Cake Pop Crush

by Suzanne Nelson

  Whatever the case, I had discovered one inescapable, inarguable truth: Businesses and boys caused a lot more trouble than they were worth.

  “Shouldn’t the sign be a little higher?” I asked, staring up at the Bling and Bake banner hanging across our bakery awning.

  Gwen glared down at me from her perch on the ladder. “Hey, you worry about your cake pops, I’ll worry about my banner.”

  I laughed. Gwen always got grumpier when she was nervous.

  “You know there’s nothing to worry about,” I said. “The show’s going to be fab.” For the last week and a half, we’d talked up the show on our Facebook pages, and Harris’s sister Heather had raved about her earrings on Twitter. It worked like magic. At school, the jewelry show had almost trumped Sarah’s upcoming birthday bash in hallway chatter. Sarah and the triumvirate had all RSVP’d a resounding yes, and so had almost all of the other eighth-grade girls.

  “It won’t be fab if we’re not ready in time,” Gwen quipped. “So go put your baking genius to work.”

  “I’m going,” I said, scooting through the door before she got violent. Inside the bakery, my dad and Tansy were decorating the shop, laying down tablecloths and setting up Gwen’s jewelry displays. It was still morning, but we had a lot of work to do to make everything perfect by the time the show started at two.

  “Looking good,” I called, then hurried to the kitchen. There, two cooled, crustless Mexican chocolate cheesecakes were waiting for me to transform them into glam cake pops. After trying out different recipes in my mom’s book for the last week, I’d finally decided on her cheesecake for the jewelry show. Luckily, my dad didn’t think to ask where I’d suddenly gotten my inspiration, but I was careful to keep my mom’s book tucked in my backpack most of the time, just in case. This recipe used authentic Mexican chocolate and a dash of cayenne pepper, and I was adding a morello cherry center to each pop for extra oomph. My plan was to mold the cheesecake into balls around each morello cherry, chill them, and then decorate them.

  I was just scooping up the cheesecake to make the balls, when my dad stuck his head into the kitchen.

  “You have a visitor,” he said.

  “Okay,” I said absently, keeping my focus on the pops. “Just send them back here.”

  My dad nodded and disappeared, and the next time I glanced up, Dane was standing in his place.

  “Hi,” he said quietly, taking in the counter strewn with cherries, cake, and candy chips. “Wow, that looks impressive. Is that for the Bling thing?”

  “Yup,” I said coolly, not taking my eyes off the pops.

  “It’s a brilliant idea,” he said, and I thought I heard a smile in his voice. “My dad’s totally peeved that the manager at Perk Up didn’t come up with something like it first.” He gave a little laugh. “They’re brainstorming as we speak.”

  “Great. It’ll be so much fun to see what they come up with,” I practically growled. I mean, did he really think I wanted to hear that Perk Up was planning on taking another one of my ideas? Come on.

  “Hey,” Dane said, stepping closer to force me to meet his eyes. “You don’t always have to get so defensive, you know. I wasn’t trying to start a fight, I was just making conversation.”

  “Well, maybe if you didn’t bring up Perk Up constantly, you might get a better response.”

  I gave him what I thought was an intimidating glare, but he laughed. “True enough.” He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and I could see the tips of his ears reddening slightly under his blond waves. If I hadn’t known him better, I would’ve said he almost looked nervous. “Anyway, I know you’re busy, so I’ll only stay a second,” he went on quickly. “I wanted to see if maybe we could call a truce. I’m not sure we’re ever going to agree when it comes to our parents’ stores, but maybe we can still be friends. Or if not friends, maybe we could sit next to each other in world science without you shooting death rays in my direction?”

  The giggle surprised me, popping out of my mouth before I had any idea it was even there. I tried to hide my smile in my sleeve, but he caught a glimpse of it before I could. And he smiled back. After all, he did have a point. I hadn’t cut him any slack over the last two weeks. Maybe he didn’t deserve it, and keeping up the grouchy act was getting pretty tiring, too. I wasn’t naturally mean-spirited, and holding on to that anger all the time didn’t feel good.

