Chapter 1:

William Wonka was a miserable little boy. Attached to his face was a cage of wires and braces; all there in an attempt to straighten his teeth. But this was not why he was miserable. He knew the braces were for his own good.

His father was why he was miserable. Dr. Wilbur Wonka, D.D.S. was a strict, single parent who forbade his only son from ever consuming anything sweet or sugary. For the first 11 years of his life, William had never even tasted a piece of chocolate.

It was Halloween time, which meant children were out trick-or-treating for candy and other sweets. A particular group of children went up to a particularly heavier woman's door step and rang the bell.

Mrs. Peachfield, a cheery woman, answered the door with a smile. "Ah! And who have we got here? Bridget, Veronica...Terrence." She listed off the names of the children, except for one. Mrs. Peachfield furrowed her brow in confusion. "And who's that under the sheet?"

William responded by lifting it up to let her see his face. Or at least the parts of it that weren't obscured by his head gear. "Oh!" She crooned. "Little Willy Wonka."

...

"Let's see what the damage is this year, shall we?" Dr. Wilbur Wonka asked his son, pouring out the contents of his candy bucket out into a bowl. One by one, the elder Wonka went through the bowl, pulling out random candies, only to criticize them and throw them back into the bowl.

"Caramels, they'd get stuck in your braces. Lollipops. What we call cavities on a stick. And then we have all of this...all of this...chocolate." The last part was said with great disgust. "You know, just last week, I read in a very important medical journal that some children are allergic to chocolate. Makes their noses itch."

Willy, who had been waiting patiently and silently during his father's condemnation of his sweets, spoke up. "Maybe I'm not allergic. Maybe I could try a piece." At this, his father smiled. "But why take the chance?"

And with that, he picked up the candy bowl and tossed its contents into the roaring fire behind them. Willy inwardly sighed. He had known it was a long shot, but still, he had hoped that maybe this year his father would change his mind.

...

November 1, a very busy day for Dr. Wonka. Due to the previous night's large consumption of sugary items, parents usually escorted their children to his office just for a check up. This usually left Willy with all the chores.

At this moment he was cleaning the fire place. As he emptied the cinders into a bucket, he noticed something round and shiny amongst the ashes. Curious as to what it was, Willy picked up the mysterious object. Upon further examination, he found it to be a piece of chocolate that had survived last night's fire.

'This could be my chance.' He thought. 'But what if I'm allergic? What if father finds out?' Cautiously, he looked over his shoulder. 'Well...what he doesn't know won't hurt him.' Looking over his shoulder one last time as to ensure his privacy from the elder Wonka, Willy unwrapped the chocolate and placed it into his mouth.

Willy couldn't believe it! It was so sweet, so creamy, it was incredible, even if there was a hint of soot in the taste. And from that point on, Willy Wonka became obsessed with candy.

...

For the past few weeks, Willy had been making several excursions to Picket's Candy Shop. He visited twice a day, once before and once after school. In the short time he had been making his visits, he had almost completely bought out the store. And each time he kept around a note pad to document what the candy tasted like to look at for future reference for his own candy ideas.

On this one morning in particular, he was hurrying on his way, faster than usual because the shop was receiving a shipment of the new Slugworth candy. It was a gumball that changed flavors halfway through its life in your mouth.

Willy was eager to try it. So eager that he wasn't looking where he was going. Before he knew it, he had barreled into a girl his age who was carrying several large boxes, now scattered around her on the pavement. Willy looked at the girl and found a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

The girl had an air of familiarity about her. He just couldn't place where she had seen her. She was shorter than him by an inch, had very pale skin as white as white chocolate, rosy cheeks and lips that reminded him of bubblegum, hair the color of milk chocolate that fell in curls past her shoulders, and bright blue eyes. Blue eyes that were currently glaring at him.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" She asked, anger lacing her very pretty voice, standing up. "Um...well...y-you s-see...I was g-going t-to the candy s-store to b-buy the new S-slugworth c-candy." Willy stuttered his explanation to the girl as he got up so she wouldn't have to look down at him.

"Well you just saved yourself the trip." The girl replied, seemingly calmer, but still irritated. "What do you mean by that?"

"I was taking today's shipment of Slugworth's Fantastic Flavor Changing Gumballs to the shop. Then you ran into me." Willy looked down at his shoes at that last comment. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I just hope that they're still okay." The girl sighed in exasperation and began to pick the boxes back up. "Here!" Willy shouted, proceeding to pick up the boxes as well. "Let me help you."

"You don't have to do that. I can carry it by myself."

"No, I insist. Besides, it's the right thing to do considering they be damaged because of me."

The girl was touched by his kindness and politeness. Most of the other boys in the neighborhood would have knocked her down and kept going. But not this boy. This lead to her wondering who exactly he was.

