“Seriously, I’m starving,” Derek said, glancing around.
“We worked up a good sweat,” Melissa said.
A sweet, mouth-watering aroma that I’d noticed wafting through the air a while ago became increasingly noticeable as we strolled through the mall. It smelled like bakery goods fresh from the oven, which only made my stomach growl harder. I sniffed deeply, wondering where it was coming from.
“Do you guys smell that?”
“That sweet pastry deliciousness? Of course,” Melissa said almost dreamily, putting her hands to her face. “I’m really craving apple pie right now.”
“It sure smells like it, doesn’t it?” I agreed, trying to look for its source.
“It’s making me even hungrier,” Derek said, sighing.
Ashley pointed to the left, at the other side of the mall. “Isn’t it coming from there?”
We all looked at where she was pointing. At first all I saw were the usual smoothie and beverage stores, but then I finally noticed a store with a cute mini blue-and-white striped awning over its doorway I’d never seen before. There was a large display window right beside it, with various pastries mounted behind it. In glossy, silver cursive lettering over the pastel-colored awning were the words Apples On Pastries.
“That’s new … right?” I said, squinting at it.
“If that congratulatory flower stand is any indication, yes,” Melissa said. “Great, let’s go. I bet they have apple pies.”
I was already starting to drool.
We began making our way towards it, dodging a squealing little girl who was running away from another little girl.
“Do you think they sell churros?” Derek said.
“Probably not,” Ashley said. “We can go get your churros after this if they don’t, though.”
“Every second that passes, my need for churros grows stronger,” he said, and Melissa laughed.
“Welcome to Apples On Pastries!” the girl behind the counter said when we entered the shop.
She looked like she was around our age.
The shop was fairly small on the inside, but the walls were lined with a few rows of pastries kept behind glass drawers. There was a single door on the wall next to where the payment counter ended. There was a Staff Only silver plaque on it, and it was left slightly ajar. Being in the shop already ensconced me in delicious pastry scents mingled together, but there was a distinctly warmer aroma coming from behind that door.
Taking another deep breath, I sighed contentedly. They should’ve opened up here sooner! I couldn’t even remember what shop used to be here before they took over.
Along with Melissa, I examined the large selection of pastries that were on display.
There was an entire glass drawer for apple pie slices, which had latticed top crusts. Other than that, there were blueberry pies and tarts, blackberry tarts, pear tarts, croissants and Danishes with different fruit fillings …
“They all look so good,” I said, trying to keep from salivating.
We’d made a full round of the shop, and now we were now ogling the front counter display of whole pies and tarts.
“I can’t decide,” Melissa said. “Should I get a croissant or a Danish? Or maybe an apple pie?”
I had my eye on the blueberry tart, but the peach Danish looked really appetizing, too.
“Would you like some recommendations?” the shop assistant said.
“Sure,” Melissa said.
“Our signature pastry is our apple pie,” she said, gesturing to the whole apple pie behind the glass display. “It’s a go-to for many of our customers. If you like apple pies at all, I highly recommend it.”
Melissa stared intently at it. “It does look good.”
I had to agree.
Their apple pies had a golden-brown lattice crust covering the top, and underneath the brown apple filling peeked enticingly through the small openings at us.
Didn’t Nolan say he liked apples? I wondered if that extended to pastries made from them.
At this point, Derek and Ashley joined us, evidently done with their own little exploration. Derek examined a blackberry tart that was behind the display. Ashley stood beside me to look at the apple pie, too.
“If you’d like to try something else, our pear tarts are also very popular,” the shop assistant said. “Our croissants are very flaky and puffy, so if you don’t like thick pastry crusts, there’s something for everyone.”
“I think I won’t need that churro after all,” Derek announced, straightening up. “I’m getting a blackberry tart.”
We each left the shop with a pastry, except for me—I got two pastries. A blueberry tart slice for myself, and an apple slice for Nolan. Each of our purchases was placed in a tiny cake box with blue and white stripes, which I thought was absolutely adorable.
I hadn’t even tasted my blueberry tart yet, but I had already made up my mind to come back the next time we were at the mall. There was such a wide selection to choose from.
“Even the packaging is cute,” Ashley said, admiring the cake box she was carrying. “I love it.”
“It looks so good.” Melissa opened hers in a hurry.
Derek had already opened his as we were stepping out of the shop, and now he was halfway through his tart slice.
“It tastes even better,” he said.
Lifting my treat from my own box with the serviette she’d provided us with, I took a large bite out of it. The complementary sweet yet tart flavors were an explosive combo in my mouth, tempering each other’s respective cloyingness and sharpness to a more balanced taste. I sighed happily as I munched through the buttery crust, which had just the right amount of thickness.
