Alexis and the Perfect Recipe

by Coco Simon

  Sports skills + comfortable clothes = boys impressed by YOU!

  A few minutes later Mrs. Taylor pulled up to drop off Jake and pick up Matt and Joe to go to their friend’s house for a school project. I didn’t really get the chance to say good-bye to Matt, but it was all good. I was still on a high from my totally awesome shot.

  “Let’s hit it,” Sydney said to Callie as soon as the boys left. Sydney didn’t bother to say good-bye to Emma and me, but Callie turned to us with an awkward expression. “Well, thanks . . . ,” she said.

  “See ya,” Emma muttered without bothering to look in their direction. We went inside, and Jake immediately went for the couch in the TV room. Emma started to make him a snack in the kitchen.

  “Wow,” I said.

  “I can’t believe you made that basket!” said Emma, laughing.

  “Me neither!” I howled. “Talk about luck!”

  “It was skill,” said Emma. “And Matt was impressed.”

  “You think?” I asked, but I knew he was. My chest was bursting with pride and happiness.

  As we headed to the TV room with drinks and Jake’s snack, Emma said, “We still have to figure out Dylan’s dessert. Let’s get the others over here and bake.”

  “Yay! Cupcakes!” Jake yelled.

  “Good idea,” I agreed, thinking of the extra cupcakes we could leave behind for Matt!

  CHAPTER 12

  Confession

  Of course, after that wonderful Sunday morning, I didn’t see Matt for an entire week. I wore each of the outfits that Dylan had planned for me, and I took great care with my hair (down) and makeup, but no luck. My friends all noticed the change though, and Mia and Katie pestered me about my new look. I was happy that Emma did not let on about my crush, but it wasn’t long before they figured it out.

  It happened while we were sitting at lunch one day, when Sydney and Callie came over to our table.

  “Hey, Emma,” said Sydney. We all looked up in shock. Sydney usually just ignores us and rarely calls us by name.

  “Oh, hey,” Emma replied like she didn’t care.

  “We have a question. Someone said Matt is going to Dylan Becker’s sweet sixteen on the twentieth. Is that true?” She was asking about my sister’s party and she didn’t even look at me! My blood began to boil.

  Emma looked at me and raised her eyebrows. She turned to Sydney. “Yes. Our whole family is going.”

  “We’re all going, actually,” said Mia in a cold, snooty voice I’d never heard her use before.

  I seemed to have lost my ability to speak.

  Sydney and Callie exchanged a look. “Okay, thanks,” said Sydney, before she and Callie walked away, their heads bent close as they whispered.

  “What was that all about?” I burst out. “Wouldn’t you think they would ask me? It’s my sister they’re talking about! And why do they want to know, anyway? It’s not like they’re invited!”

  “They have some nerve,” said Katie, shaking her head.

  “I am so sick of those two. They just can’t leave Matt alone. Someone keeps calling and hanging up, and I swear it’s them!” Emma complained.

  My stomach flip-flopped. They were calling Matt? That was pretty major!

  “Has he actually spoken to them on the phone?” I asked, probably with a little too much feeling, because Mia and Katie turned to me with raised eyebrows.

  Emma shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she answered.

  I could feel Mia still watching me. Then she asked with a shy smile, “Alexis, is there something you want to tell us?”

  I was so bothered by Sydney that I simply admitted, “Yes, I have a crush on Matt.” Then I added, “I’m sure you all already know.”

  “I didn’t tell them!” Emma cried out defensively, even though I didn’t look at her.

  Katie immediately jumped on Emma. “Wait, you knew?” she asked.

  Uh-oh. This had the makings of a cupcake war. I had to stop it before it went too far. “I’m sorry, guys,” I told Katie and Mia. “I was going to tell you guys, but there just never seemed to be a right time.”

  “Well, there was clearly a right time to tell Emma, it seems!” Mia said, sounding a little offended, but I don’t think she was actually mad.

  “Oh, no, I guessed, actually,” Emma said, “and made Alexis fess up. Then she swore me to secrecy. It is just too weird. I can’t imagine anyone liking my brother, but now it seems he’s getting all this attention from girls.”

