Trick or Treat

Baylor was rushing throughout the apartment in a panic getting ready for work, on Halloween. While her roommate, Kinsey, sat at the kitchen island eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie watching the entire scene unfold. Baylor paused for a moment to look over at her sweet-toothed roommate, “ You know, you will eventually have to actually do your homework? Professor Zelena doesn’t do extensions and you’re already failing as it is. So maybe you can put down the ice cream and go in there to write your paper.” She juts her finger toward the bedroom.

Kinsey sighed and put the ice cream back in the freezer. She started pouting and looking longingly at it. Exasperated, Baylor told her roommate, “ Alright you can finish your ice cream first, but then you definitely need to work on that paper.” She gathered her keys and purse before adding, “ Oh, and before I forget I got myself a cake from the fancy bakery on the corner to celebrate completing my thesis proposal and getting it approved.” She narrows her eyes into slits before striking fear into her roommate’s heart. “If there is so much as a finger mark on the frosting I will know and I WILL cook nothing but fish and salad for a week!” Kinsey's face paled into a greenish tone at the thought of a healthy dinner. Baylor sprinted out the door satisfied with her threat.

Hours later, Kinsey felt like her brain was going to explode and the words were starting to swirl. Quickly, she slams her laptop shut and decides to take a break. She needs sugar, NOW! Hmm, she finished the ice cream earlier and yesterday the cookies. I mean sugar equals brainpower, she thought. So what other sweets do we have? Man, we really need to go shopping. A moment later she remembered Baylor’s chocolate cake, all creamy smooth and fluffy. A volcano of sugar and dark rich chocolate that just melts in the mouth, and now she is drooling at the thought.

No, bad Kinsey. Friends don’t steal other friends’ cake.

Even if it is the cake of your dreams and you have no other desserts in the house.

I think my blood sugar is getting low surely Baylor won’t mind one tiny little missing piece.

No, Kinsey. NO!

Baylor is saving that because she is doing an amazing job and deserves a reward. She is your best friend and puts up with a little of your weird little quirks. You can NOT steal her cake!

Okay, fine. I still need sugar, though before I do any more work.

Kinsey got up from her bed and went into the kitchen to do a little scavenger hunt. She found pasta and rice in the first cabinets. Muffin mixes in the next one.

As the search went on, Kinsey couldn’t believe some of the stuff she found. I mean who puts board games next to macaroni and cheese. Okay, to be fair she had done that and forgot about it. Not that anyone would blame her, if they had played with Baylor. Control freak Baylor who would constantly toss the pieces everywhere when she lost and then escaped to pout in her room leaving everyone else to clean up the mess. Every single one of those board games were missing pieces now. Not everyone could be perfect.

Wait, last time they went to the store Kinsey had gotten a container of brownies and hid them the moment she got home. Now all she has to do is move the stool to reach the higher cabinets and find them.

Ah man, even on her tippy toes she can't reach the top. Carefully, she steps onto the counter to continue the hunt for treasure. Almost there, just a little farther...she moves to her tippy toes. Suddenly, she hears a jingling on the other side of the door and it distracts her.

Oh no. Kinsey slips as she's moving the flour, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Bam! They both crash and now Kinsey's butt hurts AND she and the kitchen are covered in flour.

Baylor walks into the apartment, immediately starts taking off her costume. "Hello? Kinsey, I'm home. You would NOT believe the day I've had!" She walks into the kitchen and screams.

Normally, Kinsey would make a joke asking if Baylor is screaming at her mess or the kitchen. Instead, she looks up at her roommate with tears gathering in her eyes.

Baylor kneels down and softly says, "Hey, what's wrong? There's no need to cry, I'll help you clean up."

Kinsey blinks and her bottom lip starts trembling. " I just...I wanted something sweet to help me finish my paper, b-b-but I ate everything. I thought I had some brownies left that I hid, but I-I-I couldn't find them," she sobbed.

"Oh, honey, I finished the brownies last time I cleaned." Kinsey cried louder.

"Hey, how about this? If you let me change into something more comfortable, I will share my cake with you tonight. Afterward, we can clean the kitchen together."

"You would really do that for me?" Kinsey asked.

"I was going to, anyway. I ordered Black Forest Chocolate Cake, I know it's your favorite. There is no one I would rather celebrate with," Baylor replied.

Kinsey hugged her and they did just that, because what are friends for?