Alexis's Cupcake Cupid

by Coco Simon

  “Here are the boots,” said Dylan.

  “All your favorite things, Dilly? Are you sure?”

  “Yes. You need to come out with all guns blazing!”

  The boots were a teeny-weeny bit too small (my feet are bigger than hers, and I’m almost taller than Dylan already), but she said I could wear a thin sock and still rock them, so I couldn’t refuse. The outfit looked awesome—more like someone in their twenties would wear than someone in middle school.

  I grinned at Dylan, but she was looking at me appraisingly again. “The hair,” she said.

  I put my hand to my head. “What?”

  “We’ll need to fix it. What time’s the movie tomorrow?”

  “Four o’clock.”

  She nodded, “Yup. Let’s do it. Come home straight from school. Quick shower, then I’ll blow it out and make it all smooth and wavy the way you like it.”

  “Really? Like, don’t you have four million other things to do?”

  She smiled. “I’m meeting Alvaro at the café when his band practice is over! At five!”

  I smiled. “Love has made you very generous,” I said.

  She shrugged. “I was always generous. I just found you annoying, so I rarely gave you anything.”

  “Way to burst my bubble, Dyl.” I laughed. “Thanks a lot.”

  “Kid-ding!” she singsonged.

  “I’m going to go take this all off. Tomorrow, I’ll change into it when I get home, after you do my hair! Then at the movies—”

  “Wait, so you’re definitely going?” asked Dylan. “I wasn’t sure.”

  “What? Oh. Yeah. I think I’d better, don’t you? I mean, why waste this outfit?” I said, and off I went to change.

  The next day at school, Emma sidled up to me in the hall. “You’re coming, right?” I think it had turned into a test of friendship or something for her.

  I nodded. “Yup. All set!”

  “Great!” She brightened. She must’ve been thinking I’d say no. “Then I have good news. You can come with us. Matt’s going over to George’s after school, so we have plenty of room in the car.” She grinned at me. “Okay?”

  “Oh, that’s so nice. Thanks. But I have to go home first, and, uh . . . I have just one thing to do. So that’s okay. I can just ride my bike.” Ugh. I winced, picturing myself riding my bike along the dirty streets in my cream pants.

  Luckily, Emma was having none of it. “Okay, then we’ll pick you up at three thirty at your house. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “See you then.”

  After school, I dashed home, hopped in the shower, and when I came out, Dylan had arrived. I sat on a stool in front of her full-length mirror, and she got to work, spritzing and pinning and sometimes pulling. (I didn’t dare yelp for fear she’d quit.) Dylan is really quite handy with beauty stuff. The girl really knows her way around a blow-dryer. My hair began to cooperate, and soon it looked beautiful—bouncing and behaving and shiny. Much fancier than I ever usually wear it.

  “Almost done!” Dylan cautioned as I tried to touch a long, loopy curl.

  “Sorry,” I muttered.

  Soon, she turned off the dryer. “Perfect!” she exclaimed, surveying her handiwork as she walked around me, spraying a toxic cloud of hairspray. “And now for makeup.”

  “Uh, this morning Mom told me we need to use a really light hand if I do makeup. . . .”

  “Of course!” said Dylan. “You don’t need to tell me! I’ve got it under control. A teeny, tiny dab of brown mascara. And just the slightest hint of lip gloss.”

  I looked at my watch: 3:25. “They’ll be here in five minutes. Should I get dressed now?”

  Dylan made sweeping motions toward my room with her hand, so I scampered off and pulled on the miracle outfit. When I went back across the hall, Dylan shook her head from side to side, smiling in marvel. “Just right!” she said. “Love the full effect with the hair. Now sit!” she barked, so I did.

  She did as she promised and only used a tiny bit of makeup. When the car horn sounded outside—toot, toot—she pressed a pair of earrings into my hand—gold knotted studs—and the lip gloss. I gave her a huge hug. “Thanks, Dylan! You’re the best big sister ever!” Then I ran downstairs, jabbing the studs into my ears, and then swiping the lip gloss across my mouth. I pulled on my coat and hurried out to the driveway, where everyone was waiting in the Taylors’ minivan.

