Katie Starting from Scratch

by Coco Simon

  “We have one in there. It’s a good idea, actually,” she said. “There’s so much going on, and this way we can keep track of where everyone is and where everyone needs to be.”

  “Now you sound like Alexis,” I teased. But I was starting to feel like none of my friends understood me anymore. I mean, Mom’s calendar thing was ridiculous, right? She only had to keep track of me. But I guess now she thought she had to keep track of me, Emily, and Jeff.

  I finished pouring the batter into the mini-muffin cups. Every week, we make a big batch of tiny white cupcakes for the bridal shop in town. They do a small fashion show where models show off the newest wedding dresses, and they serve the cupcakes to their guests. They’re small and pretty, and some of the guests have ordered cupcakes from us after that. Emma is the one who always brings the cupcakes there, and sometimes she models bridesmaid dresses too.

  “I never get tired of making these,” Emma said, sliding the cupcakes tins into the oven. “They’re so pretty.”

  Later on, while we were icing the cupcakes, Emma’s brother Matt came into the kitchen. He’s a grade above us, and he has blond hair and blue eyes, like Emma.

  “Making any extras?” he asked.

  “It’s the bridal shop order,” Emma told him. “So, no.”

  Matt frowned. “Not even one?”

  Emma snapped a kitchen towel in his direction. “None! Get out of here! You eat too many cupcakes, anyway.”

  “Well, maybe I’ll go to Alexis’s house and see if she’ll bake me some,” he said, and then he walked out.

  I shook my head. “Actually, she probably would bake him cupcakes,” I said. “Unless she’s off doing something with the business club.” I put down the cupcake I was frosting and stared at Emma. “What’s up with Alexis lately, anyway?”

  Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. I know the business thing is important to her. But it’s okay. It’s not like she’s not working just as hard for the Cupcake Club.”

  “That’s for sure,” I agreed. “I guess that’s why I wish she was going to be at the talent show with us. She’s our rock!”

  “Yeah, I’m nervous too,” Emma said. “We’re still meeting Sunday night to figure out what we’re baking for the show, right?”

  “Right,” I said. “I even wrote it on our new calendar.”

  It didn’t take long to finish the mini cupcakes. Mom picked me up at around nine.

  “So, when does our weekend with Jeff and Emily begin?” I asked.

  “Tomorrow morning,” Mom said. “We’re all going for a run together.”

  That didn’t sound too bad. I liked to run, especially if we went around the track in the town park. But the next morning, Mom drove us down to the park by the river.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked.

  “Emily and Jeff like to run here,” Mom said. “I said we’d try it.”

  “But we have tried it, and we didn’t like it,” I reminded her. “The river smells all . . . fishy and stuff. And the track is just a boring, straight line.”

  “We can try something new for a change,” Mom said cheerfully, getting out of the car. But her voice was fake cheerful. Maybe someone else wouldn’t be able to tell, but I could.

  “But this path isn’t new to us,” I pointed out. “We did it. We didn’t like it.”

  “There they are!” Mom said, waving at Jeff and Emily, who were jogging toward us. Then she ran off to join them, ignoring my last comment.

  I wasn’t about to let them get ahead of me, so I quickly caught up. We jogged all the way down the straight, boring path and then all the way back to the parking lot.

  “Wow, that was great!” Jeff said, bending over to catch his breath. “And it’s such a beautiful morning.”

  “You said it,” Mom agreed. “We’ll meet you at the diner in a half hour, okay?”

  “You got it,” Jeff said, and then he kissed Mom on the cheek.

  “A half hour?” I asked. “I’m starving.”

  “We should each take a quick shower,” Mom said. “We’re going to the mall after the diner.”

  “The mall? For what?” I asked.

  “Emily needs some new school clothes, and Jeff asked if we would help pick them out,” Mom said. “Her mom’s been out of town a lot lately and hasn’t had time to take her shopping.”

  I groaned. I hated clothes shopping. I went with Mia sometimes only because I knew she loved it, and at least Mia was fun to be around.

  Mom sighed. “Katie, I really don’t appreciate your attitude lately. We have fun things planned today, I promise you. Just relax and go with the flow, okay?”

