Baby Cakes (4 page)

The more the class rehearsed, the more Delaney began to get excited about the musical. She even recruited Lexi with her strong artistic sense to help them design a cool backdrop for the stage.

“I think it should be a giant spider's web,” Delaney told her friend as she sketched an arch and crisscrossed black lines over it.

“Uh-huh.” Lexi nibbled on her pencil eraser. “I see what you mean. That would give the words in the web a lot of visual impact. The design could be very minimalist…almost like the original pen lines of the Garth Williams illustrations.”

“In English, Lex,” Delaney replied. “Not Artist.”

“I think the whole stage should like the inside of a book: white background with black lines and type. And we could use silver lanyard to weave the web.”

“Like the stuff I make key chains out of at Camp Chicopee?” Delaney asked. “I'm really good at a box stitch.”

“Exactly! It's strong and it's shiny. It would be perfect.”

Lexi drew a web with the words “Some Pig” in the middle.

“You know what would even be cooler?” Delaney asked. “If we could somehow hang Sophie from the top of the stage and have her swing around the web.”

Lexi gulped. “You want to fly your friend through the air? That sounds scary to me.”

“What if we tied a rope around her waist or something?” Delaney suggested. “I saw
Peter
Pan
on Broadway last year, and the actors who played Peter, Wendy, Michael, and John flew all over the place. And what about Elphaba? She flies on her broomstick and defies gravity in
Wicked
.”

Lexi shook her head. “Those are professional productions. There are probably a million pulleys and wires that they use to do it.”

“We don't need a million…just maybe one or two,” Delaney insisted. “You can't really be a spider unless you spin a web, right?”

•••

Delaney made a few phone calls and asked for a few favors before explaining her idea to Sophie. “Let me get this straight,” her friend said. “You want to put a harness around my waist and swing me around in the air?”

“Pretty much.” Delaney smiled. “What do you think?”

“I think you're nuts,” Sophie exclaimed. “I'm afraid of heights, Laney! There is no way I am going up in the air.”

“It'll be perfectly safe!” Delaney insisted. “We'll try it out first before we even show it to Ms. Kutchen. Please, Soph? Don't you want this to be the best mini-term musical ever?”

Sophie pouted. “Of course I do. I just want to live to tell about it.”

Delaney placed an arm around her friend's shoulder. “Trust me. I've got it all worked out. I even asked my friend Sadie to bring her two brothers and meet us here. They're really strong, and they can hoist you to the ceiling, no prob. And her dad is a contractor and sent over everything we need.”

“The ceiling? How high is the ceiling?” Sophie gulped. “I really don't know about this, Laney…”

Delaney had to think of something, anything, that would convince her friend to take the leap. “We're going to dim all the lights and shine a spotlight right on you. It's going to be like a Cirque du Soleil act. Everyone oohing and ahhing…”

Sophie bit her lip. “You think so?” If there was one thing she couldn't resist, it was a moment in the spotlight.

Delaney nodded. “Totally. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a standing ovation.”

“Okay…” Sophie hesitated. “I guess I could try it. Once.”

“Great! Be in the auditorium during last period. Sadie, Tyler, and Corey will meet us there. And maybe you should bring a helmet…”

“A helmet!” Sophie gasped. “Why do I need a helmet?”

“Better safe than sorry, my mom always says.” Delaney smiled. “See ya in a few!”

•••

When Sophie arrived in the auditorium, Sadie's brothers had already set up a makeshift pulley system by looping a long cable through the truss hanging over the stage. One end of the cable was attached to a harness, and the other to a belt around Tyler's waist.

“Thanks for doing this, guys,” Delaney said, examining the pulley. “I owe you.”

“You sure do,” Corey said. “I believe the price we agreed on was two dozen of my favorite brownie fudge cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.”

“And two dozen red velvets for me—with those itty-bitty chocolate chips inside,” Tyler added.

“Done.” Delaney nodded. “You drive a hard bargain. Now fill me in on how this all works.”

“It's pretty simple,” Tyler explained. “I once made a tire swing for the tree house in my backyard the same way. I'm the anchor. You're the swing.”

