Kelly Quinn stood in a kitchen and held out her right hand as she said, "It's time. I need butter, eggs, and chocolate." Kelly's friend Hannah walked up next to her and handed her a stick of butter and eggs. Kelly then said, "Great. But where's the chocolate?" Kelly and Hannah turned their heads and saw walking into the kitchen was Darbie eating a piece of chocolate several feet away from them. Darbie then looked at her two friends and said, "What? There's plenty here." Kelly smirked as she said, "Some things never change." Hannah then said, "Come on Darbie. There's plenty of chocolate here, because we have to cook for hundreds of people now. Not just ourselves." Darbie sighed and brought the remaining chocolate over to her two friends.

The three girls were cooking in the kitchen of Mama P's restaurant and already had many dishes of food prepared. Jake then walked into the room and said, "Oh good. You got all the blueberry muffins ready. What about the chocolate ones?" Kelly then said, "Working on it now Jake." Jake then said, "Great. You girls are lifesavers." Jake then walked out of the kitchen as Kelly's grandmother Becky stepped in. Becky who looked a little tired, smiled as she said, "Wow. I haven't done waitress duties since I was in college. It makes me feel both young... and even older now at the same time." Kelly then said, "Oh come on grandma. The customers loves you." Darbie then said, "She's right Grandma Q. Plus you're really good at getting customers to try the new specials. No one can say no to a nice old lady like you. Not that you look that old. In fact if I didn't know you were Kelly's grandma, I'd think you were a cool hip college kid."

Becky laughed a bit as Hannah said, "It is great that you're helping out here at Mama P's considering she was never the best friend to you." Becky then said, "Well I wasn't the best friend to Ida either. But I'm really happy just to help Jake out. It's great Ida is giving him a chance to manage the store without him for a few weeks while she's helping Gina get settled in her new place. Although you girls are the real ones to thank, making so many fantastic new foods for this place." Kelly then said, "Well after getting creative with magical food for a year, getting creative with regular food is no problem." Becky continued to smile as she left the kitchen while saying, "Well keep up the good work."

Darbie then said, "Well how are we doing with the next batch of muffins?" Kelly then said, "Just about ready to put this in. The next batch isn't going to be needed to be taken out for another twenty minutes." Darbie then said, "And we're at the afternoon lull now. You mind if I take a break and do some studying?" Kelly then said, "Sure, I guess." Darbie nodded and said, "Thanks." Darbie then rushed out of the room as a surprised Hannah looked at Kelly and said, "What's with Darbie? It's a Sunday and she wants to study?" Kelly then said, "I'm as surprised as you are. But ever since we gave up the magic cook book, Darbie's been studying a lot more in school. In fact she got all A's on every Match quiz last month." Hannah then said, "You're kidding!?" Kelly then said, "I know. Guess Darbie is finally growing up."

A few hours later in the evening as it was getting dark outside Jake was handing food to a customer as Darbie walked out the kitchen. Darbie then said, "Hey Jake. It's getting late. You mind if I head home early to study?" Jake then said, "Hey. You've already done more than enough. Go home and get some rest. And take a smoothie to go. Gotta make sure my workers are well nourished if they're gonna work well." Darbie picked up a smoothie as she said, "Nice. Thanks." Jake and Darbie waved as Darbie left while Kelly stepped over to Jake. Kelly nudged Jake a bit and said, "Look at you. Being such a good boss. Jake, you are really good at treating your workers well and handling this business." Jake took a deep breath and said, "Yeah. Well it's not easy running a business while still being in high school." Kelly then said, "Well hey. Me, Hannah, Darbie, and Grandma are totally cool with helping you out as much as we can while Mama P is away. And like I said, my dad can come in if you're swamped too." Becky then walked over to Jake and said, "We're all willing to help out such a hard working man like yourself Jake. Your parents must be so proud of you." Kelly then said, "You know... Jake, I just realized. We've never met your parents. Are they..."

Suddenly the door opened and an African American man walked into the shop. Jake's eyes widened as he said, "Oh my gosh." A confused looking Kelly then said, "What Jake? What's wrong? You look like your most difficult customer of your lifetime just walked in." Jake then said, "It's worse. Kelly... that's actually my dad." Jake's father then walked over to the group as he said, "Son. Good evening." Jake nodded and said, "Hey dad. So... you've actually decided to come see me at work for once." Jake's dad then said, "I decided it wouldn't hurt to see this place you spend time at." Becky then said, "Oh, well Mr. Williams, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Becky Quinn and I have known your son for years and he's one of the best cooks I've ever met." Jake's dad then said, "I know. Cooking is an important skill. Although I would've preferred Jake taken up more lucrative hobbies." Jake rolled his eyes as he said, "Come on dad. Really? Right here in front of my customers?" Jake's dad then said, "I'm not here to insult your cooking son. But I'm sure your employees and friends here would agree, this is a good hobby to take part in. But now that you're in high school, it's time to start preparing for a career that has more security in it. Like studying to be a doctor like myself?" Jake then said, "Come on dad. I'm not an adult yet and I'm already running a restaurant. Doesn't that show I have a future in this?" Jake's father then said, "You're temporarily in charge until the owner gets back I believe. But you know small businesses come and go. What if you get seriously ill one day or need a new car? How much profit does this place really make Jake?" Jake's dad then turned to look at Becky and said, "Mrs. Quinn, you come across to me as a successful woman. Do you think this is the most lucrative type of business to run?" Becky then said, "Well no but..." Jake's dad then said, "Exactly. Jake, I know you find cooking fun. But it's time to think about the future and do something more meaningful with your life. Good day." Jake's dad then walked out of the restaurant as Kelly and Becky stood with uneasy looks on their faces, while Jake had a very troubled look on his.