  There is probably nothing more annoying than having someone tell you to “go with the flow” when you’re in a bad mood. I didn’t talk for the rest of the drive, and when we got home, I quickly showered, dressed, and went downstairs with my hair wet.

  “Are you going like that?” Mom asked. She had kept her hair back in a ponytail so it wouldn’t get wet.

  “It’s warm out. It’ll dry. Besides, I’m hungry! Let’s go.”

  Of course, when we got to the diner, we saw that Emily’s hair was not wet like mine. She had it up in a ponytail like Mom.

  “Let’s eat!” I yelled, bounding up the stairs.

  I started to feel less cranky after I ate a big plate of scrambled eggs, with hash browns and toast, and drank a huge glass of OJ (which is the best drink to go with scrambled eggs, hands down). But my good mood didn’t last for too long.

  “Let’s all take my car to the mall,” Jeff suggested. “I’ll bring you guys back here tonight.”

  “Tonight?” I asked.

  “After the movie,” Mom said.

  “What movie?” I asked.

  Mom and Jeff looked at each other. “We hadn’t decided yet.”

  “We have to go see that movie about the kids in sleepaway camp,” I said. “Mia said it was so funny, and it won’t be in theaters for much longer.”

  Jeff scrolled through the movie listings on his phone. “I think I know that one,” he said, and then he frowned. “Oh, it’s PG-13.”

  “So?” I said.

  “Well, Emily isn’t old enough for PG-13 movies,” he said.

  “You know, those ratings are just a suggestion,” I pointed out. “They’ll let her in if you guys are with her.”

  “It’s not that,” Jeff said. “It’s just that Emily’s mom and I have agreed that she can’t go see PG-13 movies for another year, at least.”

  Emily gave me an I’m sorry look.

  “Okay, then,” I said. “What can we see?”

  Jeff scrolled through his screen again. “Well, there’s one about the kittens from outer space.”

  “Seriously?” I asked. “Do we look five?”

  “Katie,” Mom scolded.

  “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just . . . that one’s kind of babyish.”

  “What about the one about the baseball team?” Jeff asked.

  “Oh, I read about that one,” Mom said. “That would be perfect.”

  “Sure, Dad,” Emily said.

  I didn’t answer, but nobody seemed to care.

  “Great!” Jeff said, smiling really hard. “I’ll order the tickets right here on my phone. It starts at three, so we’ll have plenty of time to go clothes shopping.”

  “Oh joy,” I muttered under my breath. Mom didn’t glare at me, so she probably didn’t hear me.

  So, Jeff drove us to the mall, and we went to, like, four stores to get clothes for Emily. If Mia had been around, I would have texted her to come with us, but she was at her dad’s in Manhattan. I was stuck.

  Since we had a late breakfast, we didn’t have lunch, but I convinced Mom to get us popcorn at the movies. I couldn’t convince her to get candy, though, and I didn’t have any of my own money on me, so I was out of luck.

  After the movie (which was okay, I guess, but probably not as good as everyone said the camp movie was), I was starving again.

  “Can we get Chinese
food?” I asked.

  Mom looked relieved. “That’s exactly what we had planned!” she said. She was probably glad that I wasn’t going to complain.

  “Sounds good. Golden Palace is right near here,” Jeff said.

  “So is Panda Gardens,” I said. “We always go there.”

  “But Panda Gardens doesn’t have Chicken Amazing,” Emily piped up.

  “Chicken Amazing?” I asked.

  “It’s this really good chicken dish with mushrooms and stuff,” Emily said. “It’s so good, but Panda Gardens doesn’t make it.”

  “But Panda Gardens has the best eggrolls,” I argued. “The ones at Golden Palace are soggy.”

  “Katie, that was just that one time,” Mom said. “Golden Palace is fine.”

  Then she gave me a look, warning me not to object, so I didn’t. We climbed back into Jeff’s car and went to Golden Palace. I ordered an eggroll, and shrimp with broccoli.

  Jeff reached over the table and put his hand over Mom’s hand. “This has been such a great day.”

  “I agree,” Mom said. “It’s nice to forget about work and just have a weekend full of fun.”

