The Cupcake Diaries Collection: Katie and the Cupcake Cure; Mia in the Mix; Emma on Thin Icing; Alexis and the Perfect Recipe

by Simon, Coco

  On the menu today were raspberry swirl cupcakes with a pink cream cheese frosting. I was beating the frosting with a hand mixer, having to pause and rest the mixer on its back while I added ingredients. I couldn’t help fantasizing about the hands-free pink stand mixer. Someday. Soon!

  Mia had brought three bridal magazines, and the others were all flipping through them while the cupcakes baked in the oven. Tomorrow we were going to The Special Day bridal shop at the Chamber Street Mall, and Mia wanted us to get some ideas before we went.

  “Here’s a really cute one!” declared Katie. I peered over Katie’s shoulder to see the dress she was pointing at. I looked at the price first. All the prices were a lot more than I thought. I had never really paid attention when I went shopping with Mom before, and lately there hadn’t been much shopping. I couldn’t remember how much a dress was supposed to cost, but the ones in the magazines were a lot of money.

  “Ooh! Look at this one!” said Alexis. She handed the magazine across the room to Mia, and I leaned over to see it. It was a white, shin-length dress with a sash. It was beautiful. It was also $350! I gulped and prayed Mia wouldn’t like it.

  “Oh, that is pretty!” said Mia. “I love it! But three hundred and fifty dollars! No way!”

  Whew, I thought. I love my friends. “That is crazy!”

  “That’s business for you, baby,” said Alexis, reaching out her hands to take the magazine back. “They want to suck every possible dollar out of the big day.”

  The back door opened and shut with a bang. “Emma!” It was Sam.

  Mia, Alexis, and Katie sat up straight and adjusted their outfits and hair, trying to look good for Sam. It was kind of funny and kind of not. “In here!” I called.

  Sam walked into the kitchen. “Yum! Did you save any for me?”

  Mia flipped her hair. “We will,” she said with a big smile.

  “They’re not ready yet,” I said.

  Katie and Alexis stopped talking. And for Alexis that was a big deal. She just looked at Sam and smiled. Katie couldn’t even look at him. She stared at her sneakers.

  Sam smirked. I think he thought it was cute that all my friends had crushes on him. “Here are your passes for the movie. Have fun!” He slid them across the counter.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Have you seen it?” asked Mia.

  “Part of it. It’s killer,” said Sam. “Gotta go!”

  The back door opened and slammed closed again.

  “He is really cute,” said Katie.

  “Totally,” agreed Mia. “And so nice!”

  “Depends on the day,” I said. But Sam was pretty nice. Nicer than Matt.

  “Such a hard worker . . . ,” said Alexis dreamily, and we all roared with laughter. All Alexis thought about was business.

  Katie stood and went to peek in the oven at the cupcakes. “Almost,” she said.

  “Don’t overbake them!” warned Alexis, picking up the timer and glancing at it. “Remember our bottom line!”

  We’d wasted a whole batch last week because we’d gotten distracted by a reality TV show. We’d had to toss them all and start over; it had been a total waste of money and time.

  The phone rang. I checked the caller ID and saw that it was Jenner’s owner, Mrs. Anderson, calling from work.

  “Hi, Mrs. Anderson,” I said. Had I done anything wrong? Mentally I reviewed my last visit to the Andersons’. I was sure I’d locked up.

  “Hi, honey. Ooh, that caller ID still gives me a start! Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask a favor?”

  “Sure,” I said, relieved.

  “Any chance you could give Jenner a quick run around the block today? The girls have a birthday party, and I’m going straight from work to meet them there. I totally forgot. The poor guy won’t make it. . . .”

  I looked at my watch. I had to meet Jake at the school bus in fifteen minutes. The cupcakes would have to come out in a few minutes, then cool before we frosted them. Then we absolutely had to leave for pizza by five, when Matt got home. The movie was at 6:20. But Mrs. Anderson depended on me, and I hated to say no. Plus, if I was going to have to buy a bridesmaid’s dress, then I needed the money. I planned it out in my head.

  “Hang on just one second while I check something.” I covered the phone. “Would you guys meet Jake’s bus for me while I run over to the Andersons’?”

