Alexis Gets Frosted by Coco Simon

was really proud.
    At school, Katie met us at the door. She had also come early. I am not that sentimental, but I hadto say I was feeling a little teary and grateful for all these wonderful people who were helping me. I was pretty lucky I had them, or I would never have pulled it off. It reminded me of what my mom had said when we discussed Olivia. (“You are great the way you are. You have wonderful friends, a family who loves you, and one big, bad Olivia shouldn’t get in the way of any of that. You need to act like a duck.”) Quack!
    I had made prearrangements to hide the gingerbread house in the teachers’ lounge, so that it would be a surprise for our class, so that was where we wheeled it. The teachers who were there kind of freaked out at how cool it was, including Mr. Donnelly, which was nice since he’s my favorite.
    â€œAlexis! I had no idea you had this much artistic talent!” he said.
    â€œWell, I had lots of help,” I admitted, smiling at my granddad, Katie, and Matt.
    We left the table, and Matt said he’d meet me back there during his study hall period to wheel the house in with me. I hugged my granddad good-bye and promised to call to let him know how it went. I hugged Katie too, and she left a little tub of frosting and a mini-spatula on the trolley, in case I needed it later.
    I could barely sit still through homeroom, and I literally ran to the faculty lounge when it was time to pick up the trolley. Matt was already there, waiting for me. He must’ve run, too, which made me even more grateful.
    â€œReady?” he asked, with his adorable dimples and grin.
    â€œReady!” I said, and off we went through the halls.
    Everyone we passed stopped in their tracks to look at the house. It was really spectacular. Plus, you don’t usually see that much candy wheeling through school every day. I couldn’t wait to see Olivia’s face. Even though we’d made peace, this would be the icing on the cake!
    Slowly, slowly we made our way down the hall. There was almost no one left by the time we reached our destination. Into Mrs. Carr’s classroom we went, and everyone was already there, seated. For a moment, there was dead silence, then Sara Rex started to clap, and everyone joined in. Olivia (dressed as a fancy Victorian lady, in a high-waisted shirt and a long-sleeved, high-necked blouse) had a look of wonder on her face, shaking her head in disbelief, even as she clapped. I met her eye and smiled a small smile, and she smiled back. Prettysoon the whole class was cheering, and I was grinning, and finally, Mrs. Carr had to quiet everyone down.
    Matt ducked out with a wave, and Mrs. Carr said, “Alexis, I think you should go first.”
    I put down my bag, got out my notecards, and began talking about home life in Victorian England. Halfway through, though, I waved my arm to gesture to a feature of the house, and I heard a sickening crack. I’d knocked the chimney off. For a second, everyone froze, and then, you will never believe this: Olivia Allen jumped up and quickly reattached it while I continued my presentation! Mrs. Carr smiled approvingly at Olivia as she worked. She was kind of pasting it with some extra frosting, and once it was back on, she took her seat until I finished. At the end I said, “And a special thanks to everyone who helped me on the house: my granddad, my friends at the Cupcake Club, Matt Taylor, and . . . Olivia Allen for saving the chimney, which was a huge part of Victorian life.” She nodded in acknowledgment while everyone applauded and I bowed. It was a major triumph, in a lot of ways.
    George Martinez called out, “Can we eat it now?” Everyone laughed while Mrs. Carr threatened them all with a trip to the principal’s officeif they so much as touched it, but I didn’t care. I even considered saying yes, but I figured the feeding frenzy that would result would ruin everyone else’s