Mia the Way the Cupcake Crumbles

by Coco Simon

  I held the azabache up to my face.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, and then I realized I was talking to a bracelet and felt embarrassed. Luckily, Mom had her back to me, Eddie was reading the newspaper, and Dan’s face was hidden behind a cereal box.

  I sat down to a plate of waffles (my favorite!) and had plenty of time to brush my teeth and give my hair one last brush before it was time to head to the bus. As I walked there, I noticed the leaves on the trees were just beginning to turn orange and yellow, and the air had that scent you only smell in fall. The new morning sky was a beautiful, bright blue.

  This is going to be a great day, I thought.

  I got on the bus, and after one stop, Katie was sitting next to me. The day before, I hadn’t said a word, but now I had a lot to tell her.

  “So I forgot to mention that my cousins moved here from Puerto Rico,” I said. “Laura, who’s my mom’s age, and Sebastian, her son. He’s a freshman in high school.”

  “That’s nice,” Katie said. “What’s Sebastian like?”

  “I don’t know him very well,” I admitted. “But get this: He dyes his hair black, and I think he and Dan are now, like, best friends or something. They both like that screaming metal music Dan loves.”

  “Well, that’s good, right?” Katie asked. “I mean, it must be hard to move to a new school from far away. But I guess you know that.”

  “Manhattan’s not that far away, but I get what you mean,” I said. “I never thought of that, actually. Anyway, a lot of kids in the high school are into that music, so I bet he’ll make a lot of friends.”

  Katie started to giggle. “Maybe on his first day he’ll sit with somebody at lunch who brings in a cupcake, and they’ll form a Cupcake Club.”

  I laughed. “Can you imagine? Metal cupcakes. With black icing.”

  “And green pudding inside,” Katie said. Then she talked in a deep, growly voice. “Eat our heavy metal cupcakes or else!”

  By now I was cracking up, and I couldn’t stop. It didn’t help that Katie kept talking in the heavy metal cupcake voice the whole ride to school.

  On the way to my locker, we passed Sophie and Lucy. They’re best friends who are both nice, and friends with the Cupcake Club.

  “Mia, love the skirt,” Sophie said.

  “Thanks!” I replied.

  Then when I was getting my books for first period, Olivia passed by. Unlike yesterday, she stopped this time.

  “My gosh, Mia, how did you get your hair so smooth?” she asked, and I could tell she was genuinely interested—she wasn’t trying to insult me.

  “It helps when it’s not raining,” I replied, and Olivia nodded.

  “You can say that again,” she said and then walked away.

  There were no surprises in my morning classes (no pop quizzes!), and when I got to lunch, I found that somebody (probably Eddie) had turned yesterday’s leftovers into a chicken and rice salad for me. Yum!

  I was digging into lunch when Emma noticed my bracelet.

  “That’s so cute,” she said, holding my wrist to get a better look at the stone. “I’ve never seen you wear this before.”

  “Oh, right, I got it last night,” I said. First, I explained about the whole party for Laura and Sebastian. Then I launched into my bad luck stories. “So the last straw was when I dropped two plates of food onto the rug! But Laura was so nice about it. She gave this to me and said it would bring me good luck. She’s had this since she was a baby. It’s a Puerto Rican tradition.”

  “Cool,” Katie said. “I found a four-leaf clover once, when I was little. I keep it pressed inside a book. I’m not sure if it’s good luck or not, though. Maybe I need to take it out of the book to find out.”

  “Well, my mom saved the first tooth I lost, and she gave it to me when I found out the tooth fairy wasn’t real,” Emma said. “For some reason, I feel like it’s a lucky charm. Like, if I have to take a test, I make sure I have it with me.”

  “You never told me that!” Alexis said accusingly.

  Emma shrugged. “I never thought about it. Do you have any good luck charms?”

  “Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck,” Alexis quipped.

  “No way,” Emma said. “You would have a good luck charm that relates to money.”

  Alexis nodded. “I’m not superstitious, though—I swear. But when I was eight, my dad and I went to the store, and he got a penny in change, and he gave it to me. I remember being so thrilled. And then we were walking out of the store, and a display of oil cans came crashing down and it missed me by, like, an inch!”