  The others looked surprised but readily agreed. “Jake’s so cute!” said Katie, who didn’t have any siblings of her own.

  “Let’s hope so,” I said. Then, returning to the call, I said, “Sure. No problem!”

  “Great! I’ll just double up on the money for the next time you come, okay?” asked Mrs. Anderson.

  “That’s fine. Don’t worry. Bye!” I hung up and took off my pink apron.

  Mia was looking at me strangely.

  “What?” I asked. “Mrs. Anderson needs me to walk Jenner. I’ll just be a second. The frosting’s almost ready. It just needs vanilla and one more whip. Then we’ll have to wait until the ’cakes are done to frost them anyway. I’ll be back in no time.”

  “Don’t worry! Take your time. It’s no problem. Really.” Mia stood to assume the role of chief frosting officer. She smiled, but she seemed . . . well, something was wrong. Was Mia annoyed?

  I couldn’t think about it long. I had to run. “Okay. Thanks! Be back in less than half an hour. Jake will be here in ten minutes.”

  I ran down the block to the Andersons’. Jenner jumped up, happy to see me, and I took him out. It took him forever to do his business (probably because he was off schedule), but he finally did, and then I ran him around the block a couple of times for good exercise.

  I miscalculated how long that would all take—it had been about forty-five minutes. I glanced at my watch and ran home. When I got there, I saw Jake’s backpack flung on the driveway and the back door standing open.

  “Hello?” I called, entering the house. But there was no reply. Only the smell of very burnt cupcakes. They were sitting on the counter, dark brown as pretzels and just as hard. “Bummer,” I said.

  “Guys?” I walked through the downstairs, listening for my friends and little brother. They could hardly be this quiet. I opened the door to the basement rec room. Maybe they were playing video games?

  Then I heard a “Hello?” from behind me. It was Matt, just arriving.

  I walked back to the kitchen. “Uh . . . are you just getting here?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m ten minutes early! Give me a break!” said Matt, bristling. Mom had read him the riot act for ditching Jake on me the other day, and he’d been conscientious about his two turns since then.

  “No, no, I’m not annoyed at you. It’s just . . .”

  “Where’s Jake?” asked Matt. My heart sank.

  “Uh, I’m not sure.”

  “Was he here before? I saw his backpack. . . .” Matt headed out to the driveway and I followed him.

  “I know, but I had to go walk Jenner . . . so I wasn’t here. . . .”

  “What?” exploded Matt. “You mean he came home to an empty house?”

  “No, my friends were here. I’m sure they met him. I asked them to, but now I don’t know where they are.”

  “You left your friends in charge? Those cupcake girls?” Matt knew that it drove me crazy when he pretended not to know my friends’ names.

  “Yes, Alexis, Mia, and Katie,” I said, trying not to get angry. “They’re very responsible.”

  “I’m telling Mom!” gloated Matt. “You shirked your duty!”

  “Never mind that,” I said, starting to get a little panicky. “Where did they go?”

  “Well, they couldn’t have gotten far. They weren’t driving, were they?” he teased.

  I didn’t answer. He thought it was funny, but I knew something could be wrong. “I’ll check the park. Why don’t you go check—”

  “I’m not checking anything,” said Matt happily. “This is your problem. I’ll be in here relaxi
ng. Good luck.”

  “You’re a jerk,” I said.

  I walked quickly to the park, but it still took about five minutes and there was no sign of them there. Where else could they be? The duck pond? I hustled over, but there was no sign of them there either. Oh, why oh why wouldn’t my parents let me have a cell phone? (Well, I knew why: It was expensive. Mom and Dad had taken them back as a cost-saving measure. But it was so worth it! I decided to ask for mine back again when Mom got her old job back.)

  Ice cream? Camden’s? Could they have gone that far? But there was no sign. Now I had been searching for more than twenty minutes, and it was five fifteen. I decided to run home and check to see if they’d returned. By now I realized that my friends would take care of Jake, so nothing bad probably happened. But where were they?

  When I turned up my block, I could see that Jake’s backpack was no longer in the driveway. And there was certainly no way he’d picked it up himself. One of the girls must have done it. Phew. They were home. I slowed down and sauntered up the driveway, relieved.

