by Coco Simon
“You girls need a break,” insisted Mrs. Becker, Alexis’s mom. She’s very organized and focused, just like Alexis. “I have set up some sandwiches and salad for you in the dining room. Please have something to eat before you fall asleep in that batter.”
So we took a quick break to eat, and then Alexis and I got to work on the two batches of icing—yellow and blue—while Mia and Emma rolled out the fondant and cut out the stars. We all worked together to put the stars on the way Emily had suggested. They looked so good that I took a photo of them and sent it to her. I got three more s back and a lot of exclamation points.
When the cupcakes were done, we carefully packed them into our carriers and extra boxes, because we didn’t have enough carriers for all the cupcakes.
“We should probably invest in more carriers,” Alexis said, making a note on her tablet.
“Hey, we haven’t done a test one,” Emma realized.
“Let me get my dad,” Alexis suggested.
Mr. Becker was yawning when Alexis brought him in. She handed him a cupcake covered with yellow frosting and decorated with yellow and blue stars. He immediately woke up.
“School colors,” he said. “Nice.”
Then he bit into it. He looked at the inside of the cupcake, and his eyes got wide.
“What do you know? Two different colors? How did you do that?” he asked. “That’s pretty cool.”
“It’s a trade secret,” Alexis told him.
“Well, I’m impressed,” he said. “Tastes good too. The lemon is very refreshing.”
“Refreshing,” Alexis repeated, typing into her tablet. (She took notes on just about everything, but they came in handy. If a client ever wanted us to describe our lemon cupcakes, we’d have been able to have said that they were “refreshing.”)
We were all pretty tired by the time we cleaned up.
“So, um, can one of you guys bring the cupcakes in tomorrow?” Alexis asked. “I’ll be, um, kind of busy before the show.”
“I almost forgot!” I said. “I am so dying to know what you are going to do tomorrow.”
“You’ll find out soon,” Alexis said with a grin.
“Fine.” I sighed. “I’ll ask my mom if we can pick them up.”
“Maybe you can get me on the way, and I’ll help carry,” Mia suggested.
“And I could meet you here,” Emma said.
I smiled at my friends. “You guys are the most awesome friends ever, you know that? I’m sorry if I acted like a jerk the other day.”
Mia hugged me. “Act like a jerk all you want. We will still love you.”
That night, I went to bed excited for the next day. It was the first time I had felt that way in a long time. It was a good feeling, and it was all thanks to my friends.
CHAPTER 14
Lunch. School. Cupcake.
When Mia and I got to Alexis’s house the next day, her dad answered the door.
“Hey, girls,” he said. “The cupcake containers are inside.”
Emma ran up behind us. She lives a few houses away from Alexis.
“Can we see her?” Emma asked.
“As a matter of fact, I am under strict orders not to let you see her,” Mr. Becker replied with a twinkle in his eyes. “I believe she wants to keep everything a surprise.”
Emma walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Alexis, you have to at least show us what you’re wearing!” she called up.
Alexis’s big sister, Dylan, responded. “Alexis can’t talk right now. And her outfit is a surprise.”
I looked at Mia. “Is she wearing a chicken suit or something?”
Mia giggled. “Can you imagine?”
Emma looked at us. “I am going to go crazy! She has never kept a secret from me for this long before.”
“Do you girls need help carrying the cupcake carriers?” Mr. Becker interrupted. “I know Alexis wouldn’t want you to be late.”
“Sure, thanks,” I said, and we carried all the cupcakes out to my mom’s car and stacked them neatly in the hatch. She had one of those trunk organizers, so the carriers wouldn’t slide around when the car moved.
When we pulled up to the school, Jeff and Emily were waiting for us by the front entrance. Emily was wearing her Cupcake Club T-shirt. Jeff had stopped by our house earlier that morning to pick it up.
“Hi!” she said. “Thanks for the shirt. It’s really nice.”
Emma smiled at her. “Every official helper gets a shirt.”
“Gee, can’t I get a shirt?” Jeff asked.
