Katie and the Cupcake War (9 page)

“I almost forgot!” I said. I put down the cupcake I was icing and went into the front hallway, where I had dumped all my stuff. I came back into the kitchen carrying a box.

“You know how Mom likes to collect old things?” I asked. “Well, she has these vintage glass cake stands she said we could borrow. They're kind of sixties looking, right?”

“They're perfect!” Alexis said happily.

“I like how they're all different heights,” Mia said. “That'll look cool when we set up the cupcakes.”

Hearing that made me feel good, because now I felt like I had contributed something to the booth besides the cupcake design.

“We'll be done with the aprons in a little while,” Emma said. “Then we'll come help you ice the cupcakes.”

About an hour later, almost all the cupcakes were done and stored away in the plastic containers we use to keep them fresh and to transport them. Eddie and Dan came into the kitchen as we were finishing up.

“Got any for us to taste?” Eddie asked.

We actually learned early on that it's a good idea to taste our cupcakes before we serve them. Sometimes mistakes can happen that you can't see with your eyes—like not putting in enough sugar or adding too much salt, for example. So it's always good to have cupcake tasters on hand. For some reason, fathers and brothers seem to be very good at this.

Mia handed Eddie and Dan one cupcake each. Then we were all quiet as we watched them both take a bite.

Eddie grinned. “These are very good.”

“Just very good?” Alexis asked. “Would you say they were award-winning cupcakes?”

“They're excellent!” Eddie said.

“Excellent isn't good enough,” Mia said. “We need them to be spectacular.”

“Well, they taste excellent and they look spectacular,” Eddie said.

That seemed to satisfy everyone but Alexis, who turned to Dan.

“What do you think?” she asked him.

Dan shrugged. “What Dad said.”

“Then I think we're good,” I said. “Come on, let's finish up these last ones.”

It was almost ten o'clock when we finally had everything cleaned up. Alexis's mom came to pick up Alexis and Emma. Alexis was furiously checking her to-do list as she was heading out the door.

“Cupcakes. Aprons. Milk. Straws. Tablecloth. Sign . . . sign!” she cried. “Oh no! We forgot to make a sign for the booth.”

“Katie and I will do it,” Mia promised.

Alexis sighed. “I'll see you guys in the morning.”

She and Emma left, and I yawned. “We have to get up so early!”

“The sign won't take long,” Mia reassured me. “I have all the stuff.”

We changed into pj's and brushed our teeth, and then I dragged my sleeping bag up to Mia's room. Mia put a big piece of poster board on the floor and then brought out a shoe box filled with markers. I let Mia do all the drawing, because she's awesome at that, and then I helped color in all the bubble letters and flowers.

“Do you think we'll beat Callie and the BFC?” I asked, yawning.

“I don't know,” Mia replied. “But we've done all we can. We'll have to wait and see.”

I thought about what it would feel like to lose—and then have to go home with Callie after that.

“I really hope we win,” I said.

I fell asleep in my sleeping bag on the floor, surrounded by a rainbow of markers.

T
he fund-raiser officially started at noon, but we decided we wanted to get to the school by ten thirty, so that we would have plenty of time to set up. Eddie made Mia and me a breakfast of omelets and toast. (“Because you worked so hard on those spectacular cupcakes,” he told us.) Then Emma's mom drove up in their minivan at ten, with Emma and Alexis, and we loaded everything into the back.

There was no sign of Callie, Maggie, or Bella when we got to the fund-raiser. It was held in the school parking lot, and there were blue canopy tents, with tables underneath them, set up all over the lot. Each table was labeled with the name of a club, and we found the Cupcake Club table pretty quickly.

“We're near the front again,” Alexis remarked. “That's good for business.”

We got to work getting the booth ready right away. Mia's tie-dyed tablecloth looked fabulous on the table. I arranged Mom's cake platters, and Mia was right—the different heights looked cool. We put on our aprons and then worked together to carefully place the cupcakes on the stands. It's hard to do without getting icing on your fingers, and it's even harder to do without licking your fingers, which wouldn't be very hygienic.

Mr. Becker showed up around eleven thirty, wheeling a big cooler filled with milk bottles.

“Your table looks very nice, girls,” he said.

“Thanks for getting the milk for us,” I told him.

“I'm happy to support you guys,” Alexis's dad replied. “You're all very ambitious. I have some other things for you too.”

He unstrapped a cord that was wrapped around the cooler and gave Alexis a cardboard box.

“I had those flyers copied for you this morning,” he said.

Alexis hugged him. “You're the best,” she said. “When I'm CEO of my own company, you can be my assistant.”

Mr. Becker laughed. “I don't think I would want
that job. I have a feeling it wouldn't be easy.”

After he left, we all took a look at the flyers Alexis had made.

Having a Party or Special Event?
Serve Your Guests the Best Cupcakes in Town
Made Especially for You
by the Cupcake Club!
We have lots of different flavors and designs!

Underneath the words, there were pictures of some of the cupcakes we've made, and Alexis's cell phone number and the e-mail address we use for the club.

“This is great,” I proclaimed. “We'll definitely get new business from this.”

