Katie Sprinkles and Surprises (6 page)

“Hey, Mr. Wilson,” I said. “I brought the vanilla cupcakes. And I made taco dip. It's extra spicy.”

Callie's dad put down his barbecue tongs and gave me a big hug. “That's my girl. Look at you, Katie! You're growing like a weed!”

It was a good hug. I've known Callie's dad since I was a baby, and he's probably the closest thing I have to a real dad. Only I don't see him so much anymore since Callie and I aren't friends.

“I only grew an inch over the last few months,” I reported. (I measure myself every week against the doorjamb in my room. I don't care about being tall—I'm just curious.)

“Well, that's some inch, then,” Mr. Wilson said. “Are you sure you're not wearing high heels?”

I laughed and looked down at my sneakers, which were covered with rainbows I had drawn on with some Magic Marker. “Me? Heels? No way.”

“You should see the heels that Callie just bought,” Mr. Wilson said. “I don't see how she can walk in them, honestly.”

Callie walked up and grabbed me by the arm. “I'll show them to her, and she can be the judge,” she said. But I knew why she was really dragging me up to her room.

“Why didn't you tell me about Mr. Green?” she asked after slamming the door shut behind her.

I just looked at her. I don't tell Callie anything anymore, so why would I tell her about Mr. Green?

But Callie didn't even wait for a response. “I mean, it's weird your mom is dating anybody, right? And it's a teacher on top of that? Seriously, how are you okay with that?”

Callie sounded genuinely sympathetic, and suddenly it was like we had never stopped being friends.
I mean, we had spent almost every day together practically since the day I was born. (Callie is three months older.) She used to know every detail of my life—every hope and every secret.

I sighed and sat down on Callie's bed. “I'm not sure if I'm okay with the whole thing,” I confessed. “I mean, it's weird. And Mom told Jeff about me before I knew he was Mr. Green.”

“Jeff? You get to call him Jeff?” Callie asked.

“Only when we're out of school,” I answered. “See what I mean? Weird!”

“So I guess your mom really likes him, then,” Callie said. “I don't think she would put you through this if she didn't.”

“I know, and that's good, but it's also bad,” I said. “If she likes him that much, they might get married. And I might have to move. Or share my room with his daughter.”

“Did she say she was going to marry him?” Callie asked.

I shook my head.

“Then don't stress just yet,” Callie said. “Your mom waited this long to get a boyfriend. She's probably not going to jump into marrying somebody right away.”

“True,” I admitted.

“And I bet your mom wouldn't make you move if you didn't want to,” Callie said. “She loves you, Katie. You're, like, her whole world.”

“I
was
her whole world,” I corrected her. “Now Jeff is part of that world. And, lately, it feels like he's the Pacific Ocean or something and I'm just a tiny little island.”

“That's not true. You're still the most important thing in her life,” Callie said convincingly. “And at least Mr. Green is supernice. And cute!”

I rolled my eyes as Callie giggled. “Yeah, because I care about a cute stepdad,” I said. And then I started giggling too.

That's when Mom knocked on the door. “Girls, the food is ready,” she said, and then she saw us both laughing. “Well, that's a nice sight to see.”

I had to agree. It was nice to laugh with Callie again.

Mom went back downstairs, and I got up from the bed.

“I haven't told anyone else about Mr. Green,” I said, knowing Callie would understand.

Callie nodded. “Come on, let's get a burger before my dad eats them all.”

And, suddenly, things weren't weird anymore, just like that. Because when it came right down to
it, Jeff was really nice. Mom was really happy. And Callie and I were good.

Maybe things are going to be okay,
I thought.
Maybe I was thinking about this all wrong. I immediately assumed the worst when I found out my mom was dating Mr. Green, but what if it turned out to be just the opposite? Maybe things would just keep getting better and better. Only time will tell.

T
he rest of the day was pretty fun. We all played volleyball together, and I found out Jeff is just as bad as I am at playing volleyball. (In fact, I'm so bad that George calls me “Silly Arms” after that sprinkler with a bunch of arms that wave and wiggle all over the place. I guess that's what I look like when I play.)

When Jeff dropped us off at home, Mom and I showered and got into our pj's and ate leftover taco dip while we watched the food channel. So it was cool we could have Jeff time and then Mom and Katie time all in the same day.

That's why I was in a pretty good mood at school the next day—until lunch, anyway. I was eating a sandwich and cracking up with Mia,
Alexis, and Emma about something that happened in gym class when Olivia Allen marched up to our table.

Olivia has thick brown hair, with brown bangs across her forehead. She gets pretty dressed up for school, and today she was wearing black tights with a black denim skirt and a shimmery silver top. She stood there, posed with her hands on her hips, like a model in a magazine. I figured she was going to ask Mia something, or say something dumb about my purple jeans, but I wasn't prepared for what she actually said.

“I can't believe your mom is dating Mr. Green!”

My stomach sank. I could see Mia and Alexis practically choking on their sandwiches, and Emma's eyes were huge. I knew they were probably mad I didn't tell them, but I had to deal with Olivia first.

“So?” I asked, trying to look like I didn't care.

