by Simon, Coco
“Guys,” I said quietly to warn them, but it was too late. Sydney had seen us.
“Oh my God! Mia!” she squealed, and she jumped up and pranced over to Mia, as if they were the best of friends. “What are you doing here?” she asked excitedly, completely ignoring the three of us.
Katie and Alexis stood frozen, like deer in headlights. Sydney ignored me so I tried to ignore her. Mia did the talking.
“My mom’s getting married and we’re all in the wedding, so we’re getting our dresses. What are you doing here?” Mia was pleasant but cool.
“My cousin Brandi is getting married, and I’m the maid of honor,” bragged Sydney.
“Wow,” said Mia nicely. She had a hard time being mean.
“So what are you wearing?” asked Sydney, looking Mia over from head to toe.
Mia fielded the question again. “Oh, we found a gorgeous dress. It looks great on everyone. Especially Emma. Actually, she was the one who found it.”
Sydney looked at me as if she had just realized I was there. Then she looked back at Mia. “Can I see it?”
“Oh, uh . . .” Mia hesitated.
Sydney looked at the counter, where Patricia was calmly laying out four sets of paperwork and four pens, for us to order three more dresses. The dress was on a hanger, hanging behind the counter.
“Is that it?” cried Sydney. “It is too cute!”
Patricia looked up and smiled. “It looks wonderful on the girls,” she said kindly.
Sydney squinted sideways at it, then tilted her head.
“Brandi?” she called over her shoulder. “Brandi? Can you come here for a minute?”
Another very blond, older girl, with lots of makeup and a pink sweat suit, came over to stand by Sydney.
“Cu-uuu-uuute,” said Brandi, drawing the word out into three syllables. She snapped her gum. “Try it on, then come show me,” she instructed, and she went back to her group on the couch.
“I’ll try it too,” said Sydney to Patricia.
Patricia looked dubious. “I’ll check to see if there’s another one in the back,” she said diplomatically, then she disappeared.
Probably going to check with Mona on what to do, I thought. I knew it was bad luck for anyone out of the wedding party to know what the bride’s dress looked like, but how about the bridesmaids’ dresses? Was there a rule about that? Please let Mona say yes, please let Mona say yes, I thought fervently. I might not be able to afford it, but the idea of Sydney in my dress made me sick.
Patricia returned with a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m so sorry, miss, but we only have one of these in stock and we can only order a few in each size. We don’t like too many of our weddings to look the same. As soon as we finish the paperwork here, I’ll be happy to help your bridal consultant find something similar.” She smiled and turned away, letting Sydney know the matter was closed. Then she started wrapping up the remaining dress for Mia.
“Wait!” said Sydney, never one to give up. “Mia, do you mind if I try this one? Then, if it looks good, maybe I can order it online or something.”
I thought that was a pretty rude thing to say in front of Patricia and also pretty pushy. But Mia was so sweet.
“Uh, sure . . . I guess so.” Mia shrugged.
“Great,” said Sydney.
Patricia raised her eyebrows at Mia but passed the dress over the counter to Sydney. “Please be careful with it,” she said.
“Of course,” said Sydney. And she flew off, the dress flapping behind her from its hanger.
Seconds later Sydney returned, beaming, in the dress. Her whole group squealed and clapped as Sydney twirled, and the Cupcake Club looked on in dismay. It did look amazing on her. It was just that kind of dress, and Sydney was beautiful after all.
“I love it!” Sydney called to Mia. Mia nodded, unsmiling.
Patricia shook her head and went and whispered in Brandi’s bridal consultant’s ear. The consultant nodded, and then went and spoke to Sydney. It was time for the dress to come off. With some difficulty, she persuaded Sydney to return to the changing room and remove the dress. Moments later it was back on its hanger, safely behind the register.
“Did that really just happen, or was it a nightmare?” asked Katie.
I felt the same way. I looked at her.
“It happened.” Katie sighed.
“Sorry, guys,” whispered Mia. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You are way too nice,” said Alexis. “I would have charged her to try it on.”