  “Ali!” Gwen’s blaring voice from the front of the shop made me jump. “Your dad isn’t letting me move the Mayan rug, and it’s not really working with the trendy Bling look. Help!”

  I held up my finger to Dane. “Can you wait here a sec? I’ll be right back.”

  I ran out to the front and refereed between Dad and Gwen until Dad grudgingly tucked the rug under the counter. When I got back to the kitchen, Dane was still there, his eyes a hopeful question mark.

  I suddenly remembered the talk I’d overheard with his dad yesterday. That only furthered my desire to put all the fighting behind us.

  “All right,” I said. “Truce.”

  “Great!” His face broke into a wide grin. “So maybe that means you can help me study for our test on marine mammals, too?”

  I was about to tell him not to press his luck, when the kitchen door swung open and Sarah and Lissie sashayed in like Oak Canyon’s most desirable VIPs. I stared. Sarah hadn’t set foot in the bakery for weeks, and the show didn’t start for another four hours. I knew she didn’t do anything without a purpose. So what was she doing here?

  “Did I just hear you say you needed help studying for your world science test?” Sarah gave Dane a dewy-eyed glance. “You know, I have the highest grade in Mrs. Waters’s class. I could help.”

  “Thanks,” Dane said. “I’ll think about it.”

  She leaned over the cheesecake spread on the counter. “Mmmm,” she said with exaggerated enthusiasm, “doesn’t that look delish? And speaking of delish, I found the perfect dress for my party at Ooh-La-La’s. My dad’s on his way over with the credit card, but since I was waiting, I thought I’d drop in to give Ali the details of the bake-off. I had no idea you’d both be here! How lucky.”

  “Sure thing,” Dane said. “Fill us in.”

  “So you already know you’ll be baking cake pops.” She smiled. “I’ll provide all the mystery ingredients. And we’ll have a panel of random judges do the taste-testing and voting.”

  “Sounds fun,” Dane said cheerfully, as if it was the easiest thing in the world for him to toss random ingredients together to bake a masterpiece. I gave an involuntary shudder. If only it were that simple for me, too.

  “Oh, and we’re holding it at Oak Canyon Community Park, February ninth,” Sarah added, already turning back to the door. “My dad wanted to invite a few people, so you’ll have a small audience. But that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

  “No problem,” Dane said casually.

  “No,” I said quietly, feeling my hands turn clammy at the thought.

  “Super,” she said, linking arms with Lissie. “See you later this afternoon, Ali! We can’t wait! Oh and, Dane, don’t forget to call me if you need help studying.” Then she was gone, trailing a cloud of lilac body spray behind her.

  I tried to swallow down the rising dread I felt about the bake-off, hoping my nervousness wasn’t written all over my face. I hadn’t had much time to think about it lately, since I’d been so busy planning the Bling and Bake. But leave it to Sarah to remind me at the worst possible time. I turned to the sink to rinse off my hands and let the cool water calm me down, and there was Dane, by my side, peering at me with those inquisitive eyes. I got the feeling that even if he wasn’t saying so, he could see right through me.

  “I guess I’ll head out, too,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “I’m glad we got to clear things up. But … do you think we’ll still be speaking to each other after the bake-off, or should I plan on this being a temporary cease-fire?”

  I smiled. “I’m a baker, not a fighter. Let’s
make it permanent.”

  “I’d like that.” He held out his hand for a shake. I slid my hand into his, and then felt a thrilling surge of warmth pass through my fingertips. We both pulled away quickly, and I wondered if he’d felt the same thing.

  “I know you don’t need it, but good luck today,” he said at the door. “I hope the show is a big success, and I mean that.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll tell you about it on Monday in class.”

  He waved and disappeared, leaving me staring after him in a daze, wondering what exactly he’d become. A friend? A frenemy? Who knew? My mind was screaming at me to proceed with caution, but my heart … my heart was holding on to the feel of his hand in mine. I shook the feeling away, vowing not to lose myself in some ridiculous daydream about a boy I could barely stand.

