by Chloe Taylor
Priti returned to her spot beside Zoey, and Zoey reached over to give her a high five.
“Nice work, Priti,” Zoey whispered. “You really showed the mean girls you’re a cooking genius.”
Priti beamed. “I love to cook. It’s fun for me! How about you get us some bowls and spoons, and I’ll gather the ingredients. We’re partners, right?”
“You betcha,” said Zoey.
The girls began making their cake batter side by side, talking as they worked. Zoey filled Priti in on the details of tap class and how Kate would soon be back to playing sports. And Priti told Zoey that she and Libby had gone to the movies the other night and seen the worst movie about a camping trip gone wrong, and she could still hardly sleep at night. Zoey tried to focus on her ingredients, but Priti’s stories always made her laugh, and in the back of her mind, she was thinking about Lulu’s wedding dress, which she had just started to cut out and baste. Before she knew it, Mrs. Holmes was standing in front of the girls, ready to taste their cakes.
Zoey’s cake had just come out of the oven, and she hadn’t even had a chance to taste it herself. But it looked amazing, and smelled wonderful, too. So she felt pretty confident it would be delicious.
Mrs. Holmes tried Priti’s cake first, smiling as she held a bite in her mouth, and then nodded sharply. “Well done, Priti. I can tell you have a way with baking. And now you, Miss Webber.”
Mrs. Holmes took a forkful of Zoey’s beautiful cake and placed it in her mouth. Immediately, she made a tight, pinched face and reached for a paper towel to spit it out. “Oh my,” she said.
“What?” asked Zoey, panicked. “I did everything Priti did! I measured so carefully. I think.” Now that she thought about it, Zoey had tuned out a few times to worry about Lulu’s dress, but still . . . She had checked off each ingredient on her list as she went along, just as Mrs. Holmes had told them to.
“Zoey, you made a very common error for a young chef. You mixed up the salt with the sugar! Better luck next time, my dear.” Mrs. Holmes moved on to the pair beside Zoey.
Zoey picked up a fork and took a bite of her cake, then spit it right out. It was a disgusting, salty mess! She couldn’t help giggling as she handed the fork to Priti to try. “It’s reeeeeally awful. Try it!”
Priti shook her head. “No thanks, I’ll eat mine!”
The girls watched as Mrs. Holmes walked around the large kitchen, tasting cake after cake. Emily did a good job, and so did Carter, surprisingly. Something had happened to Ivy’s, and it hadn’t baked properly.
“Oh, well, at least I can sew,” said Zoey. “And you can bake. Together we’re the perfect team.” Then an idea occurred to her. “Hey, you should start a baking blog! You can call it KarmaKid or KarmaCakes.”
“When would I have time?” Priti asked. “I’m so busy with school, and friends, and going back and forth between my mom’s house and my dad’s apartment. I don’t think I could do one more thing.”
Zoey nodded in agreement but thought about the many things she juggled—her schoolwork, her blog, her Etsy store, and now two dresses for Lulu’s wedding. She was always doing a million things at once! Of course, Zoey thought, I’m also the one with the salty cake!
“Can I have a bite of yours?” Zoey asked Priti.
“Of course, Zo,” Priti said. “Have as much as you want. I’m going to bake another one when I get home today, to practice. This was so much fun!”
“Do you think Ivy wants my cake?” Zoey asked jokingly. “I’m happy to share it with her.”
Both girls laughed and then finished Priti’s cake together before they had to clean up.
When Zoey got home from school, she saw a small package on the front porch. She picked it up, assuming it was for her father, and was delighted to find that it was addressed to her. The return address was New York, New York.
“A package from Daphne Shaw!” Zoey squealed. She hurriedly unlocked the front door and ran inside, dropping her backpack and plopping down on the couch to open her package. Daphne Shaw, otherwise known as Zoey’s mentor and long-time commenter on Zoey’s blog, was a famous designer. She always sent Zoey the most amazing, unique things, like little custom-made Sew Zoey labels for Zoey to sew into her clothes, and a special sticks-and-stones bracelet when Zoey was being cyberbullied. She was Zoey’s fashion fairy godmother and fashion idol.