  The door whooshed open, and I climbed aboard. Mr. Taylor called out a greeting, and we were on our way.

  “Whoa!” cried Mia. “Lookin’ good!”

  I smiled, feeling shy. “Thanks.”

  “You look really pretty, Alexis,” agreed Katie.

  Emma leaned close to my ear and whispered, “If he doesn’t see what he’s missing today, Matt’s an idiot, even if he is my brother.”

  “Thanks. That means a lot to me to hear you say it,” I said. It really did.

  Just then Jake popped up from the back row. “Alexis! Are you going to a party? Why are you all dressed up?” Everyone laughed as Emma scolded him back into his seat and buckled his seat belt.

  “I can’t believe your folks are letting him see this movie,” I whispered to Emma.

  She nodded. “It’s PG. We’ll just distract him if there’s a really bad part,” she answered in a low voice.

  I turned to face forward, took a deep breath, and steeled myself as we pulled up in front of the mall.

  It was Go Time!

  CHAPTER 11

  Showtime

  Jake dragged us straight to the concession stand. My stomach was in knots so maybe eating something would help. But it had to be just plain popcorn and water, so nothing happened to the sweater.

  Jake went first. “I’ll have a huge tub of popcorn with butter, a Buncha Crunch, a large Coke . . .”

  “Hey, slow down, mister!” Emma said in exasperation. “I’m not spending twenty-five bucks on snacks for you to have you spill it anyway. You’re getting a small soda and a small popcorn, like you always do.”

  Jake pouted.

  I bent down and whispered. “Hey, it was worth a try.”

  He rolled his eyes and nodded. He knew when he was defeated. Then he spied someone over my shoulder. “Matt! Over here!”

  Ugh. My stomach clenched. I didn’t even want to turn around, but it would be too weird not to. I kind of half turned, and as I caught sight of Matt, and he caught sight of me, his jaw actually dropped. I swear! And he stopped in his tracks for a minute. Then a huge grin spread across his face, and he started walking toward us.

  “Alexis?” he said, like he wasn’t sure it was me.

  I scrambled to think of Dylan’s advice. I nodded, and kind of half smiled, then looked away and down. Then I fluttered my eyelashes a little. I think that was part of it, right? I tried to droop my hair onto my forehead, but it was sprayed firmly into place, so I wound up kind of squinting.

  Matt reached my side. “You look so nice, Alexis. Hey . . . do you have something in your eye?” He looked at me in concern.

  “Uh, no . . . I . . .” I cleared my throat. “No. I’m fine. Thanks.” So much for mysterious! Clearly, he was happy to see me, or something, but now I was at a loss. I looked away.

  “Did Dad give you guys money for me?” asked Matt.

  Emma appeared and handed him ten bucks and a ticket. “Soo . . . doesn’t Alexis look pretty?” she sang out with an evil grin.

  I turned dark red, and so did Matt. “Um, yeah. Really pretty,” he agreed nervously. Then he quickly stepped to the counter to order his candy.

  “Thanks a lot!” I hissed at Emma. “I am so out of here!”

  “Oh, stop. I’m just having a little fun!” she whispered. Then she called, “Matt! We’re going to get seats!”

  “Okay,” he called, without really turning around.

  “You see? He won’t even look at me!” I cried when we were out of earshot and headed into the darkened theater.

  Emma laughed. “It’s not that he won’t, you dop
e! It’s that he can’t! You’re like the sun, all dazzling in your emerald green and your gorgeous shiny hair! He can’t look at you or he’ll start grinning like an idiot! Come on. Cut the guy some slack. It’s a good thing!” She elbowed me.

  Now I think it was my turn for my jaw to drop. “Seriously? Do you really think that?”

  “I don’t think it, I know it. Trust me.”

  “Humph,” I said. The butterflies in my stomach starting doing a happy nervous dance, which is better than just a scared nervous dance. I pictured butterflies fluttering around in my stomach, all colorful and synchronized, like Olivia’s skating team. It made me giggle.

  Walking down the aisle, we heard Mia and Katie calling us over. Jake went first, to sit next to his beloved Mia, then me, then Emma. George and the boys filed in and sat right behind us as the trailers started. The lights were still pretty bright, so everyone was whispering and chatting over the row. Everyone but me and Matt, that is.

