It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder

white paper. Then she put her hands in some white and went back and mixed it in with the blue swirls she had just made. The blobs started to look like clouds.
    â€œCool!” I said.
    I kneeled next to her and stuck my fingers in some red. It felt cold, wet and kind of sticky. On the paper, I swirled my fingers around and around, making big and little circles.
    I did the same with the blue, and when the blue and red mixed, I had red and blue on the paper, but I also had purple.
    â€œPurplicious,” I whispered.
    â€œIt’s fun to mix colors, isn’t it?” Lana said.
    I looked at her paper where she had painted clouds and the sun and was working on a flower growing out of the ground. She’d done that all with her fingers!
    Mine looked like something a two-year-old would do. Just color and squiggles. And suddenly I wanted more color. More squiggles.
    I put all my fingers in the paint this time, then moved them hard across the page, in big, sweeping motions, going this way and that way. Soon there weren’t any distinct lines, but instead, waves of color across the page.
    Finally I dipped my index finger in the red, and right in the middle of the wavy mess, I painted a heart.
    I leaned back and looked at it. Lana stopped what she was doing and looked with me.
    â€œIt’s beautiful,” she said. “What does it make you think of?”
    â€œMy insides,” I said. “Waves of love, of anger, of sadness, of everything, all mixed together.”
    She nodded. “But that heart you drew? That shows me that love is the thing that matters most to you. That even when everything is messy, your love is there, shining through.”
    â€œDo you think that might be a wave of courage?” I asked, pointing to a brownish-grayish wave of paint next to the heart.
    She smiled. “You know, that looks exactly like a wave of courage. Wow. How did you draw that so clearly?”
    I stood up and grabbed the picture. “Thanks, Lana. That was fun. I think I’m going to take this and give it to someone.”
    â€œYou might want to let it dry first,” she said. “It’s pretty wet.”
    â€œThat’s okay. If I walk over, it’ll dry on the way.”
    We went out to the kitchen and washed our hands. I took the smock off and handed it to her.
    â€œThanks again, Lana,” I told her as I walked to the front door. “I hope she likes it.”
    She wiped her damp hands on the front of her overalls. “Actually, Isabel, I’m pretty sure she’ll love it.”
    I went home to tell Dad I was going to Sophie’s, and then I started on the long walk to the yellow duplex. I held the picture flat in my hands, so it could dry in the warm rays of the sun, Lana’s words echoing in my ears.
    When everything is messy, your love is there, shining through.
    I hoped with all my heart Sophie would see that too.

Chapter 16
peach cobbler cupcakes
PERFECT FOR FAMILY GATHERINGS
    I ’m pretty sure the walk to Sophie’s that warm August day was one of the longest ones of my entire life.
    When I got there, Hayden answered the door, talking to me through the screen door, Daisy barking like crazy behind him. “What’s the secret password?”
    â€œHuh?” I asked.
    â€œWhat’s the password?”
    â€œUm, open sesame?”
    â€œBo-ring.”
    â€œOkay. How about, Mars is red?”
    He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “I like it. You may enter.”
    I walked through the door, and Daisy jumped on me as if to say, Notice me, love me, pet me!
    â€œAlien invasion, alien invasion!” Hayden yelled.
    â€œHey, who are you calling an alien?” I asked as I bent down to pet the dog. She rolled over, giving me her little white belly to scratch.
    If only my life could be as easy as a dog’s, I thought.
    â€œAlien or not, Daisy sure is happy to see you.” I looked up. Sophie stood there, looking cute as always, wearing