Zoey hastily used her house key to slice through the packing tape and opened the box. Inside was a beautiful blue ring of fabric that looked like a large scrunchie. The fabric was toile, with a print with miniature images of couples sitting under trees, and had a tiny Daphne Shaw label on it. Beneath it was a note.
Dear Zoey,
Congratulations on being asked to design your first wedding dress! Who knows? You could be the next Vera Wang or Monique Lhuillier. I made this garter especially for your aunt to wear on her big day. It’s important not to forget the “something blue”!
Your friend, and
Fashionsista,
Daphne
Zoey was thrilled. She’d heard the saying “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” for brides to wear on their wedding day, but with all the rushing around Aunt Lulu was doing, she wouldn’t have time to think of it herself before the wedding. But Zoey would have this beautiful garter from Daphne Shaw to give to her, to make the day extra special. Zoey resolved to send a handwritten thank-you note to Daphne immediately.
“But first,” she said to herself, “I’ve got about four hours of cutting and basting to do on Aunt Lulu’s wedding gown. I wish I had some more of that molten chocolate cake to eat!”
CHAPTER 6
This Is Not the Dress!
Don’t get excited, readers! This is not my aunt’s dress. But being asked to design a wedding gown means spending tons of time reading wedding magazines and watching some of those wedding dress reality shows, so I had to sketch my own version of a princess gown. I could never make this—at least, I couldn’t right now, because the beading and embellishments are so complicated. But I do think it’s lovely! Particularly for a castle wedding, in a fairy tale, with a horse and carriage . . .
Anyway, it turns out I’m not a natural baker like my friend Priti. Apparently, you have to be very careful not to mix up the salt with sugar! I do love my home ec class, but I sometimes wish it was an advanced sewing course instead, so that I could learn a few more techniques for constructing gowns. If I’m going to make my aunt’s dress, I want to be sure I get it right! Luckily, I have months to work on it. . . .
On Saturday morning Zoey woke up happy. She’d worked hard the evening before, sewing away on Lulu’s dress, so that she could take the morning off and go to Libby’s house. Libby had asked all the girls to come over and hang out, and Zoey couldn’t wait to see her friends outside of school and not think about wedding chores for a few hours.
She took a shower and then belted a long sweater over a pair of tights. She asked her dad if he could drop her off at Libby’s. He had to head into work for a while, but her brother, Marcus, offered to take her.
On the way over, Zoey asked, “How are you doing practicing for Aunt Lulu’s you-know-what?”
Marcus shrugged. “Okay, I guess. It’s not that hard of a song to learn. I’m just nervous about playing it for her wed—for her you-know-what. It’s not like just a concert or something, you know?”
Zoey nodded. “Oh, I know! I’m worried the dress I’m making her is going to fit badly, or she won’t love it, or I won’t finish in time and she’ll have to wear some old thing in her closet. If it were anyone else . . .” Zoey let her voice trail off.
“But it’s for Aunt Lulu,” Marcus finished.
“Exactly,” Zoey agreed.
Neither of them had to say what they were thinking: that for Lulu, who had been a stand-in for their mother since she’d passed away, they would do anything.
At Libby’s house, Zoey thanked Marcus for the ride.
“I’m heading over to Allie’s
for a while,” he said. “Call me when you need me to pick you up.”
Allie Lovallo was Marcus’s girlfriend and one of Zoey’s best design pals. “Cool—tell Allie I said hi! See you later.”
Zoey ran up to Libby’s house and was pleased to see Priti and Kate just walking to the front door. The girls group hugged, as if they hadn’t seen one another in forever, even though they’d all been at school the day before.
“Libby!” Zoey yelled, dropping her bag. “I miss you! We don’t have enough classes together this semester. Tell me about your elective! I want to know everything.”
Libby laughed. “Zoey, we eat lunch together every day at school. But come in, come in, let’s go in the kitchen. My mom took Sophie and cleared out for the morning.”