  “Get out!” I cried. “Really?”

  Alexis nodded again. “Yup. I could’ve been crushed or something. So maybe the penny is lucky; maybe it’s not. But I kept it ever since, because you never know.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “You never know.”

  By now I was convinced the azabache was working. The day was going great! And when I got to my locker before social studies, I saw something sparkle on the floor near my feet. A penny!

  “Whoo!” I cried, not caring who heard me. How weird was that? Alexis was talking about a lucky penny, and here it was—a lucky penny of my very own.

  You can’t have too much good luck, Laura had said, so I picked up the penny and put it into my pocket.

  I was in a pretty good mood after that—until the end of the day, when Katie and I were heading for the bus.

  “I have so much math homework to do,” Katie groaned as we waited in line.

  Then it hit me. “Math!” I cried. “I left my stupid workbook in my locker.”

  I hesitated. I knew I had to go get it—but then I would miss the bus.

  “Argh!” I cried. “I’ve got to go get it.”

  “How will you get home?” Katie asked.

  “I don’t know—I’ll text Mom or something,” I said as I ran off. My bad mood had returned in full force.

  I got the book and ran back outside—and the bus was definitely gone. I was getting out my phone to text my mom when Sophie spotted me.

  “Hey, Mia, did you miss your bus?” she asked. “We can give you a ride.”

  “Oh, that would be great,” I said. “Let me just text my mom.”

  Missed bus. Getting ride home with Sophie. OK?

  Fine. Thank Mrs. Baudin for me.

  “I’m good. Mom says it’s okay,” I said. “Thanks so much.” I slid into the backseat of the Baudins’ car as Sophie got in the front.

  “Mom, we’re giving Mia a ride,” Sophie informed her.

  “No problem,” said Mrs. Baudin. “Just remind me where you live.”

  I gave her my address as she pulled away. She immediately started talking. “This has been a crazy day,” she told Sophie. “The planning committee for the fund-raiser is so far behind. We haven’t even gotten the ad in the paper yet!”

  Sophie craned her head around the seat. “Mom’s in the Maple Grove Historical Society,” she explained.

  “Oh, we went there on a field trip when I was in the third grade,” I said. “I mostly remember the photos of the women sewing clothes.”

  “The theme of the event is the textile and sewing industry in Maple Grove,” Mrs. Baudin said. “There’s going to be a lovely film shown. That’s all set. But the menu! That’s still a mess. I have no idea what to serve. Sandwiches? Soup? Dessert?”

  “Um, Mom, Mia and her friends have a great cupcake business,” Sophia told her.

  In the rearview mirror, I could see Mrs. Baudin’s eyes light up.

  “Of course! I’ve heard of the Cupcake Club,” she said. “You do themed cupcakes, don’t you? Could you come up with custom cupcakes for us?”

  “That’s our specialty,” I said. “We have a large menu of flavors you can choose from. And if the theme is sewing, we can do some great decorations to look like spools of thread or buttons. . . .”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” Mrs. Baudin sounded thrilled. “That would be perfect. How can I book the ord
er?”

  I reached into my backpack and took out a business card, which I had because Alexis made sure we all carried them with us, all the time. “I have a business card I can give you.”

  “My, how professional,” said Mrs. Baudin. “Please hand it to Sophie. I’ll be sure to contact you.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “We won’t disappoint you.”

  Inside, I was feeling thrilled too. Just yesterday, Alexis had said we needed new business. Now we had new business!

  Mrs. Baudin pulled up in front of my house.

  “Thank you for the ride,” I said as the car stopped in front of my house.

  “Well, it sure was lucky that you missed your bus,” Mrs. Baudin said. “You solved my problem.”

  Yes, it was lucky, I thought, looking down at my bracelet.

  CHAPTER 5

  A Sunday of Surprises

  The very next weekend was a Dad Weekend. Ever since my parents got divorced, I spend one weekend with my mom and the next weekend with my dad in Manhattan. So I have Mom Weekends and Dad Weekends.

