Mia Fashion Plates and Cupcakes

by Coco Simon

  Maybe it was my imagination, but Mom and Eddie seemed to be less lovey-dovey all week, too. By the time Friday night’s cupcake baking came around, I was starting to freak out again. It’s a good thing I had a sleepover with Katie.

  Before the sleepover we had a baking session. Emma, Alexis, and I got to Katie’s house in time for dinner, because Katie’s mom had made her famous chili for us. Then we got down to baking.

  “First, we should do the mini cupcakes for The Special Day,” Alexis said, looking up from her clipboard. “Then we need to make two dozen lemon cupcakes for the baby shower, and those should be pretty easy too.”

  We have a long-standing order to make mini cupcakes for the bridal salon in town, The Special Day. They do a little fashion show of the new dress styles, and they serve the cupcakes as refreshments. It’s an easy job, and Mona, the owner of the shop, lets us put out business cards, so sometimes we get clients from it.

  “I can do the mini cupcakes delivery tomorrow, because Mona asked me to model bridesmaids dresses,” Emma said.

  “You are so going to be a famous model someday,” Katie remarked. “Promise you won’t forget me when you’re famous!”

  Emma made a face. “I’m not so sure if I want to do it forever. But it is kind of fun now.”

  “There’s a girl in the Fashion Club who looks just like a model,” I said. “Do you guys know Jasmine?”

  Emma nodded. “She hangs out with Libby and Beth, right? She should model. I can tell Mona about her. Maybe she could sub for me on the days I can’t do it.”

  “I’ll tell her,” I said. “Thanks.”

  “So how is the Fashion Club going?” Alexis asked, and I knew she was dying for dirt about Olivia. Fortunately I was in the mood to dish.

  “Olivia is being really bossy about everything,” I reported. “Beth is the president of the club, but at the last meeting, Olivia tried to run everything. We’re trying to plan a fashion show, and it’s like she won’t listen to anyone else’s ideas. Like, I suggested they could get cupcakes from us for refreshments, and Olivia shot that down fast.”

  “Why?” Alexis asked.

  “Well, first she said we didn’t have a budget,” I answered. “But then she said cupcakes were too juvenile for a fashion show. Can you imagine?”

  Emma shook her head. “That’s ridiculous!”

  “She has a point about the budget,” Alexis said reasonably. “I mean, you guys just started. But she’s just being mean about the second part.”

  “I know,” I agreed.

  Alexis thought for a minute. “You know, we could donate some cupcakes for the fashion show,” she said. “It’s a nice thing to do for a fellow club, and it’s good publicity.”

  “Really? That would be so cool!” I said. I looked at Emma and Katie. “Are you guys okay with it?”

  “Of course!” Katie said, and Emma nodded.

  “We can pay for the ingredients out of our publicity budget,” Alexis said, furiously scribbling on the pad on her clipboard. “How many people do you think will attend?”

  “Um, I’m not sure,” I admitted.

  “Okay. So how are you guys publicizing it?” Alexis asked. “If you’re doing posters or programs, you could put us down as a sponsor. That’s free advertising.”

  “We didn’t really discuss that yet,” I said kind of sheepishly.

  Alexis made that little tsk-tsk sound. “Fine. Can you just tell me the date and where it is?”

  Now I felt really silly. “Um . . .”

  “Just get back to me when you get more details, and I’ll put it on the schedule,” Alexis said matter-of-factly. “Okay, let’s get baking!”

  Katie made the batter for the mini cupcakes, Alexis prepared the pans, Emma made the icing, and I got started on the flower decorations for the baby shower cupcakes. They were pretty simple, but I still needed time to do them right.

  I took some pale-yellow fondant and rolled it out into a thin sheet. Then I used a tiny flower-shape cookie cutter to cut little flowers out of the fondant. We had to deliver two dozen cupcakes, but I cut out thirty flowers, just in case some of them got messed up. The last step was to use a paintbrush (one I used just for food) to paint little orange centers in each flower with food coloring.

  Emma looked over my shoulder. “So pretty!”

  “Thanks,” I said. “They’re pretty simple, but it works.”