Sophie was Libby’s little sister, who was in first grade. Zoey discovered Sophie’s passion for interior design by mistake. Zoey’s fabric scraps started going missing, and it turned out Sophie had used them to make rugs, pillows, and other decorations for her dollhouse, not realizing she was supposed to ask Zoey’s permission before taking them. Now Zoey gave fabric scraps to Sophie on purpose. She handed Libby a bagful of them to give to her sister when she returned.
The girls all headed into the kitchen and took seats around the large island. Libby had made hot cocoa, and she poured some into mugs for everyone.
“Zoey and I learned how to make molten chocolate cakes in home ec the other day,” Priti said. “We could make some to snack on, if you guys have semisweet baking chocolate. The rest of the ingredients are just flour, butter, eggs, and regular stuff.”
Libby checked the pantry. “Got them!” she yelled. “My mom won’t mind if we use the oven, as long as we remember to turn it off when we’re done.”
Priti quickly looked up the recipe on her phone, and placed it on the counter.
“I’m not so good at baking, you guys,” Kate said. “But I’ll help stir or whatever since I’m officially two-armed again!”
“Yay!” Zoey cheered. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about swimming yet?”
Kate had had to sit out from swim team for the whole semester so far and after being voted captain in the summer during preseason swim camp.
Kate nodded. “Yep—I already talked to my coach. I’m back on the team.” She beamed. “I’m just not myself when I’m not on a team. I miss it too much!”
“Good for you, Kate,” said Libby. “You love it, and you should do it! Even if we see you a little less.”
The girls began gathering ingredients and bowls to make the cakes. Luckily, it wasn’t a very complicated recipe, particularly with Priti supervising, and soon they had the cakes in the oven.
“So how’s woodshop?” Priti asked Kate.
“Industrial arts,” Kate corrected her.
“Industrial arts, then,” Priti said with a grin.
“It’s great,” Kate replied. “I’m learning a lot. There are more girls in the class than I thought there would be, and it’s really like an art class, except we’re making things with plywood and jigsaws. I’ve started my first big project.”
“What is it?” asked Libby. She set the timer for the oven and came to sit beside Kate at the island.
“A snowboard!” Kate grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and did a quick sketch of the board. “Since my arm is finally better, my mom said I could learn to snowboard this winter.”
“That’s awesome, Kate!” said Priti. “You’ll be great at it. I can’t believe you can make that in woodshop. I mean, industrial arts.”
Kate nodded. “I probably can’t really use the board on the slopes, but I can turn it into a neat shelf in my room for trophies. I just wanted to make something different, something that was me. Lorenzo’s in my class, and he thought it was a good idea too.”
Zoey and Libby exchanged a glance over Kate’s head but didn’t say anything about Lorenzo thinking everything Kate said or did was a good idea. They didn’t want to embarrass their friend.
“So what are you doing in your computer science class?” Kate asked Libby, quickly changing the subject. For a second, Zoey wondered if maybe Kate did know what they were all thinking about Lorenzo, and didn’t want to give them a chance to say it.
Libby slapped the counter. “Oh! That’s what I wanted to remember. My class is great—I’m learning so much neat web design stuff. And the other day I was thinking maybe I could make something for your blog, Zoey.”
“Like what?” Zoey asked.
“Um, like some sort of animated button that spins or bounces. It could advertise your Sew Zoey store, and people could click through to see your designs.”
“You can do that?” Zoey was impressed.
“Absolutely! I can make a bunch of things now. And Gabe is in the class with me, and he loves to play with photo-editing software, so he’s shown me a bunch of other tricks, too.”
The timer dinged, indicating the cakes were ready to come out, and at the same time an idea dinged in Zoey’s mind. Gabe! Zoey knew he was a talented photographer. Maybe he could help her aunt fix those engagement photos from the “raw photojournalistic” photographer.
Libby pulled out the four small cakes from the oven and placed them on top of potholders on the counter. She turned off the oven. The cakes looked and smelled amazing.
Zoey resolved to call her aunt as soon as she left Libby’s. Right now, she and her friends had some cakes to eat!
Marcus picked Zoey up a few hours later, and they headed home. Back at her sewing machine, Zoey worked steadily on Lulu’s dress for a few hours, until the doorbell rang. She hopped up to get it, and she was happy to see her aunt Lulu standing there.
