheat as opposed to wool.

Alana grabbed her sketchbook under her arm and ran downstairs to share this revelation with her parents. She found Mr. and Mrs. Boostuff in the kitchen, preparing dinner. “Mom! Dad! I have a great idea!” she said. Knowing their daughter well, Mr. and Mrs. Boostuff took a seat at the dining table and looked at their child with anticipation. Alana placed her sketchbook on the table and grabbed a strand of cooked spaghetti from the plate where it was being cooled. She walked over to her dad and held the spaghetti under his neck. “Dad”, she said, “remember how you always complain about the food taking too long to arrive whenever we eat at a restaurant?” Mr. Boostuff, looking embarrassed and confused at the same time answered, “yes.” Alana continued, “what if you could snack on a necktie made of pasta while you waited for your food?” As she removed the spaghetti from her father’s chin and retreated, Mr. and Mrs. Boostuff looked at each other, now totally confused. Alana, after returning the pasta prop to the plate, began telling her parents of her lunchtime conversation with her friends.

After sixteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds, the excited teen completed her presentation. Her parents, always wanting to be supportive of their daughter’s dreams and goals, gave each other a nod. Mrs. Boostuff spoke first. “It appears as if you have given this much thought” she said. “Oh, yes!” Alana responded. “I thought about it all day”. With a smile on his face, Mr. Boostuff said, “on one condition”; “you must prepare for the entrance examination on your own”. “If you succeed, your mother and I will allow you to attend Holly High with your friends”. This news made Alana extremely happy, and she gave each of her parents a big hug. “Can we eat now?” asked Mr. Boostuff; “all this talk about food has made me hungry”.

After dinner was completed, Alana excused herself and ran upstairs to call her friends and tell them the great news.

As she hung up the phone, she had the realization that she had never baked anything on her own before. As her parents walked into her room to say goodnight, Alana asked her mom, “what should I bake for the entrance exam?” Her mother gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and replied, “everyone loves chocolate”. Her parents exited the room and after turning off her lamp, Alana began to mull over her mom’s comment. She lay in the darkness thinking about all things chocolate, until she finally fell asleep.

The next morning, as she got out of bed, Alana saw that there was an envelope slid under her door. She picked up the envelope and gently opened it. Inside, she found a folded piece of paper. She noticed that it had a recipe on it.

Filled with glee, Alana hurried downstairs and met her mom sitting on the back patio, drinking a cup of coffee. “Where did this come from?” Alana asked, holding the paper with the recipe in her hand. “It was your grandmother’s recipe” said Mary Boostuff proudly. “It’s the recipe that she used when she applied to Holly High”. “Grandma went to Holly High?!” Alana screamed. “Yes, she did”, replied Mrs. Boostuff. “Thank you so much, mom. I will definitely use this recipe for my entrance exam.” Alana skipped all the way up to her room and could not wait to get to school so that she could update Stanley and Joy.

The next several weeks flew by and with graduation now behind her, Alana placed all her energy and focus on her entrance examination for Holly High. The application forms had been submitted by her parents and there was one more critical step, the baking exam. Stanley, Joy and Alana spent endless hours practicing their recipes at home. Additionally, they spent hours calling and texting each other to compare notes and progress. Stanley’s submission was going to be a pineapple upside down cake. Joy was going to bake a strawberry shortcake for her exam. As luck would have it, they were all scheduled to take their baking exam on the same day.

The day of the exam had arrived, and Mr. Boostuff had volunteered to drive the three friends to Holly High. Armed with their ingredients, Alana, Joy and Stanley nervously walked through the front entrance of the school. Mr. Boostuff advised the trio that he would be waiting in the car until they were done.

A scrawny, red-headed girl, wearing a safety vest approached the friends as they approached the front door of the school. “I’m Charlotte Beehive” the girl eagerly said. “I’m a Junior here at Holly High and a volunteer.” Charlotte glanced at a clipboard in her hand and added, “you must be Stanley, Alana and Joy”. “I will show you to the cafeteria where the exam will be held”.