The Cupcake Club all laughed. “We know you would have!” I said.
Katie, Alexis, and I finished the paperwork and slid it across the counter to Patricia. She looked it over.
“Emma?”
Uh-oh. What now? I bit my lip.
“Can I have a daytime phone number for one of your parents, please?” She smiled encouragingly at me.
“Oh, um. My mom’s just started a new job, and I don’t know her number, so . . .”
“How about your dad?” asked Patricia.
I felt panicky. “Ugh, I hate to bother him with stuff like this at work. Why don’t I . . . have my mom call you with her new number?”
Patricia nodded and handed me a business card. “That would be just fine. In the meantime we can order it for you so its here on time.”
It would be fine, I said to myself. I would find the money somehow. It was a dream dress. And I could dream big. I wouldn’t worry my parents. I would handle it.
CHAPTER 7
Between a Rock and a Dress
I spent the weekend counting money and adding numbers. I didn’t even want to ask my parents for half the money for the dress, let alone all of it. I needed a plan to get to $250. I’d have to really scrimp on after-school treats, like getting candy for Jake or going to the movies. Then I’d have to up the dog walking and the cupcake making. The only problem was they kind of used the same time slot and the dog walking paid better. I can do this, I thought. I can plan this out. But how?
I was still thinking about it when I left school on Monday and walked to the bike rack. I was nearly next to Matt before I saw him waiting for me by my bike.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi, yourself,” I said, eyeing him suspiciously. “What’s up?”
“Well . . . I was wondering if we could trade days. If you could do today, I’ll do tomorrow, I swear.”
I sighed. I could barely figure out my plans, and they were already getting messed up. I was supposed to go to Katie’s today to make cupcakes for Henry Garner’s birthday party tomorrow. I could bring Jake, I thought. He couldn’t be that bad. Plus, tomorrow was a dog-walking day, so maybe it would be better if he were with Matt then.
“Fine,” I said.
The relief in Matt’s face was obvious. “Thank you so much,” he said, and he actually seemed to mean it.
“What do you have?” I asked. “Practice?”
“Uh . . .” Matt looked awkward for a second, and then looked a little embarrassed. “You know how I like to fool around on the computer?”
I nodded.
“Well, there’s a three-hour intensive workshop for graphic design down at the computer center at the library, and I didn’t realize it was today. Don’t tell Mom and Dad, though, okay? I’m paying for it with my birthday money from Grandma.”
“Cool,” I said. I was surprised, though. Not that I really cared what Matt did, but I thought it would be something dumb, like pizza with the guys. I guess he didn’t want to ask Mom and Dad for money either. We looked at each other for a second, understanding. “Well, good luck,” I said.
“Thanks,” said Matt, and he took off.
That was probably the most civilized conversation I’ve had with him in months, I thought as I pedaled home. I wasn’t due to be at Katie’s until four thirty so I’d go home, change, get Jake, and head over.
Poor Jake was not psyched about going to Katie’s until I reminded him that he could lick the bowl (and the
beaters, he insisted), and he could watch Katie’s TV.
“What’s up, Cupcakers?” I asked, trying to smile brightly as we arrived. “I’ve brought my apprentice, Officer Jake Taylor, along with me today.” Then over his head I mouthed, Sorry.
Jake saluted the girls, and while Katie and Alexis giggled, Mia solemnly saluted him back. She was his favorite, and I could see why. Nobody seemed mad at me, so that was good.
Henry Garner was having a circus-themed birthday with a clown, so we’d decided to do clown cupcakes for the party. This meant yellow cake with red-and-white-striped cupcake papers, Froot Loops eyes, a licorice whip smile, red frosting hair, and frosted ice-cream cones as pointy clown hats. I put Jake in charge of sorting Froot Loops by color, and I said he could eat some but not all of them.
Alexis was also making some mini cupcakes that she was bringing over for Mona to sample that evening since we kind of burned the ones from the last Jake episode. Alexis thought Mona might buy them for the store, and I was really excited about that. Maybe it would mean I could go back there again. Plus, it meant more business, and that meant more money.
