Grayson went through his list of recipes, looking at them over and over as he flipped the notecards in the deck. He drank an entire pot of coffee, and by the time it was time to go into town, his hands were shaking. He wasn't sure if it was the caffeine or anxiety.

It took forever to find a parking space for contestants among the packed crowd of cars at the event center. But he finally did. He climbed out of his truck and grabbed his chef coat.

Inside, he was immediately swept up by the film crew. They began reciting instructions at him that he could barely hear through the pounding of his heart in his ears. He took off his jacket and slipped on his chef coat, folding back the arms to reveal his tattoos. They took him into makeup and started to dab his face.

“You look perfect. Love the beard. Love the tattoos,” the stylist said.

Grayson was a bit put off by it all. But it was Hollywood, what could he do? Usually, he wore a net over his beard when he baked, but they didn't require him to wear one for the show. He put on a chef hat and when he looked at himself in the mirror, with the makeup, he didn't mind what he saw. His skin looked fantastic.

He chuckled at himself as he followed the crew and other contestants out onto the stage. A kitchen had been set up in the event center on a soundstage constructed by the crew. The entire event center was packed full of people. Most he didn’t recognize. He gulped. Doing a cooking show in front of a live audience was what the Great American Bake-off was known for.

The audience at home loved the interactive quality of the show. Most other baking shows were done in studios, but not the Great American Bake-off. They wanted to film the reaction of the crowd as they watched the bakers sweat.

The crew instructed them on their cues and told them where to stand. The judges sat at a table between the contestants and the audience.

Grayson took a deep breath and exhaled as the lights hit him. The audience stared from their chairs. The cameras rolled, and the director counted down. The announcer stood in front of the contestants and opened the show with Hollywood style flamboyance.

Grayson gripped his fists behind the counter and gritted his teeth, plastering on a big, fake smile. There were twelve total contestants in the bake-off and one would be eliminated every day of the competition. As the show opened, the announcer introduced the judges.

There were five judges, master bakers from around the country and the world. Becky Barker, the petite blonde from New York, owned a boutique bakery in Manhattan. She wore a pink skirt suit and a side swept ponytail. The crowd cheered for the well-known star who had her own show on the same network.

Heathcliff York, the Englishman who was known for his blunt talk, bravado, and harsh criticism of the contestants. He wore a herringbone suit, an expensive looking red silk tie in a Windsor knot, and a matching handkerchief in his pocket. He grinned maniacally and waved to the crowd with his perfectly manicured hand. There was hissing and cheering, both equally loud.

Wayne Brown, the famous Hollywood baker, waved to the audience in his LA Lakers fan gear and high-top sneakers. The crowd cheered and a whole section of the audience stood to their feet and started hooting and pumping their fists. Wayne was Grayson's favorite judge by far. And he hoped that he liked his pastries.

Odessa Carver, the hometown girl from Saint Louis, wore a black chef coat over her curves and a big smile. She stood and waved at the crowd, her long beaded braids twisted at the base of her neck. Another section of the audience clapped and cheered, “Go girl, go girl” the tag line from her show.

The last judge was Vanessa Basset from Mississippi. She wore a yellow dress with a white belt and white pearls around her neck. Her red hair was piled in a bouffant up do. She blew kisses to the audience and waved as they cheered her name.

When all the judges were introduced, the announcer started to introduce the contestants. After he introduced each to the crowd, a short clip of their backstories was played. The audience could get to know each contestant and decide who they wanted to root for. It finally came time for Grayson's introduction and backstory video. Since he was the hometown favorite he got a huge cheer from the audience. He grinned sheepishly and waved out to everyone, feeling honored and humbled by their support. When all the contestants were introduced, the announcer introduced the first competition.

“In this round, you have one hour to bake the best pie any of us have ever eaten. The ingredients are in the pantry. First come first served. The contest begins in five, four, three, two, one…”

The contestants ran off to the pantry and started grabbing ingredients in a frenzy of flour and sugar. A burlap sack of pecans, still in their shells, sat in a corner. No one had noticed them. Grayson grabbed them greedily and threw them into his basket and carried everything back out into the kitchen.