A few minutes later, the group approached the school’s cafeteria. Upon entering the spacious hall, they observed a long table at the front with three individuals seated behind it. As they moved closer, they saw that it was a man and two women. The man immediately stood and said, “I am Mr. Jones”. “These are Mrs. Flowers and Ms. Thorpe”. “We are administrators here at Holly High and will be judging the baking examination”. Alana, Stanley, and Joy were then shown to their individual, preparation tables and given instructions on how to use the ovens. Mr. Jones further advised the trio that they had one hour to complete their cakes. He wished them luck and returned to his seat.

Alana, Stanley, and Joy immediately began assembling their ingredients. Each of their tables were abuzz with activity until their batters were loaded into three ovens. Approximately one hour after they began, the three friends completed frosting and decorating their individual cakes. Mr. Jones, who had been chatting with Mrs. Flowers and Ms. Thorpe, beckoned the friends forward to present their cakes. As they slowly approached the front table, Alana gave a quick glance at her friends. She wondered if her new dream of becoming a food-fashion designer was about to begin. She also wondered if the three would all be successful and remain together at Holly High.

It was at this point Alana knew that their fates would rest in a slice of pineapple upside down cake, a slice of strawberry shortcake, and a slice of chocolate cake.

The walk to the table felt like an eternity. Each cake was placed in front of the judges in unison. The children then took a step backward and awaited the decisions. Mr. Jones stood and looked at Stanley. “What was your creation?” Mr. Jones asked with a smile. “I made a pineapple upside down cake,” Stanley returned confidently. Mr. Jones opened a wooden case that was on the table and produced a cake knife. He then cut three slices and gave one slice each to Mrs. Flowers and Ms. Thorpe, while retaining a slice for himself. Mr. Jones again took a seat and with synchronized precision, the three adults picked up their individual forks, and sampled the cake. While they slowly chewed, Stanley had to suppress a smile as this reminded him of the cake cutting at a birthday party. The judges showed no emotion as Mr. Jones said, “thank you Stanley” with a nod.

Next in line was Joy. The judges took a sip of water to clean their palates before taking the same precision bites of the strawberry shortcake. Still, no emotion from the judges.

Finally, it was Alana’s turn. “What is your creation?” asked Mr. Jones. “Death by chocolate", Alana replied. The judges took their bites but this time, they all looked at each other in amazement.

“Please have a seat in the hallway’” Mr. Jones requested of the three friends. “We will deliberate and advise you of our decisions shortly,” he added, while wiping away a tear from his eye.

Alana, Joy and Stanley sat on a bench in the hallway and discussed the entire process and how stressful it was. After several minutes, a short and pleasant looking woman emerged from a nearby office. With a smile on her face, she looked at the trio and asked, “who is Alana Boostuff?” Alana slowly raised her hand and the lady said, “follow me please.” The woman directed Alana to a seat in the office while sitting on the other side of the desk. “I’m Carmen Davees,” the woman began. “I’m the guidance counsellor here at Holly High. “Mr. Jones, Mrs. Flowers and Ms. Thorpe were overcome with emotion over your cake and send their regards.” “We would like to welcome you to Holly High”, she continued. Alana almost fell out of her seat. Ms. Davees continued, “There’s more. Your grandmother left an endowment to the school for a new program. The endowment was to be activated when someone made a cake that tasted as good as hers. It is safe to say that your cake met that requirement.” Ms. Davees continued, “The board read your application and we see that you want to be the first food-fashion designer. We think that it will be an innovative program and thus you will be the first student in the Boostuff School of Food-Fashion.”

Minutes later, Alana ran out of the office to tell her dad the great news. “It’s a good thing everyone loves chocolate” he said as he gave her a big hug. Several minutes later, they were joined by Stanley and Joy; all the newest students of Holly High.