  “The mini cupcakes are cool if you want to frost those, Mia,” Alexis said. “I’m going to start the lemon batter.”

  Even though we all take turns doing jobs, some of us are better at different stuff. Katie and Emma are really good at coming up with recipes. Alexis is a pro at organizing our whole business, but she can also whip up a superfluffy frosting every time. And because I’m artistic, I usually am the one to make decorations and apply the frosting.

  I used a tiny spatula to carefully apply the white frosting onto the mini cupcakes. The spatula is a great tool because it lets you get the frosting nice and smooth. Sometimes we use a pastry bag to squirt the frosting on top, but Mona wants neat cupcakes so nothing gets on the clothes.

  “I don’t know how you do it, Mia,” Katie said, looking over at me. “I can never get it smooth.”

  “I don’t know; I just can,” I replied.

  “She’s got a steady hand,” Alexis said, cracking an egg into the batter.

  I looked back to the cupcakes, carefully smoothing the icing over each one. It felt kind of relaxing, and it’s supersatisfying to see the tiny, perfect cupcakes when you’re all done. I carefully placed them into a cardboard bakery box and then sealed it with a sticker that had our logo on it.

  By the time we finished everything, including cleaning the kitchen, it was nine o’clock. Alexis’s dad came to pick up her and Emma, and Katie and I went upstairs to her room.

  Katie’s room is a lot like her personality—really colorful. I flopped down on a purple beanbag chair, and Katie got on the floor and hugged a rainbow-shape pillow. She always says “rainbow” is her favorite color, even though it’s not really one color.

  “Yay! Sleepover!” Katie said. “Mom said we could stay up late and watch a movie if we want. But we have to start it by ten.”

  “Nothing scary,” I said.

  Katie shivered. “You know I don’t like scary movies,” she said. “I was thinking we’d watch the one about the girls who form a band.”

  I nodded. “Awesome,” I said, and then I guess I sighed. Now that we were done with cupcakes, all my worries about Mom and Eddie came back.

  “You okay?” Katie asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “It’s just . . . you know how I told you about Dad and Lynne breaking up?”

  Katie nodded.

  “Well, now Mom and Eddie are fighting,” I said. “I mean, they had one fight, but they still seem kind of mad at each other, and I’m worried. It reminds me of what happened before my mom and dad got divorced.”

  “That had to be awful,” Katie said sympathetically.

  “I guess you were a baby when your parents got divorced, right?” I asked. “So you wouldn’t remember if they were fighting or not.”

  Katie shook her head. “You know, I don’t even remember living with my dad,” she confessed, and she turned away for a second. Recently there’s been this whole drama with Katie’s dad trying to get back into her life, and she’s just not into it yet. But I know she thinks about it a lot.

  “I did look up a bunch of stuff on the Internet about divorce,” Katie admitted. “Just to try and figure out what happened, because Mom doesn’t like to talk about it. She did tell me that things were stressful because Dad was trying to figure out what to do with his life. Then I read that stress in the house is, like, a leading cause of divorce. But your house isn’t stressful.”

  I thought about that. “I don’t think so,” I said cautiously. “But Dan and I do argue about stuff sometimes. And my mom gets upset when I forget to wear my glasses when I’m supposed to. And Eddie get
s annoyed when I take milk out of the fridge for my cereal and then forget to put it back.”

  Suddenly I could think of a hundred things I’ve done that might cause stress in the house.

  “Oh no.” I groaned. “What if I’m the source of the stress?”

  “No way!” Katie said. “That stuff you do is all normal stuff everyone does. Don’t be silly.”

  I sighed. “I can’t help it. I’m just really worried.”

  “You said it was just one argument, right?” Katie asked. “It’s probably nothing.”

  “I hope so,” I said.

  “Hey, let’s go watch the movie,” Katie said, and then she wiggled her eyebrows. “Don’t forget your glasses, okay?”

  I picked up a pillow and smacked her knees with it. “Very funny . . . Mom!”

  That’s another reason I love Katie: She can always put me in a good mood!

  CHAPTER 8

  Compromising Isn’t Easy!

  Katie and I delivered the cupcakes for the baby shower on Saturday, and then I spent the afternoon doing homework till Mom knocked on my door.