  Mia was asking Jake if he was nervous about the scary parts of the movie, and he said no, because he’d brought his Emma Bear. He reached down inside his backpack and pulled out the beloved bear he’d gotten when he had his tonsils out. (He’d named it after Emma because she looked after him at the hospital.)

  “Oh, I love her pretty new ribbon! It’s just like the one—” Mia began.

  Suddenly, Matt called out, kind of angry, “Hey! Jake! Where’d you get that ribbon?”

  Jake quickly grabbed the bear from Mia and tried to shove it back into his knapsack. Matt practically jumped over the seat and wrenched the bear out of Jake’s hand. What was going on? I turned to look at Matt, and he was examining the ribbon. It was red, with tiny white polka dots. It must’ve come from the candy I gave Emma. Except hadn’t she thrown that away at school? I was confused. Was it Mia’s? I knew she had saved hers.

  “Where did you get this ribbon, Jake?” repeated Matt.

  “I . . . It was on the candy! I—I was still a little hungry after I ate the cupcake on your desk, and I saw the candy in the hall, so . . .”

  “Wait, the cupcake on Matt’s desk?” I cried.

  Jake nodded and sank down in his seat, folding his arms across his chest and sulking. “I was hungry, and everyone was being mean to me and saying I can’t have a cupcake, so I ate that one because no one would know.”

  “That cupcake was for Matt! It was his valentine!” I yelped. “I worked really hard decorating that!”

  “It was really pretty, Alexis,” Jake said, patting my arm with his chubby little hand.

  I had to laugh in shock, thinking of all the time I’d wasted worrying about what Matt thought about one lousy little cupcake. One lousy little cupcake that Jake had wolfed down before Matt even knew it was there! The whole thing was ridiculous! What a complete waste of time and energy! But Matt was angry, and I couldn’t figure out why.

  “Jake! The candy in the hall was on Alexis’s tablet because it was for Alexis!” Matt was practically shouting.

  Jake shrugged. “I didn’t know. No one was there, so it looked like I could just have it.” He turned to face the movie screen and acted like he was totally engrossed.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.

  “Nobody asked!” said Jake.

  “Oh, for goodness’s sake!” I practically shouted.

  “Shh!” shushed someone from the balcony.

  Matt began to whisper. “You left me a cupcake?”

  I grinned and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was kind of lame, but . . .”

  “It was yummy! And it had icing and hearts, too!” said Jake.

  “Shh!” Matt said to Jake. Then he turned back to me. “Thanks. I wish I saw it.”

  I shrugged. “You left me candy?”

  Now it was Matt’s turn to shrug. “It was just in a little white basket, with a ribbon. There wasn’t much candy but I thought it was kind of pretty, so . . .”

  “I know! I bought the same thing for the other Cupcakers. On sale, though,” I added. I couldn’t help realizing he’d bought it for me at full price. Wow. That was pretty major. “It was really pretty, so thanks!”

  “It was pretty. That’s why I kept the ribbon!” Jake piped.

  “Shh!” I said.

  Matt and I looked at each other. “Thanks,” we both said at the same time. Then we both laughed.

  “That was why I was upset when I saw you at the mall. . . . I thought you got the candy and didn’t say anything,” said Matt. “I was mortified.”

  “Me too! I was so mad and embarrassed when you didn’t say anything about the cupcake.” I laughed. What a silly, stupid waste of time!

  The trailers ended and the movie began. The theater grew even darker.

  I felt a hand pat my shoulder, and I knew it wasn’t Jake. I put my hand on top of Matt’s hand for a second and then patted him back. Swoon!

  Then Matt leaned down and whispered, “Next time, I’ll get you flowers. I don’t think Jake will eat those.”

  My heart soared: “next time”!!!

  Then Matt took away his hand and sat back, and we watched the movie, which was so good (and Liam Carey was soooo handsome!) that I actually forgot about Matt for ninety minutes, and that’s saying something!

  After the movie, all the girls jumped up and ran to the ladies’ room. There was lots to discuss.

  “Okay, start from the beginning!” commanded Mia.

  “Didn’t you hear what happened? You were only a seat away,” I said.

