Alexis and the Perfect Recipe by Coco Simon Page A

toward me. Jake looked really cute in a little jacket and tie, and Matt and even Sam looked, frankly, gorgeous in their suits.
    â€œHi, Alexis, darling! Don’t you look beautiful!” Mrs. Taylor said, greeting me with a kiss. Mr. Taylor did the same as Mrs. Taylor looked around the room. “Now, where’s your mom? Wow, it looks wonderful in here! What a lot of planning you’ve all done! Oh, there she is. I’ll go say hello. Come on, sweetie.” And Emma’s parents took off, leaving their kids standing with me.
    Jake went up to Mia and tugged on her dress to say hi, and they and Katie began chatting about law enforcement, Jake’s favorite subject.
    Sam said, “Great party. Oh, wow, there’s Dylan!” and he walked over to her.
    Then it was just me, Matt, and Emma. It feltreally awkward. I hadn’t made eye contact with Emma yet.
    â€œHey, would you guys like a soda?” I finally said, looking somewhere between the two of them.
    â€œSure,” Matt answered. “Why don’t I get something for you two?”
    Emma and I looked at each other, and suddenly we both burst out laughing. Hard! We couldn’t stay mad at each other, especially not on such a big night.
    Emma put her arm through mine. “Sure,” she told Matt. “I’ll have a Sprite.”
    â€œMe too, thanks,” I said, giving him my best smile.
    Matt grinned, and as he walked away I pretended to swoon. “He is too cute!” I whispered. “Sorry!”
    â€œIt’s okay,” said Emma. “I’m sorry I was so mean earlier. I guess it was just a little hard to take.”
    â€œI know I’ve been kind of annoying about it,” I said, thinking about the story Skylar told earlier. “Anyway, I would never sacrifice our friendship for love. If it came down to Matt being my boyfriend or you being my friend, I’d pick you. I swear.”
    Emma looked like she didn’t believe me, but she hugged me and said, “Thanks, but I don’t think youneed to make a choice. I love my brother too, you know.” She swatted my arm playfully, then gasped.
    I looked over to see what she was looking at and rolled my eyes. I had, for five minutes, forgotten about Sydney and Callie, but there they were, still standing around. “Yeah, can you believe they had the nerve to show up?”
    â€œUnbelievable!” Emma said in a disgusted tone. When Katie and Mia came back (without Jake, who was now with his mother), we started trying to figure out what we should do. We decided that Emma would say something to Sydney, since Sydney had approached her about the party in the first place. I wondered if we should kick them out, but Mia thought that wouldn’t be very ladylike and suggested we tell the manager that there were crashers.
    Emma took a deep breath before crossing the dance floor toward Sydney and Callie, who had just spotted Matt. I watched in horror as they surrounded him, and Sydney snaked her arm through his. It made me wonder about Emma’s comment about Sydney doing all the work for Callie. Maybe Sydney secretly liked Matt herself.
    When Emma joined them, she began talking, and they were all listening to what she was saying. Then Sydney began gesturing and telling some sortof story. Matt watched the whole thing in silence, I was glad to see, and when the bartender handed him the sodas, he took them in his hands and took a few steps away from the group.
    Emma must have made Sydney and Callie feel bad enough to leave, because Callie suddenly grabbed Sydney’s arm and was pulling her toward the door. I hoped they would leave!
    When Emma and Matt came back with the drinks, Emma looked really mad, but Matt was laughing.
    â€œI hate those two. They are so evil!” Emma exclaimed. “They said Callie’s sister, Jenna, had ‘lost’ her precious cell phone, so they had to deliver it to her. They didn’t want to look out of