Larissa was decorating the cake when she heard Freddy's offer.

She froze in place and stared at the tarts in his hands.

Larissa didn't know how to respond.

Aster had a strawberry in his hand and placed it on the cake.

He ignored Freddy.

Freddy's face fell.

Larissa realized that his feelings might have been hurt, so she quickly took the tarts. She stuffed one into Aster's hand.

"Thank you." She bent down and ruffled Freddy's hair affectionately.

Only then did Freddy show a shy smile.

Aster turned away with pursed lips.

He gripped the tart in his hand, but he didn't eat it nor throw it away.

The competition ended. As expected, Larissa's strawberry cake didn't win any prizes.

However, it received unanimous praise from Aster's classmates.

Larissa suspected that most of the credit was because of Kevan's and Aster's good looks.

Allen cleared up his table and came over to ask Larissa, "We're going out for dinner. Do you want to join us?"

Larissa declined his offe