Emily rolled her eyes. “Dad, tasting doesn’t count as helping!” she complained.
“Maybe if you help us carry in these cupcakes,” I said. “Although I’m not sure if we have a shirt in your size.”
Jeff laughed. “No problem. I’ll carry cupcakes for you guys whenever you want.”
We carefully brought the carriers inside and set them down next to the folding table that had been set up for us right outside the entrance to the auditorium. Mia covered the table with a tablecloth she had made: blue with cut-out yellow stars glued to it.
“Ooh, that’s so pretty!” Emma said.
Mia grinned. “And that’s not all.” She opened up a box she had brought from the car. Inside were our cupcake display stands. We’d used some of our first profits to buy the stands. They were big, round plates set on top of posts. The posts were different heights, which made the display look more interesting.
The basic stands were white plastic. Mia figured out that we could customize them for different events by making little tablecloths and draping them over each post. She got big paper or plastic tablecloths and then cut them into smaller circles to fit over the stands. For the talent show, she’d made blue covers with yellow stars, and yellow covers with blue stars to match the cupcakes.
We helped Mia set up the stands, and then it was time to start placing the cupcakes. I was opening the first carrier when a woman in a red skirt and blazer walked up to us. Behind her was another woman with a big camera—the kind they use to record news events.
“You must be the Cupcake Club,” the woman said. “I’m Mary Chang.”
She had a perky voice and perfect, white teeth. Not one hair on her head was out of place. Even if she didn’t have the camerawoman behind her, I would have guessed that she was a news reporter.
I felt nervous right away, but thankfully, Emma spoke up.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Emma Taylor. Alexis told me to expect you.”
“Well, then we want to do a short feature on you girls,” she said. She nodded to the camerawoman. “Alexis filled us in on all the details, so Shannon here will film you while you’re setting up. Then I’ll ask you a few questions, if that’s okay.”
Emma nodded. “That would be great. Thanks!”
So we started to put the cupcakes on the stands, but it was kind of weird with this big camera lens following us around and bright lights shining on us. I kept trying not to look at the camera, but I knew I kept staring at it. It was really weird, and then all of the sudden I was self-conscious.
“Just be natural,” Mary Chang called out, and I had a feeling she was talking to me.
Finally, we had the stands covered with cupcakes. The extra cupcakes were still stashed safely in their carriers.
“Okay, great,” Mary said. “So, why don’t you girls stand behind the table so we can see you and the cupcakes together, and I’ll ask you some questions, okay?”
“Sounds good,” Mia replied. Like Emma, she sounded really confident. But my palms were starting to get all sweaty, which is not a good thing when you’re selling cupcakes.
“So, how did you girls get the idea for the Cupcake Club?” Mary asked.
“It started on our first day of middle school, when Katie brought a cupcake to lunch,” Emma said, pointing to me.
“Um, right,” I said. “Lunch. School. Cupcake.” I had no idea what I was saying!
Mary put the microphone in front of Emily’s face. “Aren�
��t you adorable? So, tell me, how do you come up with your cupcake flavors?”
“Oh, I’m just a helper,” Emily replied. “Katie is a total baking genius. You should talk to her.”
I was flattered Emily said that, but I was panicked, too. Flavors? What are flavors? It’s like my mind went blank.
Luckily, Mia knows me really well. She saw the panicked expression on my face and jumped in.
“We all come up with flavor ideas,” Mia said. “And then we test them before we make them for real.”
I gave Mia a grateful look. The reporter talked to mostly Mia and Emma after that, and I was glad when it was all over and Mary put down the microphone.
“That was great,” Mary said. “I’ll e-mail Alexis and let her know when it’s going to air.”
“Thanks,” Emily said.
Mary turned to her camerawoman. “Let’s figure out the best way to shoot this talent show,” she said, and the two of them went into the auditorium.
“I can’t believe I was so nervous!” I cried, shaking my head. “ ‘Lunch. School. Cupcake.’? What was wrong with me? You guys were great.”