  “Humph!” I said, and crossed my arms.

  “So what are you doing about this crush?” Mia asked me.

  “I’ve been doing some research,” I said without thinking, and my friends all burst out laughing.

  “Research!” Mia yelled. “Alexis, that is just so typical of you!”

  “Wait, is that why you’ve had this sudden makeover and everything?” Katie asked.

  I nodded shyly and muttered, “A lot of good it’s doing. I’ve barely even seen him since.”

  “But it worked when you did see him!” said Emma.

  “You think?” I asked, hoping that all my work wasn’t going to waste.

  Emma nodded. “Hello? He came out and played basketball with us!”

  “You don’t think he was just . . . bored or trying to be nice?” I pressed.

  Emma shook her head. “Uh-uh. He would never be nice for no reason.”

  “Actually, I think he’s really nice. Like when he helped you—”

  “All right, all right! We know you think he’s nice,” interrupted Emma. “I guess he is a little bit. I’m just not sure he’s worth the time and effort, that’s all.”

  “Yes, well, if he was a client, I think I would have stopped my aggressive marketing efforts by now,” I said, and everyone laughed again.

  “So when you say you have a crush on him, what does that mean?” asked Katie.

  “Oh, I think he’s cute. I want him to like me back. And . . .” I looked over at Emma, and she finished what I was too embarrassed to say.

  “She wants to dance with him at Dylan’s sweet sixteen.”

  I bit my lip nervously, unsure how my friends would react. But I didn’t have to worry.

  Mia clapped excitedly. “Ooh! Once he sees you dance he will fall head over heels in love with you!”

  Katie grinned. “Are you going to ask him?”

  “I haven’t quite worked that part out yet,” I admitted.

  “Between the dancing and the cupcakes, I know he’ll be wowed,” said Katie loyally.

  “Anything we can do to help?” asked Mia.

  As much as I wanted to keep talking about Matt, I suddenly remembered there was something more important that we needed to do. “Yes! Let’s figure out those cupcakes!” At least that was something that I could control. “Dylan has been on a rampage, so we need to sort it out before she goes nuts. The only thing is, she’s also been really nice to me lately, with the makeover and stuff. I think she’s just stressed. Let’s give her the works!”

  “The works?” Katie asked.

  “I’ve been thinking,” I said. “Let’s forget about the budget for now. Instead, we should wrap up all of our great ideas into one slam dunk of a cupcake.”

  Emma smiled. “So what is it?”

  “The s’mores disco gift cupcake. Chocolate cupcake filled with marshmallow, topped with chocolate frosting with graham cracker and gold flake crumble, and tied with a gold bow. She’ll love it. And it will cheer her up.”

  The girls all agreed, so we made plans to start working on the cupcakes soon.

  Dylan had, in fact, been even crankier than ever this week. As the RSVPs for her party rolled in, she became compulsive about checking voice mail and the list. I wondered if there was someone special she was waiting to hear from. Dylan is class president and assistant cheer captain, so I knew she wasn’t exactly lacking for friends or popularity. But as I watched her flip through the RSVP notebook one afternoon, I kind of felt sorry for her.

  “What’s
up?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” she replied. Flip, flip, flip.

  I tried again. “Are you waiting to hear from someone?” I asked.

  Dylan stopped flipping and sighed heavily. “Don’t ever fall in love, Alexis.”

  “Too late, Dyl, I’m a goner,” I said. “Who are you in love with?”

  “Never mind,” she said. “Nothing will come of it. He hasn’t even RSVP’d.”

  “Sounds like a jerk,” I said. The invitations had been out for days. Whoever she was talking about should have already received it.

  But Dylan had bristled. “No, no, no, he’s not a jerk,” she replied defensively. “He’s just very busy! I’m sure he’ll . . . he’ll let me know soon.”

  “Okay!” I said brightly, not wanting to upset her. But inside I thought, Why do boys cause such heartache?