This shop clearly knew what it was doing.
Yeah, I made the right choice in getting the apple pie for Nolan. He was going to love it.
We got back to school just in time for dinner.
I told the others to go ahead without me, because I needed to drop off the apple pie while it was still fresh and warm. I figured I’d have plenty of time to stroll to the dining hall after passing it to Nolan.
‘Hey, where are you?’ I texted Nolan.
His reply came within a few seconds. ‘In my room. Why?’
‘Come down to the first floor of the dorms. I have something for you.’
‘What is it?’
Should I tell him? My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I contemplated presenting the pastry as a surprise.
‘Just come down! I won’t take up more than five minutes of your time, I promise.’
‘Okay, okay.’
I grinned as I received another text from him.
‘I’ll be down in two.’
I sat on the bottom steps of the stairs as I waited, placing the cake box in my lap. I couldn’t wait to see his reaction. When I heard footsteps on the stairs from above approaching me, I turned my head back and looked up.
Nolan was walking down towards me, yawning as he covered his mouth with a hand. “What is it? I just woke up.”
He wasn’t wearing his signature hoodie.
“Where’s your jacket?” I said, gesturing at him.
Even through his obvious sleepiness, Nolan managed to shoot me a nonplussed frown. “In my room?”
I opened my mouth to explain that he always wore it, but then I decided that I didn’t have time for that. Dinner awaited, and I was craving something savory after the blueberry tart that I’d eaten. Apparently, he didn’t wear it all the time. He clearly didn’t wear it during naps in his room.
“For you,” I said, shoving the cake box in his direction.
“What’s this?” he said, slowly taking the box by its cardboard handle. “A cake?”
“Nope! I was at the mall earlier, and we came across this specialty bakery that apparently just opened up,” I said, nodding at it. “They specialize in apple pies, and let me tell you, the whole shop smelled delicious. Anyway, I got you one because the shop assistant said that their apple pies are basically the best.”
“Oh,” he said, looking down at it.
As usual, his expression was inscrutable.
I was expecting more of a reaction than that. He did mention that he liked apples, and he made such a contented face while eating those apple mints! The real thing should have been way better than those artificial flavors, right?
“I remembered that you said before that you really like apples,” I added. “I saw it and thought of you.”
I wanted to smack my forehead because what compelled me to confess that?! He didn’t need to know that I thought of him when I saw foods made with apples!
And then the corners of his lips quirked up as he stared at me. “Thanks.”
I promptly rescinded my regret and mentally gave myself a congratulatory handshake. Maybe it was the right thing to say, after all.
“No problem,” I said, unable to stop myself from bouncing on the balls of my feet. “You should open it!”
“Sure.” Nolan shrugged and lifted the tabs that locked the paper handles in place.
In anticipation, I watched him lower his head to the now open box.
“It smells good,” he said, when he lifted his head again. “Baked apples always smell great.”
“Do you want to try it now?” I said. “I want to know what you think of it. I bought this blueberry tart from there and it was simply delectable.”
“Yep, I can see your drool even now,” he said, sniggering when I glared at him. “I’ll take it up to my room and try it later.”
“Oh, okay. Tell me if it was good when you’ve tried it, though!” I said. “I’m curious what kind of food you like.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll text you.”
I glanced down at my watch, which was securely strapped to my wrist. “I have to go to dinner now. Hey, do you want to join us for dinner? The pie could be, like, your dessert.”
Now that I thought about it, I’d never seen Nolan in the dining hall. Of course, it was huge and the crowds of students during mealtimes were massive, but it was hard to believe that I’d never noticed him even once.
“With your friends?” he said after a short pause.
“Yep! They’re all really nice, so don’t worry,” I said. “Well, not that I think you’d be worrying in the first place.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I’m not. I just woke up and don’t really feel like eating, but thanks.”
“Are you going back to nap some more?” I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s already evening. I can’t nap all day,” he said. “I’m going to do my homework.”
Oh, yeah. That made sense. Nolan always turned in his assignments on time, even though he never paid attention in class. If he didn’t sleep in class all the time, he would’ve probably been a model student that the teachers loved.
“Okay,” I said, raising my hand to wave at him. “See you in class on Monday.”
“See you,” he said, lifting the cake box slightly. “And thanks for the pie. I’m sure I’ll like it.”
As he turned around and walked back up the stairs, I found myself beaming at his leaving back. For being such an unsociable person, he sure knew the right things to say to make me happy.