  Mom Weekends always feel like normal weekdays, because I am used to living in Maple Grove now. It feels like home, even though Dad’s not there and I miss him sometimes. It’s complicated, I guess. But, anyway, on Mom Weekends, I do normal things like clean my room and watch movies with Mom and Eddie, and do Cupcake Club stuff, and have soccer practice during the season.

  On Dad Weekends, I stay at his apartment in Manhattan—the place I used to call home. Now, it kind of feels like I’m visiting a hotel or something. My room there is always clean, because I’m hardly ever there to mess it up, and Dad has a cleaning lady who comes in and cleans the apartment, anyway. And even though I have to do normal things like homework, Dad and I usually end up doing special things together. Things you can’t do in Maple Grove.

  For example, every Friday night on a Dad Weekend, we go get sushi at Tokyo 16, the best sushi restaurant ever. There is no sushi restaurant in Maple Grove; the nearest one is in Stonebrook, and it still doesn’t compare.

  And Manhattan has amazing shops and museums and art galleries, too. And then there’s Broadway. This weekend, the first after I got my azabache, Dad took my best Manhattan friend, Ava Monroe, and me to a Broadway musical.

  It used to be confusing to have two best friends, but now it seems perfectly normal. Katie is my best friend in Maple Grove, and I see her all the time. Ava has been my best friend since I was a little girl, and I see her every time I have a Dad Weekend.

  You would think that my two best friends would be alike, right? But mostly they’re not, especially on the outside. Katie has long brown hair that is sometimes messy, and she mostly wears jeans, and sneakers that are sometimes stained with paint or decorating gel. Ava is petite with adorable short black hair, and she’s superstylish. She’s half Korean and half Scottish, and she looks like a mix of both.

  Ava loves fashion and is not so interested in cupcakes or food; Katie is obsessed with cupcakes and food and could care less about fashion. So why do I like them both so much? Well, they’re both funny. And nice. And they both get me.

  Tonight, Ava slept over after we saw the Broadway show. We were on the floor in my room, looking at the program from the show, when Ava noticed my bracelet.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  I explained to her about the azabache, and she nodded.

  “Laura sounds like my grandma—my Korean grandma,” she said. “She freaks out if she sees a crow because she thinks they bring bad luck. And she says she had five kids because four is bad luck. And she always brings us this sticky rice candy, and she tells me to eat it for good luck before I take a test.”

  “Does it work?” I asked.

  Ava shrugged. “I think so. I always got good grades on my tests after I ate the candy. But usually I get good grades on tests, anyway.”

  “Well, I had a terrible day last Monday,” I said. “And as soon as Laura gave me the bracelet, everything changed.”

  “Then keep wearing it,” Ava said. “You might as well if it works, right?”

  “Right,” I agreed.

  The next morning was Sunday, so I didn’t need an alarm to wake up. Ava and I both woke up at the same time to the smell of delicious warm bagels and hot cocoa that Dad got for us. They don’t have great bagels in Maple Grove, either, so I love getting bagels when I’m at my Dad’s.

  “Rise and shine,” Dad said, tapping on my door.

  “Did you get cinnamon raisin?” I asked.

  “Of course!” Dad said.

  Yawning and still wearing our pj’s, Ava and I went into the kitchen and ate the bagels. It was a nice, lazy morning, and when Dad announced it was time to get Ava home and head to the train station, I was only a little bit sad. I’m used to the back and forth by now.

  We walked Ava home, and I hugged her when we got to her building.

  “Good luck with your good luck,” Ava said, and I smiled at her.

  “Thanks!”

  We left Ava, and I thought Dad and I were going to get on the subway to go to the train station, like we always do. But Dad made a right off Ava’s street instead of a left.

  “Dad, where are we going?” I asked.

  Dad looked at me and smiled. “We’re going to make a couple of stops this morning, mija.”

  “Where?” I asked, but Dad kept on smiling and wouldn’t answer.

  I was dying of curiosity, but I didn’t have to wait long, because after a few blocks Dad stopped in front of an eyeglasses shop.

