The Cupcake Diaries Collection: Katie and the Cupcake Cure; Mia in the Mix; Emma on Thin Icing; Alexis and the Perfect Recipe (22 page)

I thought about what Sydney had said about Sophie. “Well, not everyone,” I replied. “But mostly we talked about normal stuff. Like Mrs. Moore’s
math quizzes. And brothers and sisters. It wasn’t so different from stuff we talk about.”

“Right. Because we are
so
much alike,” Alexis said sarcastically. “I’ll believe that when Emma comes to school dressed like a vampire, and Katie dyes her hair blond.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like Sydney,” Emma said.

Alexis blushed. “Sorry. Those girls bug me, that’s all. I survived three years of their torture at summer camp. It’s hard to get over.”

“I don’t think being blond is Sydney’s problem.” I added.

“Right. Your hair color has nothing to do with your personality,” said blond-haired Emma.

“All right, all right, I’ll drop it,” Alexis said. “Isn’t it time to frost these cupcakes now?”

We started putting the vanilla cinnamon frosting on the cupcakes. We spread the frosting on with a special knife Mrs. Brown uses. It makes the icing look smooth and shiny.

“You know, I was thinking,” I said. “I’ve seen it in some of Katie’s books—how you put the icing in a pastry bag and then pipe it out onto the top of the cupcake. You can do swirls or little dots, stuff like that.”

“Mom has pastry bags,” Katie said quickly. She ran into her big pantry and came out with plastic bags shaped like triangles and two metal tips. Then she showed us how to slide the tip into the bag so it poked through the hole in the point of the triangle. Then we stuffed the bag with icing.

“So, you kind of push the icing from the top down while you squeeze,” Katie explained. She put some on top of one of the cupcakes in a swirl pattern. It looked really nice.

“Can I try?” I asked.

I tried squeezing some out but I squeezed too hard the first time, and it came out in a big glop.

“Just a little squeeze,” Katie told me, and I tried again.

This time I did it better, and a perfect dollop of white icing came out. I covered the top of the cupcake with icing circles, and that looked really nice too.

“We should definitely do this for the show on Saturday,” Emma said, and everyone agreed.

“But you mean Sunday,” Alexis said.

“Sunday!” Emma cried. “I thought it was Saturday! Sam is in this big basketball tournament on Sunday, and we’re all going out of town to cheer him on.”

“It’s okay, Emma,” I said, thinking Dan would probably be there too. Eddie was going to be at the fashion show though. Who would cheer on Dan?

“Ugh, brothers!” Emma said, shrugging at me. “Promise you’ll take pictures and text me so I know how it goes?”

“Of course,” I said.

“What about the display?” Alexis asked.

“I’ll make sure we finish by Saturday,” Emma said. “We can work on it this weekend.”

Soon we had all the cupcakes finished. Because it was right before dinner, we unwrapped one and cut it into four pieces.

“Mmm, really good,” Alexis said.

“I’m thinking a little more nutmeg?” Katie said.

I nodded. “Definitely. They’re good, but they need a little more kick. Then they’ll be
fabulous
.”

Right about then, Eddie came by to bring me home for dinner. I had a small box of our test cupcakes with me for dessert later.

“Did you have a nice time?” Eddie asked when I got in the car.

“It was seriously fantastic,” I told him. “The cupcakes came out great, and we’re going to make this fabulous display that Mom will love, and we tried a new icing technique.”

“That’s great,” Eddie said. “I bet you girls are going to have a terrific time at the fashion show.”

Eddie’s remark reminded me—the PGC wanted to go too. I still hadn’t figured out what to do about that, but I knew I couldn’t put things off much longer. I would have to decide soon and hope nobody got hurt.

F
riday I took the train to see my dad as usual. We went to Tokyo 16 and then watched a movie when we got home.

The next morning Dad made us omelets and toast. We ate sitting on high stools at the counter that separates the kitchen from the living room. Dad’s apartment is big for Manhattan, but the place is pretty small compared to a house in the suburbs. Everything in the kitchen and the living room is either black, silver, or made of glass. My dad’s bedroom is like that too. The only color in the house is the pink in my Parisian bedroom.