Emma laughed. “Don’t worry. They’ll probably edit most of it out, anyway,” she said.
I sighed. “I hope so.”
Then people started coming in to take their seats for the talent show. Emma picked up the cash box that Alexis had prepared for us. It held lots of fives and singles for change.
“Here we go,” Mia said with a grin.
It got busy right away. Our colorful stand got a lot of attention, and people walked right up to it. Mia and Emma took orders and money, and Emily and I handed people their cupcakes. The best part was when people bit into them and then saw the two different colors.
“This is so clever!” one woman said. “I’d love to get some like these for my sister’s baby shower next month. Do you girls do parties?”
“Of course we do,” I said, channeling my inner Alexis. I handed her a flyer. “You can contact us by phone or through our website.”
After about a half hour of chaos, things got quiet, and it came time for the show to begin.
“I just thought of something,” I said. “If we have to watch the table, we’ll miss the show! We won’t see Alexis!”
“Well, there won’t be much business while the show is on,” Mia reasoned. “So we can watch the show through the doors.”
“Perfect!” I said, and we all huddled by one of the doors to watch.
Principal LaCosta walked up to the microphone onstage.
“I’d like to welcome all of you to the Park Street Middle School Talent Show,” she said. “There are some wonderful acts in store, and these students have worked very hard. So make sure you give all of them lots of applause.”
Everyone clapped like crazy, and then the curtains parted. Music started playing over the speakers—the kind of music you’d hear at a circus—and then George came onstage. He was wearing a tuxedo. Seriously—a tuxedo! Behind him was a table with a bunch of stuff on it. There was a chair behind it.
I was expecting George to say something, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked up a feather duster from the table. He tilted his head back, put the handle part on his nose, and then let go.
I started to giggle, and some people clapped. Balancing the feather duster was pretty cool. But that was just the beginning. Next he balanced a really tall broom on his nose! That got a lot of applause. Third he did a little wooden chair. That looked really hard. And then he balanced a Wiffle ball bat, and he picked up three oranges and started to juggle them. He didn’t drop the oranges or the bat.
George ended by letting the oranges fall to the ground and catching the bat in his hand. He gave a bow, and everyone clapped and cheered.
“He is, like, the perfect boyfriend for you,” Mia whispered to me, and I knew I blushed. But she had a point. I mean, I could really appreciate a talent like that.
Next up was Olivia Allen. She was wearing a sparkly, short, silver dress and silver heels. She sang along to a recording of a popular song, and I had to admit she sounded pretty good for most of it. It was one of those songs where the singer really belts it out. Olivia had trouble hitting some of the notes at the end, but she got a lot of applause, anyway.
Then two girls came out and did this dance with scarves, and this boy did a pretty cool tap dance. Next, Wes Kinney came out and started telling jokes. I thought they were pretty lame, but his friends were all laughing really hard and yelling out stuff.
Then a boy came out carrying a stool and a guitar. He sat down on the stool and started to strum. He looked like a high school boy, and I was wondering what he was doing in a middle school talent show.
But he wasn’t the act. A tall, beautiful redhead wearing a simple black dress walked onstage, holding a microphone. It took me a few seconds to realize who it was.
It was Alexis! Mia grabbed my arm real tight, and we tried hard not to scream. Alexis looked amazing!
And then she began to sing. . . .
CHAPTER 15
What a Night!
I had to stop myself from screaming and cheering because I wanted to hear Alexis sing. The whole audience got quiet; Alexis had this really sweet, pretty voice. I was shocked. I had never heard Alexis sing before. Okay, maybe I’d heard her sing “Happy Birthday” or I’d heard her sing when we played the radio in the car, but not really sing by herself. I didn’t even know she liked to sing!
The song sounded familiar, but it wasn’t one of those popular, belt-it-out-loud songs like the one Olivia sang. It was soft and pretty and had a nice melody.
“She’s so good!” Emma whispered to me, and I nodded in agreement.