  It was true that I could barely stand him, wasn’t it? Of course it was! I needed to refocus on the Bling event.

  On cue, Tansy called out, “Ali, your dad just left to run errands. Can you please come help us move some tables?”

  I rushed out of the kitchen, grateful for the distraction. In fact, I focused so completely on rearranging the furniture that I barely registered when Sarah came rushing back into the store.

  “Sorry!” she called out as she made for the kitchen. “I left my cell in the back. Be just a sec!”

  When she came back through the shop a few minutes later, she was smiling. “I ran into Dane outside, and he wants to study with me after his shift ends at Perk Up.” She held up her cell. “Wouldn’t want to miss his call! Later, ladies!”

  “Interesting,” Gwen said after she’d gone. “Sounds like she and Dane are getting cozy.”

  “They’re just studying,” I said, sounding more snappish than I’d intended.

  Gwen raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Okay, okay, no need to get touchy.”

  “I don’t really think Sarah’s his type anyway,” Tansy said with a small smile as she fixed a necklace display.

  Gwen nodded. “You know, once in a brief moment of madness, I actually thought Dane would be perfect for you, Ali.” She snorted. “Ridiculous, right? I mean, you guys can’t be around each other for more than two minutes without fighting.”

  I laughed shortly, but my heart was racing. “Yeah, absolutely ridiculous.” But Gwen’s eyes stayed on my face longer than usual, and I quickly escaped to the kitchen. I leaned against the cool fridge door, fanning myself. What was that all about? I wasn’t even sure I knew myself. But I did know one thing: I had two hundred cake pops to finish in four hours, and all this Dane drama wasn’t helping. Not one bit.

  Matter over mind. That was my motto for the rest of the day. I pushed Dane, and Sarah, and the bake-off all out of my mind, and honed in on matter. Or, batter, actually. Five cheesecakes’ worth of batter. And I got the pops done, with an hour to spare.

  “They’re works of art,” Gwen said when I brought them out into the shop in bouquets tied with silver and gold ribbon. “Seriously. Like little Renoirs on sticks.”

  I laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far. But they look good, don’t they?”

  “They’re adorable,” Tansy said.

  “Thanks,” I said, beaming. I’d dipped each pop in a bowl of melted pale-pink candy bits and added tiny gold-and-silver necklaces and earrings with metallic icing. I think I took extra care because my hands were working now where my mom’s had worked so long ago. When I baked something of hers, I got the feeling that somehow she was guiding me, helping me. My mom’s recipe book was proving to be a lucky charm.

  “Everything looks incredible,” I said, glancing around. Tansy had made colorful geranium arrangements, which were scattered around the shop among the jewelry. Gwen’s necklaces, earrings, and bracelets were displayed proudly on white tablecloths, looking very professional. Best of all, there was already a line of girls outside.

  Gwen snapped her fingers. “Let’s get this party started!” She ran to open the door while I took my place behind the counter with my dad, ready to start selling cake pops.

  Girls flooded into the store, squealing and chatting as they browsed through the jewelry. Sarah, Lissie, and Jane all bought earrings and necklaces right away, and other girls quickly followed their lead. It was one of the few times I was genuinely grateful that Sarah was such a trendsetter. Within ten minutes, Gwen had already sold a dozen pieces of jewelry and Dad and I had sold thirty cake pops.

  I was starting to have visions of success that far exceeded my original expectations.

  And then Jane let out a heart-stopping scream of terror.

  Everyone in the store froze, and all eyes turned on Jane. Suddenly, the one scream turned into dozens. Because out of Jane’s mouth came an oozing black liquid, like something right out of a horror movie. And she wasn’t the only one. All the girls who had bitten into their cake pops had mouths dripping in black.

  My heart stopped.

  “Oh, gross,” Tansy shrieked. “What is that?”

  “I have no idea,” I said, rushing around the counter with glasses of water. But most of the girls had raced for the bathroom and were in there trying to wash their mouths out at the sink.

  “It’s not coming out!” Lissie shrieked, pointing to her blackened tongue and teeth.

