Mia a Matter of Taste (12 page)

“And even if it's not perfect, it'll still be good, right?” I teased, thinking about the twins' party.

Alexis smiled. “Of course!”

And I guess that's kind of how I was feeling about myself. I wasn't perfect anymore (and I probably never was to begin with). I had braces. I had glasses. That sure wasn't perfect.

But it was still really good.

W
ow, it looks really awesome this year!” Katie said.

We had just pulled up to the school in Katie's mom's car. Emma's dad parked next to us in his van. We had a lot of stuff to set up.

The carnival was on the school field, which was filled with colorful booths, tents, and games. As we carried our stuff to our table, we passed a dunk tank with a sign over it that read
DUNK THE TEACHER
. There was a big board with balloons on it for dart throwing, a cotton candy machine, and a cart selling cold drinks.

“Maybe we can take turns selling cupcakes, so we can all explore the carnival a little bit,” Katie said, looking around.

“Let's set up first, and then we can make up a schedule,” Alexis suggested.

The school clubs were assigned tables under a big canopy. We found a table with a paper sign with
CUPCAKE CLUB
written on it and then put our stuff down.

“Oh boy,” Alexis said, nodding to the table next to us. “Looks like the BFC are our next-door neighbors.” She didn't sound happy.

“I hope they're not doing cupcakes again,” Katie said. Once, the BFC had decided to make cupcakes at the fall fund-raiser to compete with us.

“Probably not,” Emma guessed. “It didn't work out too well for them last time.”

“Come on, let's get everything ready,” I urged. I was anxious to see how things were going to look.

We covered the table with a plain white tablecloth, because we wanted a neutral background for our colorful cupcakes. But I had made an equally colorful sign for the front of the table.

A SUMMER OF CUPCAKES

COME AS YOU ARE!

Eat what you want!

The Cupcake Club

I had written the letters in all different colors, and all around the sign I had drawn some of the designs from our cupcakes: rainbows, hearts, stars, smiley faces, sad faces—everything I could think of. It looked really cool when we hung it up.

Then we arranged our one hundred cupcakes in a spiral.

“Awesome!” Alexis said.

“It looks like a crazy kaleidoscope,” Katie added.

I took out my phone and then snapped a picture. “We totally did it!”

Alexis began to set up the cash box and calculator, and then Callie, Maggie, Bella, and Olivia walked up to the BFC table. Callie had on her funky glasses, and she looked totally cute.

“Hey,” I said. “What are you guys doing?”

Callie put a big plastic tub on the table and then opened the lid. “Friendship bracelets,” she said, and I looked inside. The tub was filled with braided friendship bracelets in all different colors and patterns.

“Oh my gosh, that's so cool!” I said. “It must have taken forever to make those.”

“Hours and hours,” Maggie piped up. “But we're the Best Friends Club, so friendship bracelets are perfect, right?”

Katie walked over. “These are really sweet. You know, our booths kind of go together. You've got all different kinds of friendship bracelets, and we've got all different kinds of cupcakes!”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “That is sooo corny.”

I ignored her. “We would look really good wearing friendship bracelets at our booth. How about a trade? Bracelets for cupcakes?”

“What?” Alexis asked, alarmed, looking up from her cash box.

“Come on, Alexis,” I said. “We'll still make plenty of money with our other cupcakes. And it's good to support fellow entrepreneurs, right?”

My strategy worked. “All right,” Alexis agreed. “Let's trade.”

So we looked through the bracelets, and the BFC looked through our cupcakes. Since we were all wearing our Cupcake Club T-shirts, which are mostly pink and yellow, we found bracelets to match.

At our table, Maggie took one of Katie's rainbow cupcakes. Bella found one that Alexis had made with purple icing and black jelly beans. Olivia and Callie picked out ones with edible glitter on top.

“Mmm,” Maggie said, biting into her cupcake right away. “Your cupcakes are so good!”

“And these bracelets are awesome,” I replied. “Thanks!”

And then people started pouring into the carnival. A lot of people came up to our table and had fun picking out cupcakes. I was busy helping a cute little kid pick out a cupcake when I heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Mia.”

I looked up. It was Chris!

“These cupcakes look good,” he said, and as he talked, I could see the metal braces on his teeth. And you know what? He looked just as cute as ever.

“Oh my gosh, you got them!” I exclaimed. “How do you feel?”

“Really sore,” he admitted. “I would love a cupcake, but I don't know if I could eat it.”

“I have just the one,” I said, and I searched the kaleidoscope until I found the almost-naked cupcake I had made. “This one's got no toppings. It's nice and soft and mushy. Sometimes plain vanilla is just what you need.”

Chris smiled. “Thanks,” he said, fishing in his pocket to pay me. “You're the best.”

And then the thing I said next just kind of came out. “So, maybe we could hang out sometime?” I
said. “When your braces aren't hurting.”

Chris smiled again. “Definitely. I'll text you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Chris walked away, and I felt like I was floating on a cloud. It wasn't just because of what happened with Chris. It was because I felt like me again. I looked at the “Come as You Are” cupcakes and smiled. Because from now on I knew I could just be myself and everything would be okay—with four eyes, a mouth full of braces, or even with plain vanilla.

P
lease, Emmy! Just one more lick!”

My younger brother, Jake, was whining at me, which always drives me crazy. I sighed in exasperation.

“Come on, Em, don't be such a tough guy,” said my best friend Alexis. Though Jake's the only person I've allowed to call me “Emmy,” lately everyone's been calling me “Em,” though my full first name is Emma.

“Great, now you're on his side?” I complained.

“I'm always on his side,” said Alexis, winking at my little brother.

The Cupcake Club—my best friends, Alexis, Mia, and Katie, plus me—was having a baking session in my kitchen. Whenever we bake at
my house, my little brother, Jake, always comes scrounging around for tastes and licks of the batter and frosting, and he's so high maintenance that it drives me crazy.

Jake smiled up at me now with his most winning grin. Alexis put her arm across his shoulders.

“Come on, Em,” she said.

“Fine, but he's eating up our profits, you know,” I said, trying to appeal to Alexis's astute business sensibility. “Here, at least use a clean spoon. You've had a sore throat.”

“I always have a sore throat!” cried Jake, gleefully scooping a big lump of buttercream frosting out of the mixing bowl.

“Strep again?” asked Mia, her brow wrinkling in concern.

I sighed. “Probably.”

Jake was right; he does always have a sore throat. And usually an ear infection to go with it. The doctor says Jake's just prone to infections, because of the way his throat and ear canals are built.

I can't think about things like ear canals too much because I get really queasy with body stuff, especially if it comes down to words like “pus,” or needles, or most especially, blood (even the word, never mind the sight of it!). Lately, I've
even started to faint at the doctor's office and twice, almost, at the dentist's. Most people don't know this about me, because I'm pretty embarrassed about it. It just seems weak and a little babyish, especially at my age. Alexis was at the doctor's office with me once when I had to get a shot and a blood test, so she knows all about it, but no one else really does.