  That night, when my mother came in to say good night, I told her, “Mom, I think I know why Dylan’s been such a jerk lately.” I’d been puzzling over it all evening, and I was pretty sure I was right.

  “Why? I’d love to know!”

  “I think she’s in love with someone and he might not love her back.”

  “Hmm . . . that would explain a lot.”

  “I think she wants everything to be perfect at the party so he’ll fall in love with her.”

  “Oh! Is he coming?”

  “Well, that’s the other thing. He hasn’t RSVP’d.”

  “Poor Dylly.”

  I nodded and sighed. At least the love of my life was coming. Granted his mother had RSVP’d for him, but it was a start!

  “Well, I’ll see if I can discuss it with her,” Mom said before pulling the covers up tight under my chin. “I love you, sweetheart. Thanks for the tip.”

  “Of course, Mom. Love you, too.”

  CHAPTER 13

  The day of Dylan’s party was gorgeous: The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and birds were literally singing in the trees. It promised to be a beautiful night. But first there was lots of baking to be done!

  The Cupcake Club met at Mia’s that morning, which was a good thing, even though I was bummed not to have a chance to see Matt. It was better, because I could focus on making our cupcakes.

  We ended up going with my idea of combining all three original cupcake ideas. Dylan had surprised us when she said she “loved” this idea. But these were going to take a lot longer to decorate, so we had to be really organized.

  We had an assembly line going once the cupcakes were baked and cooled. I lifted them off the cooling rack in their gold foil papers and filled them with liquid marshmallow using a baker’s syringe. Then Katie would frost the cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting, and Emma would add the crumbled graham crackers and gold sprinkles. Finally Mia would tie the base of each one with a big gold ribbon, and set it back on the cooling racks to pack later.

  Even though I wasn’t anywhere near Matt, I was glad to have him on my mind as Katie and Mia kept asking me questions.

  “What position does he play on the basketball team?” Mia asked.

  “Oh, point guard, I think,” I said.

  “Center,” corrected Emma.

  “Right. I always get those mixed up.”

  “Have you been to any of his games yet?” asked Katie.

  “No, but I think I’m going to go this week. Anyone want to go with me?”

  “I always go,” said Emma, “if I can. We have a rule in our family that if you can possibly make it to a sibling’s game, you have to go, to show support.”

  “Let me know if he ever needs any extra support!” I said, laughing. “I can always sub for you if you can’t make it!”

  Emma’s response was to playfully stick her tongue out at me. I stuck mine right back at her.

  “So what are his favorite cupcakes we’ve made so far?” Mia asked.

  I didn’t know the answers to any of their questions, but I wanted them to think I knew something about Matt.

  “Oh, I think the . . .” I looked around.

  “Bacon,” said Emma. “He liked the caramel cupcakes with the bacon caramel frosting. He had me make them for his team dinner.”

  “Runs in the family!” Mia laughed. The recipe had been Emma’s idea.

  “He also liked the mini vanillas we made for Mona,” I added.

  Emma shook her head. “That boy would eat anything if you frosted it.”

  The vanilla minis were my recipe! “Well, he certainly wolfed them down,” I retorted.

  “Alexis, you don’t live with him like I do,” Emma insisted. “He even eats burnt cupcakes, as long as they’re loaded with frosting.”

  “Wait a second,” I protested, suddenly getting mad. “Are you comparing my vanilla minis to burnt cupcakes?” I couldn’t believe Emma was so rude! She was supposed to be on my side.

  “Okay, you two,” Katie said as she exchanged a look with Mia.

  “I just don’t know who made you the Matt expert all of a sudden,” said Emma. “You barely know him!”

  “That’s not true!” I said. But it kind of was.

  “The only times you ever interact with him, I’m there! So how could you suddenly have this great romance blooming?”

  Now I was really mad. “There’s no ‘great romance blooming,’ Emma. I just think he’s really cute. And the time when I decided I liked him, you weren’t there!”

  “Well, it’s annoying! I’m sick of hearing you talk about him like you own him! You’re no better than Sydney Whitman!”

  “It’s Callie who likes him.” I spat the words out furiously.

