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  “There’s a few ways to do a chocolate marshmallow cupcake,” I said as we sat around the kitchen table. “We could do a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow icing. Or put marshmallow fluff inside a chocolate cupcake. Or, we could stir mini marshmallows into a chocolate cupcake. I think we can use our basic chocolate recipe for all of those.”

  “Mmm, they all sound good,” said Emma.

  Alexis started unpacking the bag of ingredients she brought. “I got regular marshmallows, tiny marshmallows, and marshmallow fluff, just in case,” she said. “Let’s make batter for two dozen cupcakes.”

  We got to work on the batter first. We’ve made so many cupcakes that we can do it pretty quickly now. Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs and vanilla, mix the dry ingredients, add the dry to the wet, and bam! Cupcakes.

  “If they ever had a speed cupcake-making competition, we’d rule,” I said as I used an ice-cream scoop to put the perfect amount of batter in each baking tin’s cup.

  “Definitely,” Mia agreed.

  Mia’s mom had preheated the oven for us, and she supervised as we carefully slid the pans inside. Then we got to work on the toppings.

  “Okay,” Alexis said. “Eight of the cupcakes will get marshmallow icing. Do we have a recipe for that?”

  I nodded. “It’s almost like a buttercream frosting, but you use marshmallow fluff.”

  “Check,” Alexis said. “So what about the other two? One will have marshmallow fluff inside, and the other has little marshmallows in it.”

  “We could put the marshmallow frosting on those too,” Mia suggested. “Like a double blast of marshmallow.”

  “Or chocolate frosting,” Emma said thoughtfully.

  “So let’s make a batch of those too,” Alexis suggested.

  We had the frostings done by the time the cupcakes came out of the oven. We had to put them in the refrigerator to cool so the icing wouldn’t melt when we applied it. When they were cool, I took four cupcakes and used my cupcake plunger to punch a small hole into the middle of each one.

  “Katie and her cupcake tools,” Mia said with a smile. “That is so awesome!”

  “I love it,” I admitted. “And now we just fill the hole with the marshmallow fluff, see?”

  I used a small spoon to fill the hole.

  “It’s a little messy,” I said, “but when we frost it, it won’t matter.”

  Soon we had a platter of cupcakes done a bunch of different ways.

  “Taste-test time!” Emma announced.

  “I’d better get Eddie,” Mia said. “He won’t want to miss this.”

  Mia left the kitchen and came back with her mom and stepdad. We cut the cupcakes into fourths, so we could taste each version without experiencing cupcake overload. Alexis took careful notes as we gave our feedback.

  “So, most of us felt the mini marshmallows melted too much inside the batter,” she said. “Plain chocolate with marshmallow frosting was good, but plain chocolate with marshmallow filling and marshmallow icing was the best.”

  “But a little sticky,” Mrs. Valdes remarked.

  Mia picked up the winning cupcake. “And it’s a little plain, too. We’d have to come up with some awesome decorations for it.”

  “You’re great at that,” I told Mia.

  “Thanks,” she said. “But normally we have a theme. Do we have a theme for the PTA dinner?”

  Alexis frowned. “I totally forgot about that. We need to do some brainstorming.”

  Mia’s mom glanced at the clock. “Girls, it’s already past ten, and you still need to clean the kitchen. Maybe that could wait until the morning.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Alexis said.

  “I should call my mom,” I said. “She said she was going to pick me up kind of early. I’ll see if I can stay later.”

  I washed my hands and dialed Mom at home on my cell phone. The phone at our house rang and rang and then went to voice mail.

  “Mom? It’s Katie. Are you there?” And then I realized that of course she couldn’t hear me.

  “That’s really weird,” I remarked. “Mom didn’t answer.”

  “Maybe she’s asleep,” Alexis suggested.

  “She always stays up late on Saturdays,” I said. “Let me try her cell.”

  I dialed the number, and she picked up after one ring. “Katie? Is everything okay?” She sounded panicked. Mom is such a worrywart.

  “I just needed to ask you something,” I said.

  “Well, it’s just so late,” Mom said. “Usually when someone calls this late, it’s an emergency.”

  That’s when I noticed the noise in the background.