“So, what are we doing today,
mija
?” Dad asked me as we ate. “Are you going to Ava’s soccer game?”

“I’ve got a big social studies project to do,” I replied. I know I haven’t mentioned this yet, but besides shopping at the mall and baking cupcakes, I’ve been doing tons of homework. It seems like there is way more homework now than at my old school. “I don’t know if I’ll get to see Ava this weekend.”

“Why don’t we invite her to dinner tonight?” Dad suggested. “I know she loves my chicken.”

“What about Alina?” I asked. “Do we have plans with her again?”

“I don’t know if I’ll be seeing Alina anymore,” Dad said. “She and I didn’t have as much in common as I thought.”

“Hmm. That’s too bad,” I said. What I really wanted to say was
Hooray! No new stepmom for me! And our walls will be safe too!
But I didn’t want to hurt Dad’s feelings.

I picked up my dish and put it in the dishwasher. “I’ll text Ava about dinner. Then I’ve got to start on my project. I’ve got to make this color-coded map showing the most populated countries in the world. It has to have a map key and everything.”

“Well, that’s right up my alley,” Dad said. He’s an architect who helps design office buildings, mostly. Dad had a big roll of paper I could use for the map,
and he even let me use his special set of colored pencils that I always drool over.

It took me all afternoon to finish the map, but when it was done, it looked great. Mr. Insley, my social studies teacher, would have to give me an A, I just knew it.

Things got even better when Ava came over. Dad made his chicken in tomato sauce, like he promised he would, and we talked and laughed all through dinner.

After we ate, Ava and I went to my bedroom to listen to music. We both flopped down on the floor, and Ava grabbed my sketchbook and started looking through it.

“These are really nice, Mia,” Ava said, turning the pages. “I really like the plaid mixed with the flower pattern.”

“Thanks!” Ava’s always been my biggest fan.

My cell phone beeped, and I flipped it open. There was a text from Sydney.

Want to hang out at my house Monday?

“Who’s that?” Ava asked.

“It’s Sydney,” I replied. “She wants me to hang out at her house on Monday.”

“Sydney? I don’t remember you talking about her. Is she in the Cupcake Club?”

“No.” I propped up a fluffy pink floor pillow against the side of the bed and leaned back. “It’s complicated. Sydney formed this club called the Popular Girls Club.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”

“I know, but the girls in that club are basically pretty nice,” I explained. “And they love to go to the mall with me and talk about fashion. None of my friends in the Cupcake Club are into that.”

“So why is it complicated?” Ava asked. “Can’t you just be friends with everybody?”

“It’s not so easy,” I told her. “You see, Katie used to be best friends with Callie, and then Callie dumped Katie to hang out with the PGC. And Alexis kind of hates Sydney, because Sydney’s really mean to her, and Emma . . . I think she doesn’t like them because she sticks up for Alexis.”

“Yeah, things get complicated in middle school.” Ava closed the book and sat up. “Like our friends on the soccer team. I love them, but I’m also friends with girls from my dance class. It’s not like we all hang out together.”

“But it’s different,” I said. “It’s not like the girls
on the soccer team and the girls in your dance class are enemies.”

“Maybe not, but I always feel like I’m splitting my time. So are you going to hang out with Sydney?” Ava asked.

I quickly looked at the schedule I keep on my phone. “It doesn’t matter if I want to or not, ’cause there’s a big math test on Tuesday.”

I texted Sydney back.

Math test on Tuesday. Have to study.

I wasn’t expecting her reply.

We can study together.

Are u sure?
I asked.
It’s a big test.

Sydney texted back.

Do u want to come or not?

Ava was looking over my shoulder. “Just go. What’s the big deal?”

I sighed.

OK. See u Monday.

“It was so much easier when I lived here,” I said, flopping backward.

