by Coco Simon
“Um, whatever, I’ll bring it next week,” she said, and then she marched out the back door.
We were all quiet for a minute.
“Something tells me I won’t ever get that money back,” I said. “But honestly? Those shoes don’t seem so fabulous anymore.”
Then we all started to giggle.
“I’m sorry, but that was kind of funny!” Emma said.
“She had icing from head to toe!” Alexis said, shaking her head.
“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Katie added.
“That’s what friends do,” I told her. “Listen, guys, I’m really sorry about everything. I was just trying to be nice.”
Katie hugged me. “You don’t have to try. You are nice!”
“All right, let’s end this love fest,” Alexis said. “We have some cupcakes to clean up.”
“I’ll do it,” I offered. “It’s kind of my fault that Olivia was here.”
“No way,” Emma said. “We’re a club. We do things together.”
It didn’t take long to clean up the mess, and pretty soon we were able to enjoy the party. There were two giant hero sandwiches and potato salad to eat, but while our cupcakes looked gorgeous, we waited until the party was over to have one. Luckily, we always make extra cupcakes, just in case something happens . . . like if someone drops a bunch on the floor! There were six cupcakes left over, so we each took one and retreated to the kitchen.
Alexis held out her cupcake. “A toast! To another successful Cupcake Club project!” she said.
“Hear, hear!” we all cried, and then we clinked our cupcakes together.
“And,” Alexis said with a mischievous look in her eyes, “to getting rid of Sydney the Second at our lunch table!”
“I’ll second that!” I cried. “To the four best Cupcaketeers—and the four best friends—ever!”
We clinked cupcakes again, and then we each took a bite. Mine was delicious—but the sweetest thing of all was that everything was good with my friends again.
On Pins and Needles
I woke up extra early this Saturday morning to frost the mini cupcakes I was delivering to our number-one client, Mona, at The Special Day bridal salon. Well, the truth was, frosting wouldn’t take long, but I wanted to wash and set my hair on my mom’s big rollers before I went to the bridal salon. I would be modeling today for Mona’s clients, and I wanted to try a new hairstyle and see what everyone at the shop thought.
It’s kind of crazy how I started modeling for Mona. One Saturday morning I was making a regular cupcake delivery to the store (my friends and I in the Cupcake Club have a cupcake business, and Mona buys cupcakes from us for her Saturday brides each week), and an important mystery client was there for an early showing of dresses. It turned out to be Romaine Ford, our only hometown celebrity, and I ended up modeling junior bridesmaid dresses for her because there was no one else available. Meeting Romaine Ford and everything that came after that was the most exciting part of my life yet.
Since then, I’ve been modeling for Mona about once or twice a month for trunk shows, which is when specialty designers bring in their line for the day. It’s fun. I get to dress up and sometimes have my hair styled (no make-up, though! It could ruin the dresses!) and hang out in a totally girlie environment for the morning, away from my three smelly brothers. Best of all, Mona pays me.
So this morning I showered, then put on my fancy jeans and a pretty turtleneck sweater, some tiny pearl stud earrings, and a belt. Then I rolled my hair and forgot all about it for a while as I finished up the cupcakes.
Afterward, I ran the blow dryer over my curlers to really set my hair, then I unpinned the rollers and swung my head from side to side. My hair is a very yellow blond on top, from the sun, but underneath it’s a much darker shade. The curls made the colors all swirly and mixed together, and the style gave me a lot of height. I looked two inches taller! I laughed at the sight of it. It might be too much, but who cared? It was just an experiment, anyway. Well, my mom might care. She’s always concerned about being “age appropriate.”
My mom called up from the kitchen that we had to go or I’d be late, so I flipped off the bathroom light and took the stairs down, two at a time. As I swung around the banister and into the kitchen, my mom turned around and then did a double take.
“Oh, Emma! Your hair looks gorgeous!” she said with a gasp.