  “Mom, are you home?” I asked.

  There was a pause. “Oh, I’m out with a friend for dinner,” she said.

  A friend? “I thought you were reading a book,” I said.

  “Well, I was, but my plans changed,” Mom said. “Katie, I’m the mom here, remember? There’s no need to grill me. What’s your question?”

  “I just wanted to know if you can pick me up a little later tomorrow morning,” I said. “Like, maybe I can call you when we’re done figuring out this cupcake stuff.”

  “Of course!” Mom replied. “Have fun, okay? I love you.”

  “Love you too.” I ended the call, then said, “That was weird.”

  “So when she doesn’t answer, it’s weird, and when she answers, it’s weird too?” Alexis asked.

  I sighed. “Never mind.”

  So Mom was out with a friend. Was it that friend from the park? I didn’t want to think about it.

  “Come on,” I said, picking up a sponge. “Let’s clean up.”

  CHAPTER 6

  A Cupcake Alliance

  Have you ever had a sleepover where you stay up all night? Well, we tried to do that, but we were all so tired from making cupcakes that we fell asleep before midnight.

  Mia’s mom woke us up around nine.

  “Breakfast is ready,” she said. “I know you girls are sleepy, but it sounds like you still have some work to do.”

  I sat up and yawned. “I am sooooooo sleepy!”

  Alexis yawned too. “Me too. But Mia’s mom is right.”

  About a half hour later, fortified by bacon and eggs, we all sat around Mia’s dining room table, brainstorming.

  “So we need a theme for our PTA cupcakes,” Alexis began. “PTA is ’Parent Teacher Association.’ Like an alliance.”

  “Like the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars?” I asked, and Emma giggled.

  “Star Wars cupcakes would be fun, but not for this,” Alexis said. “What’s another word for an alliance? Like, joining forces?”

  “Exactly. May the force be with you,” I said, and everyone laughed.

  “How about . . . things that go together,” Mia suggested.

  Alexis nodded. “I love it! Classic pairings.”

  “Like R2-D2 and C-3PO?” I joked. I couldn’t help it.

  “More like chocolate and vanilla,” Mia said. “Strawberries and cream.”

  “Sugar and spice!” Emma added.

  “Or peanut butter and jelly,” I said, deciding to be serious.

  Alexis was writing down everything. “These are all good ideas for cupcake combinations. We just have to find the right one.”

  “You can’t go wrong with chocolate and vanilla,” Mia said. “Everyone loves that. And maybe we could ice half of a cupcake in vanilla and half in chocolate. Like a black-and-white cookie.”

  “Then what flavor would the cupcake be?” Emma asked.

  “We could do a chocolate-and-vanilla swirl,” I said. “They’re kind of a pain to do, but it would be cool.”

  “We should do a test batch,” Alexis said.

  I groaned. I love baking cupcakes, but I was starting to feel cupcaked-out.

  “Just one batch,” Alexis said. “We’re running out of time to get this right. The PTA president is expecting a proposal and sample in two weeks.”

  “Let’s do it,” I said. “We�
�ll need two batches each of batter and frosting.”

  We got to work, and about an hour and a half later we had a dozen chocolate-and-vanilla cupcakes in front of us. Eddie walked into the kitchen, and his eyes got wide.

  “More cupcakes! I’m going to need to go on a diet.” He rubbed his belly.

  “After you taste this,” Mia said, handing him one.

  “If you insist,” Eddie said with a grin. He took a bite, and we all waited for his reaction. “Mmm. Delicious as always.”

  “But did you get the whole chocolate-and-vanilla thing?” Alexis asked.

  “In the frosting, definitely,” he replied. “But maybe not so much in the cupcake part.”

  We each tried half a cupcake, and Eddie was right. The swirl looked pretty, but it tasted mostly like a chocolate cupcake, not a mix of both.

  Alexis sighed and put down the cupcake. “Back to the drawing board. What about Katie’s peanut-butter-and-jelly idea? It’s a classic pairing. And it kind of goes with a school theme, because a lot of kids eat it for lunch.”

  “And a P-B-and-J cupcake is what started our whole Cupcake Club,” Emma pointed out.