“Well, if you think I’ve got it easy here, you’re wrong,” Ava told me. “I have to go halfway across town to get to school. It takes forever. I hardly know anybody. You have, like, a hundred friends already. You’re lucky.”

I thought about it. Ava might be right. I think I’d rather have too many friends than none at all, even though it can get seriously confusing.

But that didn’t make it easier on Monday, when I knew I would see Katie on my way out of school. Katie was waiting for Joanne on the school steps, like she usually was. (I wanted to tell her during lunch, but I just couldn’t do it, somehow.)

“Hey!” Katie said. “Joanne’s running late today. I wish my mom would just let me take the bus with you.”

“Um, I’m not taking the bus today,” I said. “I’m going to Sydney’s house to study.”

Katie looked hurt, but as usual, she tried to act like she wasn’t. Right then, Joanne’s red car pulled up down the street.

“Okay, cool,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I felt kind of bad. Then I heard Sydney calling me.

“Mia!”

Sydney was on the corner with Bella and Callie. I ran over to meet them.

“Hey,” I said. “Where’s Maggie?”

“She goes to ballet class on Mondays,” Sydney replied. “Her mom thinks it will make her more graceful.”

Bella giggled. “I went to her last recital. Poor Maggie. She’s hopeless!”

Now that’s the difference between the PGC and the Cupcake Club right there. In the Cupcake Club, nobody talks behind anybody else’s back.

“I always wanted to take dance lessons,” Callie said. “But I was afraid I wouldn’t be good at it.”

“I like to dance for fun,” I said. “Like when we have parties at my aunt’s house. We crank up the music and everybody dances—in the kitchen, on the porch, wherever.”

“Did you ever go dancing in the dance clubs in New York?” Bella asked.

“No,” I said. “You have to be older to do that.”

Bella looked disappointed.

“So, are you guys studying with us?” I asked Bella and Callie.

“Mom’s taking me to the eye doctor for a follow-up,” Callie said. “And then I’m studying tonight.”

“And I have . . . other plans,” Bella said a little nervously. Sydney was glaring at her. I got the feeling that maybe Sydney had ordered Bella not to hang out with us.

Callie’s house was first on the walk home, and then Bella lived a few blocks away. That left me and Sydney. We talked about the new movie starring Ann Harrison that was coming out this weekend. We both think she’s gorgeous and seriously talented.

Finally we came to a block that had a lot of old houses like the one Emma lives in. But one house on the block looked brand-new. It was twice as tall as the other houses and it was made of these pinkish-brown smooth stones. There was a big window over the front door and you could see a huge chandelier glimmering through it.

You’ve probably guessed by now that it was Sydney’s house. She took a key from the key chain hanging from her backpack, unlocked the front door, and opened it up.

“Magda! We’d like two sparkling lemonades, please!” Sydney called out.

We walked through the big front hallway (I think it’s called a foyer, right?) into a dining room with a gleaming wood table. Another smaller chandelier
hung in that room. There was a big cabinet with glass windows with fancy plates and glasses inside. The whole place was sparkling clean.

Sydney dumped her backpack on top of the table and sat down. I sat down across the table from her just as a slim woman with pale blond, pulled-back hair hurried in, carrying two glasses of lemonade. Without a word, she placed them on the table in front of us.

“Thanks!” I said, but Magda quickly left without responding.

“She’s not much of a talker,” Sydney informed me. “The last housekeeper we had just talked and talked and talked. Mom couldn’t take it anymore, so we had to get a new one.”

I opened my backpack and took out my math book. “I seriously hate dividing fractions,” I said. “It’s never made any sense to me. Why do you have to turn the numbers upside down? What’s the point?”

Sydney sipped her lemonade. “Yeah, I know. So, tell me about your mom’s fashion show. Did she choose the designers yet?”

“I think so,” I said. “We’re supposed to go over that tonight. I was at my dad’s all weekend so we haven’t had a chance to talk yet.”

“Be right back,” Sydney said. She returned a minute later carrying a laptop.

Okay,
I thought.
We’re going to start studying.