The last thing we needed to do was to put up our sign. We poked holes in the corners and then used string to hang it from the canopy poles behind the table. Then we stepped back to admire our work.

PEACE OUT!
Have a Groovy 50th Anniversary, Park Street!
Old School Cupcakes $2.00 • Milk $1.00
The Cupcake Club

The sign was decorated with flowers and peace signs, just like the aprons, and it looked really great. Then Emma's mom walked up with Jake.

“Wow, girls, this is wonderful!” she said. “Let me get a picture!”

Mia and I stood on one side of the table, and Alexis and Emma stood on the other, so we could make sure the cupcakes got in the picture. Of course, Jake ran over at the last minute, so he could be in it too. But he's short, so he didn't block the cupcakes.

“Okay, great,” Mrs. Taylor said. “You girls had better get behind the table. You're going to be swamped soon.”

She was right. People started swarming into the parking lot. Next to us, the Chess Club was charging people to challenge them at chess. On the other side of us, the school band had set up a funny photo booth. There wasn't any other food nearby, so the hungry people headed right for our cupcakes.

One of our first customers was Principal LaCosta. Even though it was Saturday, she was still dressed like a principal, in a navy blue suit and a pale yellow blouse. Her wavy brown hair was held in place by lots of hairspray, like it always is.

“Ah, the Cupcake Club!” she said. “I'm glad to
see you girls are still at it. And it's great to see that you're celebrating our school anniversary.”

She bought one cupcake and one cup of milk. Alexis had a big smile on her face as she deposited the money into the cash box.

Other people liked the theme, too, especially parents.

“Tie-dyed cupcakes. Very groovy!” said one dad. Lots of people said stuff like that, or they flashed a peace sign at us.

We were really busy selling cupcakes for a while, and then I thought of something.

“Hey, we don't even know what kind of cupcakes the BFC has,” I said, suddenly feeling worried again. They might be doing even better than we were.

Alexis frowned. “Maybe you and Mia should go check it out. Emma and I can handle this.”

Mia and I made our way through the crowd. It wasn't hard to find the BFC booth, because it was the loudest booth in the place. They had a drummer, a trumpet player, and a flute player in front playing football fight songs.

As we got closer, we saw Maggie and Bella dressed as cheerleaders, waving blue-and-yellow pom-poms outside the booth.

“Get your school spirit here!” they were yelling.

Callie was dressed like a cheerleader too, and she was selling the cupcakes behind the BFC table. The cupcakes had white icing and maybe some cinnamon sprinkled on top.

“They didn't even do blue and yellow for school spirit,” I remarked to Mia.

Beth Suzuki was walking by, and she heard me. “That's not the kind of school spirit they're talking about.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Some kids are saying the cupcakes taste like they have, you know,
spirits
in them,” she said. “The kind that makes you drunk.”

“That's ridiculous!” I sputtered. “Callie would never do that.”

Beth shrugged. “Whatever. That's just what I heard.” She walked away, and then we heard Maggie and Bella talking to Eddie Rossi, Wes Kinney, and some other boys about the cupcakes.

“Our cupcakes have lots of
spirit
,” Maggie said, emphasizing the last word, and then she winked.

“I'll have ten!” Wes cried, and then he ran to the table.

Mia looked at me, and her eyes were wide. “I can't believe they're doing this!”

Then it hit me. “Wait, I recognize those cupcakes. Mrs. Wilson makes them for Christmas every year. She calls them rum ball cupcakes, but she uses imitation rum extract. I know because my mom told me. I've been eating them since I was little. They taste like rum, but there's no alcohol in them.”

“Maybe. But they're trying to make everyone
think
there is,” Mia pointed out.

“We'd better tell Alexis and Emma,” I said, and we made our way back to the booth.

Emma and Alexis were shocked after we reported what the BFC were doing.

“So
that's
their secret plan,” Alexis said. “They must think they'll sell tons of cupcakes if everyone thinks there's alcohol in them.”

“Well, it's working,” Emma said, glancing at their booth. “Look!”

There was a long line at the BFC stand, mostly made up of boys.

Alexis shook her head. “This is so unfair.”

“I guess, but they're not really doing anything wrong, are they?” I asked. “We knew they were going to do something big. So we've just got to try harder, that's all.”

“Katie's right,” Mia said. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Get your groovy cupcakes
here! Tie-dyed cupcakes! You've never seen anything like them!”

I joined in. “See how delicious peace can be!” I yelled. “Give peace a chance!” I knew I sounded silly, but I had to say something. I wasn't going to let the BFC win!

F
or the next hour I stayed focused on selling. I poured milk. Mia and Emma handed out cupcakes, and Alexis worked the cash box. I tried not to think of all the great business the BFC was getting, but it was hard not to. Those marching band kids kept playing the same school spirit songs over and over.

“That music is making me crazy!” I cried. “I wish we had our own band. Then we could drown them out.”

“Hey, I have an idea,” Mia said. She took out her cell phone and then nodded to Emma. “Be right back.”

A few minutes later Mia came back with a big smile on her face, but she didn't say what she was planning. After about fifteen minutes her stepdad
showed up with one of those boom-box docking stations. He popped in an iPod.