  That was true. The very first day I met Mia, Emma, and Alexis, my mom had made me a P-B-and-J cupcake. It’s part of how we became friends.

  “I love it,” Mia said. “But it might not be sophisticated enough for an adult crowd, you know? Maybe we can spice it up somehow.”

  “Ooh, I get it!” Emma said excitedly. “Like maybe the peanut-butter frosting could have a kick of ginger.”

  “Or maybe instead of grape jam, we could use raspberry or something,” Alexis suggested.

  Emma nodded. “I like that. We could go really exotic with the jam, like . . . I don’t know . . . maybe apricot. Or gooseberry. They have those at the gourmet food shop in town.”

  “Hold on for a second,” I said. “I thought we wanted to do a classic pairing. Peanut butter and grape jelly is classic. We shouldn’t mess with a good thing.”

  “We should do some more test batches,” Alexis suggested. “Then we can vote on the best.”

  “But not today,” Emma said. “I’ve got to get home soon. I’m on Jake duty this afternoon.”

  “Then let’s figure out a time in the next week,” Alexis said.

  We checked our schedules and figured out that Friday would be best. I offered to do it at my house. Then we cleaned up, and Emma headed home. Alexis called her dad and I called my mom for a ride home. Mr. Becker got to Mia’s house first, so Mia and I were alone for a little bit.

  “So, are you and your mom going clothes shopping today?” Mia teased. “I know how much you love that.”

  “Not,” I replied. “I think we’ll probably go for a run together. Unless . . . ”

  “Unless what?” Mia asked.

  I thought about telling Mia about the guy I saw with mom in the park. But I still didn’t feel like talking about it. Then Mia’s mom came into the living room.

  “Mia, Eddie and I need to go to the carpet store. Do you want to come with us?” she asked.

  “No, that’s okay,” Mia said.

  Mrs. Valdes walked away.

  “So, do your mom and Eddie do stuff together a lot?” I asked casually.

  Mia shrugged. “I guess. They’re married, so they’re supposed to, right?”

  I didn’t answer her, because I didn’t know. It had just been Mom and me for my whole life. I was used to having her around. What if she was serious about this park guy? I’d have to share her.

  A car horn beeped outside.

  “Your mom’s here,” Mia said.

  “Yeah,” I said. To myself I thought, But for how long?

  CHAPTER 7

  The Challenge

  Mom was in a really good mood when she picked me up. When we got home she made a big pot of chicken soup for dinner, and she was singing the whole time she chopped the vegetables—even the onions, and I know she hates doing that!

  After dinner I was in kind of a mellow mood, so I got comfortable on the couch and started flipping through the channels. That’s when I saw that the last Harry Potter movie was coming on at nine o’clock. I’ve seen it, like, three times already, but I was totally in a mood to see it again. Then I noticed it wasn’t over until eleven, which is past my bedtime on a school night.

  Since Mom was in such a good mood, though, I thought I’d ask her.

  “Hey, Mom,” I said, poking my head through her bedroom doorway. “Can I stay up until a little after eleven to watch the last Harry Potter movie?”

  Mom was humming and hanging up clothes in her closet. “Sure, Katie,” she said. “Have fun!”

  I hurried back into the living room before she could change her mind. If sneaking around behind my back was going to put her in a good mood, I might as well take advantage of it, right?

  So that’s what I did for the next few days. On Monday, I hinted that it might be nice to get ice cream again, and fifteen minutes later I was eating a delicious cone with rainbow sprinkles. On Tuesday, I got to stay up an extra half hour to watch the results show of Teen Singing Stars. On Wednesday, I made a marshmallow-fluff-and-peanut-butter sandwich for myself for lunch, and Mom didn’t say a thing. (Normally she would freak out, and I’d get a nutrition lecture.) Thursday, I convinced her to take me to the bookstore, so I could get the latest book in the Emerald Forest series, which I love.

  Did I feel guilty, taking advantage of Mom’s good mood like that? Well, maybe just a tiny bit. But not enough to stop doing it.

  Friday was awesome because Mia, Emma, and Alexis came over for a cupcake meeting. Mom and I bought peanut butter and grape jelly for the test batch of our classic P-B-and-J cupcakes, and Emma came with a little bag full of fancy jellies.