Olivia stood there, not knowing what to say. I guess she was hoping for more details, but I wasn't about to give them up.

Olivia's brain must have gotten tired, because she just tossed her hair behind her shoulder and walked away—back to the table where she sat with Callie and the other girls in the BFC. I was so mad
at Callie! After everything we had talked about yesterday, she had gone and blabbed to the BFC. How could she?

I turned back to the table, and my friends were all staring at me.

“How come you didn't tell us?” Mia asked. She didn't sound angry, thankfully—just surprised and a little bit hurt.

“I'm sorry!” I blurted out. “It was just . . . so weird! I didn't want anyone to know.”

“So it's true?” Alexis asked.

I nodded. “Yes. Jeff is Mr. Green. I didn't know either until I met him that night.”

“Can you help me with my math homework?” Emma asked, and everyone giggled. That's when I knew that everything was okay.

“It is definitely weird,” Mia said. “Super extra weird. I didn't think parents were even allowed to date teachers.”

“We can check the school handbook, but I'm sure it's allowed,” Alexis said. “At least, maybe it is as long as Mr. Green isn't teaching Katie.”

“Yeah, Mom said that might be an issue. So I guess it's good I have Mr. K. for math,” I said.

Then Mia let out a little squeal. “Wait a second. So Mr. Green was actually in your house?”

“Yeah, he ate dinner with us, and then we watched a movie,” I replied.

“Is he the same out of school as he is when he's in school?” Emma asked, her blue eyes filled with curiosity.

“Yes,” I answered. “He's nice, and he's funny.”

“I still can't believe it,” Mia said, shaking her head. “Your mom's boyfriend is Mr. Green. Weird!”

Alexis's eyes suddenly narrowed. “Wait a second. How does Callie know?”

I sighed. “Yesterday. Mom invited Jeff to go with us to Callie's mom's birthday party. I told Callie not to tell anybody,” I said, but as soon as the words came out, I realized I might not have said that, exactly. I told Callie nobody else knew. But she should have understood!

Alexis made a face. “If the BFC knows, then the whole school will know soon.”

“That's what I'm worried about.”

“Nobody will care,” Emma tried to reassure me, but I wasn't so sure.

As I finished my sandwich, I looked over at Callie. I was hoping she'd look over at me, so I could give her my mad face. But she and Olivia were talking and laughing and not looking in my direction.

I opened up my lunch bag and took out a cupcake. It was a vanilla one from the batch we made for Callie's party, only I had put lots of sprinkles on this one. (I am a little sprinkle crazy these days.)

As I took a bite, I heard a voice behind me.

“Hey, the sprinkler is eating sprinkles!”

It was George. I don't mind him teasing me, because I know he's just trying to make me laugh.

“Cool! Did you bring one for me?” George asked.

I laughed. “Sorry,” I said. “Next time, I promise.”

“Well, as long as you promise,” George said, and then he walked back to his table.

“He
so
likes you,” Alexis said.

“I know,” I said, smiling.

Mia suddenly started cracking up.

“What?” I asked.

“I just had the funniest thought, but it's bad,” she said, still giggling.

“Come on, tell me,” I urged.

She caught her breath. “You and George could double-date with your mom and Mr. Green.”

“No way!” I playfully punched her in the arm, and I laughed with her.

I was glad my friends understood the Mr. Green
thing. Now I just had to worry about Callie—and what the rest of the school would think. When the lunch bell rang, I quickly caught up to Callie.

“Hey,” I said, tapping her on the shoulder.

Callie turned, smiling. “Oh, hey, Katie.”

“Please don't tell anyone else about Mr. Green,” I said, and Callie's smile faded. “That was between you and me, okay?”

Callie looked stunned, and I didn't wait for her to answer. I just turned and kept walking down the hall. I didn't know if Callie would listen, but at least I had talked to her.

O
n Wednesday we had another Cupcake Club meeting at my house. Wednesday was turning out to be a good day for everyone to meet, because it didn't interfere with Mia and Alexis playing soccer or Emma's flute practice. Everyone came over after school, and Alexis got right down to business.

“Mrs. Martinez e-mailed me, and she says they just want vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for the event, because she says most kids like those,” she reported. “For the vanilla cupcakes, we can make angel food, because we already have all the ingredients. But we can decorate them any way we want.”

“I have some ideas,” Mia said, opening up her sketchbook. “The first one is fun. It's an alien.
See? We frost the cupcake with green frosting, use black icing gel to draw a mouth, and those eyes are those round white mints with black gel for the pupils.”

“Are those candy antennae?” I asked, looking at the picture she had drawn. “They're so cute!”

“And then these are more space themed,” Mia said, turning the page. The picture showed a cupcake with blue icing and yellow stars. “We can cut out the stars from fruit strips.”

“These look great,” Alexis said, and Emma nodded.

“But will we be able to do them without you?” I asked a little nervously.

“Of course!” Mia said. “They're easy. The alien mouths are basically circles. And I can cut out stars in advance. Eddie says he'll help me make the display, too. Check it out.”

Mia showed us another sketch. The display was a cone-shape rocket ship with rings going around it that were wide enough to hold the cupcakes.

“That is awesome!” I said.