As they walked along to the candy shop, she studied his features. Somehow, he seemed familiar. He had dark auburn hair, pale skin, and a full set of head gear. But this was not the most eye catching thing about him in her opinion. No, to her, it was his eyes that interested her. They were a peculiar shade of violet, which she knew wasn't a normal eye color.

Finally, the both of them yielded to their curiosity about one another. "What's your name?" They both asked at the same time. "Uh...you first." Willy said shyly.

"Posie. Posie Picket. My father owns the candy shop on Cherry St." Posie all of a sudden remembered where she had seen him before.

"I'm William Wonka. My father is the dentist, Dr. Wilbur Wonka." Willy remembered where he had met Posie as well.

"You're that boy who's been buying out my father's shop!"

"You're the girl with the lopsided jaw and a gap between her teeth!"

"Shh!" They both hissed at each other after their very loud exclamations. "Keep quiet, I don't want people to know I was a metal mouth." Posie hissed to Willy. "And I don't want my father finding about my candy obsession." He hissed back.

"Well then keep your trap shut and let's keep walking." Continuing on their journey, the silence hung in the air, creating great tension between them. "So..." Willy finally said, breaking the quiet. "Your father owns the candy shop. That must be fun."

Posie nodded. "Yeah..it is."

"So are you going to take over it when you're older?" At this Posie's face fell. "That's the thing...I don't know. I know it's the safe route compared to my real dream...but, I've always wanted my life to extraordinary."

"What's your dream?" Willy asked. "Oh! Well...um...you'll think it's silly." Posie said, blushing from embarrassment.

"No I won't." Willy insisted. "I want to perform on West End." She blurted. Willy blinked, then smiled. "That's an amazing dream." He told her.

"You really think so?" She asked, blushing even more than she already was. "Yeah! What made you interested in it?"

"Well, I've always had an aptitude for acting and singing, but what really made me want to be a performer was when I saw "Funny Girl". "Don't Rain On My Parade" is one of my favorite songs. Ever since then, I've been working hard to get to where I want to be."

"Do your parents approve of your career choice?" Willy asked, nervous for the girl, hoping that her parents didn't hate the one thing she loved. "Actually, when I told my parents, they were quite proud of my ambition. Sure, they were slightly disappointed that I didn't want to work in the shop, but they knew it was never really my thing. How about you? What's your dream?"

Willy was the one to blush now. "Well...you see...I sort of...hugh...Iwanttobeachocolatier."He mumbled the last part, embarrassed at how un-extraordinary his dream seemed compared to hers. "What was that?" Posie asked, leaning in closer to hear him. "I want to be a chocolatier."

Willy kept expecting for him to laugh in his face. How ridiculous it was for a dentist's son to want to be a chocolatier. But instead of laughter, he heard her say, "Well that explains a lot. No wonder you've been buying so much candy. But, I think it somehow suits you."

Willy looked at her with wonder in his eyes. "You really think so?" Posie's eyes sparkled with happiness and encouragement. "Of course! I've seen how you take such dedication with how you try your candy and take notes. I've also seen some of your ideas. They are truly incredible and innovative. I think you'll be an amazing chocolatier one day." Willy beamed with pride through his head gear.

But his joy was short lived as he thought of something...or someone. "But my father disapproves of chocolatiers. What if he doesn't accept me? What then? Will I be doomed to a life of dentistry?"

Posie smiled at the boys rant. "Don't worry. It seems scary telling your parents at first, but it gets better by the end. And remember that your father loves you, so he'll accept you for whomever you want to be."

Willy smiled back at her. "Thank you, Posie. I think I'll tell him." By the end of their little conversation, they had reached the candy shop. "Well, Willy, I believe this is where we part. Thank you for helping me with the boxes."

"No problem." He replied, handing her the boxes. "I would like to see you again, Posie." Posie set down the boxes on the pavement and smiled at Willy, blushing slightly.

"I would like that too, Willy. I think we're going to be good friends. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Wonka." She took his hand and curtsied before shaking it. "The pleasure was all mine, Miss Picket." Willy said with a bow, kissing Posie's hand before he shook it.

"Um...here." Posie opened a package of Slugworth's Gumballs and handed one to Willy. "What's this for?" He asked, confused. "It's for helping me...and an encouragement to remain friends with me."

Willy took the gumball. "Thank you, Posie. I'll see you around then?"

"Of course." She replied with a wide grin. Willy waved goodbye and walked off, popping the gumball into his mouth before realizing that the gum was sticking in his braces.

Before Posie could even open the door to the shop, she heard a loud but muffled, "Help! Posie! Help!"

'Oh dear! Gum gets stuck in braces! Willy!'