The Cupcake Queen

by Heather Helper

  “What are the Hog Queen duties?” I ask.

  “Wave and smile? Oh, and eat a lot of sausage.”

  “I’m sorry you didn’t win,” I say. “I think you should have.”

  “I’m pretty sure you have to say that,” Tally says. “It’s part of the best-friend code.” She shrugs. “The only thing I’m really bummed about is that the ARK

  won’t get the money. But we’ll figure something else out.”

  The door opens again. This time it’s Marcus, carrying a big white bundle in his hands. He smiles at me from across the barn. Sam trots in behind him.

  “So, are you going to walk with Oscar in the parade?” Tally asks. I smile at the image of my big, round cat at the end of a leash. I shake my head. Oscar

  would freak out from all the noise. Tally has about thirty people signed up to walk with their pets and collect money for the ARK along the parade route.

  “Good,” Tally says. “Because Monica dropped a bag of dog food on her foot and broke her toe.”

  “So she can’t walk in the parade?” I ask, watching my mom laugh at something Blake said. Then what Tally’s saying hits me. “Oh no,” I say.

  “Too late,” Tally says. “I already told Monica you’d do it.” I sigh. “Besides, Snowball would be really sad to miss the parade.”

  I roll my eyes. “Okay,” I say. Walking a turkey vulture in the Hog Days’ parade doesn’t seem any weirder than anything else around here.

  “You’re still coming to my house after to get ready for the dance, right?”

  “Yeah, but I did promise my mom we’d stop by on the way so she can take pictures. She promised she wouldn’t embarrass me,” I add.

  “She has to embarrass you before your first dance. That’s part of the mom code.” Tally seems mostly okay about not having one of her actual parents around. When you add my family and Blake’s to Poppy, she has three kindamothers

  and a kinda-grandmother pestering her about eating enough and zipping up her coat when it’s cold.

  Tally and I stand together, watching the last few items get placed on the float. “I still think you should have put a can of lard on the float,” she says. I elbow

  her and we both laugh. She walks over to where my mother is putting a crown on top of another cupcake. Mom smiles at me when she sees me looking at

  her.

  Marcus hands Blake one end of the bundle he brought with him. They slowly unroll it, stretching it along the length of the float. I had to get permission to

  change the banner. At first they weren’t going to let me, but then Miss Beans convinced them that it would improve “the aesthetic of the art” or something

  like that. Marcus nails one end in place and then walks to the other, making sure everyone can read it before he tacks it into place. My original plan for the

  float had included a banner, but it just stated the Hog Festival theme: HOG’S HOLLOW—THE WAY LIFE

  SHOULD BE. As I look around at all the people

  who have gathered to help put this together, I think the new banner is much better. I have to remember to e-mail a picture of the whole thing to my dad.

  Poppy and Mr. Fish are standing near the back of the trailer, talking, their breath visible in the cold air.

  Blake and Tally are laughing near the doughnut

  box as he tries to beat his record for number of doughnut holes in his mouth at one time. Charlotte and Sam are playing tug-of-war with a drop cloth.

  After Marcus finishes tacking the banner into place, he comes and stands near me, his hand finding mine. His writing is kind of crooked, but something

  about that seems right, too. Gram moves down the trailer, inspecting it closely to make sure that everything is secure enough to withstand the wind. Even

  though she’s standing in front of the banner, I can still read it around her. HOG’S HOLLOW—THE WAY

  LIFE IS.