As usual, we paid for the cost of the supplies out of our treasury; all money received went into it too. It was tricky to price fancier cupcakes, like the clowns, because we had a hard time valuing our labor and time and, after all, we weren’t professionals with degrees from culinary schools. But if we covered our costs and made at least a 20 percent profit—what Alexis had determined—for each sale, we were pleased. Actually we were all pretty happy to come out even, but everyone was afraid to tell that to Alexis. Once a month Alexis divided the extra money we had, and we used it to go out for ice cream or pizza to celebrate. After that we each kept what little we had left. I hoped we’d have a little extra this month.
We got right to work measuring, pouring, mixing, and pouring again. The first four trays of cupcakes went into the ovens (Katie’s mom had two side by side), and while we waited, I began coloring some of the buttercream frosting a deep red for the Bozo hair.
We were quiet, which seemed a little weird. I looked over at Jake, who was also quiet, and realized why: He had cake batter dripping all down the front of him from licking the spoon and the bowl.
“Oh, Jakey, you need an apron!” I lunged across the kitchen for paper towels and an apron, but all I could find in the apron drawer were large, ruffled, flowery aprons.
“I’m not wearing that stinky girl apron!” Jake was immovable on the subject. “No, sir!” He also refused to take off his shirt.
“Jake, this is gross. And you can’t go sit on Katie’s mom’s couch like that to watch TV.”
Mia took over and, while pretending to arrest him and frisk him for weapons, she carefully wiped him clean. I watched in wonder and shook my head. He was like putty in her hands.
We started talking about the wedding. I thought Jake was watching TV but suddenly there was chaos. Jake had gone to remove the electric beaters that I had been using to make the red frosting so he could lick them, and had accidentally turned them on, sending red frosting spattering everywhere, including all over Mia and all over the kitchen.
At first I panicked that he lost a finger or something. When I realized it was all just frosting, I looked at the mess, and I just lost it. “I can’t take you anywhere!” I shouted at Jake. “And it’s not fair that I have to watch you all the time!” Everyone stopped working and stared at me.
“Shh, Emma, it’s okay. We can clean it up,” said Katie soothingly.
“I’ll take Jake,” said Mia, and she and Jake went off to borrow an old T-shirt of Katie’s.
Once the tears started, I had a hard time stopping them. I was upset about the mess, upset about having to be in charge of Jake so much, upset that he always ruined everything, and most of all, upset about the dress. It just didn’t seem fair. I cried and cried and cried.
“Okay,” said Katie, after Mia had returned without Jake, who was now watching SpongeBob in the other room. “Emma, we need to talk.”
Katie patted a seat at the table next to her, and I sat down, still teary. Alexis and Mia sat across from me. Everyone looked concerned.
“You seem really stressed out,” said Katie. Her head was tilted to the side as she looked at me. I don’t know why that made me cry more.
“Are you getting enough sleep?” asked Alexis directly. Alexis was a big believer in the basics of life. If you slept well, ate well, and exercised, pretty much everything else would fall into place.
“Not really,” I admitted. “I’m pretty busy.”
Alexis sat back and folded her arms in satisfaction. “A good night’s sleep is so important,” she said. She sounded like Mom.
“It seems like you have a lot on your plate,” said Mia.
I nodded.
“You have the Cupcake Club. And babysitting. And dog walking. And orchestra. Plus homework. Can we help you?” Alexis asked kindly.
Not to mention saving money, I thought. Then I felt badly. I didn’t really want to talk about this with them. What could they do? They would just feel sorry for me, and I didn’t want that at all.
“Do you want a break from your responsibilities with the club?” asked Alexis. “Like a leave of absence?”
I noticed Mia watching me carefully for my response. It gave me a little chill. Did Mia want me out of the club? I thought for a second. I could use the extra time for dog walking and make some money. But if I took a break, it would be like quitting my friends. Plus, I love the club. But if I stayed with it, I’d have to really be present and do a good job—an even better job than in the past because I’d have to prove how committed I really was. I’d have to figure it out. Gee, that seemed to be a theme these days.
