Chewy

Chewy

In the guiness world records, they list the largest cookie ever made by anyone as being made by a team of baker’s in Flat Rock, North California (USA of course, where else?) called the immaculate baking company, in 2003. They’d have to be immaculate to make a cookie that big without it crumbling or anything. They baked it to raise money for a museum they wanted to get built – somebody would pay for them to make the biggest cookie in the world, right? And the craziest thing is that it actually worked! They raised $20,000 and there was a whole crowd waiting on the day for the big reveal! Amazing!

It took 40,000 bags of chocolate chip cookie dough to make it and it was a feat of engineering! After waiting for storms to clear the big day finally came. And when the cookie was done, the air from the oven they had specially made was so hot, it’s giant lid launched 50ft into the air! 50ft! That’s insane! It’s amazing that it didn’t hit anyone! That would have been a completely different news story – instead of the cute fun story about the giant cookie it’d be ‘thousands killed by runaway metal disk!’ - a real heartbreaking disaster, but somehow it didn’t go that way.

The pictures of the cookie had to be taken from a crane – it was so big it would have filled most of a football stadium! That’s 100ft wide! (which is a diameter of 30.7 m – been learning about diameter at school and that’s what 100ft wide is in diameter) A cookie you could run around and play ball on in front of a large crowd screaming for cookie way more than their team! And when you took a dive you could grab a handful of cookie before getting back up, best game ever!

The second largest cookie in the world was made in New Zealand. It was 81ft wide and they baked it in 1996. It was the world’s biggest cookie back then and would be for the next seven years until immaculate came along and said ‘we’ll do better than that, we’re gonna make one that’s 100ft wide!’ and they did it!

“C’mon it’ll be the best thing ever! Our names in the record book forever! World’s biggest cookie made in the North-east! We’ll put Peterlee on the map!”

“Peterlee’s not on any maps. No one knows where we are.”

“Just do it, pleeeze!” I whined, making the big eyes and the pout. “Think of how much fun we’ll all have, doing it together!”

“I dunno Harper, I’ve got like plans and stuff. Besides like won’t it be expensive?” Ivy always had ‘like plans and stuff’ now. They all did. Usually without her. That’s why this mattered so much.

“We don’t have to worry about the cost, people will pay US to do it! Like that bakery. We’ll do it for a good cause!” The idea came to her suddenly “Then people will definitely have to pay us, because who doesn’t want to help out a good cause!” Harper had steam rolled over Ivy’s ‘plans and stuff’ wanting to ignore that detail.

“What if we broke up the cookie after and gave it to err… Homeless people!” Charlotte chipped in, her hazel eyes widening with the excitement of the idea that had just come to her.

If Charlotte was getting into it, then maybe Ivy would too. It was a chance.

“Yeah, we could help the homeless! Three teen girls break world’s biggest cookie record AND feed the homeless!” They weren’t quite teenagers yet, only being twelve, but it was close enough. Harper could see their pictures in the papers already – and all over the internet – Three best friends, in bakers hats covered in cookie dough, arms wrapped round each other, big smiles on their faces beaming at the cameras.

“This is a dumb idea.” Ivy said, playing with her phone. That’s all she did now,tap tap tap on her phone. Harper could be talking to her about her new school, how much she hated it there and missed her two besties, or be talking about Mark, her mam’s new boyfriend, and how much she wished he’d just go away and stop using up all the milk before she could have cereal in the morning, and Ivy would be there just typing away, hearting this and messaging whoever from her school. One time she had went quiet to see if Ivy noticed and it took 7 minutes and fifteen seconds before she said something to her (I counted) and even then she still didn’t look up from her phone.

“Well I don’t want to do it if Harper’s not doing it.” Charlotte said, turning towards her own phone.

I’m losing them, Harper thought a little desperately. They don’t ever want to do anything with me any more. They just giggled to each other over their phones and when I ask what’s so funny they tell me I wouldn’t get it because it’s about their school.

“Ivvvvveeey!” I turned her name into a whine as I said it. “Pleasse, pleaseee, pleeeseee!”