  “However, I still have homework,” I pointed out. “So it’s not exactly a weekend full of fun for me.” And homework isn’t the only reason why, I thought, but I didn’t say it.

  “Well, we were thinking you and Emily could do homework tomorrow morning, and then we could have a picnic in the park,” Jeff said.

  There was no escape from this weekend of “fun.” But I had one out.

  “Mom, as you probably noticed on the calendar, I have a Cupcake meeting tomorrow at five,” I said. “It’s at our house.”

  “I know,” Mom said. “I thought Emily could stay and help you. Alexis told me how helpful she was last time.”

  I reminded myself to thank Alexis when I saw her—not. And now I was stuck in a bad place. If Mom had asked me privately, I would have told her I needed a break from Emily. But she asked me in front of Emily and Jeff, so I couldn’t.

  “Okay,” I said. “I mean, if you want to, Emily.”

  “Oh, that sounds like fun. You should try some Chicken Amazing,” Emily said, putting a spoonful on my plate.

  “Thanks,” I said, picking at it. Then I tasted it, and you know what? It was amazing. Like, really amazing.

  But I was mad at Mom and feeling cranky again, so I didn’t say anything about it.

  CHAPTER 8

  You Too, Mia?

  You can probably guess what kind of mood I was in the next day. The morning was okay—it was just me and Mom—but I had a ton of homework to do. Just as I was finishing up, the doorbell rang.

  “Who’s ready for a picnic?” I heard Jeff say in a cheerful noise. Now, normally, I would have yelled, “Meeeeee!” But I was so over everything. I didn’t understand why Mom was forcing this Emily-filled weekend on me.

  I shut off my laptop and walked into the living room. Jeff was wearing a green-checkered shirt and carrying a picnic basket, one of those old-fashioned woven kinds. Emily had on a white blouse and blue jeans and brand-new red flats. They looked like they had stepped out of Martha Stewart’s magazine or something. How to Have the Perfect Picnic!

  Then I noticed Mom was wearing this really cute dress: green with blue flowers, and cute blue flats. Mom was never a big dress-wearer, but since she’d started dating Jeff, she wore them a lot. She was a perfect match with Jeff and Emily.

  I, on the other hand, was wearing dark-blue plaid lounge pants that you’re supposed to wear in the house but that I wear outside sometimes, my summer camp T-shirt, and my nasty sneakers. That old TV show song started going through my head.

  One of these things is not like the others. . . .

  “Are you ready to go, Katie?” Mom asked.

  “Yup,” I said in a confident voice that dared her to ask me to change. But she didn’t.

  “Great!” she said. “Let’s go.”

  Jeff drove us to the park (the one that I like to run in), and we found a spot under a shady tree for our picnic. Jeff even had a red-checkered tablecloth with him. He had made chicken salad sandwiches and deviled eggs, and Mom brought carrot sticks and pickles and a thermos of lemonade.

  “And Emily made her famous chocolate chip cookies,” Jeff said proudly.

  Now, the last time I checked, Emily’s cookies weren’t exactly famous, but I kept that to myself. I had to admit that the picnic was a pretty good idea. It was a beautiful sunny day, without a cloud in the bright-blue sky.

  I didn’t really talk much the whole time. I leaned back and looked at the sky. If Mom noticed, she didn’t say anything.

  When we were done eating, Jeff produced a Frisbee.

  “How about it?” he asked.

  I couldn’t resist. Emily and I jumped up. Jeff helped Mom to her feet.

  “I’m not really dressed for this,” Mom said.

  “Come on, Mom, we’re just throwing a Frisbee around,” I said.

  So the four of us tossed it back and forth, and Jeff started doing these goofy things, like trying to throw it backward or under his leg.

  “Hey, I’ve got one!” I cried, catching it. I spread my arms out wide and started spinning around and around. Then I let go of the disk and sent it flying. “I call this my helicopter move!”

  Emily caught it, laughing.

  “Come on, Emily, show us your best move!” I called out.

  Emily shook her head, still giggling. “I can’t!” Then she tossed the Frisbee to my mom.

  We played for a while, and then Jeff looked at his watch. “We should get you girls back for your Cupcake meeting,” he said.