Finally I said, “No, but thanks. The Cupcake Club is the best part of my busyness. I’d rather be baking and working and hanging out with you guys than anything else.” It was true, after all.
I saw Mia and Katie exchange a glance.
“Well, if it starts to feel like it’s too much, just, um, let us know. We won’t cut you out of the earnings if you miss a baking session here and there,” said Alexis, but I watched her look uneasily at Mia and Katie.
“Thanks, you guys,” I said. “You’re awesome.” But I was really thanking Alexis. There was something going on that I couldn’t put my finger on. Mia and Katie seemed like they didn’t believe me, and I wasn’t sure they were exactly on board with Alexis. Good old Alexis.
And then, “The cupcakes!” cried Katie.
She leaped to the oven just in the nick of time. They were golden brown and perfect.
The tension was cut for now by our successful batch.
“Phew!” I said, but I wasn’t only talking about the cupcakes.
CHAPTER 8
Dog Days
The next day Alexis caught up with me as I was heading to the Andersons’ to walk Jenner.
“Hey! I just checked my e-mail, and we have good news!” called Alexis as she came jogging up.
I was running late, but I stopped. “What’s up?” I asked.
Alexis grinned. “Mona loved the sample minis!”
“She did?” I cried. I was so excited.
Alexis nodded. “Yup, and she wants to place an order for five dozen every Saturday for the next two months!”
“Oh my God! That is amazing,” I said, thinking about the profits. Then I thought about dropping them off at the beautiful store. “What will we charge her?” I asked. “And how will we get them to her?”
Alexis nodded again. “Already thought of all that. The minis are fifty cents each, so that’s thirty dollars a week. For eight weeks it’s two hundred and forty dollars. My mom said she’ll take me to drop them off on the way to soccer every week.”
“That is so great! Thanks, Alexis! So we’ll bake every Friday night?”
“We kind of already do, anyway,” said Alexis. “But yeah. Where are you going? Jenner?”
I nodded. “Yup. I love him and the cool part is, he s
eems to love me back! He behaves so well for me. Unlike Jake,” I added.
Alexis pursed her lips thoughtfully. “You know, you could really make it worth your while if you had more than one dog at a time.”
I had already thought of that as part of the dream dress plan. “I know. I just haven’t had the time to try to drum up more business.”
“Well . . . you just need to maximize your time while you’re doing it. So, like, wear a T-shirt that says ‘Dog walking, five dollars a walk’ with your e-mail address or whatever on it,” Alexis said.
“That’s a cute idea. I can do that with some fabric markers.”
“And you could make a flyer on the computer and hand it out or put it in mailboxes while you’re out walking.”
“Oooh! Good one!”
Alexis laughed. “And . . . you could, like, spray liver perfume on you or carry a lot of doggy treats in your pockets, so when you pass a dog on the street it goes crazy for you!”
I laughed too. “I think I’ll skip the liver perfume, but thanks. Treats in my pocket is a good idea. I’ve been meaning to do that. Thanks!”
“Anytime. You know I love brainstorming about marketing,” said Alexis with a smile. But then she turned suddenly serious. “Hey, maybe you should put cupcake flyers in the mailboxes too!”
“I could do that,” I said. But something about her voice made me nervous.
“Just to, you know, help out a little,” said Alexis casually.
I felt a pit in my stomach. “Oh. Am I . . . not helping out enough?”
Alexis looked away uneasily. “No, I mean, I think you are. . . .”
“Do the others think I’m not?” I asked anxiously. Was this what was going on at that last baking session? I missed some meetings, sure. And I brought Jake a few times. But I was trying, I really was.
“No, no, not at all. I think . . . Maybe they’re just nervous about all the work we have these days, and they just want to make sure you’re committed. You’ve missed a few baking sessions. And you seem a little preoccupied.” Alexis shrugged. “That’s all. But don’t tell them I told you, okay?”
