Emma: Lights! Camera! Cupcakes! (11 page)

“Thank you,” said Annika, stashing the bill into the file folder she was carrying. “Romaine asked me to help you set up, then she'd like me to direct you to your seats.”

“Wait . . .” I was confused. “We're not . . . I mean . . .”

But Mia shushed me. “Thank you. It won't take a minute,” said Mia.

“All right. I'll be back to collect you in five minutes. No. Make that seven,” said Annika, looking at her watch. “Put them right . . . there.” She gestured to a spot in the very back of the buffet, off to the side, and click-clicked away on her high heels. We all stared at one another in shock. Then the girls started to jump up and down and quietly scream and the boys did a kind of mellow high-five, as if to say,
This is cool, but it's not that big a deal.
I knew, though, that inside they were beyond psyched.

“But, guys, what about Mona's cupcakes?” I asked.

Everyone froze.

“Anyone free tomorrow at six a.m.?”

There was a brief silence, and Olivia said, “I am.”

“Me too,” said Matt.

“We're all free,” said Alexis generously.

“Thanks, guys. Matt, will you call Mom and Dad, please, and tell them this will take a
tiny
bit longer than we thought?” I asked.

We wedged the popcorn cupcakes onto their platters in the back of the table, and then we had to giggle.

“At least we know they taste good,” Katie said philosophically.

“Just don't give out our name to anyone!” said Alexis. We all had to laugh that Alexis the publicity hound wanted to remain anonymous!

One Sweet Summer
was wonderful. A real romantic comedy; even the boys laughed. We didn't meet any more stars or talk to anyone famous, though. We were up in the balcony, way back in the row, with lots of other non-famous people and the press, but just being there was incredible.

Alexis was hanging so far over the railing at one
point, looking for Trent Channing, I had to yell at her. She was indignant until I gestured at Matt, like she was forgetting about him, and then she calmed down. Finally, she spotted Trent Channing and dismissed him as “short in real life,” and I saw relief wash over Matt's face, as if he'd really ever been in competition with Trent Channing.

At the end of the film, everyone gave it a standing ovation. I saw Mrs. Ford and a handsome older man, who could only have been Romaine's father, down below. Romaine and Liam were kissing, and there were flashbulbs popping, and Romaine graciously waved and took a bow to acknowledge the applause. It was kind of funny to see her working live like that. As if the Romaine I know and the Romaine that belongs to the public were two different people.

It must be weird to be famous.

We left the theater and called my parents to say we were ready to leave. It was nine o'clock by this point.

Alexis was yawning and said, “Are you sure Mona needs these things by eight thirty? She doesn't even open until ten!”

“I'm sure,” I said firmly. “Don't back out on me now, Cupcakers!”

“We won't,” said Katie sweetly.

“Anyway, they're for Mona. They don't have to be perfect perfect,” said Alexis.

I whipped my head to glare at her, but then I saw that she was smiling.

“Kidding!” she sing-songed, her palms up in the air.

“Very funny,” I said. “Not.”

Mia said, “Thanks so much for getting us this job, Emma. It was great.”

“And thanks for including me,” said Olivia. And then she smiled at me. A sweet, sincere smile. She had relaxed during the movie, and I was able to see that side of her I occasionally glimpse when she's not being competitive or nervous but is, I guess, acting like her true self.

Everyone agreed it had been awesome, even George and Charlie. Then Matt gave me the best news I'd heard all day.

“You know what, kiddo? You can keep your room,” he said. “Tonight was payback enough.”

I grinned. “Thanks. I'll tell Romaine I owe her one.”

M
y alarm went off at 5:45, and I was not psyched, to say the least.

I put on in a simple pink dress and went to wake up Matt. We crept down to the kitchen, where we ate some cereal and I put on an apron to protect my outfit. Olivia, Mia, and Katie rolled in soon after, and then Alexis. Six of us could definitely get this done in two hours. Everyone wondered why I had a dress on, but I explained that I'd have to stay to help Mona when we delivered the cupcakes, and I was worried I wouldn't have time to change later.

I closed the kitchen doors to keep down the noise, and we got to work. First we made a huge batch of buttercream frosting, which we divided up among five different bowls. Katie took charge
of the food coloring—you needed a light hand, because pastels can quickly turn to deep colors if you're not careful—and Mia took the lead with the flavorings. The final list had arrived in my in-box yesterday: lemon, lime, rose, pear, and lavender, two dozen of each. Good thing we'd bought so many flavors in advance.

“We only want the
slightest
hint of flavor,” I instructed.

“Maybe you should do it, since you're so stressed about it?” suggested Mia.

I had to admit she had a point. Carefully, I squeezed one tiny drop at a time into each of the small bowls of white frosting, then I passed them along to Katie to tint.

All the bakers were working steadily, but there wasn't the sense of urgency we'd had last night. I watched as the hands crept around the dial of the kitchen clock, and people were chatting or taking a break.

Finally, I exploded. “Guys! We need to leave here in half an hour to get the cupcakes to Mona on time! This is no joke!” I cried.

“Okay, chill. Seriously, Em,” chided Matt. He gave me a look, like I was a major loser for freaking out, and shook his head.

If these people only knew,
I thought.

At eight o'clock we were working on the final batch—the lavender-flavored cupcakes—when the phone rang.