  My good mood evaporated. You girls? Your meeting? It was my meeting, and Emily was sitting in on it.

  “Yeah, we should go,” I grumbled, and stomped toward the car.

  This time Mom noticed. She ran to catch up with me. “Katie, what is up with you? It’s like you flipped a switch and your whole mood changed.”

  “I’m practically a teenager,” I replied. “That’s how we’re supposed to be, right?”

  Mom couldn’t argue with that. We piled into Jeff’s car, and he drove back to the house. I got the kitchen ready for the Cupcake meeting. We weren’t baking, just planning, but the kitchen is the best room in our whole house, and everyone likes to hang out there.

  Mia, Alexis, and Emma showed up at the same time, and there was a whole commotion as everyone said hi to Jeff. Then they followed me into the kitchen, and Emily came in too.

  “So let’s do this,” I said, sitting down.

  Alexis took out her tablet. “Okay, so we need to plan our talent show cupcakes. We decided to do two-tone, right? In the school colors?”

  “That sounds like a great idea.”

  Everyone looked up at Jeff, who had walked into the kitchen. “Sorry to interrupt your meeting,” he said. “But we had some food left over from our picnic, and I was wondering if anyone wanted a snack.”

  “That would be great,” Mia said. “I’m hungry.”

  He went in the fridge and came out with the leftover sandwiches and carrot sticks, and he put them on the table. Then he put out a plate of Emily’s cookies.

  “Okay, enjoy,” he said before heading back to Mom.

  Emma reached for a cookie. “Emily, your dad is so nice,” she said, biting into a cookie. “And he makes great cookies!”

  “Actually, I made them,” Emily said shyly.

  Alexis grabbed a cookie and tasted it. “Wow, these are great.”

  “Thanks,” Emily said. It sounded like another meeting of the Emily fan club was starting up, so I tried to steer the conversation back to work.

  “So we were talking about the cupcakes?” I asked.

  “Right,” Alexis said. “So should we do blue cupcakes with yellow inside, or yellow cupcakes with blue inside?”

  “I’m thinking yellow with blue,” I said. “We could do lemon cupcakes for the yellow, and the blue could just be vanilla flavored.”


  Alexis typed that in. “What about the icing? Yellow or blue?”

  “We could do yellow and blue, like we did the first time we sold cupcakes at the school fair, remember?” Mia asked.

  I would never forget that. We sold our cupcakes and won a prize for earning the most money for the school. It was the whole start of our business.

  Emma was frowning. “That’s good, but we need something that says ‘talent show’ too, don’t you think?”

  “What about stars?” Emily piped up.

  Mia perked up. “That’s perfect! We could do blue stars on the yellow cupcakes and yellow stars on the blue ones.”

  “Or you could do double stars,” Emily said. She nodded toward the sketchpad and colored pencils that Mia had brought. “Can I borrow those?”

  “Sure,” Mia said, and she watched as Emily sketched out her idea—a smaller cut-out yellow star on top of a larger cut-out blue star.

  “See? Or you could do the yellow one big or the blue one small,” Emily said.

  “That is perfect!” Mia cried.

  I know Mia was just being the nice person that she is. But for some reason, I was starting to feel bad. Jealous, I guess. I was already sharing my mom with Emily, and my Cupcake Club. Did I have to share my best friend, too?

  “So, will the stars be cut out of fondant?” Emma asked.

  Mia nodded. “Sure, that would be best, I think.”

  “I think we need to make at least eight dozen,” Alexis said, doing some quick math. “We should probably bake the night before. It’ll be a lot of work, since we’re doing the two-tone. Emily, can you help?”

  Wait, what?

  “Well, I have to ask my dad,” Emily said.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  “So is Emily part of the Cupcake Club now?” I blurted out. “I mean, do we vote on these things or what?”

  Everybody just kind of stared at me.

  “Well,” said Mia, looking around, “Emily is a great helper, and we could sure use the help. Right?” She glanced at me.

  “Sure,” I said, not knowing what else to say. “If her dad says it’s okay.”

  Emily got up. “I’ll go, um, ask him.” But I could tell she was leaving because she felt uncomfortable.