Hannah stood at a door and knocked on it. Darbie then answered the door and with a surprised look said, "Hannah. What are you doing here?" Hannah then held up a book and said, "You forgot one of your textbooks at Mama P's." Darbie then made a smirk and said, "Well that's me. Forgetful Darbie." Hannah then said, "Well you're a little less forgetful lately it seems. I looked through this book and saw how you've been writing your work out on the pages. Darbie, your math skills have really improved lately." As Darbie took the book from Hannah she said, "Thanks." Hannah then looked on a table near the door and saw a series of forms. Hannah looked at them said, "These have the Fox Canyon logo on them and... these are application forms. Darbie... are you applying to Fox Canyon Magnet School?"

Darbie looked a little nervous as she said, "What if I am?" Hannah then said, "Darbie, it's really hard to get in there you know. Your math skills have gotten a lot better, but you know your work has to be at an all A's kind of level to get in." Darbie then said, "Well, maybe I'll get all A's soon. Then we can both be at Fox Canyon together." Hannah smiled as she said, "Darbie. You don't have to get into Fox Canyon just so you can keep hanging out with me. We already established this. We can still be good friends even if we go to different schools." Darbie who looked a bit more nervous now said, "Yeah I know but... I still want to get into Fox Canyon." Hannah then said, "Then why?" Darbie now looked frustrated as she said, "Because... because I have to okay! Now good night!" Darbie then pushed Hannah out the door and closed it. Hannah looked very troubled and confused as she said, "What is going on?"

Kelly, Jake, and Becky were closing up the restaurant as Kelly said, "Hey Jake. I hope you don't mind me saying this but... your dad is kind of a jerk." Becky then said, "Kelly, be respectful to your elders." Kelly then said, "Sorry grandma." Becky then said, "Good. But since I'm an older elder, I can definitely say... Jake, your dad is kind of a jerk." Jake rolled his eyes and said, "Tell me about it. My dad has been a doctor my whole life and has always been trying to get me to be one like him. He keeps trying to get me internships at his hospital he works at but I keep refusing. I like cooking. It's what I want to keep doing for the rest of my life." Kelly then said, "Good for you Jake. Follow your dreams." Becky then said, "What about your mother Jake? What does she think?" Jake then said, "Well... she died when I was ten." Becky then said, "Oh Jake. I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Jake then said, "It's okay. Honestly, I got into cooking because she loved to do it. I first started doing it by myself because it helped me remember my mother and made me still feel close to her. But now it's become something I genuinely like to do all the time. But my dad keeps telling me: being successful means doing many things you don't like to do." Kelly then said, "Well your dad is wrong Jake. Forget him and follow your path." Becky then said, "That's easy to say Kelly but Jake's dad is still family. He can't just walk away from him and build a rift. Breaking up a family always sounds easy, but it always leaves more pain for everyone in the end. Just look at me, Gina, and Ida. We were like family and us three breaking away didn't help anybody. Jake needs to build a bridge between him and his dad. Not burn one." Kelly looked down a bit and said, "Yeah grandma. You're right." Jake sighed and then said, "I just don't know how to do that." Becky then said, "Hmm. Jake... I may have an idea."

The next day Darbie was walking home from school down a neighborhood sidewalk as Hannah ran up to her. Hannah then said, "Darbie, hey. Wait up." Darbie then said, "Can't. I have to get home and finish a big paper due tomorrow." Hannah then said, "It's about that. Darbie, you don't have to do all this extra studying and school work." Darbie then said, "Why not? Isn't getting straight A's in school important?" Hannah then said, "It is. But you don't have to do it just so you can get in Fox Canyon." Darbie then said, "I told you. I want to get into Fox Canyon." Hannah then said, "But I told you. You don't have to get into Fox Canyon just to be with more. We still hang out a lot. I mean we're friends." Darbie then said, "I know Hannah." Hannah then said, "Then tell me why you're still doing this." Darbie then stopped dead in her tracks causing Hannah to stop moving too. Darbie then turned around to look at Hannah and said, "You really wanna know why I'm doing this? I'm doing this because I don't want things to be the way they are. I miss you Hannah. I miss being in half my classes with you, and eating lunch with you every day, and walking to school together, and having you help me on the same homework assignments." Hannah then said, "But we can still have dinner once a week together and hand out on weekends and..." Darbie interrupted Hannah and said, "That's not enough. It hurts whenever you're not around Hannah. I want us to be together as much as possible. And my heart will do whatever it takes to be with you as much as it can forever." A confused looking Hannah then said, "Darbie, what are you saying?" Darbie then with a very nervous look on her face said, "Hannah, I... I..." Then Darbie took a deep breath, then took a step forward, looked into Hannah's eyes, put her hands on Hannah's cheeks, and then... Darbie moved her face forward and kissed Hannah on the lips. Hannah's eyes widened as she stood completely still as Darbie kissed her. Darbie then moved her face away from Hannah and with a completely certain look on her face said, "Hannah Parker-Kent... I'm in love with you." Hannah's eyes simply widened and with a completely uncertain and nervous look on her face Hannah said, "Whoa."

TO BE CONTINUED...