  “New glasses?” I asked.

  Dad nodded. “Mom says your lenses are fine. So you can buy new frames here, and then your shop back home will put them in for you.”

  I hugged him. “Thank you!” I cried. No more fuchsia! And this was a pretty fancy-looking eyeglasses shop, so I knew I would find some great frames.

  And I did. Thirty minutes later, I came out holding a little bag with my new frames—black, smart-looking ones this time. The frames were thin, and the rounder shape really looked good with my face.

  We started walking, and once again Dad made a wrong turn at the corner.

  “Okay, I know you’re going the wrong way,” I told him.

  Dad grinned. “One more stop.”

  Curious again, I followed him two more blocks. This time he stopped in front of a big pink box protruding from the wall of a building. A big sign on the top read: CUPCAKE VENDING MACHINE.

  “Oh my gosh, Katie told me about this!” I said. “We didn’t think it could be real. They just put it here, right?”

  “It’s only been here for a little while,” Dad said. “I thought you’d like to see it. And maybe we can get some cupcakes for your club meeting this afternoon.”

  “Yes! I can’t wait to try it!” I said, and I got in line. And yes, there were about five people in front of me to buy cupcakes.

  I watched to see how the people in front of me did it. After you put your money in, a screen popped up. There were a dozen cupcakes to choose from! I had never even seen some of the flavors before. Pineapple ginger? Caramelized plum with cardamom? (I made a note to myself to ask Katie what the heck cardamom was.)

  Finally, it was my turn, and Dad put a credit card into the machine.

  “Do you want one?” I asked.

  Dad patted his stomach. “No, thanks. That bagel is all the carbs I need today.”

  As I was waiting in line, I figured out what I wanted to get. I chose a range from basic to exotic. One black and white (vanilla cake with chocolate icing), one lemon coconut, one banana peanut butter. And I went for the cardamom one just because I was supercurious.

  Each cupcake came out in its own perfect box. Dad, who thinks of everything, had brought a small shopping bag with handles. The boxes fit inside perfectly.

  “Now you can carry them on the train without squishing them,” he said.

  I hugged him again. “You are the best! Thank you!”

  Normally, on the train ride home, I draw in my sk
etchbook or do stuff on my phone. But today I just held the cupcake bag on my lap, looking out the window. I didn’t feel bored; just peaceful, I guess. It had been a great weekend, and I felt really happy. I couldn’t wait to show Katie those cupcakes!

  Mom was there to pick me up at the Maple Grove train station, and I showed her my new frames. She promised to get the lenses fit into them in a day or two. When we pulled up to the house, I heard loud noises coming from inside.

  “Another party?” I asked Mom.

  “Well, not exactly,” she replied as I opened the door. She had a funny look on her face.

  The sound of loud music assaulted me. Eddie walked up to greet us.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Eddie.

  “Missed you, Mia,” Eddie said, giving me a hug. “That’s Dan and Sebastian’s band. They’re using the basement to practice.”

  He had to practically shout over the music.

  “Seriously?” I asked. “This is insane!”

  “Yeah,” Eddie said, with a slight shrug. “It’s a little loud now. We’re going to put some foam on the ceiling to cut down the sound.”

  I looked at Mom, and the look on her face told me everything. She didn’t like it any more than I did, but she had gone along with it to keep the peace with Eddie.

  “But I’ve got a Cupcake meeting soon,” I protested.

  “Don’t worry,” Eddie said. “I told them they have to stop before your meeting starts. That’s fair to everybody, right?” he asked, but he was smiling at Mom, his eyes like a hopeful puppy’s.

  “Can I please have some earplugs until this is over?” I shouted.

  Mom and Eddie didn’t answer, so I just gave a big sigh and put my bag away in my room. Then I set up the dining room for our meeting, putting the cupcake boxes in the middle of the table.

  I didn’t even hear the doorbell when it rang. I only knew my friends had arrived because Tiki and Milkshake suddenly started barking at the door. I went to answer it, passing Eddie.

  “They’re here! Please stop this racket!” I shouted.