  But Dad flung open the back door angrily. “Emma! Where is your little brother?”

  Oh no! “Isn’t he . . . here?” I asked, cringing. Obviously not, since Dad was so mad.

  Matt appeared in the doorway behind him, grinning through a mouthful of burnt cupcake.

  “I’m going out in the car to look for them,” Dad said harshly.

  “I’ll come,” I said readily.

  “No, you stay here and call my cell in case they come back while I’m gone.” He dashed out and backed the car out of the garage.

  “You know these things aren’t half bad if you load on the frosting,” said Matt as he helped himself to another cupcake.

  “Shut up,” I said, and went to wait on the back stoop.

  Twenty minutes later, which seemed like about four hours later, Jake and the girls returned. I ran in and dialed Dad’s cell as soon as I saw them coming. “Good” was all he said, and then hung up. Oh, boy. I ran back outside.

  Jake was covered in ice cream, and he held two large candy bars, one in each hand. He was laughing and joking, and the girls were laughing at him. No one seemed hurt or mad or frustrated. Except me.

  “What happened?” I demanded, coming down the sidewalk to meet them.

  Mia rolled her eyes. “This one sure doesn’t like babysitters, do you, pal?” She ruffled Jake’s hair.

  “I like you!” said Jake winningly. The girls all laughed.

  “Now you tell us,” said Alexis.

  “Where were you?” I asked, trying not to yell.

  The girls explained how Jake had been upset that I wasn’t there to meet him. So he’d had a temper tantrum and taken off down the street. They’d chased him and caught him, at which point he became hysterical and demanded candy.

  “He said you buy him two pieces from Camden’s every day!” said Katie incredulously. “Is that true?”

  “No, it’s not,” I said icily. I was glaring at Jake, and he ducked his head guiltily.

  “Anyway, we figured we’d better bribe the kid, so we took him around . . .”

  “And bought him some stuff,” finished Mia.

  “Clearly,” I said.

  “The cupcakes burned while he was having the temper tantrum.”

  “Luckily, Katie remembered and ran back to turn them off, before they burned down the house.”

  “That is lucky,” I said, thinking that would have really made Dad mad. I looked at my watch. It was 5:40. There was no way we were going to make it for pizza, but we could still make the movie. I was really mad. And really tired. Then I looked up at my friends. They had tried to help me out. It wasn’t their fault that Jake was such a pain. I just messed up with the timing. I’d just have to plan better next time, that’s all.

  “Guys, I’m so sorry. Thank you for dealing. I really appreciate it.” I smiled at them. They were such good friends. And I was grateful. “But you!” I said, turning to Jake. “You are in trouble with me, mister! No candy for you next week, not on my watch!”

  Jake hung his head. “Okay, sarge,” he said.

  “Let’s go. Matt’s waiting for you, and we have to leave. Sorry about the cupcakes, you guys. They were looking good.”

  “It’s okay,” said Mia. “How was the dog walking?” she asked.

  “Good,” I said.

  “How much do they pay you?” asked Alexis.

  “Five bucks a walk,” I said proudly.

  “Wow,” said Katie. “Pretty good, considering if you had your way, you’d have your own dog and be walking it for free.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, a dog is definitely not in the budget for our family right now.” I felt badly about saying it as soon as it came out of my mouth.

  Mia was quiet. We went back to the house and hustled to clean up the kitchen. Then Dad came in.

  “Hey, buddy!” he said to Jake as Jake ran to greet him.

  “Emma’s going to the movies with the babysitters!” said Jake.

  “Not yet, she’s not,” said Dad. “Emma, may I see you in here for a minute, please?”

  I felt my face get hot and put down the cupcake tin I was drying. I followed Dad into the living room. I felt my friends’ eyes on me.

  “Emma,” he said quietly. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now. We all do. But you have taken on way too much. When your brother is in danger because of your decisions, it’s time for you to take a look at your priorities. And it sounds like this was the second time this week there was an incident that involved dog walking.”

  I put my head down, thinking of Jake and Jenner and the scooter ride the other day. “Jake wasn’t in danger, though,” I protested weakly. I knew Dad was right.