  “Put on something nice,” she said. “We’re going out to dinner.”

  “With who?” I asked.

  “Eddie’s sister,” Mom replied, and then she closed the door before I could ask any more questions.

  I put on some black skinny jeans, a blue knit top, and a black boyfriend blazer, and pulled on my favorite short black boots. I slipped on a light blue infinity scarf with little black xs all over it, just for fun. Then I went downstairs.

  Mom and Eddie were dressed up and getting ready to go. Mom kept smoothing her dress, as though she was a little nervous.

  “Where’s Dan?” I asked.

  “Working at the ShackBurger,” Eddie said. “He’s going to visit with his aunt tomorrow. But I’m glad you’re going to meet Connie after all.” Then he smiled at Mom.

  Mom didn’t smile back. “Let’s go,” she said.

  We ended up driving out of Maple Grove, all the way to a Spanish restaurant in Hudson City. It started to rain a little, and Mom and Eddie weren’t talking much, so I put in my earbuds and listened to music while I went online on my phone, looking at fashion websites. I’m glad I had all that stuff with me because there was a lot of traffic, and it took forever to get there. It was kind of weird that I had never met Connie before, but she and Simón lived in another country and had just moved back here about a month ago. Eddie and Mom had picked her up at the airport, but I was at my dad’s that weekend.

  The dinner was good and everything, and Eddie’s sister and her husband were nice, but it was kind of boring because I was the only kid with four adults. Nobody really talked to me except to ask typical questions like, “How do you like school?” One of these times I’m going to give Katie’s favorite answer: Closed. And I’m not allowed to go on my phone when we’re out to dinner so I just had to sit there and eat.

  As soon as we got back in the car I turned on my phone again.

  “There’s going to be so much traffic on the way home,” Mom said with a sigh.

  “Well, it would have been much easier if we had just—” Eddie began.

  “Oh please,” Mom said. “I thought this was all settled. We had a nice night, didn’t we?”

  I put in my earbuds again, feeling more worried than before. I did not like this at all.

  I couldn’t stop thinking that I was part of the stress that was making Mom and Eddie fight. So the next day I went out of my way to be a perfect child. After breakfast, I cleared the whole table without being asked. After soccer practice, I put my dirty clothes in the laundry, ran the machine, and then took the clothes out of the dryer and folded them.

  As I was putting a pile of towels into the linen closet, Mom walked up and hugged me.

  “You’re being so helpful today, Mia. Thank you!” she said, hugging me.

  Then Eddie walked into the hall. “Mia is always sweet and helpful. She takes after her mother.”

  Mom smiled and turned around and hugged Eddie, and I smiled too. My plan was working!

  So I was in a pretty good mood for the next couple of days, up until the Fashion Club meeting on Tuesday. Then I wasn’t exactly in a bad mood—just an Olivia mood.

  When the meeting started, Olivia started talking right away, like she was the president. Beth didn’t seem to mind, though. I was starting to think she was the most laid-back person I had ever met.

  “Our Friday trip to the mall was a success,” Olivia announced. “Trendz is going to lend us clothes for our fashion show!”

  “Trendz?” I asked, and I know I was frowning. Trendz is this new store that opened up, and the clothes are kind of flashy. I mean, I know everyone’s sense of style is different, but I don’t even think you could call the clothes at Trendz stylish. It is definitely not my favorite store.

  “Yes, Trendz,” Olivia repeated. “Isn’t that awesome?”

  “That girl who works there was really nice,” Julia said. “What was her name?”

  “Nikki,” Beth answered. “Yeah, she was really cool.”

  Then I remembered I had good news for the club. “Guess what? I talked to my friends in the Cupcake Club, and we’re going to provide free cupcakes for the show. So it won’t cost us anything, and our guests will get free refreshments.”

  Olivia frowned. “Cupcakes and fashion do not mix.”

  “But I like cupcakes,” Julia protested.

  “Yeah, and they’re free,” added Chelsea.

  “I think it’s nice,” Beth commented. “Thanks, Mia.”