“I hate swings,” Sophie muttered, staring up at the ceiling. “That looks really, really high.”

“I'd say it's about twenty feet,” Corey said, munching on a bag of potato chips. “Give or take a foot or two.”

Sophie grabbed Delaney's arm. “I am not going up there. It's way too high!”

Delaney held out the harness and began to wrap it around Sophie's waist. “It's really easy, I promise. Have you ever done one of those fun bungee trampolines at the Firemen's Carnival? The one where they pull you up, and you bounce and do backflips?”

Sophie nodded. “Oh, yeah. I did it once.”

“See! And it was no biggie, right?”

“I threw up,” Sophie said. “Like ten times.”

“I wish you had told us to bring an umbrella,” Tyler said, making a face.

“You're gonna be fine,” Delaney said, crossing her fingers. “Let's take it slow and see how it goes.” She secured the helmet on Sophie's head and took a step back.

Corey stood in front of Tyler and began to pull the rope. Sophie jolted into the air.

“Eeek!”
she screamed. “This is scary! Put me down!”

“You're only about six inches off the ground,” Corey said, chuckling. “What a wimp!”

“Point your toes and wave your arms in the air like a spider,” Delaney coached her. “Like this.”

“Easy for you to say,” Sophie shot back. “Your feet are on the ground.”

“Going up!” Corey called, and Sophie climbed a few feet above the stage.

Sophie squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “I can't look!” Corey tugged once again, and she rose even higher.

“Try and swing. Use your legs and arms, and we'll pull you left and right,” Delaney directed her. “Cue the lights!”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Sadie shouted from the lighting panel in the back of the theater. With the flip of a switch, the entire auditorium went dark. Sophie screamed.

“I'm scared of the dark!”

“I thought you said she was scared of heights,” Tyler said to Delaney.

“I'm scared of both!” Sophie yelled.

“Where's the spotlight?” Delaney shouted to Sadie.

“Working on it! There are so many buttons on this thing…”

Suddenly, a bright, white light hit Sophie midair.

“Awesome!” Delaney called to her. “You're a star!”

Sophie opened her eyes and looked down. Everything and everyone looked so small and far away. “OMG. I'm going to be sick.”

“No! No!” Tyler ducked behind Corey for cover. “No puking, please!”

“You're doing great, Soph,” Delaney said. “Wanna try a few spidery moves?”

Corey pulled the rope sharply to the right, and Sophie soared across the stage.

“Not so fast!” she screamed. “I'm getting dizzy!”

He tugged in the opposite direction, and she flew back the other way.

“She's a spider…not a jet plane!” Delaney scolded him. “Slow and steady.”

“Yeah, slow and steady,” Sophie repeated. “What she said!”

Sophie began to swing back and forth like a pendulum. She stretched out her legs and arms. “You look great!” Delaney said. “How do you feel?”

“Okay, I guess,” she replied. “I think I'm getting used to it.”

“See? I told you there was nothing to it.” Delaney smiled.

The rope suddenly slipped, and Sophie lurched in the air.

“EEEEEEE!”
she screamed. “I'm falling!”

“Relax,” Corey said. “My hand slipped. Potato-chip grease.”

“Amateurs!” Delaney barked. “Take her up again. Let's try and make the swinging more rhythmic and graceful.”

Just then the spotlight cut off and they were once again in the pitch-dark.

“I hate the dark!” Sophie screamed. “Remember?”

“I know, I know!” Sadie was hitting buttons frantically on the panel. “I think we blew a fuse.”

Suddenly, there was a loud
thump
.

“What was that?” Delaney gulped. “Soph, you okay?”

“Fine!” Sophie called back. “I landed on something soft.” The lights came up.

“That would be me!” Tyler said. He was lying facedown on the stage, and Sophie was standing on top of him. “Get off!”

Tyler rose to his feet and punched his younger brother in the arm. “You just had to eat those chips, didn't you?”

Corey waved his fingers in the air. “Oops. I guess I slipped again.”

Delaney helped Sophie out of her helmet and harness. “The important thing is that we learned this will work—if Corey skips the greasy snack food.” She shot him a look, then turned back to Sophie.

“What do you think? Can Charlotte do some spinning in the musical?”