“Aunt Lulu!” Zoey said. “What are you doing here? Are you coming over for dinner?”
Lulu shook her head. “Not this time, Zoey. I wanted to stop by because I have great news! I found another photographer to shoot the wedding! He’s above our price range and can only be there for two hours, because he’s booked later that evening to shoot another wedding nearby, but I’m desperate. His portfolio is excellent, and I think we’ll at least have pictures that don’t make John and I look like we have the plague.”
Zoey was relieved. She knew having this big to-do item off the list made her aunt happy. And it reminded Zoey she had news to tell of her own.
“That’s awesome, Aunt Lulu. And I have an idea for how to fix your engagement photos. . . .”
Lulu tilted her head. “Oh? Do tell!”
“Well, my friend Gabe is a really talented photographer, and he’s taken a bunch of classes about how to use photo-editing software. Maybe you could e-mail him the files, and he could adjust the lighting or add a filter or something?”
Aunt Lulu chewed her lip a moment. “I don’t know, Zoey,” she said slowly. “I’m not sure I feel comfortable asking one of your friends to edit another photographer’s work. I don’t even have the high-res files, just the proofs.”
“He’s so great,” Zoey persisted. “Look, I’ll show you some of his pictures.”
Zoey ran over to where she’d left her cell phone beside her sewing machine and found a photo Gabe had taken recently of her and Kate at their tap recital. She ran back over to her aunt and showed it to her.
Aunt Lulu studied it. “Well, that is very good. I’m impressed.”
Zoey found several more and showed them to her aunt. Lulu seemed to consider it a moment and then sighed. “I think I’m just going to order invitations with no picture on them. I simply can’t wait any longer, or we’ll have no guests at this big event we’re planning! But thank you, Zoey, I appreciate the suggestion.”
Zoey shrugged. “No problem, Aunt Lulu. I just want you to have everything you want.”
Mr. Webber and Marcus came upstairs then, and Mr. Webber gave Lulu a quick hug. “Marcus was playing something for me in the basement, but I thought I heard your voice, Lulu. How’s it all going with the you-know-what? Is John going nuts? Are you going nuts?”
Lulu laug
hed, but it sounded slightly shrill. “No, no. Well, yes, a bit. But it’s all coming together. Throwing a surprise wedding in three weeks sounded more romantic and easy-breezy than it’s actually turning out to be, but in the end I know we’ll love it.”
“You will,” said Zoey’s dad. “We’re all looking forward to it so much.”
“I’ve been practicing your song,” Marcus said. “I’ll be ready.”
“Jack,” Lulu said to Mr. Webber, looking over Zoey’s head. “Could the two of us talk for a moment? In private?” She smiled at Zoey and Marcus, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
But something was out of the ordinary. Zoey could sense it. Her aunt wanted to talk to her dad alone? That never happened! She looked at Marcus for answers, but he looked as clueless as she was.
Zoey made a big fake sigh and said, “We know when we’re not wanted. We’ll go upstairs, and you can guys tell us when you’re done talking.”
“Nonsense,” Mr. Webber said. “You’ve got sewing to do in the dining room, and Marcus needs to practice his guitar. Lulu can come up to my office for a second.”
Zoey wondered if her dad knew what Lulu needed to talk to him about. You-know-what things? Finances? John? Even though Lulu was their mother’s and not their father’s sister, Lulu had been such a fixture in their house over the years that Zoey knew Lulu viewed Zoey’s father almost as a real brother and not just a brother-in-law.
The adults went upstairs, and Marcus looked at Zoey. “That was weird. I’m going downstairs to practice. Tell me if you overhear anything.”
Zoey agreed, and she got back to work on the gown, her mind unable to come up with a single thing her aunt couldn’t say to Zoey’s father in front of her and her brother. After about ten minutes, her father and aunt came downstairs, both of them smiling, and her aunt told her good-bye.
“I think I’ll have the dress ready for your first fitting on Tuesday,” Zoey said. She was still bursting with curiosity, but she knew she ought to respect her aunt’s privacy. “I can bring it by if you want.”