  “It’s like a 90210 version of the black plague,” Gwen said. She was trying hard not to smile, and one warning stare from me wiped the hint of it right off her face. “Sorry. What do we do?”

  “Damage control,” I said. “Start asking around to see if anyone has toothpaste. Right now.”

  Luckily, Sarah had toothpaste in her bag, but even that didn’t get rid of the black tint all the way. By now, a lot of the affected girls were crying, while the ones who hadn’t yet tasted the pops were trying, and failing, to be comforting.

  “It doesn’t look that bad,” Sarah, who’d escaped unscathed, was saying to Lissie. “In a few days, it’ll be gone. A week at most.”

  That made Lissie wail louder.

  I apologized over and over again, but what I was apologizing for, I didn’t know. What had possibly gone wrong? I hadn’t had a chance to taste-test the cake pops beforehand, like I usually did. But I wouldn’t — couldn’t — have put anything black and oozy in them.

  My dad immediately offered everyone refunds on their pops, and girls took their money and practically ran out the door. Soon it was just me, Gwen, Tansy, and Dad left standing in shock. The remnants of crushed cake pops lay scattered and mashed into the floor, some of the jewelry had been knocked off its stands, and the whole place looked like an earthquake had struck.

  “Well, I knew my jewelry was a tad on the edgy side,” Gwen said, picking a pair of earrings off the floor. “But I had no idea I’d have them running and screaming.”

  She was trying to keep things light, as always, but disappointment tinged her face.

  “Gwen, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I have no idea what happened.”

  “But you can figure it out,” Tansy said hopefully. “You can try again. Reschedule the show …”

  “Tansy!” I said impatiently, wanting her for once to be realistic. “Nobody’s going to come to another show after this. Just … stop, okay?”

  Tansy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Okay,” she said softly.

  “Gwendolyn, Tansy,” my dad said quietly. “Go home, por favor. Alicia and I will clean up everything.”

  “But, Mr. Ramirez,” Tansy started, “let us help please….”

  My dad shook his head. “I need to talk to Alicia now … alone.”

  And that did it. They knew a doomsayer when they heard one. My friends both gave me sympathetic looks. I wanted to follow them right out the door, because I knew what was coming, and I was dreading it.

  The door jingled its way into silence, and my dad collapsed into a chair, his head in his hands.

  “Bastante. Enough,” he said. “You’re done making cake pops. No más.”

  And there it was. The words I’d been dreading.

 
; “Dad, today was a freak accident,” I said, panic rising inside me. “I don’t even know what went wrong, but I’ll find out. I’ll make it right….”

  “Do you have any idea what today cost us?” he asked. “We paid three hundred dollars for all of the supplies, and we had to refund everyone. The bakery’s reputation will be ruined after this!”

  “Don’t say that. It won’t be that bad. If I win the bake-off, we’ll get a lot more customers….”

  He shook his head, sighing. “I’m not going to stop you from competing in the bake-off. I know it’s important to you. But as for our bakery, I should never have let you sell cake pops here in the first place. It was a mistake. I played along with this, this silly idea, and look what happened. Disaster!”

  “Silly idea?” I repeated, my voice rising into a yell. “Of course you thought it was silly! You hate any new idea!” I paced around the table, balling my hands into fists. “You’re stuck on your prehistoric breads and pastries, and it’s all because you’re afraid.” I sucked in a breath, but then barreled on before I could stop myself, “Ever since mom died, you’ve been afraid —”

  I clamped my mouth shut as Dad’s face paled.

  “What did you say?” he whispered, his hands clutching the edge of the table.

  I hesitated. I could backpedal and pretend I’d never said it, or I could finally tell him the truth and deal with the consequences.

  I met his eyes. “You heard what I said, Dad. You hide in this bakery all day long. You don’t talk about her. You don’t even want to think about her. I know how she used to bake. Abuelita Rosa told me. Mom took risks. She tried new things. But you … you can’t handle it.” Tears were pooling in my eyes now. “You’re just going to wait and watch while we go under.”