The crowd thought so too, because when Alexis finished, she got more applause than anybody else had gotten, I swore. She blushed a little, took a bow, and then left the stage.
Emma, Mia, Emily, and I ran back to the cupcake table.
“Oh my gosh!” I whispered loudly. (The auditorium doors were still open.) “I can’t believe it!”
“She is such a good singer,” Emily said.
“I have got to talk to her,” Emma said. “Do you guys mind watching the table while I go backstage?”
“Go!” Mia said, giving her a push.
A few minutes later people started coming out of the auditorium—it was intermission. We were busy selling cupcakes when Emma came up with Alexis.
“Sorry, I’m late!” Emma said, sliding behind the table. “It took forever to get to Alexis. She was surrounded by hordes of admirers.”
Alexis laughed. “Yeah, right.” She looked down at her dress. “Sorry, I can’t help, but if I get frosting on this, Dylan will kill me.”
Up close, I could see what a fabulous dress it was. The black dress came just to her knees and had short sleeves and a sparkly band around the waist. She had on shoes with heels that weren’t superhigh but that still made her look even taller. She wore glittery earrings, and her beautiful red hair was blown out straight and shiny and styled like a supermodel’s.
“You are way too glamorous to be selling cupcakes,” I said. “But don’t worry. We’ve got Emily helping us, so we’ll be fine.”
Emily smiled at me, and then I looked up at the customers and saw Mom and Jeff standing there with giant goofy grins on their faces. I knew that they had just heard me and were thrilled that Emily and I were getting along. A few days before, I would have been annoyed, but I just smiled back. It didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.
When intermission was over, we still had some cupcakes left—about a dozen.
“I know,” Alexis said. “Let’s bring them backstage and see who wants one.”
We followed Alexis “backstage,” which was the school cafeteria, where everybody was either getting ready to go onstage or relaxing after being onstage. George ran up as soon as he saw us.
“Nice tux,” I said. “And I liked your act. Pretty impressive.”
“Was I good enough for a cupcake
?” he asked, eyeing the box in my hands.
“Of course,” I said, handing him one. “Just don’t try to juggle it.”
It was fun walking around, giving out cupcakes. Olivia was talking to the two scarf dancers.
“I could feel every eye in the audience on me,” she was saying. “They were hanging on my every word. It was so unnerving!”
“You were good,” I told her.
“Oh. Thanks,” Olivia said with a toss of her thick, brown hair. I could tell she was trying to act as if she got millions of compliments every day, but I knew she was secretly thrilled.
“Want a cupcake?” I asked.
“Oh yes! All that singing made me absolutely famished!” Then she grabbed one out of the box.
As we walked away, I said to Mia, “Now that’s a real drama queen. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I know I don’t!” Mia said.
Since all the cupcakes were gone, we got to go inside and watch the show. We found a few seats in the last row. It was a lot of fun, and when it was done, we caught up with Mom, Jeff, and Alexis’s parents outside.
“We’d like to take everyone out for ice cream,” Mr. Becker said, “to celebrate your fantastic cupcake sales—and Alexis’s big debut. Wasn’t she just amazing?”
“Thanks, Dad!” Alexis said, hugging him.
“I got it all on video,” he said. “One day, when you’re a big star, you can sell the footage for big bucks.”
Alexis laughed. “I do not want to be a big star. I just did that to see if I could. Now I can cross it off my list.”
“No way! You have to keep singing,” Emma insisted.
“Maybe you can convince her over ice cream,” Alexis’s mom said.
We split up and got into our cars to head to Fletcher’s, an old-fashioned–style ice-cream parlor. The chairs are black metal with red-and-white–striped cushions, and the people who sell the ice cream wear red-and-white–striped shirts, big white aprons, and those little hats that look like folded triangles. We found a table big enough for all of us, and the parents sat at one end. I was all the way at the other end, between Mia and Emily.
We placed our ice-cream orders (I got a black-and-white ice-cream soda, which means it’s vanilla ice cream with chocolate soda), and then everybody started fussing over Alexis.