Sophie rested her hands on her hips. “You know, I think I might just have a future in Cirque du Soleil.”

Delaney hugged her. “You were air-mazing,” she teased. “Gussy the Goose couldn't have flown any better.”

“Chip?” Corey offered them the bag. “All this flying made me hungry.”

Delaney had never summoned the girls together for a cupcake club meeting—but this was a cupcake 911. When they all gathered in her living room, she stood on the coffee table and clapped her hands so they'd all stop talking and pay close attention.

“PLCers, listen up,” she began. “We have a cupcake crisis that needs our help.” She was actually getting a lot better at this “serious” stuff!

“We're all ears,” Kylie said. “What's up, Laney?”

“Ms. Roveen called, and the baker who was doing Milly's birthday cake broke her arm,” she explained. “Her party is this weekend!”

“Wait, who's Milly?” Jenna asked. “And what kind of party?”

“A two-year-old Cinderella birthday party,” Delaney replied. “With about two dozen little kids coming!”

“No sweat,” Sadie said. “We've done tons of kid birthday parties. We can do some of those confetti cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles…”

Lexi grabbed her sketchbook. “How 'bout the usual: little fondant balloons on top?”

“No! No! No!” Delaney protested. “This isn't just any kid's birthday. It's Milly! I want it to be really special for her.”

Kylie nodded. She knew Delaney's first babysitting job had meant a lot to her. Obviously, the little girl did too. “What were you thinking, Laney? Little glass slippers on top of the cupcakes?”

“Bigger,” Delaney commanded. “Think bigger.”

“Well, we could do a coach made out of mini cupcakes,” Lexi thought out loud. “Like a centerpiece for the table.”

Delaney shook her head. “Bigger.”

“Ooh! How about Cinderella's castle made out of cupcakes?” Jenna suggested. “A three-foot-tall castle made of cupcakes would be
muy
bonita
—very pretty!”

“Even bigger,” Delaney insisted. “I want Princess Milly's cupcakes to be magical. Like the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.”

Her eyes lit up. “That's it! That's what we should do! We should make the Fairy Godmother's skirt out of cupcakes—and she should come to the party and cast a magic spell!”

Lexi raised an eyebrow. “A skirt made out of cupcakes? Can we do that? I mean, this isn't an episode of
Project
Runway
!”

“I think the cupcakes would fall off the fabric.” Sadie pondered. “How would we pin them on? Cupcakes are heavy!”

“I'm not sure. We'd have to try it out,” Delaney said. “Please, let's try!”

“All in favor of Delaney's project-cupcake skirt say ‘sprinkles!'” Kylie said.

“Sprinkles!”
Sadie, Delaney, Lexi, and Kylie all shouted.

Jenna frowned. “Okay, you've got my vote—but I'm just not sure about this. Besides the obvious fashion emergency, where are we gonna find a Fairy Godmother on this short notice?”

All eyes turned to Delaney. “You
are
a really good singer…” Lexi said. “I could totally see you Bibbidi- Bobbidi-Booing…”

Delaney pictured herself waltzing around Milly's party, waving a magic wand, as the toddlers squealed with delight. “I'll do it. On one condition.”

“Oh, boy…here it comes!” Sadie chuckled.

“I want the cupcakes to be Milly's favorite flavors.”

“I knew we were in trouble,” Jenna groaned. “Okay, let's have it. What are Milly's fave flavors?”

Delaney jumped off the table, grabbed a spoon, and waved it in the air like a wand. “Cheerios and applesauce!”

•••

The next day, the cupcake club gathered in the teachers' lounge at Blakely Elementary to make some magic in the kitchen.

“Okay, I found a few cupcakes that use applesauce,” Kylie said, pulling out her binder of recipes. “It actually makes the cake very moist.”

The first version called for real chunks of apple in the center of the cupcake. “What is this?” Jenna asked, picking a seed out of her teeth. She looked at Sadie who was coring the apples and slicing them. “You can't have any seeds in the batter.”

Sadie sighed. “I'm sorry. They just keep sneaking in there…”

Kylie pulled a seed out of Sadie's hair. “They keep sneaking in here too!”