  “We were busy watching the trailers,” Katie said. “Now spill!”

  I explained everything, and Emma moaned and put her hands on her head. “This is what I am always telling you guys! Jake is a menace! He ruins everything!”

  “Awww, come on. He’s so cute! How can you even stay mad at him?” Mia defended him.

  “He’s not cute,” insisted Emma.

  “I think he’s a cute menace,” I said with a grin.

  “So does this mean you’ll come to the skating party tomorrow?” asked Katie.

  “I’ll definitely come,” I agreed. “I have to help bring the cupcakes, anyway. I don’t think I’ll skate, though.” Now that I was fired up about Matt again, I really didn’t want him to see me wobbling around on ice skates, Sasha or no Sasha.

  “That’s so lame! You have to skate. You took that lesson!” said Katie.

  “I know, but I’ll look like such a fool in front of Matt. You can’t believe how bad I am.”

  “You’ll just have to skate with us,” said Katie. “We’re your friends, and we don’t care how you look on the ice. It will be fun. And we can hide you from Matt if you need us to. That’s all there is to it.”

  “Maybe,” I said, knowing there was no way I’d do it now. “Come on, we’d better get out there, or those guys might leave.”

  “Trust me, they are not leaving,” Mia said with a laugh. But, still, we all took one last look in the mirror (I still hardly recognized myself), and we turned to leave.

  But Emma caught me by the arm and whispered so the others couldn’t hear. “I knew he liked you! Don’t you ever worry about it again, and don’t ever change. He likes you just the way you are—straight hair or curly, fancy clothes or plain, good skater or spaz. He likes you, and I love you!” She gave me a tight sideways squeeze.

  “Thanks, Em. Love ya, too.”

  “I knew I’d seen that little candy basket and ribbon somewhere before,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Oh, Jake. That little rat!”

  Outside, the boys were playing arcade games, and we stood around and watched for a little while. It was almost six o’clock, and I’d have to get home soon, but George suggested we all walk across the mall for some pizza. We checked with our parents, and they extended our pick-up time to six thirty, so we raced to the pizzeria.

  I caught up to Jake as we speed walked and said, “Hey, Jake, uh, do you think you’d let me have that ribbon for my memory box? I’ll give you another one just like it.” I knew Mia would let me have hers.
I knew it was silly, but I just wanted some part of the very first gift I’d ever received from a boy, even though I didn’t actually receive the gift.

  “Sure,” agreed Jake, stopping dead in the middle of the mall. He unzipped his backpack, carefully undid the ribbon, and handed it to me with a serious look on his face. “I’m sorry, Alexis. I shouldn’t have taken your things.”

  “That’s okay, bud. I forgive you. And I know how hard it is to resist a Cupcake Club masterpiece.” I tousled his hair and he grinned.

  The boys came up behind us then, and I shoved the ribbon into my pocket before Matt could see what we were doing.

  “Alexis wanted your ribbon,” said Jake, and I turned beet red.

  Oh, Jake! I thought. Right after I defended you!

  “Oh yeah?” said Matt. “And I wanted her cupcake!” he added, without missing a beat.

  Now Jake blushed. “Sorry, Matty.”

  “Aw, that’s all right. I’ll just have to shake it out of you!” And he whipped Jake off his feet, turned him upside down and began shaking him by the ankles, while Jake laughed hysterically and I admired Matt’s strength.

  “Come on!” George called. “Stop showing off for Alexis and let’s get this pizza, or it will be too late!”

  Matt put down Jake, and we three walked toward the food court. Panda Gardens was closed.

  “Ooh, sorry,” I said to Matt. “We’ll miss you, Panda Gardens!” I called, cupping my hands on either side of my mouth.

  He laughed and pulled my hands away.

  “Nice try. They don’t serve dinner on Thursdays. Night off.”

  “Oh! Phew!” I said. “That’s good news.” I really didn’t want Panda Gardens to close because I know how much Matt loves their food.

  “Hey, Valentine’s Day is kind of a silly holiday, isn’t it?” Matt asked as we arrived at Pinocchio’s Pizza.

  I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how to say what I felt. But then I took a deep breath. “I think it sometimes causes more harm than good, unless you sell greeting cards and candy.”