It startled me so much that I accidentally dumped a big glop of flavoring into the frosting bowl.

“Nuts!” I yelled. “Matt, can you get the phone, please?”

“We can fix this. Here. Wait,” said Katie calmly. She took a spoon and did a wide scoop around the small puddle of extract, then she flicked it off the spoon and into the trash. “Give it a stir. I bet it's okay.”

“Phone's for you, Em,” said Matt. “It's Mona.”

I quickly tasted the frosting, and it was fine. I went to pick up the phone.

“Hello, Mona?” I said.

“Hello, darling. Listen. Patricia and I will come to you at eight thirty, all righty? We'd like to get a bit of a hop, and we're just sitting here. See you soon?”

I gulped. Only about a fifth of the cakes were frosted, and we had about twenty-five minutes left. “Okay. See you soon!” I said, and hung up.

I watched as Katie took the final bowl—the
lavender-flavored frosting—and dropped in two tiny dark drops of color. She began to stir, and to my shock, the frosting began to turn pale green as the color mixed in.

“Katie!” I yelled.

“What?” she jumped, nearly dropping the food coloring into the bowl. Then she recovered and put the jar aside.

“That's the lavender-flavored frosting!” I cried.

“No, it's not! Lavender is over there!” She gestured across the island, and sure enough, there was a bowl of very pale purple frosting.

I surveyed the other colors. “Then which one is lime?”

“Oh no.” Katie groaned.

Quickly, we began tasting the flavors with toothpicks, comparing the flavors with the frostings' colors.

“Okay, the pink one . . . that's lime,” said Mia. “For sure.”

“The green is lemon. Definitely,” said Alexis.

I put my head in my hands.

“Oh, Emma, I'm so sorry!” Katie wailed.

My mouth set into a grim line. “Well, it is what it is. Now we just have to make them look perfect.”

Everyone lined up, and in a very efficient
manner, we quickly frosted all the cupcakes, each with a beautifully piped swirl of pastel frosting on top. Mia and Katie did most of it, and they looked perfect—simple but elegant. We arranged them into the carriers (newly vacated by the popcorn cupcakes), and as I set the last carrier down by the door, Mona pulled up in in her van.

My mom came down and reviewed the stacks of cupcakes. “Oh, girls, these are lovely! So sweet and simple. But absolutely beautiful.”

Matt cleared his throat. “Ahem. ‘Girls'?” He pretended to look indignant.

“Sorry, lovebug,” said my mom, patting his cheek. “These are some of the prettiest cupcakes you've ever made. Like little works of art.”

Matt pretended to duck his head in modesty. “Thank you,” he said, wiping away a fake tear.

“All right, Mr. Academy Award winner, why don't you help us get these into the van?” I said.

“Oh, I forgot the bill!” said Alexis.

“That's what you get for staying out late and hobnobbing with the stars all night,” teased Mia.

“I have something. I can e-mail it over later,” I said. Again, I didn't lie. I just didn't say who I'd be e-mailing it to!

We trucked all the carriers outside, and Mona
and Patricia hopped out of the van. I yanked off my apron.

“Hey, Emma, just a quick thought,” said Mona, gesturing me to the side of the van.

Oh no. Had she seen the cupcakes and thought they were lame? Inside, I was dying of shame. We should have made a bigger effort. We should have gone all out. I knew it. But no, Mona was saying something else.

“. . . a little more help?”

“What?” I asked. I was confused.

“Do you think your friends would like to come? They could set up the cupcakes and help me get the ladies ready?”

My eyes widened. “Do I! Of course! Do you want to ask them or should I?”

Mona smiled. “I will.” She went back toward the house, clapping her hands. “Girls! Girls! I need a little help. Does anyone have time to come with me this morning?”

Katie and Mia eagerly volunteered. Alexis noted that she had a lot of homework, and Olivia was very hesitant.

“Come on, you guys. We need to get going. Just say yes. It will be fun, and it won't take long,” I said. My eyes must've been shining, because they
were all looking at me suspiciously.

“Let me just run in and call my mom,” said Olivia. The others joined her and scrambled back outside. Olivia had brushed her hair and even put on a little clear lip gloss.

“You look pretty,” I said, before I even realized what was coming out of my mouth.

“Thanks,” said Olivia shyly. “You never know where your next job is going to come from, right?” She'd been called in to model at The Special Day before, so she probably figured there might be business at hand. Little did she know.

“All aboard!” Mona called, and everyone climbed in. So all the Cupcake girls were aboard plus one, Olivia. Matt decided to sit this one out.

We set off, and people began asking questions.

“Wait, we're not going to the store?” asked Alexis, noticing our route.

“Is this an off-site thing?” asked Mia.

The girls exchanged glances. Mona and I made eye contact in the rearview mirror and smiled at each other.

Soon, we reached the white gate at the bottom of the Fords' driveway. There was a guy sitting outside in a white chair with a clipboard, and Mona spoke to him through her window.
“Delivery from The Special Day bridal salon!”

He smiled and nodded and opened the gate, and up we rolled.

“Wait, isn't this . . .?” Olivia looked around, suddenly alert.

“This is Romaine Ford's house!” cried Katie.

“We're delivering Romaine Ford's wedding dress to her house!” Mia yelled.

“To her wedding,” I said.

A hush fell over the van as everyone began to understand what was going on.