There was something bubbly to the girl's behavior, bubbly but genuine, the type of ease that all cheerleaders hoped to carry themselves with but always lost over time, conniving as they were and competitive even among their close groups of friends. Claire breathed easily as she motioned for the other girl to come closer, before continuing to mix the start of the batter in her bowl, trying to do away with any lumps.

"The good thing about drinks and cupcakes is that they're not actually mutually exclusive," Claire laughed. "But I actually haven't decided what kind of cupcakes to make yet. I mean, I probably should hold off on chocolate, unfortunately, since there's so little of it on the island, but... I was thinking of experimenting with fruit. Maybe orange meringue cupcakes?"