The next recipe called for caramel to ooze out of the center of the apple cupcake.

Jenna took a bite and licked her lips. “It's a little sticky,” she said.

“Define
sticky
,” Lexi said. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I'll let you know when I can open my mouth. My gums are glued together.”

Kylie took out the very last recipe she had found. This one was an apple spice cupcake with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon.

“Easy on the spices,” Jenna warned them as they measured a teaspoon into the batter. “Just a hint—not a handful.”

They popped the batter in the muffin tin and watched the cupcakes rise and turn golden brown in the oven.

“Looks good,” Jenna said, sniffing the finished product. Lexi had piped on a dollop of vanilla buttercream frosting. She broke the cupcake open with a fork and sampled the cake. Then the frosting. Then the cake and the frosting together.

“Well?” Delaney asked anxiously. “Is it a winner?”

Jenna gave them the thumbs-up. “This one has a really nice, spicy apple flavor,” she said. “Like warm apple pie. And the sweet frosting is a nice balance.”

Lexi passed out her sketches. “I think we should color the frosting purple—just like the Fairy Godmother's cape and skirt. I could maybe use some luster dust to give them a magical sparkle.”

“Let's not forget the Cheerios!” Delaney reminded them. She popped one in her mouth and stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, right.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “How could we forget?”

“I gave that a lot of thought,” Lexi said, smiling, “and I think I have a great solution.” She pulled a plastic bag out of her backpack. Inside were a “necklace” and “bracelet” made out of Cheerios and mini-marshmallows. “I think we could do Cheerios jewelry for all the little princesses at the party. Whaddaya think, Delaney?”

Delaney slipped the necklace over her head and bit off a crunchy O. “I think Milly will love it.”

“So all that leaves us is making the cupcake costume,” Kylie said, checking items off her list. “Sadie, do you think your dad can build us something?”

“My dad is a contractor—not a fashion designer,” Sadie said, considering the idea.

“My mom can help with the design and sewing,” Jenna offered. “She's an amazing seamstress. She can make a beautiful cape and hood. But your dad will have to find a way to make the cupcakes stick to the skirt. And the skirt to stick to Delaney.”

Delaney looked at the sketch Lexi had made on her pad. It showed a giant dome made out of cupcakes and a little head and arms perched on top. “Is that supposed to be me?” she asked. “How am I supposed to get into that thing? And how do I move around?”

“I hadn't really thought about that,” Lexi admitted. “Maybe you can climb up a ladder in the back? And we can carry you inside?”

“Forklift?” Jenna teased. “We could just hoist you off the back of Sadie's dad's pickup truck.”

•••

It was clear that the cupcake club needed some expert advice. So the next evening, the girls all gathered in Mr. Harris's home workshop.

“My dad has some great ideas,” Sadie said proudly. “Tell them!”

“I think we can do a frame for the skirt out of chicken wire and spray foam filler,” he explained. “How many cupcakes were you thinking?”

“Three hundred…give or take a few,” Lexi replied. “That should cover all sides of the skirt.”

Delaney's eyes grew wide. “Three hundred cupcakes? That's gonna weigh a ton!”

“Which is why your skirt will have wheels,” Mr. Harris continued. “So you can roll around the room.”

“Did I happen to mention I am a total klutz on roller skates, skateboards, bikes, or anything involving wheels?” Delaney sighed.

“It's true,” Kylie agreed. “We made go-carts at Camp Chicopee, and Delaney crashed hers right into the lake.”

“It'll look like you're magically gliding around the room,” Sadie assured Delaney. “Maybe we can even add some lights.”

Mr. Harris examined his blueprint. “I think I could run some fiber-optic cable through the skirt frame—give it a little twinkle.”

Delaney wasn't quite sure—but there was no time to waste. They had three days to bake, decorate, sew, and construct the entire costume. Kylie read her mind.

“It'll be awesome, Laney,” she said, giving her friend a hug. “You just practice your song and your wand waving, and leave everything else to us.”

Without a real Fairy Godmother to make it come together, Delaney wasn't sure the costume would be ready in time for Milly's birthday. But she crossed her fingers…and hoped for the best!