  “No problem,” I said. “Once we decide on a theme for the show, we can make cupcakes to match the theme.”

  “What do you mean a theme?” Olivia asked.

  “Well, most fashion shows have a theme,” I said. “Sometimes it’s for a season, or, like, a prom fashion show or something. But a lot of the designers have artistic themes.”

  “Ooh, yeah, they always do themes on that Project Design show,” Julia said. “This one designer did ‘Mystical Winter,’ and the dresses were all white and silvery.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Like that.”

  “We should pick a theme when we pick out what clothes we’re going to wear,” Libby suggested. “Nikki said we could pick them out next weekend, right?”

  “Right,” Beth said.

  “We should go Friday again,” Olivia said quickly.

  Of course she would say that, when I was going to be with my dad Friday night. She probably remembered it from when we were friends.

  “Um, I go to my dad’s every other weekend,” I said. “But sometimes I get home early on Sunday. Could we go Sunday afternoon?”

  Guess what Olivia did next? She rolled her eyes, of course. “Mia, your schedule is even worse than Libby’s,” she complained.

  “Actually, Friday night is bad for me too,” Libby said. “Sunday works.”

  Jasmine, Beth, Julia, and Chelsea also agreed to Sunday at two o’clock, and I was relieved.

  “I’ll meet you guys there,” I promised. “My mom can drop me off after she picks me up at the train station.”

  “Cool,” Beth said. “Then I guess we’re good.”

  “Um, did we decide on a date for the show yet?” I asked, thinking of everything Alexis had brought up on Friday night. “And a time? And we should probably talk about doing posters and programs and stuff.”

  “I was thinking we could do the sixteenth,” Beth said. “That’s a Saturday. And maybe we could do, like, seven o’clock? How does that sound?”

  Nobody had a problem with the date, not even Libby, so that got settled quickly.

  “I’ll do posters,” Beth offered.

  Jasmine raised her hand. “And I can do the program.”

  Wow, this is easy, I thought. Alexis had made it seem so complicated.

  “Okay, then, so I guess we’ll met at Trendz on Sunday,” Beth said. “Thanks.”

  Just like before, the Fashion Club meeting had started ou
t rough (thanks to Olivia) and then smoothed out at the end. My English teacher would say, “All’s well that ends well.” Except things were really just beginning.

  CHAPTER 9

  Friendz and Trendz

  How was your weekend with Dad?” Mom asked when I climbed into the passenger seat on Sunday.

  “Good,” I told her. “We walked around Fashion Avenue, and I took some pictures to show to the Fashion Club. I guess I can use them for my newspaper column, too, so that’s good. How was your weekend?”

  “Very nice,” Mom said, smiling, and I felt relieved, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

  “Are you sure it’s not any trouble to drop me off at the mall?” I asked.

  “Not at all,” Mom replied. “Actually, I’m going to go in, because I need to do some shopping. Text me when you’re ready to go, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said and then added, “When I get home, I’ll vacuum my room.”

  Mom looked at me curiously. “That would be great, Mia. Thanks for thinking of it.”

  Sunday is a busy day at the mall, but we lucked out and found a parking spot by the Taste of Italy entrance. Once we got inside I stopped at the directory and found Trendz right above us on the second floor, so I said good-bye to Mom and took the escalator up a flight.

  I actually heard Trendz before I saw it, because deafening pop music blared from the speakers outside. Inside, hot pink lights flashed on and off, illuminating the clothing displays.

  I found the Fashion Club girls at the counter, talking to a girl who looked a little older than a high schooler. She had long, curly auburn hair, and she wore this cute little striped beanie on top of her head. I thought her bright pink lipstick looked pretty cool, and she wore a really long silver necklace with her gauzy white top. I figured this was the Nikki they had talked about at the meeting.

  “Hi, Mia!” Julia called out, waving as I walked in. I smiled when I saw her.

  “Hi!” I replied, running up to the counter. “Hope I’m not late.”

  “No,” Beth said. “Nikki was just telling us what to do.”

  Nikki smiled. “Hey. So I was just saying you can pick out a total of twelve outfits and leave them here until the day of the fashion show. My manager said it’s okay, but we just need to log everything in.”