I grinned. “Thanks! It’s not too much?”
My mom laughed. “Well, maybe for soccer practice or something, but under the circumstances, I think it will be a huge success!”
At The Special Day, Mona and her assistants were bustling around getting things set up for the day’s trunk show.
Today, Mona’s main assistant, Patricia, came striding over to help me with my cupcake carriers. “Oh, Emma! Your hair! You look incredible!” said Patricia.
I smiled. “Thanks. It was just an experiment.”
“I’d say it was a huge success. Mona! Come see Emma’s new hairstyle!”
Mona looked up from the rack of dresses she was arranging, and I saw her tilt her head and squint at me. “Emma!” she cried. (Mona is really dramatic, by the way. Did I mention that?) She raced across the store toward me, her arms outstretched. “Darling! You look divine! Simply divine!” I laughed.
Mona said, “Oh, Patricia, isn’t she divine?”
Smiling, Patricia nodded and added, “Divine!”
But now Mona stopped gushing over me and patted her severe black bun. “Patricia!” she snapped, all business now. “I have an idea!”
“Yes, Mona? What is it?” asked Patricia.
Mona circled me, looking at my new hair with her arms folded. “Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes!” After what felt like an eternity, she looked up at Patricia with a gleam in her eye. “Call Emma’s mother and ask if we can photograph her today, and if so, could we use it in the paper. Then if she says yes, call Joachim and get him over here on the double. I’d like to run another ad!”
I raised my eyebrows at Patricia and she raised hers back at me, and we smiled like coconspirators. An ad?! Holy smokes! Wait until I tell my friends! was all I could think. I prayed my mom said yes.
I went with Patricia to sort through the dresses I’d wear today while she dialed my mom’s cell on the cordless phone.
I could hear Patricia speaking to my mom.
“Oh, Mrs. Taylor! Hi! It’s Patricia at The Special Day! No, everything’s fine. She’s here. Everything is wonderful.” There was a pause. “No! The hair is divine! That’s actually why I’m calling you. Mona loved it so much that she had an idea to shoot photos of Emma today to run in an ad in the paper, and she wanted to know if that would be okay with you. We’d pay her extra, of course.” There was another pause. “Yes, I totally understand. No, it’s not a problem at all. Okay, talk soon. Bye!” Patricia clicked the off button on the phone and set the receiver on the bench in the large fitting room. I waited for Patricia to give me the scoop. When she didn’t immediately say anything, I had to ask.
“What did she say?!” I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer.
“She said it sounded like fun, but she wanted to talk it over with your father before she gave her permission.”
“What? That is such a bummer!” I complained.
“Hey, modeling is a big deal,” Patricia reminded me gently. “I completely respect your mother’s response. Trust me”—Patricia rolled her eyes—“in the fashion business you get plenty of mothers who are just the opposite—pushing their very young daughters at you, willing to sell their souls to the devil just to make some money off the child’s looks. It’s a tough business.”
“One ad doesn’t mean I’m in the modeling business!” I protested.
Patricia smiled a wry smile. “It might,” she said. “I’m calling Joachim, just in case, and telling him to stand by.”
Coco Simon always dreamed of opening a cupcake bakery but was afraid she would eat all of the profits. When she’s not daydreaming about
cupcakes, Coco edits children’s books and has written close to one hundred books for children, tweens, and young adults, which is a lot less than the number of cupcakes she’s eaten. Cupcake Diaries is the first time Coco has mixed her love of cupcakes with writing.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
Simon & Schuster, New York
Cover illustrations by Abigail Halpin
Cover design by Laura Roode
Ages 8-12
Meet the author,
watch videos, and get extras at
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com
CupcakeDiariesBooks.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2012 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Text by Tracey West
Chapter header illustrations by Ciara Gay
Designed by Laura Roode
First Edition
ISBN 978-1-4424-5396-8
ISBN 978-1-4424-5397-5 (eBook)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2012942965
