The Cupcake Diaries Collection: Katie and the Cupcake Cure; Mia in the Mix; Emma on Thin Icing; Alexis and the Perfect Recipe (12 page)

“Calm down, Maggie,” her mom said. “It’s all for the school. I was just coming to get my makeover.”

Maggie glared at us, but I didn’t care. I was feeling pretty good.

Then Callie stood up. “Maggie, can you work the cash box for a minute? I’m going to get a cupcake.”

Sydney dropped the makeup brush she was holding.
“Callie, you absolutely
cannot
buy a cupcake. Do you want to win this contest or not?”

“It’s just a cupcake,” Callie said quietly.

Callie walked over. We smiled at each other.

Maybe Callie was right. Maybe it was just a cupcake.

But to me, it felt like so much more.

T
he fund-raiser ended at three o’clock, and by then we had sold almost every single cupcake. Then Mia’s stepdad, Eddie, came to pick her up.

“Hey, girls,” he said, smiling big. “How did the cupcake sales go?”

“Great,” Mia told him.

Alexis counted the remaining cupcakes. “We sold one hundred and eighty-three,” she reported.

“So that means you have seventeen left?” he asked.

Alexis nodded.

“Tell you what,” Eddie said. He took his wallet from his pocket. “I’ve got a big meeting on Monday. I bet everyone at work would like some cupcakes. I’ll take everything you have left.”

“Wow, thanks!” I said.

“That will be thirty-four dollars, please,” Alexis said matter-of-factly.

Mia smiled. “Thanks, Eddie,” she said, and she looked really happy. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I did,” said Eddie. “I’m making them all work late, but they don’t know it yet!” He laughed. I still couldn’t tell how Mia felt about Eddie, but he seemed nice enough to me. I wondered what it would be like if Mom got married again. That would be weird. Too weird to think about.

Thanks to Eddie, we sold every single one of our cupcakes. We turned over our four hundred dollars to Principal LaCosta. Then we headed home to get ready for the dance that night.

I put on my new purple dress and Mia’s black boots. I checked out my reflection in the mirror. I still didn’t feel like I could be in a magazine or anything. But I thought I looked pretty good.

Mom got teary-eyed when I came downstairs.

“My baby’s first dance,” she said, gripping me in a hug. “Oh, you look so glamorous!”

“Mo-om,” I said in a complaining voice. (But to be honest, I kind of liked it.)

We picked up Mia, who of course looked great, and then Mom dropped us off. The gym was
decorated just like you see in the movies or on TV. There were more blue and yellow balloons and streamers, and a DJ was set up over by the basketball hoop. I was happy to see that Alexis and Emma were there already, over by the food table.

“Wow, you look nice,” Emma said.

“So do you guys,” I replied. “So, what’s to eat?”

“There’s punch, some vegetable platters, and cupcakes,” Alexis reported.

Emma groaned. “I don’t think I can look at another cupcake today.”

“I can
always
look at a cupcake,” I said, examining the trays. They looked normal—chocolate with chocolate icing, and I could tell the icing came from a can.

“Speaking of cupcakes,” Alexis said. “I talked to my parents at dinner about our PTA cupcake order. You know, they’re accountants, so they can help us figure out what to charge so we make a profit. They said they could even set us up as a business if we want.”

“Our own business?” I asked. I hadn’t thought about our little Cupcake Club as anything more than . . . well, making and eating cupcakes. But making money, too? That couldn’t be bad. “I like it!”

“I could design the logo!” said Mia.

“I bet I could make more than I do babysitting my brother!” said Emma excitedly. “I’m in!”

“Then,” proclaimed Alexis, “we are officially the Cupcake Club. Open for business!”

“Yay!” We all laughed and went in for a group hug. It felt good. For the first time in a while I wasn’t really worrying about anything. Not Callie. Not middle school. Not even math.

Then some girls I didn’t know came up to us.

“Those cupcakes you made were sooo good,” one of the girls said.

“Yeah,” said her friend. “How did you make them?”

“It’s easy,” I said. “You just follow the recipe.”

Then a funky beat blared through the gym. “Hey, I love this song!” Mia said. Before I could say no, she grabbed my arm and dragged me onto the dance floor. Alexis and Emma followed us. We danced to the whole song, and then the next one.

George Martinez was dancing by himself. He pointed at me.

“Hey, Silly Arms!”

I started waving my arms around like the Silly Arms sprinkler. George cracked up. Then Mia started doing it too.

“Hey, that’s pretty fun!” she said.

Then the gym got quiet. Principal LaCosta walked up to the DJ and took the microphone from him.

“Students, welcome to Park Street’s first dance of the year!” she cried, and a bunch of people cheered and whistled. “Now it’s time to announce the winners of our first contest. The winning table today raised four hundred dollars for our school.”

Alexis gasped. It still wasn’t sinking in with me, though. Not until Principal LaCosta called our name.

“Let’s hear it for the Cupcake Club!”

Emma let out a loud squeal. Then I realized I was squealing too. We won! We actually won! It was like the sweet icing on top of a delicious cupcake.

The four of us ran up to the DJ booth and Principal LaCosta handed us our prize. “Congratulations, girls! You’ve each won a Park Street Middle School sweatshirt!”

Everyone clapped. I still couldn’t believe it. Then the DJ started to blast the song, “Celebrate!”

Mia draped the sweatshirt over her shoulders. “Victory dance!” she yelled.

Just then Callie ran up to me and gave me a big hug.

“Katie, that’s so awesome!” she said.

Then we both stopped, stared at each other, and
started to laugh. We were both wearing the same dress! I had forgotten that purple was Callie’s favorite color.

“You look great!” she said.

“You do too!” I laughed. I wondered if Sydney told Callie she thought the dress was ugly.

Mia, Alexis, and Emma were running out to the dance floor. I didn’t know I was doing it, but I must have been following them with my eyes. A kind of sad smile crossed Callie’s face.

“Go dance with your friends,” she said.

Callie was the one who said we should make new friends in middle school. When she first said that, I was hurt. But she was right. It felt good to have new friends, but it felt good to have old friends, too.

“Come dance with us,” I said.

Callie shook her head. “No, you go. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” I told her, moving toward the club. Then I looked back. I saw her walking toward Sydney, Maggie, and Bella. Sydney did not look happy.

“Hey, Callie!” I called. She turned around. “I’m glad we’re friends!” I yelled. I said it loud, so she could hear it over the music. But I also said it so Sydney could hear me.

“Me too!” Callie called back, and then walked toward the PGC.

I ran off to dance with the Cupcake Club. As I waved my silly arms in the air, I realized something.

The first day of middle school had been awful. Callie had let me down. I got into trouble. Things did not go the way I planned at all.

But the weird thing was that middle school was not a total disaster. Everything had worked out, somehow.

Maybe it was time for a new recipe.

Mix together:

One purple dress.

One corny mom.

Two hundred and four cupcakes.

Three new friends.

One old friend.

Stir gently until they’re all blended together.

Then dance.

If you’re not an expert baker like Katie,
that’s okay—here is a quick and easy-to-follow recipe that’s just as
sweet! (Ask an adult for assistance before you start baking since you might need help
with the oven or mixer.)