  “We can try them all and see which one we like best,” Emma said. “Then we can finally settle this jam jam.”

  “Or is it a jelly jam?” I joked.

  “Either way, we’re in a jam,” Alexis said. “So let’s get jamming!”

  To better taste the flavors of jelly, we baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes and whipped up a bowl of peanut-butter frosting, using the same recipes we always used. Then I used my cupcake plunger to punch a hole in each one, just like I had done with the marshmallow cupcakes. Emma carefully filled three cupcakes with grape jelly, three cupcakes with apricot jelly, three with raspberry jelly, and three with guava jelly. Then we covered each cupcake with the peanut-butter frosting.

  I sniffed the guava jelly in the jar. “I’ve never had this before. What is it?”

  “It’s a tropical fruit,” Emma explained. “I’m not sure what it tastes like. I’ve never had it before, either, but I thought it looked interesting.”

  We sliced the cupcakes, so we could have a little taste of each batch. I didn’t like the apricot with the peanut butter at all. The guava was interesting; kind of like a cross between a strawberry and a pear. Not too sweet. The raspberry was just okay, but I definitely liked the grape the best.

  “I vote for grape,” I said, speaking up first.

  “I don’t know, Katie,” Emma said. “The grape is good, but I really like the guava.”

  Mia nodded. “It definitely has that sophisticated flavor we were looking for.”

  “It’s good for business to use unusual ingredients,” Alexis joined in. “It sets us apart from other cupcake bakers.”

  “But grape is classic,” I protested. “I thought we wanted classic.”

  “Well, three of us want guava, so you’re outvoted,” Alexis said. “Majority rules.”

  For some reason, this made me really upset.

  “So that’s how it’s going to be? Three against one?” I asked, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

  “Well, a vote is a fair way to do it,” Alexis said. “But if you’re upset . . . ”

  Emma looked at me with those sympathetic blue eyes of hers. “It’s nothing against you, Katie. It’s just nice to try something new sometimes.”

  I sighed and l
ooked down at my sneakers. I suddenly felt really sad. “Maybe I don’t want to try something new. Maybe I want things to stay the same.”

  Then Mia tried to smooth things over, and she knew just what to say—she always does.

  “How about this?” she began. “If you try baking the guava cupcakes, I’ll try something new too.”

  I have to admit, I was intrigued. “Like what?” I asked.

  “Well, I haven’t thought it through yet,” Mia replied. “But I’ll think of something.”

  “What if you wore a sweatshirt and jeans to school?” Alexis suggested.

  Mia turned pale at the idea. I swear, she looked like she was going to faint.

  “A . . . sweatshirt?” she repeated, mortified. “Does it have to be something so major? I mean, Katie just needs to agree to a cupcake flavor.”

  You might not know this about Mia, but she’s totally into fashion. She doesn’t mind dressing down sometimes, but she absolutely, positively hates sweatshirts. I knew this would be a hard thing for her to do.

  I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh. “Oh my gosh, I would love to see that! Come on, Mia, how bad could it be?”

  “When I wear a sweatshirt, I feel like a . . . like a giant potato sack or something,” Mia protested. “They’re awful!”

  “They’re soft and warm and cozy,” I countered. “Besides, it’s only for a day.”

  Mia sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it. But then Alexis and Emma should do something too.”

  Now Alexis looked a little panicked. “Like what?”

  “You were pretty good at thinking up something for me,” Mia pointed out.

  “I think I know something for Emma,” I said, remembering a recent conversation we all had. “She could do the egg race on Spirit Day.”

  Now Emma turned pale. “Not the egg race!”

  “What exactly happened at that egg race, anyway?” Mia asked.

  Emma looked at Alexis. “You tell it. It’s too painful for me to repeat.”

  Alexis shrugged. “It’s not that complicated. We were doing the egg race when we were in fourth grade—

  “Third grade,” Emma corrected.

  “Okay, third grade. Emma was carrying her egg on a spoon, and she tripped over her shoelaces. She fell face-first right onto her egg. She literally had egg all over her face. It was supermessy and supergross,” Alexis finished.