An idea suddenly came to me like a life raft at sea. “It would look great on your new instagram.” I said in my most persuasive voice. Ivy’s mother had only just let her get Instagram six weeks ago after her twelve birthday (she was the youngest out of us three) and she was obsessed with it. Taking lots of duck faced selfies, pouting her way into all of the cute boys at her schools DM’s. I only knew about this from Charlotte, my mam was really old fashioned and swore she wouldn’t let me onto social media until my fifteenth birthday, the same year I was allowed a piercing. (only on my ears, and only if they were simple. In other words, boring. No cool styles like the one where it goes all round the ear with lots of cool studs) Another thing that alienated me from my friends. Ivy and Charlotte were both on social media and badgered me to join. That’s where they said ‘everything’ happened. Everything was apparently something I was not apart of. And Ivy got a piercing for her twelve birthday and Charlotte said that she was pretty close to her mam letting her get one too. Another thing that I now wouldn’t be apart of. They both teased me and started calling me kid, which is so annoying because even though I’m the shortest I’m also the oldest. I’ll be thirteen before either of them! But they tolerated me like I was the little sister their mam made them bring to the cinema with them. They’d nod when I made a joke or had a good bit of T from my school, but then they’d just go back to talking between themselves, huddling together, giggling and whispering about some secret they shared that I wasn’t allowed in on. In the last year since we started going to different schools it was my biggest fear that they were whispering about me. I would never admit that to them.

Ivy thought about what I said. Checked a message, (showed Charlotte, not me. They giggled.) then she actually responded to me. “Okay. But only if it doesn’t take ages.”

“Great! That’s settled then, we’re doing it!” I grinned. “Lets make an account right now!”

“Won’t your mam, like, flip if you’re on social media?” Ivy drawled.

“But your mams won’t! Make one for the three of us!” I said feverishly. It was happening, we were going to make the worlds biggest cookie together and nothing was going to stop us.

“Okay, because your mams a psycho, I have to do this weird cookie thing AND make us an account?” Ivy wasn’t impressed.

I tried quickly to get her back on side. “C’mon, I’ll do everything else, please!”

“Fine.” She groaned.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making the account. We did on a crowd funding site for really good causes, full of people who really love to help. Our write up was great, we said loads about how much we wanted to help homeless people (and make the worlds biggest cookie!). We took a bunch of cute photos together for our profile and uploaded the best one along with some pictures we found of big cookies and a sad looking homeless guy on the internet. It was the best day I’d had in a long time. Ivy got Charlotte to do my make up because she said I was hopeless at it and she did my hair (same reason). They made me look just like them and we looked super cute together, posing this way and that.

“You’re going to upload that to your Instagram too Ive’, right? You too Charlie?” I needed to know that I was up there, with them. I craved it.

“Uhh-huh” Ivy said. She wasn’t listening to me. Charlotte didn’t say anything.

“You will, won’t you?” My tone pleaded.

“Right. And stop using those dumb names for us you made up. Charlotte hates being called Charlie.”

Since when? Charlotte didn’t say anything again but she looked like she agreed with Ivy. I felt embarrassed and hurt. We’d had nicknames for each other since we were little.

“so err- Charlotte – how many people do you think will fund us?” I tried.

“err she doesn’t like ‘Charlotte’ either” Ivy corrected me.

I felt stumped. “So err, what does she like?” I fished around.

“Err Not Charlotte!” They both laughed unkindly. Charlotte showed Ivy something on her phone and they laughed again. A mischievous little snigger that sent daggers stabbing up my spine. I just knew somehow it was something about me. My skin felt like it was on fire as if my face would burn up and disintegrate into ashes. For a while it had been lovely and perfect and just like was, when we were still close, when we went to school together and it was all how it should be. Me and my best friends. Now I felt left out in the cold while they sat in a cozy cottage, warming themselves by the fire with their giggling and their secrets. They didn’t even look how they did before any more. Ivy had started wearing mini skirts and furry coats without any sleeves and Charlotte had dyed her hair, the first of us to do it. It was orange like marmalade and it was the coolest colour ever. I still looked the same with my slogan T-shirts, (Sassy (sasi) she got this and she’s owning it. Today’s offering) beat up trainers and plaits. My two best friends were fast becoming strangers to me.

Swallowing back my emotions, giving myself a sinking, queasy feeling in my belly, I moved past it.

“Yeah so like, we’re doing it, all settled!”

“We sure are.” Ivy said dryly.

“Lets swear on it!” I stuck my hand out. It hovered in the middle of the air, an attempt at closing the space between us. A fisherman casting out a line as far as he could fling it into the sea, holding his hope of supper on his last piece of bait. Please bite.

Charlotte looked to Ivy. Ivy rolled her eyes then stuck her hand out, covering mine. Charlotte mimicked her, placing her hand over Ivy’s.

“All for one and one for all, we are sister’s true and strong!” I cheered. They said the words.

It was settled. We made a promise the way we always made it. The way it would never break. Our bond was stronger than titanium. I felt good again, like I was no longer swaying on a boat at sea, adrift in a storm, I was standing on solid foundations, firm earth beneath my feet. Earth warmed by the sun of my friendships and I knew it would all be okay. We would be friends forever.

They would never break a promise we swore on afterall.