He quickly mixed together his piecrust, then put it in the fridge to chill. With that done, he began shelling the pecans. It was going to take him quite a bit of time and effort to get this done. But they were the only pecans in the pantry, and he was determined to make his famous pecan pie.

Once he had several cups of shelled pecans ready, he sifted through the nuts and made sure no shells had gotten into the mix. He whipped up eggs, butter, brown sugar and spices before he added chopped pecans. He pulled his crust out of the fridge and rolled it out on a floured board.

After sliding his buttery crust into the pie pan, he pinched off the rim with his fingers to make a perfect scalloped edge.

With the crust complete, he poured in the filling. He placed pecan halves in a circle around the outside and created concentric circles until the pie was filled. He popped it into a cool oven, noting he only had forty minutes to bake. Several other bakers had their pies already in the oven, and he hoped he had enough time.

If it was undercooked, the filling would be soggy. With that in mind, he increased his temperature by five degrees, hoping it wouldn’t over brown the crust. He went to the fridge and found the ingredients he needed to put together whipped cream. He began making that while his pie baked.

The other contestants were having their own issues all around him. One contestant still hadn't put her pie in the oven with twenty minutes left. Another contestant pulled his pie out of the oven with a burnt crust. Someone was crying and someone else swore.

Grayson took a deep breath and finished the whipped cream. With five minutes left, he checked his pie. He’d turned it around several times to make sure it cooked evenly. Everything looked perfect and he was relieved. Anything could have gone wrong. As the clock counted down, he pulled his pie out of the oven and hoped that it would cool down enough to cut and serve before the final countdown.

With only a minute left, he cut pieces for each of the five judges. He plopped a dollop of whipped cream on top, dusted it with cinnamon and put everything on the tray.

As the countdown commenced and the audience counted along “Five, four, three, two, one…” a buzzer went off. One of the contestants stomped her feet and another pounded his fist into a counter. Grayson wiped the flour from his chef’s coat and watched the judges as the pies were served one by one.

When his pie was served to the judges, he gritted his teeth and grasped his wrist as he waited. He watched Heathcliff York take a bite of the pie, biting his inner cheek as his heart pounded in his ears. Beyond Heathcliff, he spotted Donika in the audience, grinning and giving him the thumbs up. Seeing her there helped him relax a little.

He grinned at her and gave her a private wave that he hoped no one else would notice. She waved back. When he looked back up at the judges, he could see the pleasure in their eyes as they ate his pie. Vanessa Basset had nearly finished her entire slice. When the judges had finished tasting all twelve pies, they went backstage to deliberate.

The judges returned five minutes later and began to go through their critiques of each contestant. Their only critique of Grayson’s pie was that it could have been allowed more time to cool. He breathed a sigh of relief. The judges asked four contestants to step forward, Grayson among them. Everyone was mixed together so no one knew who was the top and who was the bottom. His heart raced. What if he was in the bottom? He would disappoint everyone in Fate Valley.

“And the winner of the first day’s competition is… Grayson Baxter!” the announcer said to the audience.

Everyone cheered. Donika stood and clapped wildly. He went to the front of the room and the judges shook his hand.

“Congratulations Grayson. As the winner of the first round, you get thirty extra seconds in the pantry tomorrow.”

He thanked the judges and went back to his place. Then the second runner-up was announced, a woman named Charlotte from Pennsylvania who had baked a Dutch apple pie. She grinned at him on the way to her station in a way that let him know she was coming for him. He gulped and watched as the judges dismissed the first baker to leave the show. It was a man named Francis who had burned his lemon meringue. He nearly cried when they told him. All the other bakers patted his back as he took off his chef coat and left the kitchen.

Grayson felt bad for the guy, but this was a competition. There were winners and losers, and that's just the way that it went. When the show was finally over, the chaos really began. The contestants were ushered behind the scenes and the audience was told it was time to leave the event center.

Grayson pulled off his chef coat and went to his locker to find his things. It had been a stressful day, and he could barely believe he would be doing this every day for the next two weeks. But one thing was for sure, Donika made it all worth it.