  “Your primary responsibilities are to your family and to taking care of yourself. I think it’s wonderful that you are so entrepreneurial with the Cupcake Club and the dog walking. I know it’s terrific to earn your own money, and . . . well, I know you need it right now for some of the little extras we’ve cut back on. And I understand that you are trying to incorporate Jake, too, which Mom and I appreciate. But I just think you are getting stretched a little too thin right now. Do you understand?”

  I nodded. Visions of expensive bridesmaid dresses swam in my head. Without the cupcakes and the dog walking, there was no way I could afford that dress.

  Dad tipped my chin up to look him in the eye. “You are a very capable young lady. You’re just like your mom—organized, energetic, and kind—and we’re proud of you. I know Jake can be a handful, but we’re all trying to get by the best we can. I just don’t want to see you make the wrong decisions or mix up your priorities.”

  I nodded. I didn’t think I was making wrong decisions. I was getting things done. I was walking Jenner and doing my homework and practicing flute and contributing to the Cupcake Club and helping out as much as I could at home. I even made dinner a lot. Jake was the only thing that was a problem. I knew that was mean, but it was true.

  Dad sighed. “You’re a good kid, sweetheart. And I hate to say this, but if there’s another incident with Jake . . . we’re going to have to make some hard decisions about what you can and can’t spend your time on, okay? And that includes the club and dog walking.”

  “It’s okay, Dad. I understand,” I said, but I really didn’t. I would just do better, I thought. I didn’t want anyone to worry about me. And I could take care of myself pretty well.

  Dad hugged me and patted me on the head. “Now it’s time to go.”

  “I can still go to the movies?” I said, kind of surprised.

  Dad laughed. “Yes, you should go have fun with your friends.”

  “Thanks, Dad!” I said, and flung my arms around him. Then I ran into the kitchen.

  Katie, Alexis, and Mia were waiting, having finished cleaning up the whole kitchen.

  Matt smirked at me from the TV room, where he and Jake were watching SportsCenter. I could tell he was happy I was in trouble. And that he thought I wa
s grounded. “Have fun, kids!” Matt said.

  “We will!” I called back with a big smile on my face.

  Matt looked like he couldn’t believe it. I felt good. Things were getting better already.

  “The pizza’s on me,” said Dad, glaring at Matt. “You still have time, and I’ll drop you off.”

  We all climbed into the minivan and off we went. I just hoped the Will Smith movie had nothing to do with cupcakes or dogs. Or brothers.

  CHAPTER 5

  The Dress That Takes the Cake

  Mom was making her specialty—banana chocolate-chip pancakes—for breakfast on Saturday morning. I could smell the bananas and warm, melting chocolate all the way up in my room, even with the door closed. I lay in bed thinking about them until I could taste them. Then I couldn’t wait anymore and scrambled downstairs to the kitchen.

  “Hi, Mama!” I called, using my babyish, private name for Mom. In public, of course, she was Mom. And in public I was Emma.

  “Good morning, lovebug!” Mom said back, using her babyish, private name for me. Mom was already dressed in khakis and a cute lavender sweater. Her blond hair was tied back in a short, bouncy ponytail with a pink ribbon, and she had Keds on her feet. Mom got dressed within five seconds of getting up. I only saw her in her pajamas when she was sick. People always joked that she looked like she could be my sister, but when you got close, you could see from her smile lines that she was definitely mom age.

  Mom came around the island to give me a big squeeze and a kiss on top of my bed head. I hopped up on a stool, tucking my legs up under my nightie.

  “Yum. Thanks, Mama, for making these.”

  “I’ve been craving them myself,” Mom said. “But I’m really making them as a thank-you to all you kids. I know what a bumpy week this has been, and I really appreciate all your help. I’m very proud of you all.”

  I wasn’t sure Mom should be too proud of Matt the Brat or Jake the Snake, or even me (Emma the . . . ?), but I didn’t say anything. Late last night, when everyone had come home and was relaxing in the TV room (everyone except Jake, who had been fed and bathed and put to bed at a reasonable hour by Mom), everyone agreed that Mondays and Wednesdays were Matt’s days to meet Jake, and Tuesdays and Thursdays were mine. Sam would meet him on Fridays. Everyone was happy with the solution for now, and there was a temporary peace in our house.