  “Well, it’s Sydney who’s doing all the work!” said Emma. “Just like me for you!”

  “What?”

  “Stop, you guys!” cried Katie. “Come on!”

  Emma and I glared at each other.

  “Speaking of work, we have a whole lot of cupcakes to bake,” said Mia, sounding like a parent. “And we need to get them all done today. Business first, Alexis. That’s your motto.”

  “So let’s just focus on what we need to do, okay?” Katie added.

  I nodded without looking at Emma. I decided I would not speak to her. In fact, I would not speak at all.

  Emma muttered something, but I didn’t care to ask what she said. I was all business now. For the next few hours, I worked quickly to fill two hundred cupcakes, and by noon we were done. I only talked when Mia and Katie spoke to me. No one was happy that things were tense, but it wasn’t my fault!

  Mom came to pick up the cupcakes and take them to the restaurant. Mia, Katie, and Emma had plans to dress together for the party, and I wasn’t happy about that. I didn’t want them to all be having fun without me (or worse, talking about me), but I couldn’t ditch my family, and it would just be too hectic to have my friends get ready at my house, what with Dylan’s chaos going on.

  Dylan’s crush still had not RSVP’d, which made him uncrushworthy in my book. But I think she was still hoping. Every time the phone rang that afternoon, she dashed to check the caller ID (not that she’d answer the phone, because that would seem desperate).

  Meredith and Skylar came over to get ready with Dylan, almost like bridesmaids before a wedding. They were all in black and gold, of course, and when they were ready, they offered to help me with my hair and makeup. Of course I said yes!

  Meredith was working on my hair with rollers. “Is there anyone special coming tonight that you’re looking forward to seeing?” she asked.

  I narrowed my eyes at Dylan. “Did you tell her?” I snapped.

  “No, Alexis,” Dylan calmly replied. “I didn’t say anything to anyone.”

  “Chill, Alexis, she didn’t,” Meredith said, a little taken aback. “I was just asking to make conversation, like they do at the hairdresser.”

  I felt bad. “Oh, sorry. Actually, there is one guy I like. He’s . . . he’s my friend’s older brother. But she’s mad at me right now for liking him.”

  “That’s ridiculous! She doesn’t own him!” said Meredith.r />
  “I know!” I felt myself getting riled up all over again.

  “And it’s not like she could marry him, anyway!” she added, laughing.

  “You’re so right!”

  “That happened with me at day camp one summer,” Skylar joined in. “I lost a friend that way. I totally regret it.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, I was about your age, and there was this really cute junior counselor named Tom. And his sister Madison was my best friend at camp. But I became so obsessed with Tom that every time I called Madison, every time I went to their house, it was like it was really to catch a glimpse of Tom. Madison ended up feeling like I was using her just to get to Tom.”

  “Were you?”

  “No! I really liked Madison! It was just inconvenient that the guy I liked happened to be her brother!”

  “Well, it was also probably convenient, too,” I said knowingly.

  Skylar nodded. “Sure, because I got the insider’s perspective, and I got to see him casually, without having to go on a date or anything. I could see him in his normal environment.”

  “But you lost a friend,” said Meredith.

  “Yes, a good friend,” Skylar replied. “And I was so over him by the end of the summer.”

  “How did you get over him?” I asked.

  “We finally went on a date, and I realized we had nothing to talk about when Madison wasn’t there.”

  Just then the phone rang. I was holding the cordless in my lap, and I flipped it over to see what the caller ID said.

  “Hanson?” I said aloud.

  Dylan screamed, “It’s him! Get it! No wait, don’t!” But it was too late.

  “Hello?” I said.

  A deep voice kind of stammered, “Uh . . . hi . . . is Dylan there, please?”

  I looked at Dylan and she was shaking her head no.

  “Um, no, I’m sorry, she’s out right now,” I lied. “May I take a message?”

  “Yes. This is Noah Hanson. I’m so embarrassed. Dylan invited me to her party, and the invitation got mixed up with my mother’s bills, and I only just opened it. I know it’s too late to say yes, so I was just calling to apologize. Will you tell her, please?”